.png)
Abstract
Student retention has been a subject of great concern in higher education for a long time. Every department of an institution plays a role in student retention and countless angles of the problem have been studied. This study will attempt to discover what information the Registrar can provide to every department of the institution, whether they are academic services or student support, to assist them in their role in student retention. The proposed practical action research study will use a qualitative approach gathering information from students, faculty, academic advisors, and staff using questionnaires, interviews, and focus groups to discover why students do not graduate or return to college to finish their program. Reasons that can be addressed by the Registrar, whether it is directly to the student or indirectly through other staff, faculty, and academic advisors, will be the focus of this study. Possible findings may include greater training on the Student Information System (SIS), ease of availability of data, and/or improvement in communication. The purpose of this study will be to explore how the Registrar can help improve student retention and develop a plan of action for the Registrar to implement at a small Christian college in rural Alberta.
Introduction
There are a significant amount of resources invested in recruiting a new student. At a private institution, the median cost to recruit one student is over $2,100 USD (RNL, 2020). If the student does not return for the second year all that investment has been lost. It is no wonder that student retention is a topic that has been studied since the beginning of higher education and it is a concern for all educational institutions (Aljohani, 2016). Many theories and models have been developed to address this problem but it still remains.
​
Much research has been done on student retention in the areas of student success, financial aid, facilities, sports, academic advising, institutional spending, and more (Dahlvig et al., 2020; Dougherty & Dougherty, 2018; Roberts, 2018). There are a few studies done on the role of the Registrar in student retention and these studies focus on either the SIS (Student Information System) and using it to predict student attrition or they include the Registrar’s Office as part of the whole Student Services area (Aulck et al., 2019; Roberts, 2018; Romine et al., 2018). None of these studies have explored the role of the Registrar in student retention at small Christian colleges in rural Alberta. My study will fill a gap within the broad topic of student retention.
​
The Registrar is in a central position and they have extensive amounts of information available to them. How can the Registrar and the information they collect be used more effectively in the area of student retention? What factors contribute to the drop-out rates? What motivates a student to complete their program? This study will be significant to small college Registrars, academic advisors, faculty, administrative staff, institutional management, and anyone involved in making a student retention plan. The purpose of this qualitative research study will be to explore the role and Office of the Registrar to improve student retention at a small Christian college in rural Alberta.
Literature Review
Student retention has been studied from many different angles to solve the puzzling problem of student attrition with many plans being developed. Aljohani (2016) has researched the latest theories and models of student retention and attrition factors. One model, the student retention integrated model looks at variables like encouragement from friends and family, financial attitude, social integration, academic integration, GPA, institutional commitment, goal commitment, intent to persist, and persistence (Aljohani, 2016). It is a blend of Tinto’s model of institutional departure model and Bean’s student attrition model.
​
Not only are academic services like faculty, faculty loads, programs, majors, and student success important to student retention but student services or professional services play an important role in student satisfaction and retention (Pavlov & Katsamakas, 2020; Roberts, 2018; Romine et al., 2018). Student services are there to support the whole lifecycle of the student and to support the academic services of the institution. The Registrar is responsible for the records and maintains the student information system (SIS) from which data can be used to predict student attrition (Aulck et al., 2019; Romine et al., 2018).
​
There are many areas in the institution that the Registrar is involved in and these studies highlight the areas of involvement but do not mention the role that the Registrar specifically plays in these areas. The Registrar supports both Academic and Student Services. They maintain the SIS with standard types of information like demographics and academic records. The SIS reports statistics and supports auxiliary services. Each of these areas has a role in regard to student retention and is mentioned in all the literature and retention plans but none of them specifically discuss the role of the Registrar. The purpose of my study is to explore how the Registrar can help improve student retention. I will be exploring what information is needed by every department of the institution to support them in their role. My research will be a qualitative action research project with my research site being a small Christian college in rural Alberta. These reasons will make my study different from all the others.
