Retention at all costs

What is the craziest thing your university is doing for retention? Last semester I had a student come for the first couple of weeks of my upper level biology class then she disappeared. During exams week I had my Dean call me to ask what kind of make-up work she could do to pass the class. Dude, she missed 3 midterms, the final, and the main lab-based research project, paper, and oral presentation. This is getting ridiculous. I refused to give her a passing grade but the Dean really tried hard on her behalf.