Retention is as Patricia stated everyone's business. Faculty members are the front line with students and therefore it is important for all faculty members, whether full time or adjunct, to place focus on this topic. There are many strategies to try but the one that from my experience has the best results is simply interaction. In an online course, this means sending students an instant message when the instructor is online so that students feel free to respond with questions. It is also valuable to email students with regular updates from the class. This again provides students the opening to respond to the instructor's message and seems to take less effort on the student's part so they are more likely to do it. I think that while these actions may take a little time to customize individual messages to the students, it is worthwhile in the end.
