Developing and implementing a comprehensive student retention program requires a com-mitment from leaders, faculty, and staff. Through our discussion with some of these individuals and our review of related research, we were able to come up with a short list of essential factors in establishing such a program. According to our research, a comprehen-sive student retention program must:

Rely on proven research. Given the resources and effort that must go into a campus-wide retention program, the final plan must be based on solid, proven evidence of success. It is a long way to travel with no idea of the outcome. If such an effort fails, the task of putting the pieces back together would be daunting, to say the least. Spend time looking at what works, and borrow from the best.

Suit the particular needs of the campus. Not all campuses are equal. That said, no “boxed” retention program works the same on any two campuses. All efforts must be shaped to meet the specific needs of each campus.

Institutionalize and become a regular part of campus service. Any program at the begin-ning is usually a special project supported by outside funds. In the end, however, any successful effort must be institutionalized with respect to funding, policy, and practice. Outside funding does not last forever, and stated policy ensures that any interventions can become a mainstay in campus-based practices.

Involve all campus departments and all campus personnel. Everyone must be involved at some level. The most successful practices engage the entire campus, while the least suc-cessful strategies are very compartmentalized. We have seen “campus-wide” programs that individuals in certain parts of campus never knew about. Of course, they failed. But those institutions that had a broad outreach among faculty and staff, with clearly stated policy and practical objectives, tended to be successful.

Take into consideration the dynamics of the change process and provide extensive and appropriate retraining of staff. Change is difficult and uncomfortable. Do not underesti-mate the impact of change on one’s ability to push through policy changes on campus. Team members must be brought along and be given all opportunities to learn about the interventions and develop appropriate skills as necessary.

Focus on students. Although this statement sounds like a given, many programs end up making the effort about themselves and not the clients. Everything should point to how it affects students and persistence on campus. This mind-set is a good one for all institu-tional practice that often gets lost in the “career” mind-set of board members, administrators, faculty members, and staff. Students are central to all operations on a campus.

Ensure that the program is fiscally responsible. Soft monies (grants, for example) provide a good foundation for start-up, but they are not a long-term solution to persistence at any institution. An important component of a strategic plan for retention is to build in a long-term fiscal plan to ensure that the program can operate without external support.

Support institutional research in the monitoring of programs and students. Data and analysis on all interventions, programs, and, ultimately, students are the saving grace of any campus change model. One must have the numbers to show whether movement has been made, either positive or negative.

Be patient. All change takes time, and change theory tells us that change usually takes a negative tack before the eventual positive change occurs. Understand that this trend is a normal mode and that some negative changes will happen before the positive yield will be seen. Therefore, leaders and other team members must be patient and understand that this long-term effort will have its rough spots.

Be sensitive to students’ needs and target the most needy student populations. All stu-dents can benefit from a retention effort on campus, whether through improved tutoring programs or increased need-based aid. Any program should target the neediest students on campus, however, knowing that others will benefit from any changes made.

The development of a campus-wide retention program requires supportive leadership, the willingness to evoke change on campus, and careful planning. If any of these essential fac-tors is missing, the chances for success are limited. Once institutions have ensured that the climate for change exists and that the support and guidance of campus leadership is present, several steps or stages must take place:preplanning, planning, implementation, and program monitoring. This strategic process can be developed in line with an institu-tion’s strategic planning schedule.

Stage One: Preplanning
The preplanning stage provides campus leadership with the information necessary to iden-tify challenges and issues that the campus must face. During this initial stage, the institution must:

• Analyze the size and scope of retention issues on campus;
• Identify students’ needs;
• Assess the status and effectiveness of current retention strategies and programs on campus;
• Identify institutional resources that could be used or redirected;
• Identify successful retention strategies at other campuses

This information-collecting stage can be done internally, but it sometimes carries more weight when handled through an outside consultant in partnership with the leadership team. With a solid foundation of evidence, the project team stands a much better chance of other institutional partners’ buying into the project. As well, this information will allow the committee to make prudent decisions about what direction to follow in Stage Two.

Stage Two: Planning
The planning stage is the longest stage of the developmental process, as special care must be taken to involve the entire campus in the creation of the program. This is where buy-in occurs across campus. The planning stage must carefully assess the research conducted in Stage One, develop a redefined sense of purpose and goals, and develop an appropriate retention plan that meets those goals. The main activities of Stage Two include:

• Refinement or enhancement of the college mission statement and goals;
• Development of organizational strategies;
• Identification of key stakeholders on or off campus and their roles in the retention process;
• Assessment, presentation, and discussion of preplanning data;
• Development of the retention program’s components and operation strategies; and
• Development of an implementation plan.

Stage Three: Implementation
The implementation of the retention program should be according to the plan devised dur-ing Stage Two. It is critical for the administration to provide support, both political and financial, during the implementation stage for any unforeseen circumstances and difficul-ties encountered.

Stage Four: Program Monitoring
The monitoring of the retention program is an essential practice that must be entrenched in the design of the system. Without the careful planning of an assessment strategy, the true value and effect of the program components can never be measured. The monitoring system should provide ongoing data to all campus personnel involved in the operation of the retention effort. The main practices include:

• Collecting data and analyzing program components and student performance;
• Disseminating data to stakeholders; and
• Ensuring that conclusions based on program monitoring are incorporated in pro-gram revisions.