Research Designs and Methods
My study will be a practical action research study where I will suggest strategies to improve the practice in the Registrar’s Office with the desired result of increasing student retention at Prairie College. Significant resources have been invested to recruit each new student and if they do not return for the second year, this investment is lost. Even though the problem of student retention is a campus-wide problem, the focus will be narrowed down to the Office of the Registrar. The best approach for my research is a qualitative approach (Creswell, 2014). I want to discover through interviews and questionnaires why students do not graduate and do not return to college to finish their program. The qualitative method asks open-ended questions to discover what these reasons may be. I will be looking for reasons that can be addressed by the Registrar, whether it is directly to the student or indirectly through other staff, faculty, and academic advisors. A qualitative approach allows me the flexibility to follow the data to where it leads.
​
Creswell (2012) outlines the process for the practical action research study and I will follow this method. The first step is reviewing the literature available and I have discussed that step in the section above. I will continue to seek relevant literature to assist me in what has already been done in student retention. The next step is collecting data. The data I collect will be answers to key questions I ask in one-on-one interviews, focus groups, surveys and questionnaires with students, staff, faculty, and advisors. I will recruit participants from alumni and the current student body and I will endeavour to collect surveys from as many participants as I can. I will interview smaller focus groups of students and to recruit them, I will offer a small incentive for their participation. The staff, faculty, and academic advisors who are equally interested in student retention will be asked to join a focus group. My goal will be to include every academic advisor in the college in this focus group. I will also examine other documents, for example, the records that we have kept in our statistics and our student information system. Before I collect any data, I will design a document that outlines what my research project will be and what the data will be used for. This document will be used to gain permission from the college (Institutional Review Board) to conduct the research and to make sure all participants are fully informed and give their consent. I will protect the identities of my participants by either using pseudonyms or appropriately disguise their identities.
​
Once the data has been collected, the next step will be to analyze and interpret the data. My data analysis plan involves the following six steps Creswell (2014) outlines in this order:
-
I will organize my data. I will transcribe the interviews I have done; surveys that include Likert scales will be tallied and organized; documents from statistics and the student information system will be combined and sorted.
-
I will read and reread my data. This is done so that I will get an overall picture of my data. This allows me to reflect and understand what the participants have said and how the data relates to one another.
-
I will code the data. This is the process of determining what the summarizing idea is of each interview, survey, or document. This can be done by writing keywords that summarize each piece of data and then clustering similar ideas together. There are some pre-determined codes that I will use but I will also leave room for codes that will arise as I read through the data.
-
I will generate descriptions of the setting and the participants. These descriptions are also coded. It will be through this process that I will be able to see what the major themes are and be able to develop a theoretical model.
-
I will discuss the themes and sub-themes that have emerged. I will have descriptive information which may take the form of narrative or illustrations in table format.
-
I will ask myself what the data has revealed. What are the lessons I have learned? Does it match up with what I thought or does it bring up more questions that need to be asked?
After the data analysis is done, the last step in my research plan, according to Creswell (2012), will be to come up with an action plan that I will be able to implement. This step includes a summary of my findings, what action I recommend, what my timeline is, and what resources I will need to implement this action plan. Since my study seeks to discover how the Registrar can improve student retention, I will be the one responsible for the action taken and monitoring the progress of the plan.
Role of the Researcher
I am the researcher of this research project, thus, I am the main instrument in data collection, analysis, and interpretation. I will design all the surveys and questionnaires and facilitate all interviews and focus groups. My role is to ask exploring questions, listen to all the responses, think through the responses, and then ask more questions to get deeper (Simon, 2011). I will develop the action plan, implement it, and monitor the progress of the plan.
