Three universities receive Retention Excellence Awards
June 30, 2017— Hundreds of thousands of dollars are lost to colleges and universities each year when students leave campus without receiving a degree. Students miss out too—those who stay in school and earn a bachelor’s degree earn over 80 percent more, on average, than peers with only high school diplomas. Innovative, state-of-the-art campus student success programs encourage students to succeed and persevere through to graduation. Ruffalo Noel Levitz, the recognized leader in enrollment and fundraising management solutions, today honored three such programs as the firm unveiled its 29th annual Lee Noel and Randi Levitz Retention Excellence Awards.
“These recognized programs demonstrate that colleges and universities can truly have an impact on the success of their students,” said Janene Panfil, senior vice president, Ruffalo Noel Levitz. “These programs exhibit some of the best practices currently being applied to student success and will no doubt serve as role models for other institutions.”
The following institutions will receive awards for their efforts to keep students in college at the 2017 National Conference on Student Recruitment, Marketing, and Retention, convened by Ruffalo Noel Levitz from July 26-28 in Denver, Colorado:
- University of South Florida (Tampa, Florida): The University utilizes an individualized Student Success Case Management program to identify and serve at-risk students. The data-informed approach has helped USF raise retention rates to 90 percent for the 2015 cohort and is on track to surpass the 70 percent six-year graduation rate later in 2017, which will unlock up to $15 million in performance-based funding.
- Walsh University (North Canton, Ohio): Walsh employs a campus-wide, student-centered program to connect students to key academic resources and social supports to ensure student success. The holistic, intentional approach relies on a collaborative culture across campus and has resulted in an overall retention rate of 83 percent.
- Southeast Technical Institute (Sioux Falls, South Dakota): Southeast Technical has developed a retention process called Cares to capture data about student needs and meet those needs directly via empowered employees or referral to specific retention programs. Outcomes include 84 percent persistence for the new student Seminar Course, 92 percent persistence for students meeting the Attendance Challenge, and 96 percent persistence for the JumpStart program.
The Lee Noel and Randi Levitz Retention Excellence Awards Program was established in 1989 to honor outstanding achievements in student success by colleges and universities throughout the United States and Canada. 2017 winners were selected by leading campus-based retention practitioners from 36 applications.
For information about the program and the National Conference, visit www.RuffaloNL.com/awards .
About Ruffalo Noel Levitz
Campuses turn to Ruffalo Noel Levitz to reach their goals for student recruitment, marketing, financial aid, student success, and donor engagement. The firm is distinguished by its powerful array of technology-enabled enrollment and fundraising tools currently used by more than 1,800 colleges, universities, and nonprofit organizations across North America and beyond. In addition, Ruffalo Noel Levitz conferences, research reports, papers, and articles help clients stay on top of current trends.