Faculty are taking the lead in improving retention at North Carolina’s Southwest Community College, reports the American Association of Community Colleges.
Called Retention Action Committees, or RATs, the organized groups, which began as a cost-cutting measure, were the brainchild of Thom Brooks, vice president of instruction and student learning for the college.
Knowing the college didn’t have the budget to outsource retention efforts, Brooks turned instead to passionate faculty who recognized there was a problem and could identify ways to keep students engaged.
“We really had to roll up our sleeves and start eating the elephant one bite at a time,” Brooks says.
Thirteen small task forces focus on specific goals such as college readiness, data analysis, curriculum mapping and test preparation.
RATs has revived a student success course and made it mandatory for first-year students. After orientation, a new retention alert process warns faculty when students are facing academic or behavioral problems so they can provide support before students drop out.
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