Keith's_PII


 * The Defiance College **

**Problem Summary **

The Defiance College has 100 students entering as freshmen in the fall semester. Ten percent of the freshmen class leaves or transfers at the end of the fall semester. Additionally another ten to twelve percent of the freshmen class leaves or transfers at the end of the spring semester. This performance improvement intervention strategy aims to find the causes of why freshmen students leave and incorporate an effective technique to retain these students and have a successful collegiate experience.


 * Keith - do you have an attrition rate for other similar colleges for comparison? - Jodie Hemerda 1/2/11

**Background Organization ** The organization that I will be working with is The Defiance College. The Defiance College was founded in 1850 as a private liberal arts college. It is located in the northwest Ohio in the city of Defiance. The Defiance College’s clientele are students from northwest Ohio, northeast Indiana and southwest Michigan. Information indicators are student’s GPA, test scores, field of study, athletic participation and financial aid package offers. The URL for The Defiance College is [|www.defiance.edu]. I have access to annual reports from the president’s office and recruiting information from the registrar’s office.


 * Keith - do you have historical attrition data? - Jodie Hemerda 1/2/11

**Stakeholders and Decision-Makers ** The people that will be affected are the registrar personnel, the financial aid personnel and the faculty. The president along with the recruiting personnel will make the decisions and implement the plan that is developed. The key personnel are President Gordon, Brad from the registrar office and Linda from the financial aid office.

*Keith - are you considering a sample implementation with key faculty? If so, maybe it would benefit you to identify them upfront. - Jodie Hemerda 1/2/11

**Performance Gap: Cause Analysis ** The Defiance College has 300 students entering as freshmen in the fall semester. 10 percent of the freshmen class leaves or transfers at the end of the fall semester. Additionally another 15 to 20 percent of the freshmen class leaves or transfers at the end of the spring semester. This performance improvement intervention strategy aims to find the causes of why freshmen students leave and incorporate an effective technique to retain these students and have a successful collegiate experience.


 * Keith - without proper comparatives, I'm not sure you've identified a problem particular to Defiance College or just a systemic attrition issue associated with Freshman students. - Jodie Hemerda 1/2/11

**Actual Current Performance. ** We have 300 students entering college at the freshmen level at The Defiance College. By the end of their freshmen year we retain only 60 percent of the freshmen class at The Defiance College. **Desired Performance. ** The desired outcome is to have an 85 percent retention rate for every freshmen class at The Defiance College. **Performance Gap **The actual performance level is 60 percent retention rate and the desired performance level is 85 percent retention rate at The Defiance College. Therefore the performance gap is a difference of 25 percent retention rate. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Cause Analysis. ** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">This retention problem is not a new concept at the collegiate level. This has a challenge for most private colleges or universities to not only attract students but also to retain them and earn a degree from the college or university. There are several factors why this gap currently exists: the economy, financial aid packages, scholarship money availability, students not properly prepared for the college environment, student’s level of maturity and homesickness. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Organizational History and Background ** **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Goals. ** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">The ultimate goal is to have 100 percent of the freshmen that enter The Defiance College and obtain a 100 percent graduation rate of the freshmen class. The performance gap of 25 percent is a good target to set and reach. When 25 percent performance gap is reached then the next goal is to have 90 percent then 95 percent and eventually 100 percent retention.

Your goals are unrealistic. You are going to have some freshment leave. Nichellem 1/12/11
 * Keith - Is 100% retention a realistic goal? Are you making an assumption that everyone has the ability, resources, and need to complete college? - Jodie Hemerda 1/2/11

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">**History.** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">The Defiance College was founded in 1850 as a liberal arts college. It offers a well rounded education while maintaining a caring environment for the student. The student teacher ratio is 16:1 and students receive individualized instruction and not just treated as a number. The Defiance College creates a safe and personalized community for every student to have a positive learning experience.


 * How do they do this? What exactly is a "positive learning experience"? Can that really be a standardized, packaged element? - Jodie Hemerda 1/2/11

**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Mission and Vision. ** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">The mission of The Defiance College is: To Know * To Lead* To Serve* To Understand. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">The vision of The Defiance College is to prepare young adults to become leaders, servants and respectable adults that have a positive impact in their community. Also, to be the difference, make a difference and create a stronger learning community. Currently The Defiance College is working on a new mission and vision statement, therefore I will submit the new statements after final approval.

**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Three Intervention Strategies ** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">1. Low-cost strategy: Offer more campus visits and extracurricular act ivies to make the freshmen feel a part of The Defiance College family. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">2. Medium-cost strategy: Offer more fields of studies (majors) to limit the amount of transfers to another college. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">3. High-cost strategy: Build a Athletic field house to offer more sports teams which allows for greater participation on campus and within the community.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">Before recommending stategies shouldn't we know why they leave? Nichelle 1/12/11 <span style="color: #ff0000; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1in; text-indent: -0.25in;">I agree- why are they leaving? What about personal mentors? How does more majors correlate with their leaving? Karen I hate to be add to the existing sentiment, but as I commented throughout your paper earlier, it seems that you're putting the cart before the horse here. Why try to create a family feeling, more fields of study, or add sporting teams if that's not the issue.

