Retention 2007

The Educational Policy Institute invites leaders and practitioners from postsecondary institutions who are uniquely interested in finding solutions to increasing the success of students. With beautiful Virginia Beach as a backdrop, affording the opportunity to simultaneously relax and focus, institutional teams and other individuals will spend 2.5 days learning about student retention and designing plans to improve the success of students at their campuses.

Led by internationally-recognized experts Drs. Watson Scott Swail (Educational Policy Institute) and Dr. Peter Dietsche (University of Toronto) this retreat is designed for institutions who are either at the initial stages of planning for student retention or need to enhance an existing program. During the retreat, teams will:

learn why students fail or succeed;
learn about best practices for student retention at institutions like them;
share experiences from their own campuses about what works and what doesn't;
see why data matters and how it is the center of any retention effort;
design or revise an institutional plan to increase student retention and success at their institution.

The Retention Retreat is designed for institutional teams and individuals from two-year, four-year, and proprietary institutions seriously interested in changing how students are served. It offers professionals an opportunity to get away from the campus in order to focus exclusively on creating tangible plans for success. When participants return to their campuses from Virginia Beach, they will be equipped with the tools necessary to begin implementing an effective retention program.

34th ANNUAL NEPTUNE FESTIVAL

This Fall's Retention 101 retreat comes at the tail end of Virginia Beach's 34th Annual NEPTUNE FESTIVAL, a wonderful oceanfront festival celebrating King Neptune, with live music, an arts and crafts festival, the North American Sandsculpting Championships, and surfing, volleyball, and flag football championships. So, come early and enjoy the Neptune Festival from September 28-30 (the Sheraton has guaranteed our low rate for those dates).

PRESENTATIONS FROM RETENTION 101

PART I: Introduction (Swail)

PART II: A Framework for Student Retention (Swail)

PART III: The Campus Audit (Dietsche)

PART IV: A Retention Case Study (Goff)

PART V: Effective Practices (Swail/Dietsche)

PART VI: Building a Personalized Retention Strategy (Goff)

PART VII: Monitoring Student and Program Outcomes - FASTTRACK (DIetsche)

PART VIII: Campus Change and Leadership (Swail

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Swail Slides

New Student Project (Goff)