This study provides a template for and impact from an Asset, Capacity-Based (Altschuld, 2015) needs assessment focused on undergraduate student success. The purpose of this study is: (1) to provide a template and foundation for institutions to follow in gaining a depth of understanding of student needs and assets, as well as institutional…

Students with disabilities are enrolling in colleges and universities at increasing rates, but not completing degrees with comparable success as their peers. First Year Seminars (FYS) are commonly employed by colleges and universities to address retention, strengthen connections between the student and the institution, and enhance the likelihood…

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore second year college students' experiences with academic support programs and their personal academic coping strategies. The research questions were designed to collect data regarding the experiences with academic support programs of U.S. Midwest public college students who were continuously…

Using research focused on best practices, focus group information, and data analytics, the Title V: Focus on Student Success (FOSS) Grant created a model for the development, implementation, and evaluation of a summer bridge program. Results included increased academic performance indicators in first-year Hispanic college students. Validation for…

Summer bridge programs support post-secondary success by providing intensive, short-term academic and social resources while introducing college expectations and the cultural contexts of the institution. They typically are offered in the summer between high school graduation and the first term of college and vary in content, program size and…

This article describes the implementation of a program undergirded by the theme of faculty and staff supports that physically brings advising to the point of instruction. Research shows that establishing a strong institutional connection with students improves retention, persistence, and success. What better way to do this than take advising into…

Multiple initiatives have been launched to try to widen the pipeline for women to enter engineering careers, including reviews of gender differences in enrollment in technology and pre-engineering courses from middle school through doctoral degrees. National agencies have also studied some of the social and cultural forces at play with regard to…

In 1997 the British Columbia Open University (BCOU) adopted a virtualization strategy based primarily on twinning off-line independent study distance education courses (textbook-based with study guide and telephone and e-mail tutor support) with alternate online versions (textbook-based with integrated conferencing and communications provided…

Previous research and retention interventions have been primarily targeted towards the freshmen, first-year experience (Gardner, Pattengale, & Schreiner, 2000; Pattengale & Schreiner, 2000) and yet, sophomores are a uniquely vulnerable group with increasing levels of dissatisfaction and attrition (Boivin, Fountain, & Baylis, 2000).This article…

The paper will present findings from a Social Science and Humanities Research (SSHRC) funded participatory evaluation conducted over the past four years in the Cree nation of Wemindji in Quebec, Canada. COOL (Challenging Our Own Limits) or "Nigawchiisuun" in Cree, was launched in 2003 as part of a broader program of governance…

Evaluation can provide the assessment information for considering program change as well as be integral to the program design and pilot test of any new institutional intervention. (Contains 4 tables.)

The design and features of a model minority retention program are discussed. Components of successful retention programs include: commitment to attract and retain minority students, ongoing sessions to sensitize the campus community to minority students, academic involvement, tenured minority faculty and staff, support services, and minority…

In spring 1992, a group of faculty and staff at East Central College (ECC) in Union, Missouri, met to reconsider the school's orientation process, which had had limited success since its inception in 1987. The group developed a list of objectives for the orientation process and grouped them under the headings of skills, awareness, involvement, and…

Ways to initiate or improve allied health education activities are discussed to assist faculty and administrators in colleges or universities that enroll significant numbers of minority students. The information was developed as part of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities' (AASCU) Minority Allied Health Project, which…

An overview of the development and evaluation of an early alert procedure for identifying and assisting students experiencing academic difficulty at Irvine Valley College (IVC), in California, is provided in this report. The first section introduces IVC's new personal computer-based Early Alert Retention System (EARS) software, as well as the…