By M’hammed Abdous

The Center for Faculty Development at 鶹ý recently convened a roundtable discussion to examine the reasons for high DFWI rates, particularly in 100- and 200-level courses. DWI occurs when a student receives a grade of D or F, drops out, or receives an incomplete in a for-credit course. The roundtable brought together faculty, student support staff, and administrators to unpack the causes of these troubling trends, explore scalable solutions, and discuss strategies for sustainable change.

  • Kristi Costello,Associate Chair of Writing Studies, and General Education &
    Associate Professor of Rhetoric, Composition, and Writing Studies
  • Tyler Miller-Gordon,Senior Research Associate for Assessment, Institutional Effectiveness & Assessment
  • Samantha Palmucci,Associate Director of Assessment, Institutional Effectiveness & Assessment
  • Jeanette Shaw, Lecturer, Mathematics and Statistics
  • Katie St. John,Interim Assistant Director of the Center for Major Exploration
  • Lanah Stafford,Director, High Impact Learning Initiatives, Office of Academic Success Initiatives & Support
  • Kerri Svoboda-Musick,Academic Advisor, College of Sciences
  • Leanne White, Director of Advising, College of Health Sciences

The discussion was designed to address key questions such as: Where do struggling students become overwhelmed, leading to failure and attrition? How can support systems better connect with the students who need them most? How can data systems inform targeted intervention strategies? What role can peer mentors play in communicating expectations and relevance? Can key evidence-based teaching techniques that help underrepresented students succeed become standard practice? And how can effective pedagogical innovations be successfully disseminated to all faculty?

As the panelists delved into the topic, they discussed institutional, academic, and individual factors:

Institutional Factors

Tyler Miller-Gordon kicked off the discussion by presenting high-level insights and trends in student grade data, noting that the 5-year aggregate DFWI rate for credit-bearing courses is 21%, affected by both high and low extremes during the peak years of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, courses with high enrollments (over 100 students in all sections) and substantial DFWI rates (over 30%), known as "frequent flyers," are largely concentrated in the Colleges of Arts and Letters, Business, and Sciences, particularly in math-based and general education courses.

Panelists identified several institutional factors that may be contributing to high DFWI rates, including during COVID "policies such as liberal withdrawal and pass/fail grading," course modality, and over-reliance on adjunct faculty without adequate training and support. Participants also noted the lack of a required first-year experience course that teaches college success skills, and the need for improved dissemination of DFWI data to colleges and departments to better support faculty in addressing high failure rates.

Underrepresented student populations at 鶹ý, including "first-generation students, Pell award recipients, and those from rural counties in Virginia, have DFWI rates about 5% higher than their more well-represented counterparts," highlighting the need for targeted support for these student groups. However, Miller-Gordon noted that in some high-impact practices, such as ePortfolios, "underrepresented populations are actually outperforming our well-represented populations."

Participants also discussed the need for a central repository of information for advisors and the importance of using Canvas analytics to identify at-risk students early in the semester. Leanne White advocated for "real-time access" to student performance data so that "advisors can intervene" when problems first arise.

Academic Factors

At the course level, the panelists pointed to several key issues, including "misplaced student expectations about college-level work," "lack of student awareness of available resources and how to access them," misalignment between low-stakes assignments and high-stakes assessments, and "poor attendance and inadequate participation/engagement." Leanne White also highlighted the need for "timely feedback” and the need for earlier identification of at-risk students.

Jeanette Shaw described innovations in the math department, such as embedded tutors, but lamented students' ability to bypass meaningful engagement with homework by using apps on their phone. "The low stakes assignments...students can literally take their phone, here's the problem, and they can snap it. They get an answer for that problem...then they walk into the test that is proctored and they can't do that anymore. And that's the disconnect."

Participants also discussed the effectiveness of prerequisite courses and the importance of tracking student performance across course sequences to identify areas for improvement. One attendee shared the success of a chemistry prep course in improving student outcomes but noted challenges with student buy-in and financial aid coverage. Costello pointed to the recent overhaul of the English composition sequence as a potential model, explaining that "We took our [ENGL] 110 back quite a bit... We're starting with the basics in a way that we hadn't been."

The role of attendance policies and their impact on student success was briefly discussed, with participants noting the need for flexibility and open communication between faculty and students, especially in the context of the ongoing pandemic.

Individual Student Factors

Panelists highlighted students' "overconfidence in their academic abilities." They noted that many students struggle with several issues including underdeveloped self-regulated learning and help-seeking behaviors, challenges with time management and effective study strategies, underutilization of academic support services such as tutoring, and an inability to persevere when faced with setbacks or failure.

To promote help-seeking behaviors, Katie St. John recommended that "peer-to-peer" messaging be deployed "to get students to resources. That way if they are encountering any difficulties or challenges, they know exactly where, when, and who to go to."

Lanah Stafford shared insights from the First-Year Experience Survey, noting that "students are more likely to ask a family member or somebody outside of 鶹ý than they are to go to a campus service," with only 15% of students seeking out resources like the Writing Center or tutoring centers. Panelists also discussed the gap between high school and college experiences, with students often lacking the skills and strategies needed to succeed in higher education. "One of the things I talk about at orientation with the incoming freshmen was in high school, right? You're in class, we'll just say like 35 hours a week, right? And then you come here and you're in classes for 15, 16 hours a week, roughly. And so, there's this gap of about 20 hours of support that they do not realize that they're not having here," explained Kerri Svoboda-Musick.

Key takeaways: 7 Strategies to Empower Student Success

As Samantha Palmucci pointed out, recent positive external reviews align well with and underscore the panelists' ideas and suggestions. Over the course of the roundtable, several actionable strategies and ideas were outlined to address high DFWI rates and increase student success, including:

  • Introduce a First-Year Experience Course:
    Develop a mandatory course for new students, especially those facing challenges, to provide them with critical study skills, time management strategies, and knowledge of campus resources.
  • Embed Tutors in High-Stakes Courses:
    Place knowledgeable tutors in key gateway courses to provide students with critical support when they need it most, ensuring that every student receives attention.
  • Leverage Technology to Enhance Proactive Intervention Strategies:
    Train faculty to leverage data analytics and generative AI to identify at-risk students and provide personalized tutoring and feedback.
  • Foster Peer Mentoring and Resource Awareness:
    Encourage student mentors to share their journeys and guide their peers, raising awareness of available support services and cultivating a supportive learning environment.
  • Optimize Placement Tests and Prerequisites:
    Assess and refine placement exams and course prerequisites to pinpoint and address knowledge gaps early.
  • Provide Ongoing Support to Faculty:
    Offer faculty training and support focused on early intervention, constructive feedback, and student engagement strategies to improve student success.
  • Embrace a Student-Centered Approach:
    Remember that each statistic in the DFWI data represents a human story—a student with dreams and aspirations. By taking a holistic approach to address DFWI rates, we can foster a supportive community where every student has the opportunity to thrive and achieve their dreams.

Correction: It was reported only 15% of students sought out resources, data collected from FYES shows it's 17% of students sought out resources.