Cell Phones and Texting: A Retention Solution?

EPCC and other colleges are always concerned with student retention. Georgia Gwinnett College is no exception. The college is similar to EPCC in that they have noncompetitive admissions. In recent years, they found that their retention rate, like many noncompetitive admissions colleges, was not as high as they would have liked. So they implemented a solution that is, so far, unlike others. According to Inside Higher Education, August 19 edition, they gave each instructor, both full-time and adjunct, a cell phone. The college encourages faculty members to respond to texts and phone messages within 24 hours or one business day.

The college does not require office hours, but does have the faculty members leave their phones on during certain hours. According to associate professor Kristina Watkins Mormino from Georgia Gwinnett College, faculty set up parameters in their syllabi. She says “…a student calling will not reach me at 2:00 some Saturday night. That student can leave a message and can be sure to hear back from me by Monday afternoon.”

The cell phone availability, along with mentoring and smaller class sizes, has been successful. The retention rate for returning sophomores was 75 percent, almost double that of similar colleges in Georgia (Inside Higher Education, 2010).

So would this relatively new idea work here at EPCC?  Do you give your students your home phone number? Cell number? Do students bombard you with calls at all hours of the day and night? This semester, I decided to give this experiment a try. I went to Google Voice and obtained a free phone number that is different than my home and cell number. This is the number that my students receive, along with my office phone number. I can have the Google number ring to any phone-my cell, home, or office. I’ve chosen my cell, because I wanted to give them instant access. I told the students about my new experiment, and they were happy to try it out with me. I entered their cell phone numbers and then texted each student, welcoming them to class. I could text them by typing the message on a computer rather than on a phone (which is much faster than using my phone), and just had to cut and paste for each student. It didn’t take very long, although, admittedly, I am experimenting with a small class. I chose to text rather than call or e-mail, because research at Ball State University has shown that 97 percent of college students text and it is their favorite way to communicate.

Photo from injuryboard.com

Since the first week of classes, I’ve received messages from almost half of the students. A couple of students texted back right away, just affirming that the system worked and that they thought it was “cool.” Other students have texted about the correct edition of the book, letting me know they were ill, asking for clarification of assignments, and letting me know they would be late to class. One student texted that I was gorgeous-a message intended for his girlfriend-but it led to a great discussion about their futures and being careful with messages that are sent. The students have texted during the day and at night, but I haven't been bombarded or texted after 8 p.m.   Texting is the only way these students have communicated outside of class.  They have never called my office phone nor have they been to my office. I think it will be a great tool for my students to contact me and for me to contact them to remind them of upcoming exams and assignments.

By using Google Voice, I can set the incoming calls to go directly to voicemail if I’m in a location that doesn’t lend itself to the beeps that accompany my texts or if I am off-hours. The best part of using Google Voice is that all of the messages, both voice and text, are transcribed and kept in my Google Voice account. If a student and I discuss an issue, I have a record of it if I need it. (By the way, I’ll give a workshop on Google and its many components for the Spring Faculty Development Week.)

What are your beliefs about using texting and/or cell phones to communicate with students? Your comments are welcomed.