Transfer Student Attrition and Retention at Point Loma ：转学生磨损和保持在Point oma

1、transfer student attrition and retention at point loma nazarene universityby jovonne m. dempster soon to be ba in may 2007point loma nazarene universitysan diego, californiawho am i?jovonne m. dempster21 year old female industrial organizational psychology majorfirst generation college graduateminor

2、ity studenthonors studentformer transfer studentmy transfer storycollege journey:lhigh school graduate class of 2003lazusa pacific university for fall 2003lmira costa community college for spring 2004lpoint loma nazarene university for fall 2004graduation= spring 2007point loma nazarene universitylf

3、ounded in 1902 by phineas f. bresee (usc board of trustees member)lprivate & liberal arts university lsponsored by the church of the nazarene laccredited by the western association with schools and colleges (wasc)l2400 undergraduate studentspoint loma nazarene university“to teach to shape to sen

4、d”mission statementpoint loma nazarene university exists to provide higher education in a vital christian community where minds are engaged and challenged, character is modeled and formed, and service becomes an expression of faith. being of wesleyan heritage, we aspire to be a learning community wh

5、ere grace is foundational, truth is pursued, and holiness is a way of life.a view from point loma nazarene universityoverviewlconnection to transfer studentslpoint loma nazarene university transfer student retentionlreview of the literaturelgaps in the literaturelfall 2006 transfer orientationlquote

6、s from student participantslresults of post-orientation assessmentlfall to spring retentionlspring 2007 orientationlquotes from student participantsoverview continuedlnext steplfuture suggestions for point loma nazarene universitys transfer programlquestion and answer sessionready? lets dive right i

7、nto it!why me?lnso transfer student panellconnection with student developmentlhired to research and designlsenior honors projectplnu transfer retentionltransfer students enter the university at different classifications, freshman to senior.l85% of transfers are sophomores or juniorslexpected time of

8、 completion vary within the different classifications, depending on the # of units they come in with.plnu transfer retentionlthe university began creating cohorts of transfer students, identified by entering year and classification, in the fall of 2001-2002.lcurrently the data is only available for

9、four years on the first cohort year, limiting current reporting on transfer students. plnu transfer retentionpreliminary themes:junior transfers have a 85% graduation ratefreshman or sophomore transfer have a 65% graduation ratevs.overall 6 year grad rate for first time freshman is 68%review of the

10、literaturethe fact of the matter islrecent information on college enrollment trends indicated that higher education experienced a rapid growth of transfer students in the last decade (united states department of education, 2001).lsignificant portion of the college population attend more than one col

11、lege. (townsend, 2001) lduring some portion of their college careers, approximately 1/3 of college seniors have transferred (jacobs, 2006)review of the literaturetransfer students are often labeled as: lnot wanting to engage in the campus life of their new institution (astin, 1982)lconcerned only wi

12、th their academic course requirements, being academically unprepared for the demands of four-year institutions (keeley & house, 1993; laanan, 1999; townsend, 1994)lnot needing assistance in their transition because they have already experienced college life on at least one other campus (beckenst

13、ein, 1992).review of the literaturewhy do students transfer colleges?lpursue further educationlacademic difficultyldissatisfactionllack of institutional fitlfinancial difficultieslcareer changelcrisislrelocation(harrison & varcol, 1984)review of the literature“transfer student hassles: investiga

14、tion and remediation” by alice a. mitchell and william e. sedlaceksample group consisted of junior criminal justice & government students. students were given a questionnaire that asked them questions about their concerns and about their attitudes toward their transfer process.the three highest

15、hassles for transfer students were: (1) determining which advisor is appropriate for particular questions(2) receiving adequate information about sources of scholarships(3) learning which courses will count toward requirements. review of the literaturethe three lowest hassles reported by transfer st

16、udents were: (1) getting information about appropriate procedures for applying for graduation(2) finding out the procedure to change ones major(3) getting unofficial copies of ones transcript.review of the literaturecharacteristics of transfer students:laware of some institution expectationslexpect

17、some services as at prior institutionlwhen compared to freshman are more mature and understand rulesloverly confidentlpossess a predetermined biaslcome with developed interest in academics and out of class activitiesldeveloped better social skillslsense isolation and often skip orientation programsl

18、show less enthusiasmldisplay false sense of security(horne & kreusch, 1989)review of the literaturerelatively well-established research in the united states has identified a range of student and institutional issues related to the transfer experience. l“transfer shock” (carlan & byxbe, 2000;

19、 cjeda, 1997; fredrickson, 1998; glass & harrington, 2002; laanan, 2001; rhine, milligan & nelson, 2000), l“transfer shock has been coined to denote the lowered performance of transfer students, in comparison to pre-transfer performance (holahan et al., 1983) lstudent withdrawal rates (minea

