In 2002, the first-year class began with 183 students. In 2006, 78 percent of them remain. With an average retention rate of 75 percent over the last 15 years, Guilford College is close to the mean retention rate for four-year private institutions. Guilford’s administration, however, wants to be better than average.

Randy Doss, Vice President for Enrollment and Campus Life, devotes much of his time to student retention. “I’m constantly pouring over information on retention. I try to figure out why we’ve lost students in the past and how to keep students in the future.”

One of the difficulties the school faces is figuring out what kinds of students are leaving and why. “There are no silver bullets,” Doss explained. “Students leave because of personal, medical or psychological reasons – or the school asks them to leave for academic or disciplinary reasons.”

Guilford’s strict academic suspension policy plays a big role in the loss of students for two reasons. Guilford chooses to suspend first-year students and suspends students for a full academic year, two things most colleges don’t do.

“I couldn’t put my life on hold for a year,” said Nick Sands, former Guilford student who was suspended for academic reasons. “I moved on. I’m not coming back to Guilford.”

Bill Woodward, Associate Dean for Campus Life, plays an important role in retaining students. His job is to help students make connections to the Guilford community.

“If students can make a connection to the school, and feel like a part of the community, they are much more likely to stay,” said Woodward. “Traditionally, Avanti and Chaos were meant to serve this purpose.”

Woodward has plans to go beyond Avanti and Chaos in the future to make strong connections with students. The school is going to communicate with the students before they arrive in August. They feel that this will help cement the student’s bond with Guilford from the start. They are also going to offer more programs in the first several weeks of school that they hope students will enjoy and benefit from.

Campus Life also wants to expand their focus beyond first-years. “First-year students have gotten all the attention from the school in the past, leaving returning sophomores to fend for themselves,” said Woodward.

Beginning next year, the school wants to “welcome back” the 2005-2006 first-years. Instead of assuming that everyone is completely comfortable returning to school, Campus Life wants to make sure that they are available to help returning students in every way possible.

Part of connecting with the community is experiencing the community. Doss enthusiastically explained the free bus system that the college will provide for students next year.

“There will be a free bus service to the Friendly Center, UNCG and Downtown, Thursday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 3 a.m. We want to try and get people out in the community. There’s more to Greensboro than our campus,” said Doss.

Keira Wilson, a sophomore who works in the Office of Admission, has noticed the increased focus on retention. “There has been a lot of talk around the office about how to keep students,” said Wilson. “The admissions counselors have been looking for students who would fit really well here and are likely to stay all four years.