Retention and Student Success

Mission Statement for Office of Retention & Student Success:

The Office of Retention and Student Success is dedicated to planning, coordinating, and administering retention efforts aimed at significantly improving the academic and social experience of students at the University of Kentucky. We are vested in a holistic approach to student success, and our retention efforts are framed with this in mind. Whether academic, social, or financial, we are dedicated to helping students overcome obstacles that stand in the way of student success.

Nikki Tarrant-Hoskins
Director of Retention & Student Success
217 Funkhouser
(859) 257-4984
natarr0@uky.edu

Clara Samuels
Staff Associate
217 Funkhouser
(859) 257-3027
casamu1@uky.edu

In March 2007, the Provost Retention Group recommended that the University implement "an early warning program that identifies at-risk students prior to enrollment, identifies those who become at-risk at various points during the critical first year, and ensures follow up with intrusive interventions by academic advising professionals (Provost Retention Group Initial Report, p.33)." In response to this recommendation, the Academic Alert System is the largest initiative within the Office of Retention & Student Success. The Academic Alert Team coordinates all referrals from faculty/instructors/residence life, and then processes & directs referrals forward to the relevant academic advisors. Reports and data collection from the Academic Alert System are finally sent to the Office of Institutional Research for analysis. The Academic Alert System is therefore an extremely valuable implementation on two fronts–it allows for intervention processes to be instigated at crucial points for at-risk students, and the information gathered in the process provides Institutional Research with a wealth of data pertaining to retention and attrition issues.

Click here to submit an Academic Alert

Hobsons' EMT Retain

Hobsons' EMT (Enrollment Management Technology) Retain is a web-based retention & communications application, designed to assist campuses in collaboratively identifying at risk students. It acts as a hub for accessing key information and is a vehicle for communicating with specific students to achieve institutional retention objectives. EMT is designed to streamline communications & administrative tasks commonly found in large institutions such as UK. EMT facilitates stronger relationships with students: it provides the ability to set-up custom rules to trigger alerts (e.g. GPA drops below a specified level), and to customizable early alerts using Filters & Watched Attributes, Reports, and Surveys. The Hobsons' implementation team is currently working with the colleges, IR, Enrollment Management and Student Affairs staff to support undergraduate first-year student retention programs and strategies.  With the support of Christian Ecker (Chief Technology Officer in A&S), the Hobsons EMT Retain software will become an important element in communication with our different target audiences over the academic year. 

Click here to view a demonstration of the new software.

Other Links:

Integrated Academic Services
Office of Undergraduate Education Home