Student Retention Analysis
Retention. It is one of the most tossed around buzz-words within the confines of the American University system. Student retention is defined as “Students persisting to completion of their educational goals” (Noel-Levits Retention Codification, 2008, paragraph 1). Frequently, this includes students remaining at a specific location from admission through graduation. Liberty University currently has a freshman retention rate of 69%, which is below the national average of 70.9%, according to one report (College Factual, n.d.):
While this is not necessarily indicative of a problem in and of itself, it does show a lower than optimal retention rate. What are some methods by which Liberty can improve its retention, especially in its overwhelming online …show more content…
7). Having spent two years as an academic advisor with Liberty, rest assured that this is a detrimental understatement. Approximately eighteen months ago, Liberty introduced program-wide individual academic advising. Each advisor was assigned a caseload of 700 – 1500 students depending on program. Advisors were prompted to become an expert in their field. As with any corporation, some held tight to this new responsibility while others simply floated on existing. Over the past few months, there has been a change. Liberty has begun pulling away from this model. This is perhaps the single most injurious action against retention that could have been …show more content…
Liberty University holds a policy that all professors must reply within 48 business hours. Professors should be held to the same standards that are requested of students. While it is true that many professors do adhere to this; professional communication, timely communication, and Godly communication, there is no policy to hold them to it. Multiple students withdraw from courses each semester due to a lack of clear professor communication. Most frequently, this is found with adjunct professors.
If a professor’s communication is not within the allotted time frame, the only alternative that the student has is to wait. While they can send the communication chain to their advisor, who will then forward it to the department’s Faculty Support Coordinator, no timeline for resolution is provided. Often times, students cannot proceed in their course, or make an informed decision about a dilemma, without this contact back from the
While this is not necessarily indicative of a problem in and of itself, it does show a lower than optimal retention rate. What are some methods by which Liberty can improve its retention, especially in its overwhelming online …show more content…
7). Having spent two years as an academic advisor with Liberty, rest assured that this is a detrimental understatement. Approximately eighteen months ago, Liberty introduced program-wide individual academic advising. Each advisor was assigned a caseload of 700 – 1500 students depending on program. Advisors were prompted to become an expert in their field. As with any corporation, some held tight to this new responsibility while others simply floated on existing. Over the past few months, there has been a change. Liberty has begun pulling away from this model. This is perhaps the single most injurious action against retention that could have been …show more content…
Liberty University holds a policy that all professors must reply within 48 business hours. Professors should be held to the same standards that are requested of students. While it is true that many professors do adhere to this; professional communication, timely communication, and Godly communication, there is no policy to hold them to it. Multiple students withdraw from courses each semester due to a lack of clear professor communication. Most frequently, this is found with adjunct professors.
If a professor’s communication is not within the allotted time frame, the only alternative that the student has is to wait. While they can send the communication chain to their advisor, who will then forward it to the department’s Faculty Support Coordinator, no timeline for resolution is provided. Often times, students cannot proceed in their course, or make an informed decision about a dilemma, without this contact back from the