At Utah State University Eastern, administration was tasked with increasing student success on a small budget. With approximately 75 percent of the student population categorized as low-income and/or first-generation, an Office of First-Year Experience was developed to help improve retention and success. Presenter Greg Dart, Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Services, discussed key strategies to improve first-year retention; tools to evaluate existing technologies and gaps in technology dealing with first year success; and data on successful practices and learned experiences.
Low-cost retention and success initiatives
Dart went into detail about the low-cost technology initiatives implemented at his institution, which can be used on any campus to help with student retention and success. Among the suggestions he provided were:
- Mentoring: All new freshmen are assigned a faculty and peer mentor, who make regular contact through texts, e-mails, phone calls and an app.
- Early Alert System: The goal of an early alert system is to improve students’ persistence through early detection and intervention. The university’s electronic, Banner-integrated system allows for faculty-driven reporting, date-driven reporting, and on-demand reporting.
- Mandatory Orientation: Students are required to attend this orientation, because “students don’t do optional.” An online version is made available to students.
- Appointment Manager: An online interface with text reminders makes it easy to schedule an appointment with advisors.
Successes
In just one year, Utah State University Eastern has experienced success with its new initiatives. According to Dart:
- 85 percent of incoming freshman participated fully in the first year experience program in year one (expect near 100 percent for year two), up from 17 percent in previous program.
- Students involved in the program were twice as likely to be retained fall to fall (37 percent versus 74 percent).
- Early alert system has had over 65 percent of faculty participate, up from 14 percent.
- 76 percent of freshmen met multiple times with a faculty member in their first semester.
- Over 400 students received customized interventions in year one.
View the handouts from Greg Dart’s Sunday morning presentation, “First-Year Experience and Early Alert Solutions: Big Solutions on Small Budgets.”