Student Retention – What’s in it for me?

Student Retention – What’s in it for me? Alan Davidson Senior Lecturer Open University Business School Faculty of Business and Law Open University (aka OUUK)

Agenda OUUK OUBS Supporting Students at OUBS OU Deadlines Feedback Does it really matter?

The Open University (OUUK) In 2009/2010 we had; 253,000 students (undergrad plus postgrad) Of which 195,000 were UK based and 58,000 were not (23%) Coming from about 120 different countries Only 32% had degree, 9% had university entry standard and 52% did not have qualifications to enter a classical university Median age of new undergraduate students = 31 years In 2009/2010 OU qualifications awarded = 44,000 Cumulative total awards = 820,000

OU staffing Academic staff = 12,800 (including 7849 associate lecturers = 86%) Admin and support staff = 3,800 Ratio academic/admin = 3.25/1

OUBS (figures are for 2008/2009) Has 43,000 students from 107 different countries Professional = 48% Undergrad = 36% Postgrad = 16% Academic staff = 924 (including 816 associate lecturers = 80%) Admin and support staff = 96 Ratio academic/admin = 9.6/1

Supporting students at OUBS Every student has his or her own named academic (AL/tutor) for guidance and support Students are grouped (usually geographically) and get allocated where possible a local tutor Student/Tutor average is 20/1 (undergrad) or 16/1 postgrad Most modules have regular tutorials (which are optional for students but usually have 75% + attendance) Modules have a dedicated website for students Fixed timetables

Clear guidance for students on their time management

What is the pass for the MBA? No idea!!!! Well not quite true – I have some idea – but you need to treat the information with suspicion Of those completing the course making up the first year of the May in 2005 AND who said they wanted to gain a MBA award at the time – 45% have now completed their MBA But this is almost certainly being understated or we have a really serious problem (in addition to the unavailability of data)

MBA qualification structure(or if you prefer Porter’s value chain )

Deadlines - 1 MBA – must be completed with 7 years of starting the first MBA course Any module must be completed within 12 months of its end Only allowed to sit the end of course assessment (ECA) TWICE Only allowed to retake a module TWICE Assignments have specific date for submission. There are generally 7 assignments on a 12 month module and 3 one a 6 month module Students have to get an average of 40% on assignments (OCAS) as well as pass the ECA

Deadlines - 2 On assignments students can ask for an extension but if over 7 days only TWICE in a 12 month module and ONCE in a 6 month module Most final assignments have a minimum threshold which must be met otherwise the student will FAIL – usually 25% The aim is to put pressure on students to keep going to the exam – but this has to be controlled and limited. The first thing students learns is time management!!

Feedback Students are given extensive feedback and feedforward on assignments

The Tutor Role and Profile Role Put written and web-based material in context Help individual students relate materials to their workplace Give examples from own experience Give feedback Profile Median or ideal tutor Age 40-45 Middle/senior manager or consultant MBA or PhD Primarily practitioner not academic Above all have ‘street cred’

The Tutor Recruitment and Selection Not time to go into this area (how long have you got) – but we test, in advance of interview, the key areas that are important to us. Sensitivity to student needs Ability to identify issues in assignments and to give negative feedback sensitively Preparation of appropriate tutorial material in variaty of styles. (if you want to go into more detail then perhaps there will be time during the workshops – particularly Friday)

Feedback On the assignment itself

Feedback On the summary Note – this is the last 20% of the feedback to the student

Who checks? Everything the tutor does is monitored. This is done either by central academics or by an experienced tutor appointed for the purpose. In the example given, this tutor has 3 student assignment selected at random and reviewed by the monitor for each assignment – so 21 assignments over 12 months

Feedback

Does it really matter? Lets look at the first year of MBA

Structure of the new MBA launched October 2010 Note – OUUK is in the process of moving to a new format for MBA, the first year of the former MBA structure is called B713

B716 resultsNote – it is very difficult to identify passive withdrawals so failure to submit an assignment is taken as a measure of withdrawalIn context more people fail to submit the first assignment (36) than fail the exam (28). 63% of all withdrawals occur in first 3 months of course.Note the 7th period is anomalous because a good student will already have reached the 40% threshold and so may choose not to submit the assignment. However the 8th period is the last assignment where submission is compulsory.

What about years 2 and 3?Data – November 2010

Is it a UK thing?Data – November 2011It would appear no – the withdrawal is almost identical – which suggests that the retention is more to do with process and resources than with language, nationality or culture – which means it is transferrable. Again more students failed to submit TMA01 (48) than failed exam (45)

Can retention be improved? Come to the workshop and hear about recent pilot work by OUBS to tackle withdrawals early on –which appears to reduce withdrawals by a further 6 %

Is it only masters level? A similar pattern to Masters but….

Some differences in year 2 and 3 Looks like a difference between ‘continuing’ (experienced of OUUK system) and ‘new’ (completely new to OUUK)

Summary Good exam pass rates but retention could be improved Due to – Materials – printed and web-based Support of students – system and tutor Fixed deadlines Recruitment and selection of tutors QA and monitoring To be continued……….

Questions?

Student Retention – What’s in it for me?