Enrollment Specialist Interview Reflection

Marie Tucker

University of Central Florida

August 5th, 2021

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Introduction

This enrollment specialist interview took place via Zoom on July 7th, 2021 with Dr.

Richard Song, the interim Director of New Student Programs at the University of Rhode Island.

The University of Rhode Island (URI) is made up of four different campuses with its

main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island being on the National Register of Historic Places. URI,

which was chartered in 1888 through the Land Grant Act, now serves as the state’s Land, Sea,

and Urban Grant public research institution. With its rich history, the university now serves

approximately 18,000 students across its four campuses which represent 48 U.S. states and 76

different countries. Of those 18,000 students, approximately 15,000 are at the undergraduate

level and approximately 2,000 are at the graduate level. The student population is made up of

52% in-state and 48% out-of-state students with 57% being women and 43% men. Additionally,

23% of first-year students identify as people of color (POCs). URI also offers 103 bachelor’s

degree programs, 78 graduate degree programs, and 22 certificate and non-degree programs.

The Office of New Student Programs at URI aims to provide “educational, leadership,

and professional development opportunities to students and families through orientation,

transition, and retention programming.” This office oversees new student Orientation for First

Time in College (FTIC) students, Transfers, and parents/families. They also facilitate additional

first year programs designed to further support the transition to college including URI 101

(freshman seminar), Phi Eta Sigma (freshman honor society), and first year Living and Learning

Communities (LLCs).

As the interim Director of New Student Programs, Dr. Richard Song oversees all

functions of the office with special emphasis on new student Orientation, managing starfish

(URI’s student success software for facilitating connectedness among students, faculty and
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advisors) and supervising the Early Alert team. Dr. Song is a triple alumni of URI along with the

Talent Development program which is a “special admission program for Rhode Island’s students

of color and those from disadvantaged backgrounds.” He has worked in higher education for

well over ten years and has had various roles within the institution ranging from academic

advising to housing and residential life. Dr. Song has also worked at the College of Mount Saint

Vincent, Connecticut College, and California State University. He is well versed in many areas

of student affairs and is highly knowledgeable about student retention concepts and applying

them effectively through practice.

Key Findings

To begin, Dr. Song provided details regarding his positional responsibilities and how

these related to the overarching enrollment and retention strategies at the University of Rhode

Island. Dr. Song stated that the more connected students are to campus, the more likely they are

to stay, so many of the initiatives run by the Office of New Student Programs are specifically

designed to help students make these connections. For example, URI 101 is the introductory

seminar for incoming students and is designed around key topics related to student success and

campus resources, like academic planning, studying tips, and experiential learning/involvement

opportunities. This is a fundamental aspect of Strayhorn’s (2019) sense of belonging model

which states that “belonging—with peers, in the classroom, or on campus—is a critical

dimension of success at college.”

Additionally, Dr. Song emphasized the role that New Student Programs play in the

pertinent first six weeks of a students collegiate career. A common concept proven by several

student retention studies is that the first six weeks of a student's time in college is vital to their
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development and likelihood of being retained through their sophomore year. He explained that

URI takes this time incredibly seriously and tracks first year students very closely during this

period and because of this, the job of Dr. Song and his employees are far from being over after

Orientation season. One of the systems that is used to track students throughout their first six

weeks and beyond is called Early Alert. Early Alert serves as a “referral service that supports

student success with a focus on academic interventions.” This is conducted with the

collaboration of multiple campus partners who each have designated staff to outreach to students

in need to provide individual guidance and help create strategies that will address the issues

which are impacting the students ability to be successful. Common issues typically addressed by

Early Alert staff include but are not limited to academic performance, class attendance, and lack

of engagement in the classroom. Systems and services like Early Alert are a key strategy used in

higher education institutions to help detect and combat the issues which students encounter that

negatively impact their retention and persistence.

When asked about URI’s enrollment management plan, Dr. Song was able to provide lots

of key details regarding the plans and strategies in place to meet their desired freshman class

numbers due to his close working relationship with the Vice Provost for Enrollment

Management. For example, Dr. Song explained that URI always has a magic date of October

15th which is said to be the day which they will typically know what their freshman class size

and make up looks like. Because of this goal date, all student affairs offices do everything they

can between the beginning of Fall and October 15th to ensure that their students are happy and

successful in order to meet their target numbers. Also, the university pays close attention to

which students have engaged with the institution and who has not by running various reports and

cross referencing to different systems to determine what students are at risk. Students who are
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considered at risk may have not paid their housing deposit, missed orientation, or academic

advising. URI then begins outreaching to these students to determine what needs to be done to

get them back on track. Furthermore, URI also employs another retention strategy by assigning

students of the same majors to smaller learning communities where students are clustered

together into three or four classes in addition to freshman seminar to help further connect

students to one another and build support and community.

A hot topic we have often discussed throughout this course is the effect that the COVID-

19 pandemic has had on higher education institutions and their enrollment and retention

strategies. Many institutions have quickly learned that the need for increased support services

both virtually and in-person have been necessary to help students persist throughout these very

trying times and according to Dr. Song, URI is no stranger to these challenges. Upon asking

about how URI has adapted their enrollment and retention strategies to the changing needs of

students under the restrictions of the pandemic, Dr. Song explained that it has been all about

reframing for both students and families. While their sister schools saw huge decreases in

enrollment numbers, URI was able to hold steady, function as an institution, and meet their class

this past academic year due to their ability to pivot and offer hybrid options for students. Dr.

