Identify Activity That Will Require
Augmentation in FY 2001-02
RETENTION AND GRADUATION
INITIATIVE
Utilizing funds provided
by RPP, Student Services is currently gathering data for
implementation of a CSULB Early Warning System. This system
will enable us to identify students at risk of dropping
out and advise them about academic and developmental interventions
that can encourage completion of their degree programs in
a timely manner.
Presently, students
for the 1997 freshman cohort who have left CSULB are participating
in telephone and in-person interviews. Focus groups with
African American and Latino students who are currently enrolled
are also being conducted in a collaboration with the Student
Development in Higher Education Program in the College of
Education. Moreover, CSULB is a pilot campus in a Higher
Education Research Institute project involving one-year
follow-ups of students who participated in the 2000 Freshman
Survey. By the end of summer 2000, interview tapes will
have been transcribed and qualitative data collected during
the 2000-01 academic year will have been analyzed. Data
from the one-year follow-up pilot will also have also been
analyzed.
Furthermore, connections
have been made with individuals from other institutions
who have implemented similar programs. These networking
activities have been extremely useful for learning about
how comparable institutions have implemented early warning
and retention support systems.
We are proposing to
continue gathering qualitative data by conducting telephone
and in-person interviews with our 1998-99 freshman cohorts,
and by facilitating focus groups with students of diverse
ethnicities.
We are also collaborating
with Financial Aid to design a brief questionnaire for departing
students. Because the majority of our students rely upon
financial aid to pay for college expenses, we are planning
to utilize this captive sample to inform us about their
reasons for departure and what they intend to do next.
Finally, we are proposing
to gather information regarding how satisfied students have
been with various aspects of their collegiate experiences
at CSULB. The Division of Student Services is proposing
a collaboration with Institutional Research to conduct a
“mini-SNAPS.” This would involve sending out
follow-up mail questionnaires to students in various stages
of degree completion or to students who have departed from
the institution. Students for the “mini-SNAPS”
survey would be those who completed an initial freshman
or transfer student survey questionnaire so that data could
be analyzed after controlling for initial characteristics.Therefore,
we request funding for the 2001-02 academic year for these
purposes:
-
Telephone and in-person interviews with
1998-99 freshman.
-
Focus groups with continuing and departing
students.
-
Financial aid student departure questionnaire.
-
Satisfaction survey (“mini-SNAPS”).
-
Early warning system workshops and implementation.
