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University of Nebraska–Lincoln

Best Practices for Retention of Students

Serving Students

Best Practices include:

1. Retention is Our Job

Remind faculty and staff that retention of all students is every UNL employee's responsibility and is in the employee's best interests.

  • Deans, Chairs, Heads and Directors should regularly share retention data for all student cohorts with faculty and staff and discuss ways to improve retention efforts (this could easily be accomplished through Blackboard).
  • Recognize faculty, staff and student efforts regarding the recruitment and retention of students.

2. Give the Red Carpet Treatment

Organize a special welcome for new and returning students. Several colleges and departments hold a welcome event for new first-year and transfer students. This type of event provides new students an opportunity to interact with faculty, staff, and advanced students. Some events include alumni and advisory board members.

3. Check it Out at Mid-Semester

Encourage or require first-year students and new transfer students to attend the Annual Mid-Semester Check held the fourth week of classes (September 17-20, 2007) in the evening at the Nebraska Union.

4. Get to Know Our Students

Communicate with students on a regular basis.

  • Using Blackboard as the communication vehicle, Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts developed a welcome message to send to new students which includes a survey that inquires about students' interests and expectations.
  • Several departments use a list serve of students to send regular announcements and newsletters in addition to posting them in student resource areas and lounges.

5. Tell Them How They're Doing

Encourage course instructors to give some type of student assessment - a quiz or test - within the first 3-4 weeks of class, so that students may obtain feedback before the middle or end of the semester.

  • Students enrolled in first-year writing courses in the Department of English, College of Arts & Sciences, receive formal evaluation on their initial writing assignment within the first two weeks of classes.

6. Be Personal

Consider as a college or a department, offering a Central Referral Program. A central referral program provides faculty, staff, and other students the opportunity to refer a student they believe whose academic progress is being affected by personal issues to a designated individual who will follow up with the student and direct the student to the appropriate persons/resources.

7. Develop Your Skills

Encourage staff in academic and student services offices to attend professional development activities that focus on student development and best practices for
interacting with students.

8. Encourage Re-enrollment

Follow-up to priority registration. At the end of priority registration, Registration and Records will identify students who have not enrolled for the following semester and send to OUS to coordinate the student contacts by either the respective academic or student services unit. All units will report results to OUS, which in turn will aggregate student responses to be shared across the institution.