Increasing Success: Strategies to Address Factors Affecting Student Retention from First to Second Year at a Canadian, Undergraduate, Liberal Arts University

As demographics shift, student retention and attrition rates are increasingly becoming of greater concern to the overall viability and longevity of post-secondary institutions. This Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) examines some of the challenges faced by a small, liberal arts, faith-based university in southern Ontario which, in recent years, have impacted its enrolment and retention from first to second year. With some of the probable challenges identified, the study provides a strategy for guiding institutional change and possible solutions which may aid in the encouragement and support of continued enrolment from those students who would normally be at risk for withdrawing. Using existing public institutional data on enrolment and student services, as well as data from various federal and provincial government bodies, the case for this institution’s declining enrolments and its organizational impact is illustrated. Based on these findings, an examination and application of theories of educational leadership and frameworks for organizational change is discussed. Creating institutional awareness and a sense of urgency of the situation will permit suggestions and potential implementation of an improvement plan which considers best practices and proven methods from other comparable institutions that may positively affect retention at this university.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Education

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Education

Year dc:date.issued

2017

Author dc:creator

• Cunningham, Tracy L.A.

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Brook, Paula
• Beynon, Carol
• Leschied, Alan
• Suderman, Jeff

• student retention
• first-year
• change
• improvement
• best practices

Language dc:language.iso

en_ca

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14721/26303

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:uwo.scholaris.ca:20.500.14721/26303