College Unions and Retention: Perceptions and Strategies for Improved Efficacy By Scott Tierno Since the 1990s, there has been a surge in spending on college and university campuses evidenced in many new and renovated facilities, College Planning & Management has reported. Some hope the increased spending on physical spaces will result in progress toward institutions’ recruitment and retention goals. Indeed, […]
Institutions nationwide are up against a persistent retention rate where there hasn’t been a marked change in the percentage of students who have persisted to graduation (Seidman, 2004, p. 133). As noted in the Chronicle of Higher Education Research Services Report, The College of 2020: Students (2009), the outlook of students eligible to attend college in the next decade is […]
Despite the fact that research is plentiful that focuses on student characteristics, such as student involvement, or the impact of external environments beyond the college campus, “little research exists that explores the role of the college or university environment – especially the classroom itself – on student persistence” (Barefoot, 2004, p. 9). Initially I was in agreement with the statement. […]
In the summer of 2011 SNHU embarked on a reconstruction project of the Student Center. This started with planning for a two-phase project. The first phase would include a new entrance to the facility, a new Mailroom, Convenience Store/Coffee Shop, and a Concierge Desk. The biggest challenge was that this project was a design/build experience. There isn’t anything wrong with […]
Teaching has come a long way; with Twitter, Facebook, Blackboard, and all the remaining electronic aids available to the teaching community and students. In most cases this transformation has been positive. The odd thing I found was that even though I was prepared to utilize the technology, I found that the students were not. This revelation was puzzling to me; […]
March 2013: So, my current perspective is “I am done”. No, I haven’t defended my work, but I am very close now. I had the fortune to present a snapshot of my findings at the Association of College Unions International Conference this past Tuesday in St. Louis. This was a major hurdle for me, which turned out to be a […]