Case Study Paper

Using the research questions you have developed (please see below), you will turn in a 6 page paper in APA style, 6th ed. Section 1 will be the refined research question and rationale statement. Section 2 will be the literature review where you will summarize the existing literature relevant to your case with a minimum of three headings and 8 reference citations (minimum 5 primary sources). See the rubric for the components to be included in your paper. The case study paper is a defensible thesis that will lead you to making a recommendation to your college in support of utilizing research in making a decision to improve your school/district.

Questions

Today?s students appear to be less prepared, have more emotional baggage, and have a different set of expectations than ever before (Watson, 2006). Watson goes on to state that ?losing students, from an economic standpoint, is just bad business.? Moreover, poor retention rates are magnified at smaller tuition-driven institutions, and are a serious concern that needs to be addressed.

Pillar College is located in New Jersey with campuses in Newark, Somerset and soon to be Paterson. We are an institution that needs to look for innovative ways to improve our retention rates and to do more than just analyze national trends. As a small Christian college with a current student enrollment of 460 students, we need to set realistic retention goals and develop strategies to attain those goals. While these tasks may seem daunting having faced significant student losses following the flooding caused by Hurricane Irene in 2011, there are questions that need to be addressed so we can proceed with the proper steps necessary to move our institution to the next level.

The college?s goal is to have an enrollment of 750 students by the end of 2013. My goal with this program is to develop the tools needed to help guide our institution through the following goal-setting process and help turn these goals into retention strategies that work.

Several questions for colleges and universities to consider when implementing a retention strategy are as follows:
1. How do you define retention/attrition?
2. Do you understand the overall retention problem?
3. What are your student demographics?
4. What are you doing with your data?
5. Who is responsible for retention at your institution?
6. Do you have a five-year enrollment plan?
7. What are your institution?s specific retention problems?
8. What is currently working at your school and can you improve on it?
9. What programs and strategies may be worth considering?
10. What should you stop doing that is impairing your mission?
11. Is there administrative support to do something about this issue?