Central Washington University Board of Trustees February 21, 2019 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY – Comprehensive Retention Plan Overview Guiding Principles: Central Washington University’s Comprehensive Retention Plan is based on the following: • CWU provides access to a university education and four-year degree to students who might not otherwise have this opportunity due to demographics, socioeconomic status, prior levels of academic experience and achievement, and other background characteristics. • All CWU students, no matter their background, will have the opportunity to receive the support they need to be academically, professionally, and personally successful during their time at CWU and afterward. • CWU strives to provide the right combination of challenge in terms of academic rigor and support so that all students feel a sense of connectedness and belongingness to the university community. Components: CWU’s Comprehensive Retention Plan has four (4) primary objectives and related components. First, CWU has been – and continues to be – engaged in the design, implementation, assessment, and continuous improvement of best practice retention programming focused on the primary student characteristics Academic and Student Life has determined are associated with attrition. These retention initiatives consist of courses, targeted programs, student services, and policies, procedures, and practices. Second, CWU’s best practice retention program development is grounded in extensive analyses of student data – prior to enrollment at CWU, during students’ time at the university, and afterward. These analyses are: • Descriptive – For example, calculations and comparisons of retention, progression, and degree completion rates of various different student groups. • Correlational – Is student participation in certain retention programs associated with higher rates of retention? • Inferential – When CWU compares students who participate in a given retention program to highly similar students who did not participate, are the participants retained at higher rates? What student characteristics are associated with higher or lower levels of retention? • Predictive – What student characteristics and experiences enable CWU to determine, as early as possible, which students will need specific, targeted types of support – and be proactive in providing that support? Third, CWU’s retention programming entails an ongoing audit of current courses, programs, services, and policies. This audit addresses the following questions: • What courses, programs, services, and policies does CWU have in place?
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