Collaboration for Student Success: a model for Academic and Student Affairs

1. Collaboration for Student Success: a model for Academic and Student Affairs Mel Tyler Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management Jennifer DeHaemers Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management Dr. Cindy Pemberton Deputy Provost

2. Outcomes for Today’s Session • How UMKC built the relationships needed to improve and enhance the overall student experience • How we learned from challenges and created new opportunities • How we became data-driven to further our Mission and Strategic Plan

3. University of Missouri—Kansas City Our Mission: • To lead in life and health sciences; • To deepen and expand strength in the visual and performing arts; • To develop a professional workforce and collaborate in urban issues and education; • To create a vibrant learning and campus life experience.

4. UMKC Overview Comprehensive urban research university: School of Graduate Studies School of Law Henry W. Bloch School of Management School of Medicine School of Nursing School of Pharmacy • College of Arts & Sciences • Conservatory of Music and Dance • School of Biological Sciences • School of Computing and Engineering • School of Dentistry • School of Education

5. UMKC Enrollment Trends

6. On-Campus Ethnicity Trendswhere ethnicity is known

7. FTC Ethnicity Trends where ethnicity is known

8. UMKC Goals

9. Some History • Unstable leadership (multiple Chancellors & Provosts) • Campus incivility (no confidence votes, Faculty Senate report, hostile students) • Silo mentality (“don’t play in my sandbox”)

10. UMKC Organization

11. Building Relationships • VCSAEM served on Provost’s search committee. • Intentional and formal interactions soon become second nature and conversational. • Don’t be afraid to ask questions! We all have different lenses to view the issues, but the goals are the same. • Understanding these differences can present previously unknown opportunities to collaborate and “borrow” someone else’s strengths. • Come together around core mission and Strategic Plan. Bring all challenges and opportunities to the table. • It’s not “your” problem—it’s “our” solution.

12. Building Relationships • First: focus on your Strategic Plan • Second: use your data • Third: leadership is a united front • Fourth: collaboration is key

13. Strategic Partnering • Strong Relationship with Provost and Student Affairs • Strategic Partnerships to manage projects: • Vice Chancellor (Mel) <–> Provost (Gail) • Associate VC (Jennifer) <–> Deputy Provost (Cindy)

14. Data Integrity • Began with conversion to PeopleSoft—took the time to scrub and verify all data. • Providing useable and accessible data to campus: • Framework for collaboration and planning • Budget Model is based on enrollment data—soon, State support will be performance based • Data Team (SAEM + IRAP) • Comprehensive Enrollment Reports • UMKC Dashboard

15. rooPlan– Enrollment Trends

16. rooManage – Progress Towards Goals

17. Chancellor’s Leadership Series • Planned by Provost and Vice Chancellor • Speaker Series and workshops: • John Gardner, FYE (2006) • Tim Culver, Noel-Levitz (2006) • Fred Bonner and Minority Student Success (2007) • Community College Partnerships and Transfer Student Success (2007) • University Best Practices (2009) • Steve Robbins and Wes Habley, ACT (2010) • Academic Unit Retention Planning (2011) • SI Symposium with Saundra McGuire (2011) • SI Conference with Vincent Tinto (2012) • Kati Haycock (2012)

18. First example: Student Union Referendum originally failed (2007); however, with renewed interest, collaboration between students, Student Affairs, and Academic Affairs, the second referendum passed (2010). How it worked: created buy-in through collaboration with key stake-holders. Some of our biggest naysayers became our strongest proponents!

19. Student Union: SSI Data & Results What the data told us; or, Why we need a Student Union: • 2008 Student Satisfaction Inventory. Significant gaps between students’ satisfaction and importance regarding Campus Climate, Student Centeredness, and Campus Life. • 2011 SSI results. Indicate significant improvement in these areas, though gaps still remain.

20. Student Union: SSI Data & Results

21. Residential Life • 24% Increase in residential students (from 330 to 1400): • Approximately 17% of our undergraduate students live in one of our three residential facilities: • Oak Street Residence Hall, opened Fall 2004 = 555 • Oak Place Apartments, opened Fall 2008 = 515 • Herman and Dorothy Johnson Residence Hall, opened Fall 2009 = 329 • On average, Residential students earn a half-point higher GPA compared to non-residential students (3.10 versus 2.68) • Students living on campus also tend to stay in school and graduate at a higher rate than students living off-campus

22. Residential Facilities UMKC now owns and manages all Residential facilities—we can better control rates, maintenance response, and build community for a more impactful, vibrant student experience.

