Roane State was one of CampusESP’s first two-year college partners. Located in eastern Tennessee, Roane State Community College serves around 5,000 students and offers a variety of academic programs and credit options. 

In September 2017, Roane State was awarded a Tennessee Promise Forward grant to expand their student success and retention programs. Believing that informed families could help students stay on track, Roane State used their grant to go all-in on family engagement and start their first Parent and Family Office.

To help scale their new family engagement strategy as an office of one, Roane State turned to CampusESP. CampusESP’s family portal and automated emails provide regular, personalized content to Roane State families – with minimal administrative support and effort.

Roane State’s investment in family engagement is paying off. Since launching CampusESP, Roane State has achieved a 25% higher retention rate when family members receive updates on student progress, improved first-year recruitment by engaging dual enrollment families, and grown their family database by 67% over the last year.

Student retention increases with family engagement

Through CampusESP’s FERPA Management Module, families can receive academic and financial updates — such as bills, new holds, financial aid requirements, and grades — when their student grants access through a digital FERPA waiver. With easy visibility into student progress, families are alerted when it’s time to step in and get involved. 

“At Roane State we want to see students start strong, return each semester, and flourish in their classes. We know the more encouragement students have at home, the more likely that is to happen,” said Jamie Stringer, VP of Student Services and Enrollment Management at Roane State. “CampusESP allows us to build stronger relationships and team up with parents and families to provide true holistic support.”

CampusESP compared the retention rate for 47 first-time, full-time students who were enrolled at Roane State in Fall 2021 and had a family member receiving updates on their progress to students whose families did not receive similar updates. The data showed that student retention was 25% higher than average for the students whose family received updates on student progress. When CampusESP conducted the same analysis across nine other universities, student retention was 8% higher, on average.

“CampusESP’s FERPA Management Module is crucial to helping students stay on track,” said Maria Gonzales, Director of the Office of Parent/Family Engagement and International Admissions at Roane State. “By reminding families about holds or bills, they can play a part in helping their student register for the upcoming term and continue their education.” 

After experiencing how family engagement can improve retention, Roane State is focused on growing the number of families receiving updates on student progress. By promoting the digital FERPA waiver and encouraging families to request access, Roane State has increased their number of FERPA connections by 66% over the last year. 

Communicating with families of dual enrollment students serves as a recruitment tool for first-year enrollment

For many two-year colleges, the dual enrollment program (high school students taking college-level courses) is a critical recruiting and enrollment strategy. This is a growing opportunity for colleges, as dual enrollment among high school students grew by 11% nationally in Fall 2022. In the state of Tennessee, dual enrollment accounted for 21% of community college enrollments in 2021.

Communicating with dual enrollment families in CampusESP allows Roane State to promote the value of their resources, programs, and opportunities available to students – while building trust with families.

“The tremendous amount of information provided by CampusESP can only help these families, especially for first-generation, which can be a large portion of the student population,” said Gonzales.

Roane State’s dual enrollment strategy is working. Approximately 31% of dual enrollment students matriculate as first-time freshmen at Roane State – which is 8% higher than the average matriculation rate for community colleges in Tennessee.

Since these families are informed and engaged throughout the dual enrollment program, they are more likely to arrive on campus prepared and ready to support their students as first-time freshmen. 

CampusESP helps Roane State grow their family database 

Like many two-year colleges, Roane State started from ground zero with family contact information. They had to get creative about developing a family database. One successful solution was embedding a required student immunization waiver within CampusESP, which created a reason for family members to log in and provide contact information. Through the immunization form, Roane State has added over 2,600 families to their database to date! Roane State also encourages families to sign up for CampusESP at events such as Parent and Family Orientation and basketball games.

Roane State has increased total families using CampusESP by 67% over the last year, from 2,572 to 4,302 total users. Once families sign up, they receive personalized updates from Roane State and are able to request access to a dashboard of student academic and financial records. With the substantial increase in reach, Roane State is able to inform more families about deadlines, reminders, and other important information.

After five years of working with CampusESP, Roane State is excited about the impact of family engagement on student recruitment and retention. Through a growing family database – and more families enabled to partner in their student’s college journey – Roane State foresees even greater enrollment results in the years ahead. 

“Leadership at Roane State is driven by innovation and wants to always be the leader in doing something for the first time, especially if it’s technology driven,” said Gonzales. “CampusESP allows parents to not have to hold the students’ hand, but gives them a space to feel informed,” said Gonzales. 

Interested in ways to improve student recruitment and retention at your two-year college?