Retention has been indicated as one of the greatest weaknesses in online instruction. While a preponderance of literature about online instruction is available, concrete ideas about how to retain students are lacking. A DHHS grant for over one million dollars made it possible for the Wright State University College of Nursing and Health (Dayton, Ohio) to provide an Internet option enabling registered nurses to obtain a bachelor's degree. Now in the third year of the program the College has maintained an excellent retention rate ranging from 85 to 93%. Factors found to positively influence retention included: enhancing the comfort level of students with the technology, creating a sensitive online faculty persona generating trust in the environment, and addressing safety and security needs to support highly interactive experiences. These strategies promoted the development of relationships with "classroom" colleagues and fostered linkages necessary for students to remain connected to the learning experiences and continue to degree completion. (Abstract authors)

This report presents the findings for private four-year colleges that participated in ACT's 2010 What Works in Student Retention survey. The report contains information pertinent to only these institutions. Appended are: (1) Data for Private Four-Year Colleges and Universities; and (2) What Works in Student Retention

Open and distance learning (ODL) provides unique challenges for student retention and course completion. In an increasingly competitive educational environment, measures such as retention and completion form the basis for the evaluation of institutional and student performance. Information and Library Studies (ILS) faculty at the Open Polytechnic achieve and maintain consistently high retention and completion rates across their faculty-taught ODL courses. This research documents the development and application of strategies that contribute to these high success rates.

Information and Library Studies faculty, through a framework of action research, undertook an analysis of implementation strategies designed to support student retention and completion. This framework provided a methodological foundation for focus-group discussion. The faculty evaluated and disseminated the strategies derived from these focus-group discussions across other ILS courses in an iterative process of application and analysis.

Strategies for retention and completion in this research are discussed in the context of course selection, orientation, layered support, communication between students and faculty, support between student and faculty, social interaction, and community building in an ODL environment. (Authors' abstract)

Issues of retention and student success are now topics of great interest. Governmentand the HE sector have woken up to the implications for public finance and equityof students not completing their studies. Core reading for policy makers, higher education managers, and lecturers.

Student retention in open and distance learning (ODL) is comparatively poor to traditional education and, in some contexts, embarrassingly low. Literature on the subject of student retention in ODL indicates that even when interventions are designed and undertaken to improve student retention, they tend to fall short. Moreover, this area has not been well researched. The main aim of our research, therefore, is to better understand and measure students' attitudes and perceptions towards the effectiveness of mobile learning. Our hope is to determine how this technology can be optimally used to improve student retention at Bachelor of Science programmes at Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) in India. For our research, we used a survey. Results of this survey clearly indicate that offering mobile learning could be one method improving retention of BSc students, by enhancing their teaching/ learning and improving the efficacy of IGNOU's existing student support system. The biggest advantage of this technology is that it can be used anywhere, anytime. Moreover, as mobile phone usage in India explodes, it offers IGNOU easy access to a larger number of learners. This study is intended to help inform those who are seeking to adopt mobile learning systems with the aim of improving communication and enriching students' learning experiences in their ODL institutions. (Contains 3 tables and 2 figures.)

Student retention has become a key issue for all further and higher education institutions and is a major concern among those involved in online learning courses where retention rates are often even poorer than those for traditional campus-based courses. There is increasing recognition that student retention is the responsibility of the actual institutions running the courses, and that it is within their power to encourage sustained participation without compromising academic standards.
In this book, Ormond Simpson provides a clear, accessible analysis of what works and at what cost. He outlines strategies for increasing retention, providing useful case studies and examples to illustrate how these strategies can change institutional policy and practice. Areas covered include:
* Who drops out and why
* Integration
* Reclamation
* 'Retentioneering' an institution
* Recruitment and retention
* Course design.

Improving Student Retention in Higher Education provides a practical, curriculum-based response to the current situation in higher education, where participating students emanate from a range of backgrounds; international and lower socioeconomic backgrounds, mature aged students, students with disabilities as well as those for whom higher education is the first family experience.

Underpinned by research indicating that students are more likely to continue with higher education if they are engaged in their studies and have developed networks and relationships with their fellow students, this book presents best practice examples of innovative and inclusive curriculum, from a range of countries.

There is increasing interest in student retention in open and distance learning. This article looks at the role of proactive interventions from the institution to its students and discusses concepts such as the maximum possible increases in retention and issues such as who to target for intervention, the different types of retention possible and which media to use. It surveys the evidence for the effectiveness of such interventions both in and outside the UK Open University (UKOU) and concludes that in the case of the UKOU there are clear financial benefits to the institution, the individual and the UKOU's funding agency, the UK Government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR].

Academic counsellors or tutors are engaged as a link between learners and distance teaching institutions. They perform various roles such as facilitating learning of subject matter content, assessing assignments, providing motivation and encouragement, and supervising research/term papers/project work. Each of these roles requires specific competencies to enable them to perform satisfactorily. This paper identifies the roles performed by academic counsellors at the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) and the competencies required for each role. It also provides a generic list of competencies required to perform as an academic counsellor. Based on self-rating of the competency of a group of academic counsellors, the paper recommends the training of academic counsellors and the development of distance teaching materials for use in competence-building. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR].