This booklet provides the program and abstracts of presentations given at the Fourth Canadian-American Conference on the First-Year Experience. It includes a list of the goals of the conference, sponsoring institutions, staff, and general information about the conference. The booklet then provides brief descriptions of the 51 sessions held over…

The Native Hawaiian Project at Leeward Community College (LCC) in Pearl City, Hawaii, was developed to increase the retention and academic success of native Hawaiian students at the college. The project was initiated in summer 1988 with the establishment of the Native Hawaiian Recruitment and Retention Task force to examine campus services and…

An article and descriptions of programs for first-year college students are presented. In "As Freshmen First," John Orr Dwyer recounts the history of the word "freshman" and outlines some of the characteristics of the 1980s first-year student. Recognizing the problems that face students entering college for the first time, he…

This paper compares freshmen who enrolled in the College Seminar at Ramapo College (a 4-year liberal arts college in New Jersey) with freshmen who have not taken the seminar. The seminar course includes units on higher education in America; study skills (e.g., writing papers, research skills, taking notes, time management, computer skills);…

Of all challenges facing open-door community colleges, none is more important than the need to renew and improve teaching quality in order to accommodate increasingly diversified student populations. Several policies have been particularly helpful to open-door institutions in improving student retention and achievement, including the following:…

A catalog of 205 descriptions of college programs to recruit and retain adult learners is presented, based on a national survey, "Attracting and Retaining Adult Learners" (ARAL), conducted in 1980 by the American College Testing Program. In addition to a brief program description, each program form provides information on the type of program, the…

A project was implemented at Florence-Darlington Technical College (FDTC) in Florence, South Carolina to develop a retention plan for high-risk and probationary students. The project involved the following components: a literature review on retention strategies, visits to state-of-the-art model two-year college retention programs, studies of…

Results of a national survey, "Attracting and Retaining Adult Learners" (ARAL), by the American College Testing Program are summarized. Attention is focused on programs and services that have been successful with adult learners. ARAL respondents were from three types of institutions: (1) those for whom adult learners represent a primary thrust of…

An Orientation/Self-Management course was developed at Mercy College, Detroit, to reduce the high attrition rate (95%) among conditionally admitted full-time (CAFT) students, i.e., those admitted with less than a "C" average upon high school graduation. The course focused on the student as an adult, vital, growing, and independent person; the…

This report presents the findings for private four-year colleges that participated in ACT's 2010 What Works in Student Retention survey. The report contains information pertinent to only these institutions. Appended are: (1) Data for Private Four-Year Colleges and Universities; and (2) What Works in Student Retention: Instrument. (Contains 15…

A study was conducted at Golden West College (GWC) in California to analyze the relationship between first-time students' participation in the college's assessment and orientation programs and their fall-to-spring persistence at the college. The study sample consisted of fall 1991 students who had declared either transfer, degree, or certificate…

This monograph contains 14 papers on all aspects of college and university student and family orientation programs. The papers are: (1) "Orienting Today's Students" by M. Lee Upcraft; (2) "Theoretical Perspectives on Orientation" by Michael Dannells; (3) "Trends and Issues in Orientation Programs" by Gerry Strumpf and…

In 1987, the Chancellor's Office of the California Community Colleges initiated a three and one-half year evaluation of the statewide matriculation program, a legislatively mandated effort to assist community college students in identifying and achieving their educational goals. This report evaluates the implementation of matriculation during the…

A program was developed at Mercy College, Detroit, to reduce attrition among conditionally admitted, full-time (CAFT) students--about one quarter of entering students at this small, urban, four-year college. The very high attrition rate among CAFT students (95%) was found to be unrelated to academic performance or program quality, and solutions to…

The recommendations presented in this report were developed by Triton College's Retention Committee, which was established in Fall 1980 to involve a large and representative number of faculty in the identification of actions teachers could take to improve student retention and success. After introductory material detailing the committee's mission…