RETENTION 101: A STRATEGIC WORKSHOP ON STUDENT SUCCESS
March 20-21, 2013, Orlando, Florida
Conference Faculty
Agenda
Hotel Information
Registration
EPI’s Retention 101 workshop provides an exclusive resource-rich environment for groups and individuals from institutions of higher education to work with select experts in their field to design solutions around their institution’s current issues in the areas of college access, success, and preparation for the workforce.
Led by internationally-recognized expert Dr. Watson Scott Swail, developer of the geometric framework for student retention (Swail, 2003), EPI’s Retention 101 provides a living process linking pre- and post- institute participation that will convene members to Orlando, Florida at the Rosen Shingle Creek Resort and Spa. The environment will allow participants to engage in an intimate environment discovering current resources of knowledge, people, and networks connected to evolving best practices.
Why Attend?
Retention 101 will provide a forum to discuss critical issues in higher education that impact student success, including financial aid, educational quality, and the nexus of college admissions and student success. Participants will hear from some of the foremost thinkers and practitioners in higher education and engage in dialogue to propel their thoughts and strategies about how they can improve persistence and graduation rates at their institution and/or system. If you want to learn more about best practices in student services, recruitment and admissions, financial aid, academic services, data, evaluation, and continuous improvement processes, and institutional leadership, you need to be at EPI's Retention 101.
Who Should Attend?
Retention 101 is designed for decision-makers at all levels of higher education, including public, private, and proprietary sectors. While individuals are encouraged to attend, we have found that institutions that bring a team to the event tend to get more out of the experience. Individuals on the team may include VPs, Deans, Provosts, Chancellors, Presidents, faculty members, and staff. By coming together at EPI’s Retention 101, teams can have quality time to discuss and plan for institutional change geared toward not only higher student graduation rates, but a higher-level of learning and engagement of students, faculty, and staff. Participation in Retention 101 makes it possible that everyone can win at your campus.
CONFERENCE FACULTY
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WATSON SCOTT SWAIL, ED.D. President & CEO, Educational Policy Institute, Washington, DC
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PETER DIETSCHE, PH.D., Assistant Professor William G. Davis Chair in Community College Leadership, Ontario Institute of Studies in Education (OISE), University of Toronto, Toronto, ON
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JAY GOFF, MA, Vice President, Enrollment and Retention Management, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO
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CHRIS SHAFFER, MBA, Director, Institutional Effectiveness, Shawnee State University, Portsmouth, OH
WATSON SCOTT SWAIL is President & CEO of the Educational Policy Institute, is recognized internationally for his research on retention of under-represented students in higher education and has published extensively in national journals and publications.
He is considered an expert is the areas of college access, financial aid, and college student retention and persistence. He is well published in these areas, including 2003’s Retaining Minority Students in Higher Education (Jossey-Bass) and his new book, Finding Superman: Debating the Future of Public Education in America, released in June 2012 by Teachers College Press. He is currently working on his next retention book and also another higher education book, The Higher Education Arms Race.
Prior to establishing EPI, Dr. Swail served as the Founding Director of The Pell Institute and Vice President of the Council for Opportunity in Education in Washington, DC. He previously served as senior policy analyst with SRI International and associate director for policy analysis with the College Board. While with the Board, Dr. Swail co-directed the Trends in College Pricing and Trends in Student Aid reports released in the U.S. each fall. He earned an Ed.D. in Educational Policy at the George Washington University, an M.S. at Old Dominion University, and a B.Ed. from the University of Manitoba. He currently serves on the Advisory Boards for AVID for Higher Education, the National Action Council on Minorities in Engineering (NACME) Research, and Student Resource Services (St. Louis).
PETER DIETSCHE is an Assistant Professor and William G. Davis Chair in Community College Leadership, University of Toronto, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE). An educator and administrator for over 30 years, Dr. Peter Dietsche has established an exceptional reputation by dedicating himself to improving the educational experience for first-year students at two-year institutions. Dr. Dietsche is a passionate advocate of learning-centered environments where students’ needs and demographics are critical components of the programming process, and has proven himself as a popular faculty member in both the college and university environment. His enthusiasm for students and student learning is infectious and one of the reasons that staff members are the backbone of Canada’s colleges and institutes of excellence.
JAY GOFF is vice president for enrollment and retention management at Saint Louis University, where he oversees undergraduate and graduate admission, student financial services, student educational services, TRIO programs, international services, enrollment outreach and territory development and the office of the registrar. With over 20 years experience in university enrollment, strategic planning and communication programs, Goff’s mission-centric approach has achieved record enrollments, retention, diversity and graduation rates. He has focused on building a team oriented and data driven division that stresses service focused student success plans.
Prior to SLU, Goff was the vice provost and dean of enrollment management at Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla, Missouri for over ten years. His leadership at Missouri S&T has been credited with raising the national academic profile of the student body, increasing enrollment by nearly 60 percent, setting institutional records for diversity and student success rates, in addition to other milestones for the research intensive school. Goff has consulted with over 30 institutions in eight countries and has served as the national coordinator of AACRAO’s strategic enrollment management conference for four-year colleges and universities since 2009. The Missouri AACRAO chapter honored his leadership and contributions to the field with a professional service award in 2008.
