Is there a Relationship Between Recruitment Efforts

Background of the Study

Up to modern times, in the context of the student’s success, retention has become one of the widely debated topics of higher education. In this case, most of the institutions of the higher education continue to attract quality students and retain them throughout their high school and college career (Tinto, 2006). Several studies have indicated that retention is believed to be one of the student’s obligation to an educational and career goal as it is associated with the degree competition. Indeed, the concept of student retention has been addressed by institutional bodies such as governmental institutions, most of the organization, and the society. The current situation is to understand if there is an association between the recruitment efforts aimed at high school students before their senior year. On the other hand, with the first growing technological advancement, new reforms and education systems are being introduced in most of the higher learning institutions, which changes the face and different academic goals of every individual student (Willett, 1994).

Even though the topic of retention still stands out as a major issue, it is conspicuous as the significant problem in the sense that it determined the student success. For instance, most recent studies have shown that most of the college first-year students are not able to successfully navigate the rigor in the college-level work with the additional pressure of being away from home (Hotchkiss, Moore, and Pitts, 2006). Because this issue has become a problem for many years, institutions should combine efforts in providing the student with a standard learning background and environment so that they can be associated with the education system to develop a sense of fitting into the society and student body. Lau (2003) argues that several cases of school drop-out usually occur by the time they complete their first year. Consequently, student retention occasionally happens to those students who are transferred to other colleges (Hotchkiss, Moore, and Pitts, 2006). Other students are not able to return to their second-year classes for various reasons such as lack of finances, poor student institution, changing career or academic goal, or unrelated personal conditions (Lau, 2003).

Statement of the Problem

Beyond the twentieth century, discoveries, inventions, and achievement have caused humanity with various unresolved social problems that stand out with a starkness and one of them the concept of retention in high school and college institutions. Harris (1992) posited that recruiting students had become a challenging factor because of several reasons. In this case, he argues that to compete with the new policies and education requirement for high school graduation and college entrance, educational administrators should demonstrate the importance of vocational career program can contribute to the development of the academic background of various forms. These elements include basic skill enhancement, career development, and future occupational plans (Harris, 1994; Chimes and Gordon, 2008).

Various studies have examined the potential effect of retention on the various student both in the career development and professional achievement. Other studies have indicated different factor affecting student’s retention in colleges and other institution (Chimes and Gordon, 2008). However, there is not yet studies that have the focus on the difference between the recruitment effort that is aiming that student before their senior year and first-year college retention. Additionally, for the college and high school administrators should come up with learning interventions such as student's conservation programs and academic counseling procedure tow to gain success in education achievements (Hoffman, 1997). Therefore, this investigation will focus on a quantitative research that examined the relationship between recruitment efforts aimed at high school students before their senior year and first-year college retention.

Research Aims and Objectives

The central objective of this qualitative research is to determine if there exists the relationship between recruitment efforts aimed at high school students before their senior year and first-year college retention. In this case, the study will focus on the on whether recruitment programs should reach out to high school students or wait until their senior years affect the college retention and student success.

Literature Review

In the recent decades, several studies have been identified the program value of retention to the various students in different institutions. According to Hundrieser (2011), the primary objective of the student’s success is to complete their educational goals, which will credit the institutional success. In the case, the statistic of the student success is usually regarded as the central indicators the of the institutional performance. Additionally, according to the Vincent Tinto (1994) in his theory of retention program, he points out that the first principle of the active conservation program is to assure the student’s success and this can only be achieved by the efforts made by the institutional commitments. In this case, he argues that it the primary objective of the institution to spring the from the behavior of the school's mission and vision.

On the other hand, there is a recent indication that most of the institutions are having the problem in retention programs. This is highlighted by Hundrieser (2011) that some selective schools serve large, diverse, and students coming from an economically disadvantaged population, which is higher than then retention and graduation rates. In this case, is quite clear that recruitment effort in high school senior and first year in colleges can be challenging. This suggests the notion that most of the student's success depend not only on the high-income background but also institutional efforts that comprises of various educational interventions. It is for this reason that, the higher the retention rate within an institution, the greater the realization of the institution’s mission and success. Separately, Hundrieser (2011) holds that few student’s success, low graduation, and high attrition numbers within the college/universities only exposes the institutional problems, which denies them from meeting the needs and expectations of its students. Additionally, it presents the picture of failure in reaching the institutional goals and objectives (Hundrieser (2011).

