The pandemic disrupted student progress and eroded retention due to several factors. In response to concerns over retention and graduation rates, a number of initiatives have been developed under the leadership of two divisions: Enrollment Management and Academic and Student Life. CWU is implementing several strategies to improve the retention: • Changing the advising model • Developing supplemental instruction programs • Increasing attention to academic success center • Integrating new student recruitment and onboarding/orientation • Transitioning the financial aid call center to an expanded communications center As well, in the year ahead, the Division of Academic and Student Life will focus on strategies to increase student success in the classroom and support strategies such as peer mentoring and coaching outside of the classroom. Following outlines CWU’s retention position: • Establishing a case management program • Establishing veteran and transfer student centers 1. FTFTF (full time, first time, fall) retention rates depend upon cohort size. Retention rates for first- time full-time students beginning in the summer and fall terms (FTFTF Cohorts) began to recover once the rapid growth in Cohort size from 2014 to 2017 stabilized. 2. FTFTF retention rates vary by student demographics. a. Female students generally retain to year 2 at a higher rate than do male students. b. White and Asian students generally retain at a higher rate that do students from traditionally underrepresented student groups (TUSG). 3. Full-time students who transferred to CWU in the summer or fall with an associate’s degree or direct transfer agreement (DTA) continue to the second year at a much higher rate than do their peers without a DTA, as recorded from the 2011 to the 2018 Transfer Cohorts. These transfer students have a three-year graduation rate of roughly 75% for the 2010 through 2015 Cohorts compared with 45% for their peers without a DTA. 4. 6-year graduation rates for FTFTF Cohorts increased from a low of 52% for the 2011 Cohort to nearly 60% for the 2014 Cohort. Enrollment recruitment marketing : College recruitment has changed over the years, dominated now by virtual strategy and student demand for personalized and authentic communication and engagement. To encourage new student recruitment that leads to a more sustainable budget model requires a more robust digital enrollment marketing presence and lead generation strategy. To accomplish this, CWU propose a significant investment in an integrated enrollment marketing ecosystem. Specifically, CWU must scale our enrollment marketing to cover a larger reach, while also expanding our target audiences to include transfer, University Centers, and online enrollments. Additionally, we must increase our lead-generation efforts by increasing paid outreach and adding pipelines to our strategy. CWU’s general brand marketing budget has not increased since 2015, when the board increased the marketing budget from about $90,000 to $480,000. This budget is spread across all media platforms and channels; some competitors invest that much in digital marketing alone. Since 2015, the spend has
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