Adrian A. Schiess
Director
for Student Success and Retention
Xavier University
Cincinnati, OH
Email: adrianschiess@scotthealy.com
Adrian A. Schiess is currently
the Director for Student Success and Retention at Xavier University
in Cincinnati, Ohio for the last 14 years. He is nationally
recognized as a retention specialist, has consulted at 20 colleges
and universities and has made over 30 national presentations
- all related to retention initiatives.
Adrian has designed a Retention Model that has
been very successful in increasing both retention and graduation
rates at Xavier University. He has worked in higher education
for 19 years and has 30 years of experience working with young
men and women between the ages of 18 and 26. The keys to his
success are in the development of an ombudsman retention
position which has direct responsibility for retention and
graduation outcomes. He is the freshman advocate and the University's
retention officer.
Adrian's development of a Four-Part Retention
Program: an early warning Faculty Feedback Program, a
Parents Participation Program (that communicates in writing
with parents), a Freshman Success Program (that monitors
academically at-risk freshman), and a Priority Registration
Experience Program (which registers new freshman in the
summer for their fall classes) are the essential aspects of
the Model. It is important to note that Xavier's retention rate
of 89% is the highest in the Midwest in their category based
on U.S. News and World Report data and that Xavier's
four year graduation rate has increased from 57% to 69%
in ten years allowing increased revenues for the University
in the millions of dollars.
Adrian's consulting and retention audits have
been primarily with private institutions. St. Norbert College,
De Pere Wisconsin; The University of Mary, Bismark, North Dakota;
St. Francis University, Loretto, Pennsylvania; Bellarmine University,
Louisville, Kentucky; Faulkner University, Montgomery, Alabama;
Seattle University, Seattle, Washington; and Morningside College,
Sioux City, Iowa are just a few schools that have requested
his professional advise and assistance.