​
It will be important for me to disclose all the biases I may have in this project for any reader to evaluate the value of this study. I have worked as the Assistant Registrar at the research site for 17 years and will soon be the Interim Registrar. This is my only professional experience in education. Not only am I an insider at the research site but I am an insider of the country and province of the research site location. I have lived in Alberta for almost all of my life and I am a part of the dominant culture. My undergraduate degree was obtained at the research site and I am working on my master’s degree through this same institution. I have also taken selected graduate studies through another institution in Alberta. All my formal education has been from Christian institutions.
​
I recognize that since I am an insider at the research site I may lean towards certain themes or I may be blind towards others. I may have preconceived notions because I have had informal observations. My research will involve my work setting and this brings a few dangers that I need to be aware of. I will have to guard against these by being mindful of the dangers and by having my data reviewed by my colleagues at the college and friends from outside of the college that has no vested interest.
Ethical Considerations
There are many ethical considerations to be aware of when conducting a research project. Creswell (2014) outlines several things to keep in mind during all stages of a study. My research location will be conducted at Prairie College which is my own “backyard'' and there are a few things that I will need to keep in mind to not breach any ethical boundaries.
Working as the Assistant Registrar, I have a database full of information available to me. I will obtain permission from the Institutional Review Board (IRB) to use this information for a research project (Creswell, 2014). I will prepare a document that will inform all participants what my research project is and how their information will be used so that they can give their consent. This will ensure that they are fully informed and are willing to participate.
​
Prairie is a small college so I will have to use pseudonyms and/or disguise the details to protect my participants’ identity and their confidentiality. I want to ensure that all student participants feel comfortable and safe to share their reasons for not graduating or returning to college without any fear of repercussions. I will use the same strategy to maintain staff and faculty confidentiality and anonymity.
Limitations
One disadvantage of using the qualitative method for this research project will be that it is time-consuming (Creswell, 2014). To study student retention I will have to go through the academic year and into the next academic year to determine what the retention rate will be and what the student drop-out rate will be. That is only one cycle of data, so the data will be limited and this does not allow for comparisons between years. The particular year that I collect data from may be unusual, good or bad, and I may not get reliable data. It would be beneficial to study at least two academic years and/or survey alumni to have more data.
​
Another disadvantage to using the qualitative method will be me (Creswell, 2014). This will be my first research project so I lack experience in research. I have been an insider to the research site for quite a few years and so I may have preconceived notions and not interpret the data correctly. To combat this, it will be beneficial for me to have one or more peers who understand the position of the Registrar and who also understand the environment of higher education to review my findings. This will be helpful for me to determine whether I am understanding the data correctly or if I need to look at it in a different way.
References
Aljohani, Othman. (2016). A comprehensive review of the major studies and theoretical models of student retention in higher
education. Higher Education Studies. 6(2): 1-18. Doi: 10.5539/hes.v6n2p1.
​
Aulck, L., Nambi, D., Velagapudi, N., Blumenstock, J., & West, J. (2019). Mining university registrar records to predict first-year
undergraduate attrition. In International Educational Data Mining Society. International Educational Data Mining Society.
​
Atif, A., Richards, D., & Bilgin, A. (2013, December 4-6). A student retention model: Empirical, theoretical and pragmatic
considerations. Proceedings of the 24th Australasian Conference on Information Systems. Melbourne, Australia
​
Creswell, John W. (2012). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research. (4th ed.).
Pearson.
​
Creswell, John W. (2014). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. (4th ed.). Sage.
​
Dahlvig, Christopher A., Dahlvig, Jolyn E. & Chatriand, Craig M. (2020) Institutional expenditures and student graduation and
retention. Christian Higher Education. 19:5, 352-364, DOI: 10.1080/15363759.2020.1712561
​
Dougherty, K. D., & Dougherty, R. J. (2018). Football, recruitment, and retention at U.S. Christian colleges. Christian Higher
Education. 17(3), 139–150. https://doi.org/10.1080/15363759.2017.1354340
​
Pavlov, O. V., & Katsamakas, E. (2020). Will colleges survive the storm of declining enrollments? A computational model. PLoS ONE,