Drake University maintains a consistently high one-year retention rate for entering first-year students. Over the past four years, the one-year retention rate averaged 88%. While the overall one-year retention rate is high, there are several student groups that experience lower retention rates. The faculty proactive advising project will implement and assess the practice of proactive advising to support success for identified populations of students at Drake in order to improve retention rates for those populations.
The proactive advising project is entering its fifth year, and so far, nearly 40 faculty have participated in the project and about 400 students have been served. Previous faculty participants strongly supported continuing the project. Advisors who used proactive advising strategies had positive impacts on their students based on the data from an advising survey that is distributed every spring term. First year students who were participants in the proactive advising project were significantly more likely to agree that their advisor knew them well and had positively impacted their Drake experience than first-year students whose advisor was not part of the proactive advising project.
Students will be identified for participation in the project based on analysis of several combined risk factors: high school GPA and ACT score (if available due to test flexible admission), failure to attend Summer Orientation, commuter status, and scores on the non-cognitive factors section of the Foundations of Learning assessment that will be administered at Summer Orientation.
Faculty advisors who participate in this project will have a one-semester commitment that will include:
- Attend one full-day workshop of all participants in the program on Tuesday, May 16 from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
- Work with project coordinator Wade Leuwerke to develop an advising plan for assigned advisees
- Advise 3–5 students identified to participate in the project for Fall 2017 semester
- Submit a final report
- After the first workshop, participants will receive a stipend of $500. After completing the project and submitting a final report, participants will receive an additional $500.
- Optional group meeting and individual consultation and support will be available throughout the project.
Participation will be limited to 10 individuals.
If you are interested in participating, please respond to Sandra Harris (sandra.harris@drake.edu) by Monday, April 17 at 4:30 p.m.