Friday, February 10, 1-3 p.m., EW205

Reimaging Student Retention: Creating Molehills out of the Mountain

Heather Ferguson, MA, Professor and Coordinator, Academic Upgrading, Sault College

Faculty Professional Development Workshop

Students who are able to adapt to a university atmosphere and become engaged in the academic and social experience are more likely to be successful…to be retained. Yet, colleges and universities continue to struggle to see their students through to graduation. Why? In one brief, yet elusive, answer, we fail to support the students we admit. How can we educators tackle the mountain of retention? By creating manageable molehills within our own classrooms, offices, and departments…all while working together as an institution.

This workshop will provide participants with an opportunity to examine the issues of attrition and retention (institutional culture; student risk factors; student expectation vs. experience) and explore areas for development via common retention strategies and best practices. Participants will take away action items for easy implementation as well as ideas for larger change. Participants should be prepared to share current strategies in use at Algoma University that are aimed at increasing student success and retention.