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Plan a Holds Assessment
The experiences of the 12 public postsecondary institutions in the No Holding Back project were the basis for a guide to planning a basic institutional holds assessment that can be used flexibly and tailored to various institutional settings.
Browse selected content from the detailed guide in the sections below
Convene a Cross-Functional Team
We strongly recommend taking an ‘interdisciplinary’ approach to reviewing policies and practices on holds, including representation from a number of units who have a stake in student progression and completion.
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Holds may be used in different ways by the operational units within an institution. To fully understand the origins and justification of specific holds, and to encourage buy-in for potential changes to holds policies, representatives of these units should be consulted and involved in a holds assessment.
The units to involve in the assessment might include:
The registrar
Institutional research
Finance/student accounts
IT
Student affairs leadership
Administrative champions or leadership
See more in the detailed PDF.
Identify Reasons, Resources, and Challenges
You will reveal both positive and negative evidence and patterns. We found that tuition remissions programs are supporting Pell students as intended. And that new students, Black students, indigenous students, and first-generation students are experiencing greater negative impacts.
Portland State University
Working collaboratively, a cross-functional team can identify what information is important and compelling for the institutions’ unique holds assessment. A cross-functional team can acknowledge the various perspectives and capital that coalesce around institutional financial health and student success. For example:
Campus leadership may wish to proactively respond to external pressures or demonstrate the institution’s commitment to support students by limiting the use of holds, while also maintaining institutional viability.
Financial units can share expertise concerning tuition revenue, financial obligations, documentation, payment deadlines and options, past due account balances, and debt collection regulations.
Records and admission units can bring the perspective of admissions requirements, legally mandated forms and documentation, and requirements for credit evaluation and credit portability.
Enrollment units contribute knowledge around student enrollment targets, the roles of various types of students in enrollment levels (such as new students, transfer students, returning and re-enrolling students).
Student affairs units can provide insights on the academic and personal needs of students, as well as perspectives on student equity, progress and success.
See more in the detailed PDF.
Holds Assessment Using Data
Data retention, storage and integrity is essential for examining policies and their impact on student success.
Portland State University
Compiling and analyzing the available data about holds from your student information system and other information management systems is a foundational part of a holds assessment.
An available Technical Guide for Assessing Administrative Holds with Data and accompanying workbook provide a basic replicable framework for quantitative analysis of holds. Download these tools and see examples and perspectives from other institutions in the Data and Evidence guide.
Review Policies, Procedures, and Processes
When we discontinued placing registration holds on students in poor academic standing, their responsiveness to notifications of required actions dropped only by 1%.
California State University-Fullerton
An administrative holds usage assessment must include both a systematic inventory of and an understanding about the policies, regulations, administrative requirements, and institutional guidance governing holds. From this, institutions may also discover where there is discretion the use of holds, and where there is possibility for improvement.
The Policy Influences guide outlines the types of federal, state, governing system, and other influences identified by the institutions in the No Holding Back project, and other useful insights, for institutions considering an assessment of their own holds policies and practices.
Based on what is learned from the policy inventory, institutions may find opportunities for improvements.
See more in the detailed PDF.
Consult Students
We are beginning conversations with stakeholders on alternative methods for student support beyond the hold, in hopes to eliminate several student success holds.
University of Arizona
Include student feedback about their experience with holds, in your holds assessment. This can be especially useful for things that cannot be revealed by data, for example:
Contributing factors to observed patterns in hold usage that vary by type of student
Preferred methods of communication
Why students do not respond to certain types of communications
The Student Perspectives guide details the perspectives of 50 students from 10 of the participating institutions about their experience with holds and includes sample material for student focus groups or interviews.
Click the button below to download the complete guide in PDF
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