**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Justification for Intervention Strategy ** The intervention strategy that I selected to propose to the organization is building an athletic field house. The strengths are attracting more students, adding more sports programs to the college, creating networking opportunities within the community and provide a facility for students that do not participate in athletics. The limitations will include more electricity usage, creates advantages for certain athletic teams, added full time staff to maintain the facility and eliminate many parking spaces. The athletic field house will resolve not only the retention problem but also invite more people to enroll and promote growth for the college. The structure will span 84,000 square feet and will serve as the recreational hub of the DC campus, while offering an exceptional indoor training environment for all 20 of the Yellow Jacket varsity athletic programs (Defiance College, 2010). Along with enabling Defiance College to better serve the needs of its student body, the DCAC will draw regional and national attention to the campus. The field house will be fully operational for hosting indoor collegiate and high school track events, boasting an NCAA approved six-lane, 200-meter track with an eight-lane straightaway (Defiance College, 2010). The area inside the track will be covered with a multi-purpose floor to accommodate tennis, volleyball and basketball courts, while also hosting batting cages and offering training space for other outdoor sports such as soccer, football and golf. Other attributes of the facility will include an athletic training room, a weight room, the Smart Fitness Center, offices and a reception area (Defiance College, 2010). The offering of more on campus visits hits only a limited geographical area of potential students. Also it has variables that are hard to control: weather, student schedules, emergencies and students change their mind. Offering more fields of study will put added pressure to the already overloaded faculty here at The Defiance College. Also, certain majors will have to be adjusted by adding or eliminating courses that meet the requirements without rewriting the entire curriculum of study. The building of the field house will satisfy meeting the performance gap and increasing enrollment here at The Defiance College. My team members enlightened me that my performance gap is a combination of both the retention rate and attracting more students to The Defiance College campus. This strategy will aim at closing the performance gap of freshmen retention while at the same time increase the enrollment rate for freshmen here at The Defiance College.

**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">The Manager’s Many Roles ** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">The role of the project manager is to fully implement the intervention strategy, keep the team on task and complete the project on time. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">The management resource will be responsible for the allocation of resources that deal with time and budget and adjust accordingly to any unforeseen items that may arise during the intervention period. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">The medium that will be used to deliver the intervention strategy will be the internet and radio announcements by mix 98.1. The message will be posted on The Defiance College website with photos and relevant information while the radio station will be promoting it during their broadcast throughout the day. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">The information will be stored, accessed and processed using the SPSS software package. The academic dean and the president’s staff will examine, analyze and evaluate the information that is captured from the SPSS software. <span style="color: #ff00b1; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Keith, do you have a particular tool you can use to track implementation progression? Jodie 1/30/11 <span style="color: #ff00b1; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">What techniques will you use to distriburte the resources? 1/30/11

**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">The Manager as Change Agent ** **Financial and Budget Information.** Funds for the 3.7-million dollar field house have already been raised as part of Defiance College’s 26-million dollar campaign to upgrade facilities around the campus. Over 400 donors joined DC in helping to make this dream a reality. Athletics Director Jenni Morrison discussed the impact the building will have on the Defiance College athletics programs. “The field house is going to benefit each one of our athletics programs tremendously. Although the track and field and tennis teams will compete in the new facility, it will also provide an indoor practice area for every one of our teams that may not be able to get outside due to inclement weather throughout the year.” Budget will include hiring of a full time maintenance person, a facilities coordinator along with personnel training for all coaches, athletic team members and students that do not participate in athletics. The web address is: [|www.defiance.edu] and shows a layout of the facility. How will this facility increase insurance rates? I expect its an additional liability. Jodie 2/13 **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Project Assessment. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">The project objectives will be evaluated using SSPS software. The software package will evaluate the standard deviation of the number of students especially freshmen using the facility. Also, analyze the most frequently used time periods in a 24 hour day to incorporate and adjust schedules of athletic teams to accommodate regular students and the community. A formative evaluation will be conducted after the first year of participation from The Defiance College student body, faculty and the community. The administrative staff will report the findings to the board of directors and discuss the many opportunities to fully utilize the field house, various techniques to attract new students and foster growth in all areas at The Defiance College. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Good method to use for gathering information. Nichelle 2/18 The connection between the athletic facility and community engagement seems weak. I recommend providing a stronger connection. This will improve the assessment portion. Retention was the identified problem, yet isn't included in the assessment. Jodie 2/13