Talking Stick - March/April 2013 - 39

engagement. In a paper outlining
the central concepts and principles
related to student retention, Edward
Anderson and William McGuire
identify the lack of student engagement
as a critical factor. Most students who
fail to graduate from college are not
dismissed by the institution, they say.
“More students leave college because
of disillusionment, discouragement,
and reduced motivation than because
of lack of ability.” So how do colleges
and universities quickly identify those
students at the highest risk of being
added to the dropout statistics? What
can be done to engage them?
Students are most vulnerable to
falling through the cracks in their first
year on campus, a stressful transitional
period when they must develop new
support systems to replace the ones
developed with family and friends
over many years. Many students leave
college because they have problems
with this adjustment and are unable to
feel connected or to make new friends,
or they feel uncomfortable with their
living arrangements or experience
roommate problems. Students who
excel at academics but fail to become
socially involved and develop support
groups are more likely to drop out
of college. Very few leave because
they are failing academically. This
is where housing and residence life
can contribute the most, by providing
the kind of support services and
programming that help to engage
students and make them feel connected
to both the residential community and
the institution.
Retaining students in their
second year is crucial to balancing
an institution’s investment of time,
personnel, and support services in
that first year, when many layers of
administration and staff are put in
place to help students succeed. Student
affairs and enrollment management
operations are heavily staffed to
strengthen student engagement
and ensure success outside of the
classroom, and most institutions create

opportunities for students to engage
(e.g., student activities, intramurals,
athletics) and to receive support (e.g.,
career services, counseling, diversity
centers, residential life, health services).
Recognizing the importance of
engagement in student retention, many
higher education institutions have
made a concerted effort to improve
their outreach and support services.
According to ACT’s fourth national
survey of retention strategies in public
four-year colleges and universities,
the most common practices included

not only those related to academics
(tutoring and internships) but also
those related to student engagement
(sponsored social activities and advising
interventions for selected student
populations). In addition, providing
opportunities for learning outside the
classroom in residence hall programs
was listed by 88 percent of the 258
responding institutions. The practices
identified as making the greatest
contribution to retention included
not only academic practices such as
tutoring and supplemental instruction,

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Talking Stick - March/April 2013

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