Volume LXXVI, No. 2 • May –August 2012 Best Practices for Retaining Online Students Special to The Baptist Educator from to the online classroom and lack of student services and support. The Learning House, Inc. • Online classroom: For fully online students, the virtual class - s colleges and universities continue to offer fully online degree room is essentially their collegiate experience. As such, online stu - Aprograms, they become increasingly sophisticated in curriculum dents tend to be more aware of the quality of instruction and development and in the creation of high-quality and well-designed classroom engagement, timeliness of feedback and faculty respon - online courses. siveness to student needs. Fostering a dynamic, interactive online While schools have made much progress in translating tradition - classroom is essential to creating a positive online learning experi - al courses to the online environment, many schools still struggle ence for students. with training and supporting faculty members who teach in this • Student services and support: Student satisfaction extends medium and with efficiently translating student services for online beyond the virtual classroom. Efficient and competent student ser - students, including everything from enrollment management to vices are paramount for students who cannot have face-to-face inter - financial aid to book purchases to advising (and everything else in actions with instructors and staff. Strong institutional between). Reports consistently show a higher attrition rate for online support—including admissions, financial aid and departmental courses than face-to-face courses. In fact, a recent study found offices—is also crucial to successful online programs. dropout rates to be six times higher in online programs. Tactics for Improving Online Retention Why Your Online Students Drop Out Learning House’s Student Retention service focuses on improve - Student attrition is an unavoidable consequence of higher educa - ment at two levels: the institutional level and the student level. At the tion; however, you can limit your online student dropout rate by institutional level, we suggest institutions go through a six-step pro - understanding why most students choose to abandon their college ject plan to identify the gaps at your school and to develop a process education. to monitor and continually improve institutional services and poli - While online students may face similar completion obstacles as cies for online students.) their traditional peers (such as financial constraints, academic preparation and motivation), most retention challenges tend to relate (Continued on page 2) IABCU Annual Meeting Set for June 3-5 in Little Rock, AR he annual meeting and workshops of the International Those administrators invited to the annual meeting and work - TAssociation of Baptist Colleges and Universities is set for June shops include presidents, chief academic officers, financial offi - 3-5, 2012 at the historic downtown Capital Hotel.The newest cers, public relations and marketing officers, development association member, Arkansas Baptist College and President Fitz officers, student affairs officers, denominational relations officers Hill and first lady, Cynthia Hill, will be hosts for the meeting that and others interested in Baptist-related higher education. begins with a plenary session on Sunday afternoon and concludes A spouse tour and luncheon Monday morning through early on Tuesday at noon. The Sunday session opens with the first of afternoon will include visits to the The Little Rock Central High three plenary sessions and the first of two Hester Lectures. Other School Museum, featuring the civil rights movement in America, workshops and addresses include the annual legal affairs briefing Heifer International, and the Clinton Museum and Library. by attorneys Jim Guenther and James Jordan and numerous other The annual Bob Agee golf outing is scheduled for Tuesday workshop sessions. afternoon following the annual meeting at the Golf Club of Hester lecturers are Douglas Jacobsen and Rhonda Hustedt Arkansas in Maumelle. Jacobsen, both authors and professors at Messiah College in To register for the conference and to make hotel reserva - Grantham, PA. They will be presenting the two lectures on topics tions (reduced rate of $139 per night plus fees guaranteed related to religion in higher education. through May 14) go to the IABCU website at: A campus tour, reception and banquet will be held Monday <www.baptistschools.org>. A detailed copy of the program can evening on the Arkansas Baptist College campus. be viewed on the website. I Contents 1 Best Practices for Retaining Online Students 1 IABCU Annual Meeting and Workshops Set for June 3-5, 2012 Be 3 Comment transformed of your 4 William Carey’s Integrated by the Christian Vision renewing mind 13 Gifts and Grants Challenging Times Call for Transformational Leaders 14 Legal Notes Earn a Doctorate in Higher Education at Union University. You will find: 16 Names and Faces An engaging program of study with real world challenges Convenient online and campus-based courses Personal, quality education in a nationally honored learning community Space is limited. Please call 731.661.5374. www.uu.edu/edd | Jackson, TN Vol. LXXVI, No. 2 EXCELLENCE-DRIVEN | CHRIST-CENTERED | PEOPLE-FOCUSED | FUTURE-DIRECTED May-August 2012 (Continued from page 1) Publisher: Michael Arrington, Retaining Online Students... Executive Director, IABCU Six-Step Project Plan for Institutional The Role of a Success Coach Managing Editor: Tim Fields, Improvement Success coaches provide intentional, Associate Director, IABCU Step 1: Define the Problem . Review consistent contact with students, acting as The Baptist Educator (ISSN 0038-3848) is a your institution’s retention data, along with their academic advocate and resource. A news magazine published three times a year for benchmarks at peer institutions. success coach should: administrators, faculty, staff, trustees and friends Step 2: Review your Mission. Review • Assess students’ profiles, including: of member schools by the International your mission and culture and how they —Determine students’ commitment in Association of Baptist Colleges and Universities. relate to retention activities. terms of institutional, psychological, social, POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: International Association of Baptist Colleges Step 3: Think like a student. Evaluate academic and financial needs. and Universities all campus services as an online student. —Determine students’ strengths and 8120 Sawyer Brown Road, Suite 108 Chart every department that “touches” weaknesses. Nashville, TN 37221-1410 online students. —Determine students’ expectations as Send news items to: Step 4: Evaluate current initiatives. Are an online student. Tim Fields, managing editor your services (including advising, career • Identify “at-risk” students at the earli - The Baptist Educator placement, student affairs, etc.) for online est signs of retention obstacles and chal - E-mail: [email protected] 8120 Sawyer Brown Road, Suite 108 students working together to communicate lenges. Success coaches should also alert Nashville, TN 37221-1410 the same messages? faculty members and the retention network Phone: (615) 673-1896 Step 5: Organize and implement. Form in this situation. An annual subscription to The Baptist Educator a working group to focus and monitor cam - • Provide continual support of students’ is $9.00. pus-wide support for online students. academic and professional goals by doing “Legal Notes” is designed to provide accurate and Step 6: Evaluate. Which tactics work the following: authoritative information on legal issues facing and which ones do not? How can you —Proactively communicate with stu - Baptist-related higher education. It is provided improve the process? Are new issues dents, keeping an eye out for early alerts with the understanding that the publisher and edi - impacting retention? and indications. tors are not engaged in rendering legal counsel. “Legal Notes” is not intended as a substitute for the At the student level, success coaching —Provide early intervention by imple - services of a legal professional. If your institution has proven effective in helping students menting intrusive, proactive strategies. needs legal counsel, a competent attorney should reach their educational goals, which assists be consulted. in retention. 2 The Baptist Educator Comment: An Historic IABCU Annual Meeting By Michael Arrington, Executive Director, International Association of Baptist Colleges and Universities he IABCU Board of Directors and the IABCU staff encour - Arkansas, most notably when my family traveled in other states. Tage every member institution to send representatives to the It was common for people to see our license plate and shout 2012 IABCU Conference June 3-5 in Little Rock, Arkansas. The derogatory comments at the “backward Arkies.” I loved my host institution is Arkansas Baptist home state, but I also recognized that it had a negative national College, the first historically Black image. College/University to join IABCU. The Arkansas Baptist College, founded in 1884 by former slaves meeting venue is the historic and beauti - and white supporters, is located only a few blocks from both ful Capital Hotel in downtown Little Little Rock Central High School and the Clinton Presidential Rock. Library. It would have been unimaginable in the 1950s for the IABCU conference attendees consis - IABCU (formerly