Using Data to Inform Decisions: Intrusive Faculty Advising at a Community College

The study describes an initiative to increase retention at a 2-year college in the Northeast United States. The process involved a collaborative, intrusive advising approach to intervene with students at-risk for academic failure or experiencing difficulty with the transition to the college. Components of the mixed-method design included collecting, analyzing, and discussing data from prematriculation surveys, focus group discussions, advisement logs, and attendance/tardy records. Formative data were available for faculty advisors so they could monitor and intervene with students who were experiencing academic difficulties early in their college experience. Results from the first-year implementation showed that collaborative, intrusive advising increases faculty advisor communication and has the potential to increase retention at the college level.