Course registration seasons are the time of year where the rubber meets the road. This is when you find out if any of your initiatives to increase persistence and retention efforts have actually worked. Despite the importance of re-registering students, far too many campuses do not treat it with the seriousness that it deserves. Is registration on your campus a primary focus or an afterthought? Do campus activities give way to registration events or vice-a-versa? We found that by making registration a campus-wide three-week holiday, you dramatically increase the likelihood of having students register before they leave for the holidays or for the summer. Through this campus-wide holiday, which we call 'Comeback Kid,' we have significantly increased the number of students registering for the next semester by the time finals week rolls around.
In summary, the registration season needs to be a top priority on campus. If students do not register to come back, everything else we do to help students be successful will have been irrelevant. There are so many ways to nudge students to register if you simply think outside the box and make it a priority.