Looking at the definition provided by the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) cited in Hundrieser (2011), retention is said to be the rate at which student persist in their educational program within the institution. Swail (2004) argues that student who is retained in the colleges for four years tend to earn unlike those who drop out of school while in their first year. Additionally, it clear that institution should create interventions programs that promote the student success that uses student retention as an outcome measure of performance. This is vital in the sense that doing engineering courses have been reported not to be able to achieve their career goals within the meaning that they drop out of school in their first year (Cuseo, 2012). Moreover, it has been reported that majority of the student in the initial stage at college tend to leave these colleges without completing their degree (Cuseo, 2012). In this case, the most vital stage is in the first year of college in which of the students withdraw from their colleges. Therefore, to solve this problem, institutions must make changes and concern themselves by retaining students (Cuseo, 2012).

Relationship between recruitment effort at senior year and first-year college retention

Following the recruitment effort in place to seek the college retention, it is argued that just like in companies, poor recruiting strategies may cause the companies a significant loss. It also the same in this our case in the sense that the recruiting efforts both at high school level and first-time college level are essential for retention (Swail, 2004). On the other hand, based on the new outcomes, high school graduation rates and population demographics across the United States are changing rapidly. For instance, recent research indicates that areas such Northwest and Midwest will experience the decline in the number of high schools, which will make student retention and excellent retention (Swail, 2004). This is evident is very clear based on the notion that several factors prevent the student from realizing their educational success. Besides, this factors also affect the retention within the institutions and paints a wrong symbol to the society. In addition to above case, the first time first year student in colleges will experience the same effect due to demographic differences factor (Swail, 2004). Therefore, an institution will have to put more effort to provide new kinds of support to students so that they can achieve their educational success.

Consequently, focusing on the student success through retention process, I believe that there exists a number relationship between the recruitment effort both at the high school and first year in college. This is because many factors have affected student both high school and first year in college to complete their educational career. Separately, Wong (2016) argues that most of the top student is currently receiving the diploma. However, this does not mean that these students are proceeding to colleges despite the increase in the college grants and affordable tuition. The data presented by Wong (2016) shows that 2016 register 1.7 percent of the students enrolling in college and universities, which was lower in the prior year. Besides the percentage of high school student admitted in colleges reduced by three percent in 2013 from 69 percent in 2008 (Wong, 2016). In this case, it can be argued that most of these students are coming from the economically disadvantaged population and are not able to continue with their education and therefore seek for employment programs. This is very different from the first-year student in college in the sense the recruitment efforts are directed toward achieving their educational goals through retention.

Research Questions and Hypothesis

Following the primary objective of research below, below are some of the issues framed:

To identify the relationship between recruitment effort at senior year and first-year college retention

Does reaching out to high schoolers instead of waiting until senior year affect student success rate?

Is there a significant difference in high school retention, first-year retention, and senior year retention?

What is the primary factor the main obstacle that is associated with student educational success both in high school and colleges.

What are the interventions strategies and measures that institution administrator is taking to prevent the prevalence of school dropout?

On the other hand, following the primary resources, the theoretical framework of the current study, and the practical experimentation of the matter, below are some of the research hypothesis:

Hypothesis 1

There is a significant relationship between recruitment effort at a senior year and first-year college retention.

Hypothesis 2

The success and achievement of the institution are always determined by the career enhancement and educational achievement of the students. It is the role of institutional administrators to assists student to achieve their goals.

Hypothesis 3

Demographic and economic instabilities are the key factors that result in student dropout and retention failure.

Research Design and Methodology

Type of Research

The present study will adopt a causal research design that will fully meet the requirement for investigating the given problem associated with the with two variables, x, and y, in this case, participation college recruitment as a high school junior and first-year success. All the times, causal research design is based on the causal effects where the happenings of an independent variable result in the change of the dependent variable. Additionally, based on the historical nature of recruitment in high school as a dependent variable in this study, the normative approach will describe effectively what exists within the situation such as current data and information on the status, practices, and another field of research.

Sources of Data

The availability of the earmark data and information is significant aspects in many parts of the research. For this reason, this research will utilize data such as:

Primary data sources from the institutional database, Ministry of Education and Scholarly reviewed articles.

