Counseling Dissertation- Maalouf
<p> The ODU Community invites you to a doctoral dissertation defense for the following PhD Counseling student:</p> <p> </p> <p align="center"> <strong>Kathy J. Maalouf</strong></p> <p align="center"> <strong>October 30, 2012</strong></p> <p align="center"> <strong>118 ED</strong></p> <p align="center"> <strong>3pm</strong></p> <p> </p> <p> Dissertation Committee: Drs. Danica G. Hays (Chair and Methodologist), Alan “Woody” Schwitzer, and Judy McMillan</p> <p> </p> <p align="center"> THE INFLUENCE OF LATE REGISTRATION ON ACADEMIC OUTCOMES</p> <p align="center"> AND RETENTION AT A MULTI-CAMPUS COMMUNITY COLLEGE</p> <p> </p> <p align="center"> Abstract</p> <p align="center"> </p> <p> In response to the increasing challenge for community colleges to uphold their mission of accessibility with an open door policy, while being held accountable for student success, higher education administrators and counselors need to have a better comprehension on the relationship among community college students, institutional enrollment policies, and academic success. The purpose of this study was threefold: (1) to investigate if there are statistical relationships between the demographics of community college students, registration behaviors, academic outcome, and retention over a two-year period, fall 2009 – spring 2011; (2) to identify reasons why students register late; and (3) to suggest academic success and retention strategies and initiatives for late registrants.</p> <p> Out of the population of 139,149 eligible courses at a multi-campus community college, approximately 9.9% of the courses were enrolled for by late registrants during the academic years of 2009-10 and 2010-11. The sample used in the study consisted of 12,536 late registrants and 12,516 randomly selected regular registrants. The findings suggest that non-traditional students, male students, students of color, and non-curricular students without a stated academic intent were more likely to enroll late for classes.</p> <p> </p> <p> The result of a MANOVA indicated that there was a significant main effect for registration type for both academic outcome/course grade and retention rate. The mean course GPA was 2.22, with a standard deviation of 1.568, for the 12,516 regular registrants with a mean retention rate of .72, with a standard deviation of .451. The late registration group of 12,536 had a mean course GPA of 1.81, with a standard deviation of 1.607, and a mean retention rate of .60, with a standard deviation of .489. Therefore, it may be postulated that students who register late tend to have a lower academic outcomes based on course grade and are less likely to return the subsequent semester resulting in lower retention rates.</p> <p> </p> <p> The study also identified possible reasons why community college students may register late for classes. The sample used consisted of students who registered late for the fall semester of 2011. The most frequently reported reasons for late registration included the following: “I only decided in the last few days to attend college,” “I’ve been waiting for my financial aid,” “I wasn’t aware that classes had already started,” and “I was planning to attend another college but couldn’t.” Based on the findings revealed in the study, recommendations were provided for administrators, counselors, and educators.</p> <p> </p>
Posted By: Danica Hays
Date: Tue Oct 23 12:04:14 EDT 2012