Recruitment & Retention

Do certain personality traits increase students’ chances of success in the online learning environment? It’s an intriguing question that has not received much attention, an oversight that Ben Meredith, director of the Center for Distance Education at Southwestern Oklahoma State University, has sought to remedy.

As a business school dean, I am always looking for ways to get a leg up on the competition; however, in today’s market for recruiting new students, this can be a challenge. According to the U.S. Census Bureau (2012), the percentage of college freshmen indicating business as their probable field of study declined by 35 percent from 1990 to 2010. This decline occurred while the number of four-year institutions climbed by 26 percent from 1990 to 2009.

In order to identify students at risk of dropping out, Sullivan University in Kentucky uses a system that involves faculty-staff collaboration assisted by technology to help flag these students and connect them to the right resources.

Involving faculty in recruitment and retention efforts can be critical to an institution’s success. According to Jennifer Layton McCluskey, associate vice president and director of the Center for Academic Success and First-Year Experience at Maryville University, savvy students and families want to meet the faculty who will be guiding their classroom experience.