The Impact of Face-to-Face Orientation on Online Retention: A Pilot Study.

Student retention in online education is a concern for students, faculty and administration. Retention rates are 20% lower in online courses than in traditional face-to-face courses. As part of an integration and engagement strategy, a face-to-face orientation was added to an online undergraduate business information systems course to examine its impact on retention. The study methodology consisted of an early email contact, distribution of course documents, a follow-up phone call, and a pre-course face-to-face orientation. The retention rate of students who attended the orientation was over 91% with a p-value of 0.9143. The retention rate of students not attending the orientation was just under 18%. Findings suggest that face-to-face orientations impact retention positively. Introduction and Background Online education has been gaining popularity for the last two decades. It has expanded dramatically since the 1990’s and continued growth is expected over the next several years (Pisel, 2008). With that increasing popularity come challenges. Most concerning of these challenges is student retention (O’Brien, 2002; Tinto, 2006; Truluck, 2007). Drop out rates in online classes are higher than those in traditional face-to-face courses (Harrell, 2008; Tinto, 2006; Yukselturk & Inan; 2006; Martinez, 2003). Despite focused attention on appropriate design and delivery of online courses, retention continues to be a concern for all constituents. While retention rates vary across programs and courses, many suggest that drop-rates for online courses are 15 – 20% higher than traditional face-to-face courses (Angelina, Williams & Natvig, 2007). Keeping online learners enrolled and engaged is important component of the online learning movement. Retention has been suggested as one of the greatest weaknesses in online instruction (O’Brien & Renner, 2006; Clay, Rowland, & Packard, 2008). It has an affect on the learner and the teaching organization. Low retention rates have a negative impact on students in terms of lost tuition, emotional impact of non-completion, and delay in graduation (Tinto, 2006). The institution is affected in terms of faculty allocations and support resources (Barnard, Paton, & Rose, 2007). For this particular institution, online sections have lower enrollment caps than traditional classes. In order for an online program to be recognized as successful, a strategy must be in place for addressing student retention and success. In the fall semester of 2007, a large southeastern state university launched an online program offering a bachelor’s degree in business administration (B.B.A.) with a management major. This program was designed to offer students constrained by distance and schedule the opportunity to complete all the courses in the B.B.A. sequence through a web-based delivery system. It also offered a potential solution to the constraints on campus space including the limitations of available classroom space, parking, and facilities. At the time of program launch, the university enrolled just under 21,000 students; 5,000 of which were declared business majors. Over the previous five years, the university experienced an unprecedented 32% growth in enrollment and is now the third largest of the state universities in terms of total enrollment and fulltime equivalent students. Online courses in the BBA program enrolled over 800 students in the inaugural semester. At the time the program was launched, there was no retention management plan in place. Anecdotal results of the inaugural year suggested an unusually high attrition or drop rate. According to Institutional Research findings in the spring semester 2008, the College of Business had an average undergraduate drop rate of 9% across all departments. In the online courses in the B.B.A. program, 21sections were offered with an average drop rate of 23.2%. Administrators and faculty began to take notice. In an effort to address this concern, a student integration and engagement strategy was employed as a pilot study in an information systems course in the summer of 2008. The study consisted of an early email contact, distribution of course documents, a follow-up phone call, and a pre-course face-to-face orientation. This paper describes the study and its components, the impact on student retention, and recommendations for future use.