HERDSA 2010 program: Workshop ten

Student attrition: Exploring what we know; Strategies for reshaping what we do

Lesley Willcoxson

University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia

Sally Joy

Monash University, Australia

Marie Kavanagh

University of Southern Queensland, Australia

Ray Hibbins

Griffith University, Australia

The aim of this workshop is to explore the factors that underpin attrition throughout the three years of degree studies and, on this basis, develop strategies for addressing attrition within participants' own faculties and universities. After a brief overview of the "Whole of University Experience" project, facilitators of the workshop will present a series of five minute vignettes highlighting key insights from the project. Each vignette, focusing on a specific student demographic group or aspect of institutional responsibility, will be followed by a 15-20 minute exploration of the implications for participants' own practice or for practices within their universities. A final summary session will draw together the various lessons from the workshop, assisting participants to sketch their own institutional priority action plan.