%0 Conference Paper
%A Latifah Abdol Latif, 
%A Sungsri, Sumalee 
%A Ramli Bahroom, 
%A Open University Malaysia (OUM),
%B The 22nd AAOU Annual Conference. “The New Development, New Trends and New Missions of Open and Distance Education in Asia and the World”.
%C Tianjin, China,
%D 2008
%F library_repository:88
%K Open University Malaysia (OUM) ; Best practices in managing retention.. ; Thammathirat Open University (STOU).
%T Managing retention in ODL institutions : a case study on Open University Malaysia and Sukotai Thammathirat Open University
%U https://library.oum.edu.my/repository/88/
%X Retaining learners has always been an ongoing challenge in an ODL institution  worldwide. This is no exception to Open University Malaysia (OUM) and Sukothai  Thammathirat Open University (STOU). In both institutions it was found that the attrition  rate is highest in the early part of their study, mainly in the first semester or year. The  overall retention rate of OUM is between 65-70% while in STOU is between 50-60%.  This represents a huge loss in revenue to the institutions concerned as well as a lost  opportunity to learners in terms of upgrading their level of personal and career  development and achievement. In response to this challenge, both OUM and STOU have  undertaken various interventions to mitigate this early attrition problem. This paper seeks  to compare and contrast the major retention inititives at both institutions with a view to  learn from each other’s experience. The reasons for learner drop-outs in both institutions  may be similar, however, the strategies and action plans formulated by each institution  may differ. It would be interesting to determine the underlying rationale why such  strategies were adopted. The outcome of this collaborative study will enable each  institution to adapt and adopt best practices in managing retention. (Authors' abstract)