S1 - E71 - Finding faculty “Campus Influencers” who support the retention effort (Culture)

Campuses that have great success in increasing their retention and completion rates have faculty who are actively engaged in this student success effort. In fact, there is substantial evidence in the literature that faculty may be the strongest influencers in helping students persist and graduate. And, it is easy to see why, because they spend significantly more time with the students than anyone else on campus. In any given semester, a faculty member may see a student three times a week for an hour for 15 weeks, which is 45 hours in a semester. During that same semester, an academic advisor may meet with that student for one hour or a peer mentor may check in with that student a couple of times.The challenge, however, is that it is nearly impossible to get ALL faculty involved in retaining students. For many, they simply (and maybe rightfully so) do not see it as part of their core job duties. So, rather than getting frustrated or spending an exorbitant amount of time trying to get all faculty involved, we recommend simply working with those faculty who do have a natural interest in the work of retention and completion. Finding this “coalition of the willing” is as simple as asking students who their favorite faculty are or talking with deans and department chairs. Once we have our list of faculty allies, we can work closely with them throughout the school year to help us reach out to students in their majors.A favorite way that we have identified our faculty allies is through an initiative we call “Campus Influencers.” Each spring, just after commencement, we ask all graduating students to complete a survey about their experience at our institution. One of the questions we ask is, “Please tell us the one person on campus who had the greatest influence on you during your time here.” From this exercise we create a Campus Influencer certificate and present it to every individual on campus who was identified by a graduating student. These awards have become coveted on our campus and have been a great way for us to identify faculty (and staff) who are actively engaged in the success of our individual students.

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