Having surfaced from years of modified university life due to COVID-19, anything besides a typical campus environment has become a distant memory. However, with this past era of amendment and restriction came a drastic fall in university retention rates. Whitworth and universities across the nation are now turning to these numbers as indications of their predicted longevity.
‘Retention’ is the number of students who remain enrolled at a given university. Tim Caldwell, associate dean for Student Life, Community Standards and Compliance, notes this figure is significant for a number of reasons, “Number one is that we want students who start at Whitworth to finish at Whitworth. We believe in how we prepare students for the future. We believe in our mission…to honor God, follow Christ, and serve Humanity. We want to equip as many students as possible to live out this mission,” said Caldwell.
Caldwell adds that the financial aspect of retention works in tandem with this mission statement, as “Whitworth creates a budget each year that is based on the number of new students that come in (first-year students) and the number of current students that stay enrolled. If we have fewer students coming in than we project or if we have fewer students stay than we project, then that impacts the university’s budget.”
The first-year students’ retention rate is of greatest importance to this analysis, being how many students remain from the fall semester of their freshman year to the fall of their second year. Such groupings are termed ‘cohorts’. Whitworth’s 2021 cohort was at a 78% retention rate, 2022 retained 80%, and 2023, 77%.
“That is the million dollar question,” answers Caldwell when asked the reasons behind consistency, shift, growth, or decrease in retention. The COVID-19 pandemic rendered lowered retention obvious, as students stepped away from university life for the protection of health, both physical and mental.
“But, more often than not,” Caldwell says, “…there are small individual reasons. We try to identify themes and then address those themes in order to help keep retention high.”
Clearly, current students play a major role in retention rates, and while Whitworth itself has a duty to serve its attendees, the dynamic surrounding this figure remains a partnership.
“Their resilience is one of the key ways we can drive up student retention…also called persistence,” says Caldwell. “When students face hard things at college, they can either decide that Whitworth isn’t the place for them, or they can work hard to overcome the challenge. My goal is to try and help remind, teach, and encourage students to be resilient. You can do hard things.”
The goal of student life at Whitworth is to remind students that their struggles are not solely their own and that difficulties with grades, bills, and belonging do not have to be carried alone. “The sooner they seek out help, the more help the university can provide,” says Caldwell.
Students are encouraged to embrace change and foster an understanding that a desire to see a shift necessitates a willingness toward adaptability, openness, and alternative approaches.
“I wish I knew this when I was younger. I spend a lot of time with students trying to teach this lesson and to create actionable ways they can change their behavior so that they can accomplish their dreams…getting a Whitworth degree,” says Caldwell. “If students want to talk more about this with me, I would absolutely love to partner with them in this area.”
Caldwell’s office is located on the second floor of the Hixson Union Building (HUB).
