Attrition in Information Systems Courses: strategies from a new generation university

The Commonwealth Government has changed many of the funding models to universities in recent years. Additional funds from the Commonwealth Government are now tied to measures such as student outcomes particularly in areas such as teaching and learning, attrition and student progress. This has meant that many universities have been forced to reassess the way they teach and interact with undergraduate students. Moreover, in this climate of considerable change in the higher education sector, many schools of Information Systems are experiencing even more hardship compared to schools in other disciplines. The downturn in the local demand for IS courses has been exacerbated by external factors such as declining enrolments from overseas markets and a downturn in the employment market. This paper reports on the analysis of enrolment trends, student attrition and progress amongst IS undergraduates over a five year period at a New Generation University. It also reports on the measures that have been undertaken both at the university level and at the IS school level to address issues that have arisen from that analysis. The findings of the research provides some insight into the problems facing schools of IS within universities in the current climate and possible measures that can be undertaken to improve student retention