Fred Hakes works with stopouts, achieving regional success re-kindling their college interests. He shares some of his experiences and techniques re-enrolling students who weren't previously 'retained.'
How might you describe an achiever student?
Our students are mostly adults. More often than not adult students are goal-directed. An achiever seeks knowledge to advance himself or herself in a field of his choice.
Do students identified earlier in life as achievers prove not to be?
We serve a number of returning adult students who did not do well in college earlier in life--for any number of reasons. When they return, the vast majority do very well. What motivates them this time around? They themselves or an employer may be paying for the education. They may need the education or skills to receive a pay raise or promotion. They may want to pursue a career opportunity that requires a bachelor's degree.
How can they be re-kindled?
We offer a semester-long three-credit colloquium for those who have chosen to return. They may be reluctant, because they're not sure they can compete wth younger students. During the sessions we help them remove some of the rust. We work on writing skills, critical thinking, information literacy and technology skills. Students give the course very high ratings. Their comfort level in the collegiate environment is much enhanced.
Where do your students come from and why do they come?
We serve 11 counties in north central Indiana, excluding Indianapolis. They are mainly small-town and rural residents. Our degree completion program appeals to those adults who have prior college credits or creditworthy life experiences.
What communication technique did you implement in 2003?
We developed a database of 5,000 former IU students who reside in our region. Most of them attended our campus, but some move-ins had attended other IU campuses. The average 'stopout' had about 60 credits. They have surprisingly good GPAs. One had 240 credits and no degree. Some had as few as three credits. We mailed letters to them, signed by an academic advisor, summarizing their prior academic work along with an estimate of the number of credit-hours needed to complete a bachelor's degree. In so doing, we shrank the university in their eyes to one person.
What have been the results?
To date, more than 500 stopouts have re-enrolled. Of those who returned in the early years, 130 have graduated. We continue to add to the stopout database and communicate with them four to five times a year. Re-enrollments grew for the first few years and now appear stable, but not declining. Many of them enroll in popular evening classes that are an equal mix of clasroom and online instruction.
With whom do you compete?
We compete primarily with IUPUI, Ball State University and Indiana Wesleyan University and a host of online schools.
What statistics that would most likely be useful would you like to see regularly?
I use national and state U.S. census figures on U.S. adults with some college attendance and no degree. I'd like to see reporting on those that return along with success rates.
Why are those statistics important?
They would show the effort among U.S. higher education institutions to engage in outreach to adult stopouts. They would also show the level of commitment of returning adult students.