Student retention project
The Student Retention Project
The Student Retention Project was one of three projects established in June 2021 as part of the implementation of the university’s strategic plan as well as immediate actions to increase domestic students by 400 EFTSL in 2022. The project aims to identify interventions across higher education and TAFE to significantly boost student retention each year for the next three years. An initial taskforce was established to identify immediate opportunities to improve student retention and success.
The Student Retention Project has now been transitioned to an ongoing Learner Retention Priority project with several key deliverables designed to support student success.
Learner Retention Priority Project
The Learner Retention Priority Project will develop an integrated program to augment existing student retention activities and step-up our COVID19 response, building the foundations of an improved and strategic approach to enhancing student experience in the longer term. All activities are subject to shift depending on immediate student engagement priorities for COVID19 care and connect program, and step-up students support response delivery.
Resources
The following two documents that can help staff understand how to use the university systems align to FDL and the student intervention processes currently available when managing student intervention.
- Federation HE Academic intervention guide (pdf, 1.21mb)
- Partner Academic intervention guide (pdf, 1.19mb)
New initiatives
The Student Retention Project has delivered several initiatives to help enhance student success. Some of these include:
- FedFest: all about getting social and making connections, FedFest involves a variety of events and activities to help orient new students and welcome back returning.
- Connect and Care Series: bringing together the best of our support and services to connect students to the Fed community and support their Fed journey.
- WellBeing Check-in Service: Expert staff are available to support students through free, confidential and one-on-one Wellbeing Check-in conversations. Students are able to gain immediate access to counsellors through the service and get referrals to relevant university or community services for ongoing support.
- Kids activity packs: With the understanding that a significant number of our students are also parents, the university acknowledged the struggle juggling study and caring responsibilities by sending activity packs for the children of our students.
- Current Student website refresh: The website had received a new look and aims to provide an engaging and user friendly experience.
- Student Support Video series: A series of videos made by our students, sharing their experiences with the different support services the university has to offer.
- School retention plans: Each school has developed a targeted retention plan to help enhance student success within their programs and courses.
- Enhancing Student Success workshops: Over 100 staff and students attended workshops designed to generate new ideas and enhancements to improve student outcomes. These ideas have been incorporated into the Learner Retention Priority Project and Student Retention and Success Strategy (2022 – 2025).
Ideas and feedback
The Retention Priority Project focuses on engaging with staff and students to obtain insights, feedback, and new ideas on enhancing student success.
If you have any ideas or feedback relating to Student Retention and Success please email student.success@federation.edu.au