ACTION PLAN - University of Ulster

Cofer offered opening remarks to the workshop participants. Dr. Stryker began
the workshop by introducing Retention Planning and giving an overview of
ULM’s retention data and a comparison to universities with comparable programs
and admission standards. During this workshop the SWOT Analysis was
completed and the Retention Goals and preliminary strategies developed.
On February 11 th and 12 th , the ULM Retention Committee and Task Force
members met in various groups to develop action plans for each retention
strategy. Dr. Stryker was unable to attend due to weather problems east of
Montana. The person responsible for each strategy, the coordinator, was directed
to submit a completed, although preliminary, action plan to Cynthia Bratton.
These were compiled and sent via e-mail to Dr. Stryker.
On March 11 th and 12 th , Dr. Stryker made her third visit to the ULM campus.
During these two days, she met with the coordinator for each strategy and
suggestions were made to improve the action oriented nature, budget process and
evaluation of each plan. Dr. Stryker also shared Dr. Cofer’s concern about the
lack of aggressiveness of the Retention Goals. As a result, Goal 2 - Increase
retention of all first-time Fall 2003 students was increased to six percent. Over
the next three weeks, the plan coordinators submitted plan edits to Cynthia
Bratton.
With the Action Plans almost complete, Dr. Stryker made her fourth visit to ULM
on April 10 th and 11th. This visit began with a campus tour by a SGA Senator
and a visit to a Sophomore Level English Class. Over the next day and a half, Dr.
Stryker met with groups based on the Goal in which their strategies and action
plans fell. The visit concluded with a presentation to the Retention Committee
about completion of the Retention Report.
From April 11 th until May 5 th , various revisions and adjustments were made to the
Retention Report. On May 6 th a CD containing an electronic version of the
Report was sent via Federal Express to Dr. Stryker in Bozeman, Montana. Final
revisions were completed on May 11 th . A printed copy of the Report was given to
Dr. Cofer on May 12, and he and Cynthia Bratton met on May 13 th to make final
changes. On May 14 th , five copies were sent to the Noel-Levitz corporate office
in Littleton, Colorado. Noel-Levitz will forward three of the copies of the ULM
Retention Plan to the Louisiana Board of Regents.
The ULM Faculty and Staff have also participated in various student and
customer services workshops over the past six months. These have included
Noel-Levitz “Going from Good to Great”, Noel-Levitz “Building a Service
Culture”, CPTI Customer Service Workshop and Strategic Planning Level I.
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