THE ACADEMIC LIBRARY IMPACT ON STUDENT PERSISTENCE: TWO MODELS

The study assessed the impact the academic library has upon student persistence by analyzing two models: (1) a structural equation model that added a library construct to an existing model of student persistence with constructs for academic performance, academic integration, institutional support, intent to persist, and persistence and (2) a multiple regression model. The measures for the library construct included librarians, expenditures, materials circulated, and instruction. Data from the 2006 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, Academic Libraries Survey, and the National Survey of Student Engagement served as variables for the constructs and yielded a sample of 497 institutions. The structural equation model did not fit and did not explain the nature of the relationship between the academic library and student persistence. The taxonomy of multiple regression models analyzing the relationship between graduation and the independent variables from the structural equation model revealed that an increase in the ratio of librarians to students or an increase in library expenditures per student predict a higher graduation rate. The lack of fit in the structural equation model is likely due to the inadequacy of library input and output measures that indicate size more than quality. The results suggest that librarians need to devise outcome and value measures at their local institutions and that national library organizations need to develop measures and techniques that can be used by administrators to make decisions when allocating resources and by researchers to demonstrate the academic librarys impact upon student success.\u2

Library Services: Impact Analysis Spring 2018 to Fall 2018

Libraries are an essential element of learning on university campuses. The content housed within libraries supports academic exploration and growth. Physically, libraries are designed to provide access to materials and spaces that facilitate learning. This report explored the impact of student library resource use on student persistence to the next term. Students\u27 library resource use was captured with EZ Proxy log-ins and library material check-outs. Students who had a record of using library resources were compared to similar students who did not have a record of library resource use. They were compared using prediction-based propensity score matching. Students who used library resources were matched with non-users based on their persistence prediction and their propensity to participate. Students were 98% similar following matching. Participating and com­parison students were compared using difference-in-difference testing. Those who accessed library resources were significantly more likely to persist at USU than similar students who did not use library resources (DID = 0.017, p \u3c .001). The unstandardized effect size can be estimated through student impact. It is estimated that library resources assisted in retaining 278 (CI: 168 – 387) students each year who were otherwise not expected to persist

Libraries and Student Success: A Campus Collaboration with High Impact Educational Practices

Academic libraries are actively exploring reliable methods to demonstrate their value and impact on student success and retention to campus administrators and governing bodies. As many campuses moved from the teaching to learning paradigm they employed the AAC&U’s essential learning outcomes as outlined in their Liberal Education and America’s Promise project. Many universities utilize high impact practices in the effort to improve retention, persistence and success. Rigorously researched, these practices have proven successful. Libraries participate in many high impact practices through information literacy programs and collaborations with student affairs, service learning and undergraduate research. One way to demonstrate library contributions to student success is to align closely with these successful high impact practices and document activity

Co-operative education: A value-added approach to education at the university level.

Co-operative education strategies at the baccalaureate level may allow for the contextualization of the learning process by utilizing experiential learning and career exploration. This study sought to examine the level of career-clarity or decisiveness with which students enter university, to see if the intervention of participation in a co-operative education program had an impact on the student\u27s level of career-clarity, and if this impact could be linked to student academic performance and persistence rates. A pretest posttest design was used for the two groups of students (Co-op participants, and non-Co-op participants). A volunteer sample of 166 subjects (from Business Administration and Engineering streams) participated in the study. A general student information sheet, the Career Decision Scale, Holland\u27s Vocational Preference Inventory, and a career-related intervention treatment were used to build profiles of the students. Relevant aspects of these profiles were compared pretest and posttest. Of particular interest was the relationship between co-op participation and academic performance including student retention in good academic standing. The findings of the study provide information for university administrators and educators concerning the importance of career-clarity, and the impact this clarity has on student performance, leading to persistence and increasing retention in the student population. This focus on increasing student retention rates may lead to greater recognition by university administrators of the benefits provided by educational strategies such as co-operative education. Appreciation of these benefits as a value-added approach to education, may provide the impetus to ensure a commitment for the enhancement and growth of co-operative education initiatives at the university level. Paper copy at Leddy Library: Theses & Major Papers - Basement, West Bldg. / Call Number: Thesis2000 .R65. Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 40-03, page: 0550. Adviser: L. Morton. Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 2000

Assessment in Action: Academic Libraries and Student Success

Academic librarians are connecting with campus partners in novel ways to question and discover how they bring value to their institutions. To foster these partnerships, the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), with funding from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services, launched “Assessment in Action: Academic Libraries and Student Success” (AiA). This three-year program will to aid 300 postsecondary institutions of all types as they create engaged libraries of the future. Each selected institution has a team with a librarian and at least two people from other campus units. The librarians will participate in a formal 14-month professional development program and lead their campus teams in developing and implementing action-learning projects. The projects investigate library impact and consider different aspects of the academic library (e.g., collections, space, instruction, reference, etc.). They must ultimately be tied to student learning (e.g., course, program, or degree learning outcomes) and/or success (e.g., student retention, completion, or persistence). This session will report on the assessment work of the first 75 institutions. Learn about the questions they are exploring as they develop and implement action-learning projects on campus and how ACRL is developing this assessment community of practice

