Abstract
In 2012, staff in Student Support Services at The University of Sydney piloted an early intervention program to increase first year student engagement and retention. Founded in best-practice, evidence-based research, the Track and Connect program was developed in response to a study into first year undergraduate student attrition by the University’s Planning and Information Office, in consultation with Counselling and Psychological Services. Track and Connect provides tailored advice and support to students identified as at risk of withdrawal from a key first-year subject by demographic markers and on-time data. Trained senior peers contact these students and provide information, encouragement and service referrals at key decision points throughout the semester. This report outlines the program’s development, implementation and early outcomes, and identifies areas for refinement and expansion.
Highlights
In 2011, Student Support Services (SSS) and the Planning and Information Office (PIO) at the University of Sydney conducted an Early Attrition Analysis (EAA) to identify demographic risk factors that may contribute to early attrition in the first year undergraduate student population (University of Sydney, 2011)
The EAA found that over 550 undergraduate first year students leave tertiary study prior to the HECS census date, generally the fourth week of semester. This previously uncounted early attrition showed students entering via alternative pathways, students who are first-in-family to attend university, rural and/or remote students, students with a disability and students from low socioeconomic backgrounds were most susceptible to withdrawing from their studies within the first year at the institution
In consultation with Counselling and Psychological Services (CAPS) and informed by the best practice research published by Professor Sally Kift, recipient of a Senior Australian Learning and Teaching Council Fellowship, and Professor Vincent Tinto (Kift 2009; Tinto 2012), SSS staff responded to this data in 2012 with the development and piloting of an early identification and intervention strategy for at-risk first year undergraduate students, called Track and Connect
Summary
In 2011, Student Support Services (SSS) and the Planning and Information Office (PIO) at the University of Sydney conducted an Early Attrition Analysis (EAA) to identify demographic risk factors that may contribute to early attrition in the first year undergraduate student population (University of Sydney, 2011). The EAA found that over 550 undergraduate first year students leave tertiary study prior to the HECS census date, generally the fourth week of semester. This previously uncounted early attrition showed students entering via alternative pathways, students who are first-in-family to attend university, rural and/or remote students, students with a disability and students from low socioeconomic backgrounds were most susceptible to withdrawing from their studies within the first year at the institution. The program aims to send the message that it is good to ask for help sooner rather than later and that there are skills that can be developed to ensure students thrive in their studies rather than just survive
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