Central Washington University Board of Trustees October 17, 2019 Information - Retention Overview
A critical component of student success and strategic enrollment management is retaining students after they enroll. For the past year CWU has been engaged in analysis of barriers to retention at CWU and research of best practices to enhance retention. These practices include constructing a supportive climate in which students learn, a subject board members discussed at length during their July meeting. CWU is implementing several new retention Initiatives this fall. These have focused on removing barriers to student success and on identifying and disseminating enhancements to teaching and learning that will make the most of the Central Washington University classroom as an essential retention site. 1. Supplemental Learning within the Standard Curriculum: Research shows that students learn and progress more successfully when “developmental” learning is embedded within a standard curriculum. The following actions are underway to achieve this ideal: • Six sections of English 101 have supplemental developmental labs in fall quarter 2019. Pending successful outcomes, full implementation of developmental learning within English 101 is scheduled for fall 2020. • The summer math bridge program (on-line) seems to be successful in placing students beyond ALEKS placement exam results. A ssessment and LE arning in K nowledge S paces is a Web-based, artificially intelligent assessment and learning system. • The expectation is that by 2021 at the latest, we can move to entirely supplemental, plus bridge, plus ALEKS self-paced tutorial instruction in math. Math is much more vertical than is English. Caution is needed, lest we short-change students on the basics, setting them up for failure. • English and Mathematics faculty are involved in this project, which will include a deep review of math requirements in light of the new gen ed curriculum and of research on math learning outcomes. • We have committed to eliminating the charge to students ($500 per course) for developmental math and English (total revenue=$300,000), effective in fall 2020. 2. Center for Teaching Excellence: The new Center for Teaching Excellence will provide information and activities for all faculty members on teaching for maximum learning enhancement for all students. The emphasis will be on highly engaged, highly participatory student learning. The principal support for this emphasis is leading research on brain plasticity showing that effortful learning can change the architecture of the brain. The following actions are in progress: • Startup Funding Approved at $60,000 Annually • Ad Posted for an Internal Search for Center Director • Activities: Workshops, Peer-to-peer Development, Outside Speakers, Pedagogy Reading Groups, Advising and Mentoring 3. Advising: Higher education research on retention recommends personal contact between every new student and an advisor within the first two weeks of class. Our current model does not allow for the early and regular contact necessary for ideal student flourishing. CWU is nearing the
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