Freshman Connections Retention Data Report

Fall 2004

 

Office of Residence Life

Northern Arizona University

Prepared by Megan Gavin

 

 

Index

 

Populations                                                                                                                2

Distribution of freshmen by housing option                                                            3

Retention snapshot                                                                                                   4

Five year retention averages and trends                                                                5

Four year retention averages and trends                                                               6

Three year retention averages and trends                                                             7

Graduation snapshots                                                                                              8

Recommendations to increase freshmen retention                                              9

Appendix A—PaIR first-time, full-time freshman definition                                  10

Appendix B—Retention table                                                                                  11

Appendix C—Graduation table                                                                               12

 

Freshman Connections Retention Data

Fall 2004

 

Populations:

 

All NAU Cohort: This cohort reflects all first-time, full-time freshmen who were enrolled at NAU on the fall 21-day count date.

 

Freshman Connections Cohort (FC Cohort): This cohort type reflects first-time, full-time freshmen who were living in Freshmen Connections residence halls on the fall 21-day count date. FC halls, which are designated for freshmen only, include Cowden, McConnell, Reilly, and Sechrist.

 

Greek On-Campus Housing Cohort: This cohort reflects first-time, full-time freshmen who were living on campus in Mountain View Hall (Greek on-campus housing) on the fall 21-day count date. While upper class students live in Mountain View, this hall is also designated for freshmen.

 

Non-Freshman On-Campus Housing Cohort: This cohort type reflects first-time, full-time freshmen who were living on campus in halls not generally designated for freshmen on the fall 21-day count date.  These other types of housing are family-style residences, apartments, and upper division halls.

     

Off-Campus Cohort: This cohort type reflects first-time, full-time freshmen who were not living on campus on the fall 21-day count date.

 

NOTE:  Please see Appendix A for the Planning and Institutional Research definition of first-time, full-time freshmen.

 

 

 

The vast majority of first-time, full-time freshmen live on campus each year.

 

 

 

 

UNDERSTANDING RETENTION RATES

 

1. Generally speaking,

o       1st year retention =  retention to sophomore year

o       2nd year retention = retention to junior year

o       3rd year retention =  retention to senior year

 

 

2. Year by year trend data for the 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004 freshmen cohorts is available in Appendix B.

o       Five years of data for 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003 cohorts is available for 1st year retention rates.

o       Five years of data for 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002 cohorts is available for 2nd year retention rates.

o       Four years of data for 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2001 cohorts is available for 3rd year retention rates.

 

In comparing year by year data, trends emerge that reflect the relative success of the different cohorts of this study

 

 

3. The five years of data for 1st and 2nd year retention rates and the four years of data for 3rd year retention rates have been used to generate averages.  When compared, these multi-year averages provide another way to determine the relative success of the different cohorts of this study.

 

 

4.  At least one major conclusion can be made.  Evidenced by both year by year trends and averages of multiple years of data concerning 1st, 2nd, and 3rd year retention:

 

Freshmen living on-campus in halls designated for freshmen tend to have higher retention rates than all other

freshmen living on or off campus.

 

Highest

 

to

 

Lowest

 

Freshman Connections (FC) and/or Greek On-Campus Cohorts   

All NAU Freshman Cohort

Non-Freshmen On-Campus Cohort and/or Off-Campus Cohort

 

 

 

5.  The following three pages cover general findings of this study based on both year by year trends and multi-year averages, with exceptions noted. As these exceptions highlight, year by year trends and multi-year averages do not always support consistent conclusions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                   

 

                                      In a Five Year Average…

 

·        FC and Greek Cohorts have equal 1st year retention rates.

  Trend Exception: Greek has a higher 1st year retention rate for 3 out of 5 years.

 

·        FC and Greek Cohorts are retained at higher rates than the All NAU Cohort.

          Trend Exception: Greek retained at lower rates than All NAU 2

            out of 5 years.

 

·        FC and Greek Cohorts are retained at higher rates than the Non-Freshmen On-Campus and Off-Campus Cohorts.

          Trend Exception: Greek retained at lower rates 1 out of 5 years.

 

·        Non-Freshmen On-Campus Cohort is retained at higher rates than the Off-Campus Cohort.

          Trend Exception: Non-Freshmen On-Campus retained at lower rates 2

            out of 5 years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                   

 

                             In a Five Year Average…

 

·        FC Cohort 2nd year retention is higher than all other cohorts.

Trend Exception: Greek is either equal to FC or has a higher rate of 2nd year retention 2 out of 4 years.

 

·        All NAU Cohort is retained at higher rates than the Greek Cohort.

             Trend Exception: Each is higher than the other 2 out of 4 years.

 

·        FC and Greek Cohorts are retained at higher rates than the Non-Freshmen On-Campus and Off-Campus Cohorts.

Trend Exception: Greek retained at lower rates 1 out of 4 years.

