This case study describes and analyzes the experiences of Mt. Hood Community
College (MHCC) in its implementation of four retention interventions. Each of the four
interventions are described in detail. Discussion is framed within the context that retention
is a by-product of institutional renewal brought about by implementing interventions that
have campus-wide impacts. Discussion and analysis probe the interventions to reveal their
benefits to the college, addressing the question as to whether MHCC is being effective in
its retention planning.
Discussion and recommendations are framed around three insights discovered in
the course of the case study. These three insights are seen as key factors in retention
intervention. Each of the insights is followed by recommendations intended to mitigate gaps
in retention planning that the insights discovered. The insights and recommendations are:
1. Intervention needs to be holistic. Two recommendations were suggested to
strengthen the holistic approach. The first of these is a mentoring program, both peer and
faculty. The second recommendation is to strengthen faculty-student-staff relationships
outside the classroom by an intervention such as the establishment of learning communities.
2. Intervention needs to use high quality information. Recommendations were
to pay more attention to less than full-time students, to develop a formal withdrawal policy
and process, and to collect additional student intention data.
3. Intervention needs to track points of student economic impact. The single
recommendation for insight three is to thoroughly track and analyze the points where
students interact economically with the college. This is thought to be crucial as the areas of
economic contact play an active not passive role in enrollment and retention.
The case study found that MHCC's experiences with intervention are consistent
with literature findings, have been effective for MHCC, and the insights and
recommendations may be helpful to other community colleges in retention planning. / Graduation date: 1998
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/33774 |
| Date | 24 November 1997 |
| Creators | Rawe, Carl L. |
| Contributors | Stern, Sam |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
Page generated in 0.0131 seconds