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Article Type

Professional Proficiency

Article Abstract

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This article follows a small piece of one community college’s SEM journey in using its student retention data to identify opportunities to deploy re-enrollment strategies. The re-enrollment rates of new students who did not return following their first semester served as the starting point of the investigation; the goal of the project was to re-enroll 5 percent of the students. The non-returning students were randomly divided into two groups that received differing types of outreach: a postcard or a phone call in addition to a postcard. The goal was met, with 6 percent of students re-enrolling; however, the control group re-enrolled at a higher rate than the experimental group. The results also showed that 63 percent of students successfully completed the call to action of both the postcard and the phone call: to schedule an appointment with a counselor or advisor. The re-enrollment strategy originated from a larger investigation conducted by LaShure and Waubonsee Community College’s institutional effectiveness team and supported by the college’s Strategic Enrollment Management Committee. The two areas partnered to answer the question “How are students who re-enroll different from students who do not?” One of the findings was that new students were at higher risk of not returning after their first semester; this finding prompted the investigation of the re-enrollment strategy.

Author(s)

lashure--lg

Faith LaShure has more than fifteen years of higher education experience and currently serves as the Dean for Admissions and as an adjunct instructor for Leadership Studies at Waubonsee Community College, in Sugar Grove, IL. Her leadership experience also includes enrollment management, registration and records, financial aid and student life. LaShure attended Elgin Community College, and graduated from Illinois State University with a Bachelor of Science in Biology and Mass Communication and a Master of Science in Communication. Her master’s thesis focused on predictors of conflict resolution styles. She is a graduate of AACRAO’s Strategic Enrollment Management Endorsement Program (SEM-EP).

randall--lg

Stacey Randall, Ph.D., is the Dean for Institutional Effectiveness/Title V Project Director at Waubonsee Community College in Sugar Grove, Illinois. Her administrative experience includes grants management, institutional research, and outcomes assessment and she currently serves as a member of the Peer Corps through the Higher Learning Commission. Randall has a Ph.D. in American History from Northern Illinois University.

hinkle--lg

Henry Hinkle’s research in higher education has largely focused on the prediction of student persistence, particularly how modeling of student persistence can be leveraged through effective delivery of findings to student-facing administration, faculty, and staff. Hinkle has an M.A. in Developmental Psychology from Northern Illinois University and is currently a Research Analyst at College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, IL.

References

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Bontrager, B. 2004. The Student Success Continuum. Paper presented at Oregon Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, May 2–4, Ashland, Oregon.

Bontrager, B., and T. Green. 2012. A structure for SEM planning. In Strategic Enrollment Management: Transforming Higher Education, edited by B. Bontrager, T. Green, and R. Ingersoll. Washington, D.C.: American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers.

Bontrager, B., and K. Pollock. 2009. Strategic enrollment management at community colleges. In Applying SEM at the Community College, edited by B. Bontrager. Washington, D.C.: American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers.

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Endnotes

  1. Background Information on the Retention Project is based on three sources: (1) The original data source: A Waubonsee Community College Institutional Effectiveness Report on the Fall 2013 Attrition Project by Henry L. Hinkle, Lead Data Analyst; (2) The Retention Project presentation (then called “The Attrition Project”) given at the ICCCA in October 2014 by Dr. Stacey Randall, Dean for Institutional Effectiveness and Title V Project Director, and Faith LaShure, Dean for Admissions; and (3) Waubonsee Community College’s 2015 AQIP Systems Portfolio.

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