Goff has served as the Missouri representative to the ACT testing services Board of Directors since 2004 and was a member of ACT’s national education advisory board. He is also on the board of directors for the Educational Policy Institute (EPI) in Washington D.C. He earned his master’s degree in communication studies from the University of Kansas and a bachelor's degree in mass communication from Southeast Missouri State University.
CHRIS SHAFFER is the Director of the Office of Institutional Effectiveness at Shawnee State University (SSU) in Portsmouth, Ohio. A homegrown Scioto County resident, Chris provides leadership oversight and support for all planning, assessment, and evaluation activities on campus. His office conducts institutional research to ensure data-driven decision-making, and timely and accurate reporting to external agencies.
Prior to joining SSU, he served in the Governor’s Office of Appalachia working as a program manager and state alternate for the state of Ohio to the Appalachian Regional Commission and previously as operations manager in the Governor's Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives working on budget, outreach, and programmatic operations.
Shaffer received his undergraduate degree at the United States Military Academy at West Point and received his MBA at Ohio Dominican University in Columbus. As a former artillery officer, he is also a combat veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
AGENDA
The workshop begins with registration at 8:30am on Wednesday, March 20 in the St. Johns 33 room at the Rosen Shingle Creek Hotel & Spa and concludes approximately 5:00pm that day with a reception immediately following. The second day begins at 8:30am and concludes at 12:00noon in time for the EPI Forum on Education & the Economy.
Presentations and dialogue will be clustered around the following topics during the 1.5 day event:
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An Introduction to Student Success (Swail). This introductory session will provide an overview of issues related to the challenge of student attrition, persistence, and success. Swail will provide a variety of data points on retention and graduation rates, as well as other indicators related to student success. He will also talk about the important of improving student retention and success in postsecondary education, why it matters to all stakeholders, and why everyone has to be involved.
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A Framework for Student Retention (Swail). In the 1990s, Swail created a geometric framework for student success as part of his studies at The George Washington University. His work continued to grow, and now the framework is used by institutions and individuals around the world. This session will provide a précis in understanding student departure and success.
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Creating a Campus Student Profile: Identifying Student Characteristics for Retention and Success (Dietsche). The foundation of improved retention begins with knowing the, who, when, and why of attrition on each college campus. This session will present and discuss a research methodology that can highlight the unique set of factors, both student and institutional, that influence college student retention and success.
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The Campus Audit: Setting and Meeting Retention Goals (Goff). This session provides an opportunity for institutional leaders to discuss how data collection and coordination between offices is fundamental in analyzing institution-specific retention issues. The session is designed for institutions starting, or re-evaluating, their student persistence plans. Core retention benchmarks and assessment activities will be covered.
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Using Tableau for Data Analysis (Shaffer). Chris Shaffer is the director of Institutional Effectiveness at Shawnee State University in Portsmouth, Ohio. Mr. Shaffer's presentation will show participants how to use Tableau software to use data they already have on file to identify areas of concern and potential improvement. This session builds on the work of Peter Dietsche.
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Best Practices: Understanding Your Campus to Identify What Works (Dietsche). We all know there is no retention 'silver bullet', but what can colleges do to wisely invest scarce dollars and achieve the largest impact? The answer is to not only look for best practices in the research literature but to also examine what is taking place on our own campus. This session will focus on where to look.
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Retention Primer and Case Study: Building A Roadmap for Meeting Institutional Retention Goals (Goff). The featured case study model is structured to provide a review of fundamental strategies and tactics that need to be incorporated into most retention plan's assessments, programs and policies. This session will cover a sample model for developing a campus retention philosophy, committee structures and operational plans.
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Campus Change, Institutional Leadership, and other Important Factors (Swail). How Institutions go through the strategic planning for student success process is critical to the success of any initiative. This presentation and discussion talks about the role of various stakeholders in the planning and implementation process.
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Building An Institutional Plan for Student Success (Swail). In tandem with the dialogue about campus change and leadership, putting the plan together is important for future success. Dr. Swail will provide a model for student success that can be used to help guide institutional planning.
HOTEL INFORMATION
Rosen Shingle Creek is nestled on a 230-acre site along Shingle Creek just off Universal Boulevard, east of the Orange County Convention Center North/South expansion and just 10 minutes away from the Orlando International Airport. THE location is just a short distance to a variety of Orlando's best attractions, restaurants, shopping and entertainment venues. The Rosen Shingle Creek Resort offers 1,500 guest rooms and luxurious first-class settings that capture the hotel environment. Capitalizing on Rosen Shingle Creek’s elevation, every single room offers a stunning view of the golf course and the area’s incomparable setting —from the perfectly manicured fairways and greens to the picturesque creek, magnificent cypress trees, and lush natural vegetation.
For our attendees, rooms are available at the discounted rate of $159/night. This rate is on a first come, first served basis and in order to receive the Group rate, reservations must be made no later than February 15, 2013.
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REGISTRATION FEES |
With EPI FORUM Registration |
REGULAR |
INDIVIDUAL REGISTRATION FEE |
$795 |
$1,095 |
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