Some Otterbein students will be graduating in a little over a week. Other students will leave Otterbein be transferring to another college or transferring into Otterbein.
Ohio State University and Columbus State Community College are the schools from which Otterbein receives the most transfers and also the schools to which most students transfer. Various factors contribute to the transfers. These include the classes or majors offered and financial factors.
Some students transfer because of classes offered. Shelby Martin transferred to Ohio State during her sophomore year when she changed her major from nursing to anthropology. She wanted to go to a school better equipped for her new major.
Last year Janai Brielle was a freshman at Otterbein, majoring in communication with minors in broadcasting and vocal music. She took a year off school and will attend Ohio State because of more opportunities for her desired major, speech and hearing science, as well as for financial reasons. “Money is also a factor. Ohio State lets me go to school for what I want to do while being able to interact with Otterbein students and the Otterbein environment.”
Jefferson Blackburn-Smith, vice president for enrollment management, said that Otterbein's freshmen retention rate is 76.8 percent. It measures full-time, first-year students who ended their freshman year in May 2012 and started their sophomore year in August 2013. He said Otterbein receives anywhere from 140 to 160 incoming transfers a year, the biggest number coming in the fall.
Megan Sinneway, a senior equine business management major, transferred from University of Dayton for her sophomore year. She visited two friends who are in Otterbein's equine business program, and she liked the major and Otterbein's suburban location.
Blackburn-Smith said Otterbein recently implemented several measures to improve student retention. A mandatory orientation for transfer students was introduced, and Blackburn-Smith said they are improving measurement of low GPA or large balances because these are factors that contribute to transferring to another institution.
A fee payment policy was also introduced. Students will need to have fees fully paid or to be in a payment plan two weeks before the start of classes. The mandatory payment fee is aimed to eliminate late registration for courses.
Blackburn-Smith said he knows those policies could discourage or freeze out some students.
"The point is not to cancel students schedules. The point is to make sure that students have figured out how they plan to pay their bill,” said Blackburn-Smith.
Otterbein has seen a decline in enrollment compared to the previous year. The fewest high school graduates in 10 years have contributed to an undergraduate enrollment shortfall at universities nationwide.
Blackburn-Smith's goal is to analyze how the university serves student with existing policies. "They made sense when they were created but do they make sense today?” Blackburn-Smith said.
One of the key factors that indicates a student may be transferring is the request for a transcript. Blackburn-Smith said seventy-one students have requested a transcript this semester. Requesting a transcript could also indicate the student is taking one or more classes over the summer at another college but does not intend to transfer.
