ASCEND Podcast

In addition to demographic data that institutions capture on  students through the application process, we were interested in learning more about students before they arrived on campus each semester. So, we instituted a pre-arrival survey that all incoming students fill out as part of the orientation process. It is important to note that we only ask questions that provide us with actionable data which allows us to strategically target students and nudge them along to degree attainment.  Tune in to learn more about the value of pre-arrival surveys.

Students are often not the best at placing things in their calendars.  As a result, we implemented a text and email reminder system for all our student appointments.  As a result, we experienced much better attendance and engagement.  Additionally, these we learned it was important to pay attention to those students who do not show up for their appointments. This is often a red flag for other issues. We found at our institution that those who frequently fail to show up for their appointments are far less likely to persist.  Tune in to learn more about the importance of appointment reminders as well as following up when students miss their meetings.

To further help students prepare for the transition between high school and college, and to be ready to fully engage with our campus culture, schools often prepare and distribute a new student handbook written by students for students.  It often provides a welcome letter from the President, an explanation of  history and traditions, and the essentials to make a smooth transition (i.e. campus map, move-in day, high school versus college, social media, proper eating, healthy relationships, campus lingo, tips for success, and our bucket list). New student handbooks also discuss campus life, academics, athletics, people to know, places to go, campus resources, and the ins and outs of the community where we are located.

We have received a number of emails from our listeners asking us why we end our podcast with the phrase, "Keep on raging!"  Well, this podcast answers that question.  And, keep on raging!

We have found that institutions that have the greatest success typically have a single person who spends the majority of their job thinking about, worrying about, and holding the campus accountable to the vision, goals, and metrics related to increasing retention and completion rates. Many campuses will add this title or responsibility to someone's existing job without giving them a release of current duties. This rarely works. If a campus is serious about improving retention rates, this must be a full-time (or a three-quarter time at a minimum) responsibility.

In recent years there has been a movement in higher education to shift the role and responsibilities of academic advisors. Gone are the days of a singular focus on serving as course schedulers. Advisors are now being asked to serve as academic advisors, life coaches, career counselors, and so much more. Shifting the roles of our “academic advisors” to “student success advisors” was one of the most impactful things we did to increase retention rates on our campus and increase the amount of support we give our students.

Because finances are a major barrier for so many students to stay enrolled in college, we recommend that institutions hire a full-time Financial Literacy Specialist whose entire job it is to help students better understand their finances and to help as many students as possible meet the financial demands of higher education.

Tune in to Jared and Eric talk about the benefit of starting a Financial Literacy Office or Financial Wellness Office.

Because campuses are limited in their resources (time, energy, human capital, etc.) it is important to focus on those students who need us most, when they need us most.  An important strategy for increasing retention rates is to focus on subpopulations of students who historically do not retain at the same rates.  In this episode we talk about which data points could be explored and how this simple exercise can go a long way in moving the needle on your campus.

How do you get students who do not want to meet with you, or who do not want to get involved, to actually meet with you or get involved? You make them feel needed! In fact, the Dalai Lama recently stated that he "believes man’s biggest need today is the 'need to be needed.' He says the biggest reason for so much misery in the world is a growing number of people feel they are no longer useful to anyone" (Frazier, 2016).  Tune in to learn how to use "Need to be Needed" campaigns to reach students that are hard to connect with.

One of the obstacles we have found with students engaging on campus is that Generation Z students often do not know how to socially interact with their peers in person, break the ice, or even start conversations. After realizing that a significant majority of our incoming students struggle with networking and making friends, we decided to help our incoming students transition from an online world to a face-to-face environment. During our Fall Welcome Week, we break our students into small groups and teach them how to properly shake hands, make eye contact, break the ice, keep conversations going, and ask interesting questions. While this can be awkward for many students, we have heard from enough of them to know that this is helpful for them and greatly appreciated.