Analysis of University Personnel\u27s Perception of Institutional Factors Impacting Student Persistence/Retention

Problem Universities are assessing which institutional efforts are most directly impacting student attrition. This study identified important institutional factors impacting student attrition/retention using university personnel. It also measured personnel perception of how satisfactorily addressed were institutional factors impacting student persistence. Methods A quantitative survey methodology was used, and a survey instrument was developed and validated in the study. Tinto’s 1987 model of Student Departure and the Melendez model o f Transaction Satisfaction toward Student Persistence were used to guide the development of the instalment. The Melendez model was formulated as a rival hypothesis and an alternative tool for the study of student attrition. It posited that institutional efforts toward students’ academic and personal satisfaction have a direct impact on student persistence. The new model was used to interpret the results. The subjects were administrators, faculty, and professional staff and clerical/technical staff from a Midwestern public university The data were analyzed using factor and reliability analyses, analysis of variance, l-tests, multivariate and discriminant analyses. Results. Overall, the university personnel perceived the instrument items as important institutional factors impacting student retention. Conversely, they generally did not perceive the university’s efforts as highly satisfactorily address factors. The seven most important factors impacting student retention are academic advising, financial aid services, students’ commitment to their education, instructor’s effectiveness, students’ attitude toward education, administrators/faculty/staff caring about students’ progress, and students’ class attendance. The four most satisfactorily addressed institutional factors impacting student persistence were library services, registration services, campus safety and security services, and instructor effectiveness. Conclusions Based on this study (1) the new instrument yielded adequate statistical results, (2) in general, university personnel perceived institutional factors impacting student retention as important and were generally not highly satisfied with the university’s efforts in addressing factors impacting student retention, (3) the data were adequately interpreted by the Melendez model, and (4) a similar study should be conducted to refine the instrument and to examine student retention from the perspective a customer/service transactional satisfaction relationship using both students and university personnel

Aggie Recreation Center Impact Report Fall 2015 to Spring 2019

Recreation facilities are an integral part of the university community. The Aggie Recreation Center is a place that helps foster a well balanced student. The ARC provides students with a myriad of opportunities for recreation, exercise, and community that can support students on their academic journey. This report explored the association between ARC facility use and student persistence to the next term at Utah State University. METHODS: Students recreation center use was captured with entry log-ins as students entered the facility. Students who had a record of using the facility were compared to similar students who did not have a record of facility use. Students were compared using prediction-based propensity score matching. Students who used the recreation center were matched with non-users based on their persistence predication and their propensity to participate. FINDINGS: Students were 99% similar following matching. Participating and comparison students were compared using difference-in-difference testing. Students who access ARC resources were significantly more likely to persist at USU than similar students who did not use library resources (DID = 0.0115, p \u3c .001). The unstandardized effect size can be estimated through student impact. It is estimated that library resources assisted in retaining 130 (CI: 87 – 173) students each year who were otherwise not expected to persist

Towards a Conceptual Map of Academic Libraries\u27 Role in Student Retention

Academic libraries, like other academic departments, are developing strategies to retain students given the high cost of withdrawing to both students and institutions. The relatively few empirical studies of college libraries and retention efforts cite comfortable library facilities, student employment in the library, and inter-departmental partnerships as effective library strategies to prevent attrition. Much of the professional literature on libraries and retention extrapolates what libraries could be doing based on general studies of retention. These empirically-based and theoretical strategies are presented in the form of conceptual map at the end of this review along with a map of institutional stakeholders in a holistic retention strategy

The Power of Encouragement: The Role of Christian Academic Librarians in Supporting the Whole Student

Christian librarians are exhorted to consider the role of providing encouragement, care, and emotional and spiritual support to college students. Caring for the whole student can have a positive impact on college student success and retention, as well as have a transformational effect on students’ spiritual lives. By treating college students as whole persons created in the image of God, Christians academic librarians can not only help these students succeed by meeting their academic needs, but also help students thrive by supporting them emotionally and spiritually

Information Literacy Instruction in an English Capstone Course: A Study of Student Confidence, Perception, and Practice

An English professor and an instruction librarian at the University of New Hampshire at Manchester felt that the college\u27s new English Capstone course for majors provided a unique opportunity to assess the information literacy skill levels of graduating English majors. They therefore engaged in a three-year study to evaluate the IL competency of these students, to gauge their perceptions of library instruction provided during the Capstone course and throughout their academic careers, and to determine students\u27 confidence and self-efficacy with respect to these skills. The researchers sought to determine the ways in which the IL program for English majors effectively met established IL goals and to identify areas for improvement