Improving College Student Retention

John M. Braxton is a professor emeritus in the Higher Education, Education Leadership, and Policy Program, Peabody College of Vanderbilt University. He is also senior associate editor, Innovative Higher Education; a resident scholar, Tennessee Independent College and University Association; an affiliate scholar, USC Center for Enrollment Research, Policy and Practice; and a coprincipal, Community College Practice-Research-Policy Exchange. Professor Braxton has two research programs, one of which centers on the construction and testing of theory pertaining to college and university student persistence. He has published numerous publications on this topic in the form of articles, book chapters, and books. Most notable among these publications is his 2014 book with William Doyle and others, Rethinking College Student Retention (Jossey-Bass). Professor Braxton is the recipient of two awards for outstanding contributions to knowledge that advance the understanding of higher education: the research Achievement Award bestowed by the Association for the Study of Higher Education and the Contribution to Knowledge Award given by the American College Personnel Association. He is also a past president of the Association for the Study of Higher Education. Robert D. Reason is professor of higher education and student affairs in the School of Education (SOE) at Iowa State University. He currently serves as the associate dean for undergraduate academic affairs in the College of Human Science. Prior to joining the faculty at Iowa State in 2011, Reason was on the faculty at Penn State University, where he was also a senior sci­entist in the Center for the Study of Higher Education. Reason studies how college and university policies, the campus climate, and students’ experiences in college interact to influence student outcomes. Along with persistence through college, his research has focused on student learning outcomes during the first year of college. He has written a widely used text with Kristen Renn, titled College Students in the United States: Characteristics, Experiences, and Outcomes (Stylus, 2021).

1 IMPROVING COLLEGE STUDENT PERSISTENCE New Developments in Theory, Research, and Practice PART ONE: THEORIES AND MODELS 2 REIMAGINING STUDENT PERSISTENCE, RETENTION, AND SUCCESS An Exploration of New Theories and Models 3 A CRITICAL ASSESSMENT OF THEORIES OF RETENTION AND PERSISTENCE FOR BLACK STUDENTS IN PREDOMINANTLY WHITE INSTITUTIONS 4 TOWARD A REVISION OF TWO EMPIRICALLY SUPPORTED THEORIES OF COLLEGE STUDENT PERSISTENCE PART TWO: RESEARCH 5 INVENTORYING THE ARTICLES ON STUDENT RETENTION PUBLISHED IN CORE HIGHER EDUCATION JOURNALS OVER THE PAST 10 YEARS 6 SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS AND COLLEGE STUDENT PERSISTENCE, RETENTION, AND GRADUATION 7 ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR AND STUDENT PERSISTENCE IN COLLEGE 8 ARE YOU EXPERIENCED? How College Environments, Programs, and Interactions Shape Student Retention, Persistence, and Graduation 9 STUDYING STUDENTS AS THEY SWIRL Methodological Challenges of Studying Student Retention in the Age of Student Mobility PART THREE: PRACTICE 10 CREATING AND SUSTAINING ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE TO PROMOTE COLLEGE STUDENT PERSISTENCE IN NATURAL AND OPEN SYSTEMS 11 A TRANSLATION OF RESEARCH INTO ACTION? Toward a Pragmatic Conceptualization of Social Mechanisms in Retention Research and Practice 12 SHIFTING ENVIRONMENTS, EMERGING NORMS How Changes in Policy, Technology, Data, and Market Competition Affect Enrollment Management Processes 13 FORGING THE TWO-WAY PRACTITIONER–RESEARCHER LOOP FOR ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT An Examination of the Research and Communication Needs of Enrolment Managers 14 IMPROVING COLLEGE COMPLETION What Have We Learned About “Policy Levers”? 15 CHARTING FUTURE DIRECTIONS FOR THEORY, RESEARCH, AND PRACTICE OF COLLEGE STUDENT PERSISTENCE