Tash Mahnokaren
Staff Writer
The student retention rate at Idaho State University has improved by 6 percent this past year alone, according to Vincent Miller, director of institutional research at ISU.
“We are encouraged by the increase in retention rates and we are still working on finding additional ways to improve retention,” said Margaret Johnson, associate vice president for academic affairs at ISU.
One of the contributing factors, according to Johnson, is that the university is getting students who are better prepared for a college education.
To make the attainment of a degree less intimidating, the university has decreased the credit requirements from 128 to 120 credits.
“A part of that process is making a degree more manageable” said Johnson. “A lot of our departments’ programs over the past three to four years have been working to streamline their programs.”
Departments are reassessing their programs to better tailor them to the needs of students.
“All of these things have made the programs tighter and the students coming in a little stronger,” said Johnson.
It is increasingly becoming common for students to take fewer credits and be enrolled as part-time students. According to Johnson, however, studies have been done on retention showing that the more time students spend in college, the less likely they are to graduate.
The Central Academic Advising office now makes it part of its process to encourage students to take at least 15 credits per semester to help students obtain their degrees in four years.
Students who take fewer credits and are in school longer can become overwhelmed when assessing where they are in regards to being on pace to graduate.
“If progress is slow, it is hard to see,” said Johnson.
The Idaho State Board of Education has also been emphasizing a remediation reform project to decrease the amount of remedial coursework that students engage in across universities in Idaho.
Departments are looking to create remedial coursework that is built into credit-bearing courses with the supplementation of basic coursework.
Through the various resources on campus, such as Central Academic Advising, freshman orientation programs and early registration, the university is able to work closely with students to steer them in the right path toward a four-year completion goal for their degrees.
According to the Idaho State Board of Education, the retention rates of ISU from the period between 2005 and 2010 were higher than Boise State University and the University of Idaho.
Graduation rates for ISU, however, tend to be significantly lower than the University of Idaho and comparable to Boise State University. The part-time student rate has not added to the retention increase.
“The part-time rate has stayed the same approximately from year to year,” said Miller.
A key in continuing to improve the ISU retention rate will be a continued emphasis on proper course scheduling for students.
“It is ultimately through good advising,” said Johnson.
For the 2013-2014 academic year at ISU, the Emissary program was introduced. This group helped lead orientation and monthly events held throughout the year in spirit of the new First Year Experience program.
The hope is for the success of the program to continue forward and be reflected in positive trends with the ISU retention rate.
