Am I There Yet? The Importance of Discussing Anticipated Graduation Term With Newly Enrolled Advisees: A Case Study

Abstract

This research investigates the impact of the topics discussed in an initial advising meeting on student retention and graduation. Understanding and connecting students’ motivations and goals to degree planning is a popular research topic, but limited information is available about how to implement this. This research considers six specific discussion topics for an initial advising contact. Data on newly enrolled students was collected over 3 years. A binomial logistic model was used to estimate the impact of discussing specific topics on retention and graduation. Results suggest that discussion of when students can declare a major and identification of an anticipated graduation term significantly increases the probability of graduation.