What is "student retention"?
- "Retention is the process of helping students meet their needs so they will persist in their education toward the achievement of the educational aims they value" (Moxley, et. al. Keeping Students in Higher Education).
- "Student's satisfactory progress toward their educational objectives" (Parkland College http://www.cscsr.org/article_enrollment_management.htm).
- "Students achieving their objectives" (Kerka, S. Strategies for Retaining Adult Students: The Educationally Disadvantaged, ERIC Digest No. 76).
- "Term-to-term, year-to-year, persistence to graduation within a specified time period" (www.communitycollegepolicy.org).
Faculty...interested in ways you can promote student retention?
- Use MyPCC. MyPCC is an online community for PCC students, faculty, and staff. It provides access to email, registration, course tools, college announcements and all aspects of college business. MyPCC
- Refer students to Panther Tracks online. This website gives students all the information they need to succeed at PCC. Campus resources, checklists, important deadlines, study tips, degree options, the list goes on! Panther Tracks
- Introduce your students to MAP. Found on the MyPCC My Courses tab, MAP is an online academic planning tool with self assessments, worksheets, and career and academic resources. MAP was developed in collaboration with Oregon Career Information System. Student retention
- Use Course Progress Notification (CPN). Through the 2007 Noel-Levitz survey, PCC students stated that faculty providing timely feedback about course progress was of high importance, but that faculty did not do so regularly or to their satisfaction. Faculty can use CPN to communicate with students about attendance, class participation, completed coursework, current grades, and overall performance. CPN
- Encourage students to use GRAD Plan. GRAD Plan is available for all students and advisors to assess degree progress and remaining academic requirements. Students can consider different degrees and certificates, find the classes they need graduate, and create an academic plan with an advisor. Students can access their GRAD Plan from the MyPCC My Courses tab. Grad Plan
- Employ a few of the 110 Teaching Tips. Learn all your students names, have students evaluate the course regularly, let students test each other, have a colleague critique your class...all of these and more can be found at Teaching tips