Editiors' notes / Edward P. St. John / Michael Wilkerson -- Campus-based retention initiatives : does the emperor have clothes? / Lori D. Patton ... [et al.] -- Cataloging institutional efforts to understand and reduce college student departure / John M. Braxton / Jeffrey S. McKinney / Pauline J. Reynolds -- Key issues in the persistence of underrepresented minority students / Deborah Faye Carter -- Using action research to support academic program improvement / Michele J. Hansen / Victor M.H. Borden -- Using action inquiry to address critical challenges / Edward P. St. John / Jeffrey S. McKinney / Tina Tuttle -- Using evaluation to close the inquiry loop / Glenda Droogsma Musoba -- Lessons learned : institutional research as support for academic improvement / Edward P. St. John