Continuing to develop a first-year experience course, using high impact practices. This course will, ideally, be taken by all incoming freshmen who have not already completed their Institutional IMPACTS requirements. However, due to resource restraints, preference will be given to students who are first-time freshmen with no college credit. The course meets 3 hours per week and covers topics for academic and personal growth and wellness. Active Learning techniques will encourage students to tackle diverse perspectives and practice collaboration. Students will be guided through defining what it means to be a college student, properly communicating with campus community members, preparing a career plan, finding campus resources, accessing campus tech, employing effective learning strategies, following academic integrity guidelines, and other essential topics for successful campus life.
This year there will be a particular focus on increasing retention and progression for these students. Activities and lessons will be timed within the curriculum to specifically target retention and building connections within the classroom.
First-time Full-time Freshman Retention Rates will be compared for students participating in DECK 1000, non-DECK students, and the retention from prior years.
KPIs:
- First-time Full-time Freshman Retention Rates for DECK students compared to non-DECK students.
- Fall-to-Spring
- Fall-to-Fall
Baseline measure (for each KPI):
- After Implementation:
For Fall 2022 cohort of First-time Full-time Freshman pre-DECK1000:
- Fall-to-Spring retention rate: 79.0%.
- Fall-to-Fall retention rate: 52.6%.
For Fall 2023 cohort of First-time Full-time Freshman DECK vs non-DECK:
- Fall-to-Spring retention rate: 74.3% DECK vs 79.6% non-DECK
- Fall-to-Fall retention rate: 50% DECK vs 57.6% non-DECK
For Fall 2024 cohort of First-time Full-time Freshman DECK vs non-DECK:
- Fall-to-Spring retention rate: 82.5% DECK vs 82.6% non-DECK
- Notably, the registration rate 20 days after registration opened was 10% higher for DECK 1000 students. An encouraging result.
- Fall-to-Fall retention rate: 55% DECK vs 59% non-DECK
- This is another surprising outcome, but as discussed elsewhere, the Fall 2024 DECK cohort was chosen by only selecting students who had no previous college coursework. This means that we unintentionally turned away any high-achieving students such as those who took AP or Dual Enrollment courses.
- Case in point: the average HSGPA of non-DECK students for Fall 2024 was 3.82, while the average HSGPA of the DECK cohort was 3.06.
For Fall 2025 cohort of Freshman DECK vs non-DECK:
- Fall-to-Spring registration rate 3 days into General Registration
- 57% of DECK students are enrolled in Spring 2026
- 43% of non-DECK freshmen are enrolled in Spring 2026
Current/most recent data (for each KPI):
- See Data in the previous section
Goal or targets (for each KPI):
- Complete additional revisions, including activities and lessons that would specifically pinpoint retention efforts.
- After Implementation: First-time Full-time Freshman students enrolled in DECK 1000 will have at least a 1% higher retention rate than students who were not enrolled in DECK 1000.
Time period/duration: Completion of revisions of the course completed by July 15, 2025. The evaluation of retention rates will be conducted in Spring 2026 and Fall 2026, respectively.
While preliminary data from the Fall 2023 pilot indicate a lower Fall-to-Spring retention, it is important to note that after propensity score matching analysis, we determined that there is not sufficient evidence to claim an impact of DECK as a treatment. The Fall 2024 pilot was populated by first-time freshmen with no prior college credit and was a group more representative of the freshmen class; however, it still excluded some of the most highly motivated students who would have completed dual enrollment and AP courses. We found it encouraging that the new DECK cohort had a similar retention rate to the non-DECK freshmen. Our first full implementation of DECK 1000 is occurring this Fall 2025, with any freshman who has not yet fulfilled the Institutional requirement for IMPACTS being enrolled into DECK 1000. Once Fall 2025 to Fall 2026 retention data is available, we will complete propensity score matching analysis to determine the true impact of DECK 1000 on student retention. We believe the more general population will prove to be the more reliable analysis.
To begin addressing student retention, we have made some curricular changes to trim down the number of assignments students completed. Our end-of-the-semester survey indicated that students were overwhelmed by the number of assignments included on the ePortfolio, the bulk of these were reflective assignments that took place after specific course modules (e.g. well-being reflection, academic integrity reflection, AI reflection, etc.). Removing these six reflective assignments cut down on the amount of students’ perceived “busy work,” making them feel less overwhelmed.
In addition, we capitalized on the team building aspect of the collaborative assignment from Fall 2024, moving it from the end of the semester to the middle. In the end of semester survey, students reported that their second favorite thing about the course was their classmates, and moving this assignment works to create solidified relationships with their classmates earlier in the semester. In addition, in qualitative responses, students reported that the group infographic helped them develop “strong communication and teamwork” skills and that they “loved working with [their classmates].” They also found that “students who were well-connected and social were more successful.” Shifting this assignment forward may affect student retention by building connections and solidifying community earlier in the semester.
In Fall 2025, we continued with the uniform structure and schedule of the course and implemented community-building exercises for an extended amount of time in the course to capitalize on the success we found with the Fall 2024 community-building practices. Daily lesson plans were continued, and, after seeing some instructors’ success with incorporating PowerPoint files in their daily work plan, we incorporated active learning strategies by creating daily Nearpod (a platform like PowerPoint, but with additional interactive components) that instructors may use to rate student engagement and further active learning in the course. Use of these materials reinforce a consistent experience for students in the course.
As we plan for Fall 2026, in alignment with NISS recommendations, we will consider further developing DECK courses into meta-major specific courses and engage academic departments to help with these developments.
One of the key areas we continue to work on is strengthening student attendance and engagement. We found that fostering a sense of community early in the semester and sustaining it through collaborative assignments can significantly support these goals. Encouraging peer relationships and mutual accountability helps students feel more connected, which we hope will positively influence attendance.
A second challenge has been maintaining continuity and a similar depth of instruction across all sections. With a course as large and multifaceted as DECK 1000, ensuring a consistent and unified experience across all sections is an ongoing effort. While many instructors are deeply committed to the mission, the scale of the program sometimes means we are working with a diverse range of teaching styles and levels of familiarity with the course goals. We continue to explore ways to support alignment and shared ownership of the DECK 1000 vision.