20、r, 1998 in d.s. peterman, 2002; van middlesworth, carpenter-davis & mccool, 2002)lstudent perceptions of the cultural differences between college and university (davies & dickmann, 1998) linstitutional remedies to enhance the success of transfer students (rhine, milligan & nelson, 2000)r

21、eview of the literaturesome more important information to know about transfer students:lkelley (1982) observed that transfer students awareness of themselves as a unique group was important in predicting transfer student expectations of academic success.lbean and metzner (1985) suggested that admini

22、strators and faculty need to better understand transfer students on their respective college campuses.lstudying transfer students upon their entry into their new institution provides an opportunity for researchers to study a group of students who are still committed to completing a college degree (t

23、into, 1993)lassessing the goals, attitudes, academic behaviors, and intentions of transfer students allows for a better understanding of the college retention process for transfer students. (laanan, 1996)review of the literaturesome more important infolvolkwein, king & terenzini (1986) note that

24、 interaction with faculty can be critical in helping to develop the cognitive skills of transfer students. (johnson, 1987)lbetter understanding how this theme relates to success by using non-cognitive variables (a positive self-concept, availability of a strong support person, importance of communit

25、y, long-range goals, leadership skills, and understanding how to negotiate a diverse environment) will help to gauge transfer students talents and potential to succeed in college (wawrzynski & sedlacek, 2003)review of the literaturethe final piece of literaturewrenn (1967, in feldman, sedlacek,

26、& wright, 1977) wrote: “transfers are freshmen in every sense of the word except for a few more years of general maturity and some additional academic content gathered elsewhere.gaps in the literaturemain areas the literature failed to give any insightlcritical window of engagement for transfer

27、studentslsmall college/university datallack of intensive transfer student researchgaps in the literaturealthough numbers of transfer students increased over the past decade, research on transfer students has not kept pace with this growing trend. the research on transfer students has been devoted to

28、 comparing transfer students to their first-year student counterparts (miville & sedlacek, 1995) or to students who originated and continued enrollment at the same institution (keeley & house, 1993; townsend, 1994), or grouped students into minority and non-minority transfer students (keeley

29、 & house; laanan, 1999).fall 2006 transfer orientationpre-orientation preparations: ltransfer student needs, orientation, and plnu researchl“welcome to point loma nazarene university” letterfall 2006 transfer orientation1.1.5 hour session dedicated to building social connections and educating tr

30、ansfer students about campus culture2.1.5 hour session dedicated to informing new students about general education requirements, academic standings, and academic advising3.pre-engagement piece:- strengths quest group- reading discussion group4.3 week engagement piece- week 1: transfer student dinner

31、- week 2: “check in” email- week 3: “send off” emailfall 2006 transfer orientation“10 tips for transfer success at point loma nazarene university”by: jovonne m. dempster1.“get acquainted with your academic department”2.“build a relationship with your advisor”3.“create social, academic, and spiritual

32、 network of friends”4.“dive into plnus culture”5.“focus your time”6.“set goals, and follow them”7.“have fun (its college after all!)”8.“be aggressive and proactive”9.“keep on your game”10.“dont be afraid to question”fall 2006 transfer orientationintervention:sophomore and junior residents met at the

33、 residence director of nease halls, a freshman/sophomore dormitory, apartment for dinner and a debriefing about their semester before thanksgiving breakquotes from student participants“going into any new school half way through the year can be intimidating at first. but for me, coming from a large p

34、ublic university in alabama to plnu was a very comfortable transition. i was made to feel like i was a part of the student body and not just as a number as i did at my previous institution. i knew that i made the right decision to transfer to plnu!”michelle jaimerenafall 2006 sophomore transferquote

35、s from student participants“at the transfer luncheon, there were 3 people that i sat with and got to know. of those 3 i am still really close to 2 of them. one of the girls actually became my best friend here at point loma and i dont think we would have ever met if it wasnt for the transfer luncheon

36、. in addition to the luncheon, i believe the dinner that we had a week or so after nso was also very important. it gave us a break from the hundreds of people we were meeting in the first week and then allowed us to recall those that we have seen around campus and really be able to attach a name to

37、their faces.for the future, i think it would be a good idea to maybe do a couple more of those dinners throughout the semester and really allow time for transfers to develop a stronger relationship with other transfers in case they arent enjoying the people they were forced to live with”whitney cauz

38、zafall 2006 juniorresults of post-orientation assessmentwhat type of institution did you transfer from?2-year institution= 69%trade school= 0%4-year public= 19%4-year private= 12%other= 0%what is the reason for transferring to point loma nazarene university?major, location, size20%nursing program16%community & atmosphere14.67%degree14.67%christian education12%religious affiliation5.33%better school5.33%peer/family influence4%weather4%n/a4%athletics2.67%fall to spring retention?fall spring first time freshman retention rate of 86% (last couple