Feeling isolated from the classroom can be the first step in a student drop. A pleasant announcement, a comforting “reach-out” email, or a great story on the discussion board can reignite the learning fire and boost retention. We save students one at a time. Granted, sometimes we don’t know if we’ve done things right as faculty until months later when a graduate sends a ‘thank you’ email telling us so, but we should never underestimate what our words might do for a student who is teetering on the brink of dropping out of school. By heightening the presence of faculty through outreach, interactive methodologies and faculty-student contact in our online student environment, we might stave-off the threat of student drops, maintain and enhance retention and add value to both internal and external marketing missions. As competition heats up in the online educational universe, the time is now to gain market share based on sound customer service and forward-looking strategies.