 

·        Non-Freshmen On-Campus Cohort is retained at higher rates than the Off-Campus Cohort.

             Trend Exception: Non-Freshmen On-Campus retained at lower rates 1 out of 4 years.           

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                               

 

                                  In a Four Year Average…

 

·        Greek Cohort 3rd year retention rate is higher than all others.

        Trend Exception: FC has a higher rate of retention 1 out of 4 years.

 

·        FC and Greek Cohorts are retained at higher rates than the All NAU Cohort.

 

·        FC and Greek Cohorts are retained at higher rates than the Non-Freshmen On-Campus and Off-Campus Cohorts.

 

·        Off-Campus Cohort 3rd year retention is higher than the Non-Freshmen On-Campus Cohort.

       Trend Exception: Off-Campus has a lower rate of retention 1 out of 4 years.

 

 

 

 

 

GRADUATION RATES

 

 

 

 

 

Emerging Trends:

 

Living on campus = higher graduation rates:

Students who live on campus their freshman year graduate at higher rates than off-campus students.

 

FC or Greek On-Campus Cohorts = highest grad rates:

Students who live in an FC hall or Mt. View their freshmen year tend to graduate at higher rates than all other students.

·        1999 Greek Cohort graduated at higher rates than all other cohorts; 1999 FC Cohort graduated at equal or higher rates than all other cohorts (except Greek)

 

·        2000 FC Cohort graduated at higher rates than all other cohorts

 

For detailed graduation numbers, please see Appendix C.

 

 

Recommendations for Action

 

Office of Residence Life in Collaboration with Other Campus Resources

·        Intervene with freshmen who live off-campus:

1. Invite off-campus freshmen to freshman hall programming

2. Recruit those freshmen living off-campus in fall to live on-campus in spring—recruit only or focus on those off campus students who are not from Flag or surrounding areas.

3. As a division, develop an off-campus/commuter student resource office

 

·        Intervene with freshmen living in halls not designated for freshmen (upper division halls, apartments, and family housing):

            1. Further promote freshman programming to non-freshman halls

2. Continue direct contact with freshmen living in non-freshman halls to assess and help meet their needs

 

·        Articulate survey data with retention data:

1. Continue to review Freshman Connections Resident Assistants’ evaluations and Quality of Life data for high areas of dissatisfaction and satisfaction and use to improve programming to freshmen across campus

2. Examine retention and Residence Life survey data for co-occurrence of areas of high satisfaction and persistence, as well as low areas of satisfaction and attrition

3. Examine retention and NAU survey (CIRP and CSI) data for co-occurrence of certain variables and persistence, as well as certain variables and attrition

 

·        Inform Office of Residence Life marketing and recruitment efforts

1. Determine which prospective students have applied to NAU but not to housing, and recruit to live on using data from this study

2. Continue to promote FC and Greek Cohorts’ success at Previews

3. Continue to include article in “The Insider” that specifically promotes freshman programming offered in the halls

4. Include retention and graduation results in housing reapplication materials

5. Promote retention and graduation results in Greek Life brochures

6. Utilize results in a social norms campaign

 

·        Disseminate information across campus

1.      Share report data with Office of Admissions for use in off-campus recruitment and for On-Campus Information Days with parents and prospective students

2.      Partner with Multicultural Student Center and Native American Support Services to identify on-campus ethnic minority groups with lower retention rates (particularly non-STAR students), who may benefit from specific interventions/programming

3.      Continue to participate in NAU Assessment Fair to broadly share information with administrators, faculty, staff, and students

4.      Promote graduation numbers to sophomores, as this class tends to move off campus at higher rates than other academic levels

 

 

 

Appendices

 

Appendix A

 

Official First-Time, Full-Time Freshmen:

 

1. Must be an official student – selection criteria include:

·        Be enrolled in classes at NAU as of the 21st day of the semester

·        Not have been dropped from classes due to non-payment of fees

·        Not have withdrawn from the university

·        Not be enrolled in an outgoing Student Exchange Program, National or International

·        Not be enrolled exclusively in remedial classes

·        Not be an active participant in the World Wide University (WWU) program

·        Not be enrolled exclusively in Arizona Regents University (ARU) courses through Arizona State University or University of Arizona

·        Not be an active participant in the Western Governor’s University (WGU)

·        Meet payment criteria

 

2. Must be Degree Seeking

 

3. Not be concurrently enrolled while still attending High School

 

4. Student’s first semester of attendance at NAU is the fall semester for which the cohort is being created, or the summer semester immediately preceding

 

5. Enrolled for 12 or more hours – remedial, audit, and non-credit courses do not contribute to full-time status

 

6. Transfer less than 12 credit hours to the university OR transfer any number of credit hours to the university if the student’s high school graduation year is the same as the cohort year

 

 

Appendix B

 

 

Appendix C