Song said that their ability to reframe students and their families expectations coming into

college during a pandemic was ultimately what set them up for success over their neighboring

institutions.

Later in the interview, I asked Dr. Song about what types of students URI finds to need

the most support to be retained and to persist to which he replied that underrepresented first

generation students need the most attention in this area. This is supported by all of the data we

looked through in class which shows that there are severe educational equity gaps among racial
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minorities as compared to white students which is only increased among students at the

intersection of being both a racial minority and first generation student. Dr. Song explained that

this issue is not due to the lack of support for this group of students on URI’s campus but rather

because they don’t know the right questions to ask and how to advocate for themselves. These

students also do not have the support or financial capital back home which creates added

pressures. Additionally, Tinto’s theory of student departure tells us that first generation students

have stronger ties/commitments to their familial background and pre-college lives which can

pose interesting challenges for getting these students committed to the institution and their

academics, which are key parts needed for higher rates of retention and persistence. Dr. Song

believes the most pressing solution is to get as many students back to campus as possible to

increase touchpoints with faculty and staff members for more holistic support.

One of the main responsibilities of New Student Programs at URI is to plan, organize,

and implement all new student Orientations. As student personnel professionals, we know this is

one of the most important events in a student's transition to college and is therefore incredibly

important to get right and execute effectively. This can be very difficult to do given the

constraints of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, under Dr. Song’s lead, their institution was

able to develop and implement a new program to help students through the beginning stages of

the transition to college, called Rhode to Becoming a Ram. According to Dr. Song, this program

was designed to help students feel more supported campus-wide and less like they were being

handed off from one office or department to another. Through the collaboration of many

different campus partners, 25 outcomes for students and families to gain from this initiative were

developed and subsequent meetings occurred to determine what action steps in terms of

programming were needed in order to accomplish these outcomes. The Rhode to Becoming a
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Ram program takes the form of a webpage and new student checklist which walks students

through the process of transitioning into college starting from getting accepted to the institution

all the way through attending welcome week events and the first day of classes. Dr. Song stated

that this program has been very successful in helping students feel more supported holistically

across campus and that he has seen significant improvements to their retention rates as a result of

this program.

Regarding current trends in student retention strategies, Dr. Song stated that in his past

ten years or so in the field he has not noticed any significant changes. While the COVID-19

pandemic has certainly affected the way our institutions function as a whole, not much has

changed in the grand scheme of enrollment management. Dr. Song explained that a key aspect of

developing strategies has always been and will continue to be benchmarking with similar

schools. Some of the best ideas and programs based in retention theory oftentimes come from

other institutions who have found success in certain areas. For example, URI has been contacted

multiple times by other schools about their Rhode to Becoming a Ram program, which Dr. Song

stated to be a huge accomplishment for him and his staff. Also, outreach and personalization

have become incredibly important as higher education in America continues to grow. Students

do not want to feel like just another number to their respective institutions and so creating and

implementing strategies that help to personalize their experiences is a huge benefit to retention

and persistence rates.

When asked about his thoughts on future trends or retention and enrollment concepts that

higher education institutions are likely to begin focusing on, Dr. Song explained that more

centering on students of color is already beginning and will start to be more and more prevalent

in the coming years. Senior leadership at URI has engaged in conversations and focus groups to
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determine what can actually be done to help these students stay enrolled and keep coming back

(retain and persist). Dr. Song explained that in the past, a lot has been done to recruit students of

color but now the focus is shifting on how to actually help them navigate being a POC at a

predominantly white institution, as well as helping them find a sense of belonging with peer

groups who have similar experiences to them.

One program which already exists at URI to help this cause is called the Talent

Development program. This program was established in 1968 after the assasination of Dr. Martin

Luther King Jr. and now has over 4,000 alumni, including Dr. Song. “Talent Development

recruits and serves Rhode Island high school graduates with college potential who come from

historically disadvantaged backgrounds, a majority of whom are Scholars of color.” The program

helps students of color and students from disadvantaged backgrounds through several different

initiatives with a mentorship component being a primary focus. Dr. Song stated that a group of

four to five incoming students are assigned an upperclassmen mentor who has also progressed

through the program who essentially serves as a resource and to help guide the students through

their first year. Students who stay enrolled at URI can also move on to serve as peer mentors to

help new incoming students in the same ways they were supported their first year. This is a

primary component to the retention efforts for students of color at URI. Also, it is anticipated

that this program will continue to grow and develop as more funds and staff resources are

allocated to focus on students of color. As discussed in class, this is a really important aspect for

higher education institutions to include in an enrollment management plan to help mitigate the

significant educational equity gaps and degree attainment gaps that racial minorities and students

of color face in a collegiate setting.

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Conclusion

Through this interview, I was able to connect concepts like Strayhorn’s sense of

belonging model, educational equity gaps, and Tinto’s theory of student departure to actual

strategies that are being implemented currently at URI to aid in student retention and persistence.

All in all, this enrollment specialist interview provided great supplemental information to

this course regarding the practical aspects of student retention strategies and enrollment

management plans at the University of Rhode Island. Dr. Song shared a wealth of knowledge

and insights from his time in higher education and it was incredibly valuable to spend this time

interviewing him. These insights will be very beneficial as I move forward in the field of higher

education and begin creating and developing my own programs and initiatives to aid in student

success.
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References

1. https://web.uri.edu/newstudent/

2. https://web.uri.edu/earlyalert/

3. https://web.uri.edu/rhode-to-becoming-a-ram/

4. https://web.uri.edu/talentdevelopment/the-td-experience/