Inclusion & Beyond:

Exploring the Role of Alternative

Admissions and Holistic Advising
in First-Year Retention,
Academic Performance, and
Student Experience

Janelle Norman
 Research questions
Among alt admissions
▪  How do academic students…
performance and first- ▪  How does holistic
year retention rates of advising impact first-year
student who participate retention rates and
in alternative admissions academic performance?
programs compare with ▪  How does holistic
institutional averages? advising impact overall
first-year experience?
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 alternative admissions
process designed to include college
applicants “with credentials outside
the traditional admission criteria, but
indicating academic potential”
(“Gateway program”, 2018)
holistic advising
approach that takes into account
students’ personal, social, financial,
emotional wellbeing
first-year retention
number of freshmen in a college or
university who return for their
sophomore year
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 Literature Review
▪  A lot of existing ▪  Limited research on
research on various traditional vs
approaches to alternative (special)
advising: admissions student
▪  First-generation experience
▫  Quantitative
▪  Students of color
approach: GPA
▪  Community and retention
college students only
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 Methods
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 Our focus in the Gateway Admissions Program

“
is to provide students with a personalized
academic plan and individualized attention
during their first year at Eastern. We truly
believe students who may not have the
standard academic credentials can find a
pathway to success. Our team of academic
advisors and success coaches is dedicated to
helping students activate a plan leading to
graduation (“Gateway Program”, 2018).
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 Participants
▪  Convenience sampling
▪  All first-year students admitted
through the Gateway program at
Eastern Illinois University

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 Research Participants
▪  20 Gateway program participants
▪  Complete all program requirements
▪  Identified using a random number
generator
▪  Surveys and individual interviews
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 Comparison Group
▪  20 traditionally admitted students
▪  Basic level of advising
▪  Identified using a random number
generator
▪  Complete surveys
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 Survey & Sample Interview Questions
▪  Can you describe what your ▪  Did you enjoy your University
transition to college was like? Foundations course?
▪  Did you find it helpful?
▪  What challenges did you
▪  What about the course was
encounter during your first year?
helpful to you during your
first year?
▪  Did you discuss these challenges
with your success coach or other
Gateway staff? If so, how did they
respond?

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 Procedure
▪  Surveys & interviews will take place toward
the end of spring semester
▪  Same researcher will interview all
participants
▪  In-person interviews will last between 30
minutes to one hour
▪  Students will complete an online version of
the survey
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 Quantitative Component
All Gateway program
participants:
▪  Academic performance

▪  First-year retention rate

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 Data Collection Timeline
▪  Spring 2020 – conduct interviews and surveys
▪  Summer 2020 – pull first-year grade point
averages
▪  Fall 2020 – pull fall-to-fall retention rates
▪  Compare data to overall first-year EIU institutional
averages
▪  Compare data to university averages by gender,
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race, socioeconomic status
 Research Design & Analysis
intrinsic case study: conduct
interviews to explore student mixed
experience of program support qualitative methods
utilize cross-case analysis to
compare survey results for alt

quantitative
vs. traditionally admitted
students

collect academic performance and first-year

retention data for all Gateway participants in
order to understand how group performs
academically compared to larger university
population
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 References
▪  EIU academic advising: Gateway program. (2018). Retrieved
from https://www.eiu.edu/advising/gateway.php/about.php
▪  Kim, J. (2015). Predictors of College Retention and
Performance between Regular and Special Admissions.
Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, 52(1),
50-63.
▪  Museus, S. D., & Ravello, J. N. (2010). Characteristics of
academic advising that contribute to racial and ethnic
minority student success at predominantly White institutions.
NACADA journal, 30(1), 47-58.
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