Faculty Perceptions of Community College Student Retention and Persistence

Abstract

Student retention and persistence tracking have become more prominent at community colleges. While it is known that community colleges have low completion rates, these institutions need help finding ways to retain and persist their students. This study explored the faculty perspective of retention and persistence strategies. Using a phenomenological tradition, 32 faculty members were recruited to participate from a community college in Northern Florida. Three themes emerged from the data, a sense of belonging, engagement, and communication. This data is significant because there is limited research about faculty perceptions of student retention and persistence. The data further describes how faculty members address retention and persistence in the classroom.