Retention and Academic Success
The office of Retention and Academic Success provides leadership in the Division of Academic Affairs for undergraduate education and support of student success.
Our goal is to strengthen a culture of re-enrollment at Fredonia through identifying, supporting, and communicating campus wide persistence strategies and tactics. We focus on coordinating efforts that significantly influence a student’s persistence through:
- Proactive transition triage and building a sense of belonging
- Early academic recovery intervention
- Non-registered student outreach
- Addressing emergency/hardship funding
The Retention and Academic Success Team of the Academic Affairs division represents several departments and specialized programs
Academic Support Services
Special Programs
- Full Opportunity Program
- EDP
- ACE
- Honors Program
- OSCAR
- International Education
- International Student Services
This calendar outlines campus or department initiatives, programs, and campaigns that influence student retention and persistence. It outlines a description of the tactic, who may be involved, and contact information for those leading the efforts. Our intent is that this calendar will be helpful for programs and departments to understand their role in retention activities and aligning resources to support students.
A summary of Fredonia’s retention data is in progress. Please address any inquiries by email to Erin Mroczka, Interim Associate Vice President of Retention and Academic Success at retention@fredonia.edu
Emergency/Hardship Funding
We understand that students experience unexpected hardship at any point in their academic careers. These challenges can impede a student’s ability to be successful during the semester or continue to register.
Fredonia does have some limited financial resources available to help students address emergency needs; these funds are not able to be applied to tuition or fee costs, rent, and medical/insurance payments. This funding is not part of the federal HEERF or CARES Act Funding. Students may apply for emergency funding using the Google Form below:
Emergency/Hardship Funding Grant Application
Other Support Resources
Food Support
Fredonia supports student food pantries on campus and is connected to many other community food pantries. Please refer to the Student Food Pantry website for details. Students may also connect directly with the Student Health Center for assistance with local resources.
Textbook Support
When possible we recommend that a student who has applied for financial aid consider adding a FREDFunds account through the FSA office prior to the start of the semester. This way they may purchase textbooks through the Fredonia Bookstore through their FREDFunds account. That account would be part of the student bill, making it easier to apply aid to that cost.
FSA FREDFunds Account Information
However, if it is after the semester begins, students may want to connect with a Faculty member to see if there is an extra copy of a text that could be borrowed, reach out to other students and consider a shared textbook, or connect with Reed Library to see if anything is available or accessible. (Please be aware, that Reed Library does NOT have a copy of all textbooks being used on campus.)
Students can also apply for an emergency funding grant by completing the following posted above.
Computer Support
Students may apply to borrow a Chromebook through the ITS Service Center. Please refer to this Answers page for more details.
Fredonia wants to improve educational experiences for all students.
In Spring 2023 Fredonia is participating in the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). NSSE helps us understand how students are spending time in and out of the classroom, which guides decisions that will benefit all Fredonia students. Our campus participates in the NSSE every three years along with hundreds of other universities across the nation.
Starting March 1, 2023 more than 1500 first-year students and senior at Fredonia will receive an email from nsse@nssesurvey.org with a personalized link to take the survey. The survey will be live through the month of March. The NSSE takes less than 15 minutes to complete and is a great way for students to share their thoughts!
Providing students with the opportunity to provide feedback is very important to Fredonia! Fredonia will use its NSSE data to identify aspects of the undergraduate experience inside and outside the classroom that can be improved through changes in policies and practices more consistent with good practices in undergraduate education.
If you have any questions about this project at Fredonia or how we plan to use the results, please contact me at retention@fredonia.edu or by phone at 716-673-3717. More information about NSSE is at https://nsse.indiana.edu/nsse/about-nsse/index.html.