Secondary sources from researchers carried out by various scholars across the world. These sources will be used to identify the relationship between the recruitment effort in high school and first year in college.

Dataset from questionnaires will be held in several institutions both high school and college/university.

Population and Sample Size

Focusing on the study population, the present study will consist of approximately ten high schools and 20 universities institutions. Additionally, 20 students will be assessed each from every high school and college. On the other hand, ten university administrators and ten high school administrators will be selected for interviews and questionnaires. This is because during the actual research activities, as the sample size of the population increases so do the reliability of the study.

Methods of Data Collection

The survey will be used to collect data from different selected high schools and universities. This will be achieved through semi-structured interviews and questionnaires that will assist to gather the efforts by the institution’s administrators in supporting the success of the students. On the other hand, using random sampling ten teachers and ten lectures will be selected from high school and universities respectively. In this case, the survey will contain both closed and open formats. Additionally, several pieces of literature sources also examined such as books, journals, newspapers, and website to collect the information based on the present study. The analysis will be done using analysis format.

Methods of Data Analysis

Based on the research type, the actualization and achievement of the survey, the data which will be collected from various sources will be prepared for later presentation on the research objectives. Both quantitative and qualitative data will be used to presents the statistical data graphs, calculations and charts for the data collected from interview and questionnaires. On the other hand, upon data collection, comprehensive analysis will be used to answer several research questions. Additionally. Both data collected from questionnaires and interviews will be analyzed together with an evaluation of the secondary data from the previous studies.

Scope and Delamination of the Study

This study is grounded in the cross-sectional quantitative approach since it helps to gather enormous sample size within a less period to examine the relationship between recruitment effort at the senior year and first-year college retention. Therefore, acquiring data within the shorter period might present reliable results. In this case, I recommend that future research should focus on the longitudinal study design that captures a comprehensive gathering of data and analysis.

Outcome and Significance of the Study

This study will donate meaningfully towards institutions to draw public policies that will assist in promotion student educational goals. Furthermore, the research present two fronts: Fist, the validation of the understanding of the relationship between recruitment effort at the senior year and first-year college retention. This assists the institutions’ administrators to gather more information about how recruitment efforts both in high school and colleges can be used to seek the success of student retention. Secondly, the research will contribute to the academic research on conservation as it is an issue that has been debated for decades. Finally, the study will present the recommendation on various strategies that can use to promote student retention and avid numerous school dropout.

References

Chimes, M. and Gordon, S. (2008). What Works: A Student and Counselor Explore College Recruitment. Journal of College Admission, 2008 Spring.

Cuseo, J. (2012). Academic Advisement and Student Retention: Empirical Connections and Systematic Interventions. Available from http://uwc.edu/sites/uwc.edu/files/imce-uploads/employees/academic-resources/esfy/_files/academic_advisement_and_student_retention.pdf

Harris, G. W. (1992). Secondary Student Recruitment: Challenge for Rural Area Vo-Tech School.

Hoffman, N. (1997). The college recruiting wars: CEASE FIRE!.  Education Digest ,  62 (5), 60.

Hotchkiss, L. J., Moore, E. R., and Pitts, M. (2006). Freshman Communities, College Performance, and Retention. Education Economics, 14(2); 197-210.

Hundrieser, J. (2011). Students Success, Retention, and Graduation: Definitions, Theories, Practices, Patterns, and Trends. Available from http://www.stetson.edu/law/conferences/highered/archive/media/Student%20Success,%20Retention,%20and%20Graduation-%20Definitions,%20Theories,%20Practices,%20Patterns,%20and%20Trends.pdf

Lau, K. L. (2003). Institutional Factors Affecting Students Retention. Longwood University.

Odiorne, S G. (1961). University Look at College Recruiting: System should be depressured. Mackinac Island, Michigan.

The reason, D. R. (2003). Students Variable that predicts retention: Recent Research and New Developments. NASPA Journal, 40(4); 172-191.

Swail, S. W. (2004). The art of student retention. Available from http://www.educationalpolicy.org/pdf/ART.pdf

Tinto, V. (2006). Research and Practice of Student Retention: What Next? Journal of College Student Retention, 8(1); 1-19.

Willett, L. (1994). Post High School Plans Survey. Zanesville, Ohio.

Wong, A. (2016). Where are all the High School Grades Going? Most of the Americans are getting Diploma, but few are enrolling to college. Internet resource.