I was reminded during a meeting last night that all too often those of us in higher education, even those of us in student affairs, too narrowly define "success" for students. Last night professionals from the Office of Undergraduate Education and the Division of Student Affairs gathered to discuss opportunities to collaborate in support of the strategic plan of the University. As is often the case when we discuss student success, we quickly (although tacitly) agreed that "retention" was THE indicator of success.
Of course this makes sense: retention-to-graduation is relatively easily measurable; it is almost universally agreed upon as the preferred outcome of college ("why go if you're not planning to graduate"); and it is easy to explain to policy-makers and the public.
Unfortunately, retention is only a necessary but insufficient condition for learning to occur. We would be better off to think about retention (or more appropriately, "persistence") as a condition of college, rather than an outcome. Yes, students must be here for us to teach them, but I'm afraid there are many students "here" over whom we have little influence.
I was heartened at this meeting, though, as the individuals around the table began to challenge the assumption that retention of students was the ultimate goal, as we began to identify learning (in its many forms) as the true outcome of a college education, and the myriad ways in which these two organizations can support students in pursuit of this goal.
Student affairs professionals have much to offer in this discussion. We can assist in redefining "student success" and resituating retention as a condition rather than an outcome. We should also engage in the discussions about "learning" in order to make certain this is understood in its broadest terms--yes, content knowledge gained primarily in the classroom/laboratories is important; but so is critical thinking and intrapersonal and interpersonal skills, which are practiced and acquired both inside and outside the classroom.
I was reinvigorated by the conversation last evening and may have found the topic of my talk at PCPA in October...
I agree with your notion that we in student affairs should challenge ourselves to think more deeply about 'student success' - and how we can aid students in their achievement of it. I also think we have an important role, from time to time, in helping an individual student come to terms with the fact that their college experience is just not working out for them. We can get caught in a mindset of retention that wrongly (I think) makes us fail to respond most appropriately to the choices of some individual students. Sometimes dropping out or stopping out is the best personal option.