Otterbein University has seen a 2 percent increase in retention rates this school year.
Retention rates measure the percentage of first-time students who return to the institution to continue their studies the following fall.
"There has been an increase for several reasons," said Kate Lehman, interim assistant dean for student success. "One of our primary strategies is our MAP-Works that helps us identify students that are at risk for leaving Otterbein. We follow up on the students and have them take surveys to tell us how they are doing and see how we can help."
Lehman said that students who are at risk for leaving could be at risk for several reasons, including financial, academic and social reasons.
"Students could be at risk financially and can't afford to pay the full four years. Also, students who may be struggling in class their first quarter are at risk academically because they can't juggle the class work. There are also students who are not feeling connected on campus, who are homesick or are having a hard time living on their own," Lehman said.
Adam Chow, junior health promotion and fitness major, came to Otterbein as a first-time student and left his sophomore year. However, he came back this year to finish his studies at Otterbein.
"I left Otterbein because I wanted my major to be physical therapy and have it written on my degree that way," Chow said. "Soon after I left I realized I had a better life at Otterbein and I missed my friends and the people who actually cared about me. I went through tough times and felt that I had to come back."
According to a study conducted by Mark Schneider, vice president of the American Institutes for Research, a nonpartisan research group in Washington, D.C., Ohio is ranked 17th in the nation for second-year retention rates. In Ohio, 73.3 percent of first-year students continuing at their institution complete their second year.
Even though there has been an increase in retention rates, some departments have experienced a decrease in enrollment.
Lehman said the Department of Communication and the Department of Business, Accounting and Economics have seen a decrease in enrollment.
"I know the communication and business field attract many undecided students who either end up staying in the field or moving elsewhere," said Lehman. "The challenge is that 150 students go in undecided and wherever they go makes the big shifts."
"We think part of the problem may be the economy, because students and parents are always concerned with what jobs are going to be there, and a lot of students are not aware of what a communications degree can give them," said Jeff Demas, an associate professor for the Department of Communication and director of the television station.
Demas added, "We attract several undecided students, and that has been down since we came across the bridge. It's no one's fault, but it does make it more difficult for admissions to get people over here if they are undecided because it adds another half hour to the tour. We have to make sure undecided students know we are here."
The Office of Student Success has several new methods of reaching out to students who are at risk.
"We bring financial aid personnel in and see if we exhausted all options of help. If a student wants to change majors and their current adviser isn't of much help, we try supplemental advising, where a student temporarily switches advisers who are in their field of interest and test it out," said Lehman. "We also have peer students who are willing to help students connect with other students."
The communication department also has several new plans and events coming up to retain more students. "So that's part of our plan: to increase awareness of what this major provides and how important it is," Demas said.
The business department was unavailable for comment.
Chow said that he recommends students to "appreciate what they have."
"No matter where you are, it's what you make of it, and that was my mistake. I didn't appreciate the things around me and didn't take advantage of what I had," Chow said. t&c;
What determines a snow day at Otterbein?
