Keeping Students Afloat

Noel-Levitz awards recognize retention programs that generate results

By Crystal L. Keels

Sink or swim. That has been the prevailing climate of higher education in the past — students will either find their way through, or find their way out of institutions of higher learning. But since roughly the late 1980s and through the 1990s, on campuses across the country a profound shift seems to have taken place. Institutions increasingly understand the need for support to bring students successfully through the undergraduate process, particularly in the first year, which a number of studies indicate is a rather accurate predictor of students' overall success.
Noel-Levitz, a higher education consultation firm specializing in enrollment management, has acknowledged this transformation since 1989, says Pam Jennings, the company's director of marketing. With the annual Noel-Levitz Retention Excellence Awards, Jennings says, "We recognize successful state-of-the-art programs, share creativity and showcase successful programs."
Those institutions that put superior retention programs with measurable outcomes and results in place; demonstrate originality, creativity and also adaptability; show clarity of focus; make efficient use of available institutional resources; and submit for consideration descriptive manuscripts of high quality meet the selection criteria for Noel-Levitz Retention Excellence Awards. Each year the national selection committee — comprised of college administrators, professors and consultants — chooses between three to seven programs as award recipients, Jennings explains. 
The 2004 Lee Noel and Randi Levitz Retention Excellence Award winners include: The Academic Advising and Outreach Center, Southeastern Oklahoma State University; The Challenge Program, Georgia Institute of Technology; The Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) Freshman Year Experience, State University of New York at New Paltz; and Strategies for Academic Success, University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Each institution among the 2004 awardees features distinct programs and populations. All award winners were recognized in New Orleans earlier this year at the 2004 National Conference on Student Retention where they were given the opportunity to present their respective programs.