College of Liberal Arts

Report on Advising and

Retention

February 20, 2013

Where does CLA stand now on advising, retention, and graduation?

BAS BHS BUS ED LA MC UC MTSU0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%% of students answering "good" or "excellent"

Advising2011-2012 Graduating Senior Survey Results

Q 65. Academic advising by faculty advisorQ 66. Academic advising by college academic advisorQ 68. Availability of faculty advisor

Q 69. Availability of college academic advisorQ 70. Willingness of faculty advisor to helpQ 71. Willingness of college academic advisor to help

Freshmen Retention, 2006-2012

06-07 Freshman

07-08 Freshman

08-09 Freshman

09-10 Freshman

10-11 Freshman

11-12 Freshman

45

50

55

60

65

70

75

MTSUCLA

Junior Retention/Persistence2008 Cohort

08-09 Junior 08-10 Junior 08-11 Junior50

55

60

65

70

75

80

85

90

95

100

MTSUCLA

Junior Retention/Persistence2009 Cohort

09-10 Junior 09-11 Junior 09-12 Junior50

55

60

65

70

75

80

85

90

95

100

MTSUCLA

Junior Retention/Persistence2010 Cohort

10-11 Junior 10-12 Junior50

55

60

65

70

75

80

85

90

95

100

MTSUCLA

Focus onRetention and Graduation

Rates

Our retention efforts fall into four categories.

1. Advising2. Curriculum3. Teaching4. Community

Building

AdvisingWhat We’re Doing

Faculty Advisors

College Advisors (2)

Graduation Coach

Graduation Analyst

Departmental Advising Open advising times Increase faculty office hours during

peak advising season Post online academic maps, forms,

and other advising materials Publish student handbooks Nominate faculty for the college-

wide Outstanding Advisor Award

College Advisors Meet with probationary students 2-3

times per semester Monitor assignment of students to

faculty advisors Contact purged and un-registered

students Hold training sessions for faculty

advisors Offer online tool 24-7 to schedule

appointments

College Graduation Coach

(approved last year)

Meets all CLA majors when they’ve earned 75 to 90 hours of credit

Ensures students complete and submit upper division forms and works with them to identify the most efficient path to graduation

Monitors their progress and helps them overcome any roadblocks to graduation

College Graduation Analyst

Checks students’ progress toward degrees at beginning of the semester they are scheduled to graduate

Meets with students to discuss the results of the checks and to discuss final requirements (testing, graduation instructions)

Works with students to try to resolve any deficiencies

Ideas for AdvisingImprovement

Hold regular department-based advisor workshops

Implement holds on students’ registrations to ensure advising at critical points

Increase advising regarding graduate school options and career paths

Do some advising in the classroom in certain key courses in the major

CurriculumWhat We’re Doing

Regularly assess curriculum and make adjustments as needed

Avoid curricular “bottlenecks”

Urge student participation in Study Abroad, EXL, internships, and other experiential activities

Make reasonable course substitutions

In AY 2011-2012, CLA majors accounted for…

nearly 50% of all students who studied abroad

5.2% of CLA majors studied abroad, compared to 1.7% of the overall student body

41% of students who won URECA grants

37% of all students completing Honors theses

Selected Co-curricular Activities

Ideas for CurriculumImprovement

Consider strategic new degrees (e.g., B.A. in Art, B.A. in Music, concentration in Religious Studies, MALA)

Offer more “major only” course sections and/or capstone courses

Explore additional alternative course scheduling (e.g., more online/hybrid, accelerated)

TeachingWhat We’re Doing

Offer relatively small classes

Students and peers regularly evaluate faculty teaching

Departmental mentoring keeps faculty advisors up-to-date

Faculty participate in LT&ITC teaching workshops

Ideas for TeachingImprovement

Increase internship and other experiential offerings

Increase interdisciplinary efforts (e.g., Raider Learning Communities, team teaching)

Require attendance at special events

Community BuildingWhat We’re Doing

Joint faculty-student research

Student clubs and organizations, including honor societies and music ensembles

Intercollegiate competitions (e.g., Debate, Mock Trial, Model UN, Theatre)

Departmental newsletters

Ideas for Further Community Building

Increase use of social media for faculty-student communication and student-student communication

Host social events where students and faculty mingle

Offer field trips and other out-of-class activities

Hold a college Alumni Day (March 21)

Proposals Requiring Additional Resources

Assess Academic Advising

Implement systematic assessment of advising, preferably university-wide.

Supplemental Instruction

Several departments are interested in offering or expanding tutoring services, especially to students in key courses.

Estimated cost: $45,000 per year.

Mentoring Programs

CLA is launching a pilot program to consider possibilities, which include faculty-to-faculty, faculty-to-student, and student peer mentoring/advising.

Cost to be determined after completion of pilot.

Informal Gathering Space

CLA is housed largely in older buildings that were not designed with informal gathering spaces in mind.

Departmental Discretionary Money for Retention Activities

Current operating budgets make it difficult to host events or activities that foster student engagement with faculty and peers.

Estimated cost: $5,000 to $10,000 per year.

The End