23. UMKC Strategic Plan, Goal 1: Place Student Success at the Center Co-Chair Goal 1 Task Force (Mel & Cindy): Undergraduate Education and Student Success UMKC Central Student Union Programming Hospital Hill Collaboration Supplemental Instruction Math Course Redesign Common Course Schedule • Student Success Center • General Education • University College • Honors College • Transfer Students • Academic Advising • High Impact Learning Experiences

24. Key Strategy: Student Success Center • National data indicate that importance of High-Impact Learning Experiences such as Study Abroad, Research opportunities, and Internships. • Student feedback from focus groups indicates the need for centralized services, particularly academic support. • Students prefer a face-to-face, one-stop approach for conducting university business and finding assistance.

25. Student Success Center: SSI Planning Data

26. Key Strategy: Student Success Center The mission of the Student Success Center is to provide high-quality, integrated, and responsive services that promote students’ academicand personal success in support of our retention and graduation goals. 

27. Student Success Center Offices include: International Student Affairs International Academic Programs SEARCH (Undergraduate Research) MindBodyConnection School of Medicine Advising for Years 1 and 2 • Welcome Center • UMKC Central • University College • Career Services • Academic Support and Mentoring • Writing Studio *UMKC Dining Services are also still in the SSC

28. Old University Center Atrium and main entrance area Student Lounge – the only space in the old building specifically for students’ use

29. New Student Success Center Atrium (After): brighter, more spacious New windows brighten up the newly opened space; open floor plan creates more student lounge space

30. Student Spaces—after

31. UMKC Central • One convenient location for students to take care of core business transactions and get assistance with other University matters. • Since opening, UMKC Central has handled 1,423 individual inquiries. • Students rated overall satisfaction with UMKC Central as 4.92 on a 5-point scale. • Write-in comments included: • I was very pleased with this service, and think the “one-stop” service center is a great idea • They should have done this years ago • Great system. Great people. Great service. • Everyone at UMKC Central was great and really helpful. Can’t wait to come back with another issue! I was very pleased. • It was great and quick

32. Key Strategy: University College

33. Key Strategy: University College • Housed in the Student Success Center • New freshmen and transfers without a declared major • All UC Freshmen required to take UNIV 101, developed using guidelines established by the National Resource Center for the First Year Experience

34. Academic Advising SSI Data

35. Key Strategy: Academic Advising • Strategic Plan Task Force included faculty and staff from the Academic Units and Student Affairs • Reviewed student survey data and conducted inventory of best practices, including the current Advisors Forum • Recommendations include: • Develop Comprehensive Advisor Training Program • Implement electronic advising notes system • Staffing realignment and assessment program

36. Key Strategy: Math Redesign • College Algebra consistently ranked on the list of classes with high DFW rates. • Student success and retention data from Access 2 Success initiative point to Math as a key course—students who successfully completed college-level Math during their first year were retained at significantly higher rates than students who did not. • Worked with NCAT on “Math Emporium” model and piloted Spring 2012 and full implementation Fall 2012. • Preliminary success data show students in pilot sections performed significantly better than students in the traditional sections. • College Algebra is not on the current DFW list.

37. Access 2 Success Retention Data

38. Key Strategy: Common Course Scheduling • Partnered with Ad Astra to conduct a classroom audit to determine scheduling bottlenecks and whether we have enough classroom space to accommodate enrollment growth. [common belief was that we didn’t have space] • Audit determined that we actually do have classroom space (except for large lecture halls) and pinpointed the scheduling bottlenecks. • Common Course Schedule Task Force used these data to revise the scheduling policy and standard class times. • Data also used in planning the Library expansion to include large lecture halls.

39. Miller Nichols Library Phase 1: RooBot Book Retrieval System Phase 2: Classroom addition

40. Key Strategy: General Education • Students indicated confusion and frustration over current general education system—each Academic Unit has own set of general education requirements; if a student transfers between Units, that student may lose some or all previous general education credit. • General Education Task Force (Fall 2009 - Spring 2010) • Reviewed existing program, review employer learning outcomes research, national trends and innovative programs, HLC requirements • UMKC General Education Team attended AAC&U General Education Institute (Summer 2010): Developed strategic plan for implementation and revision process • General Education Oversight Committee (Fall 2010 - Spring 2012): • Developed comprehensive student learning outcomes for the general education program – approved by UMKC Faculty, April 2011 • UMKC General Education Team attended AAC&U General Education Institute – Summer 2011 to develop implementation plans • Developed general education curricular model – approved by UMKC Faculty Senate, April 2011 • General Education Implementation Committee (Summer 2012)

41. Key Strategy: General Education Overall goals: • Create one set of campus-wide learning outcomes aligned with national AAC&U outcomes • Facilitate student transfer between majors/colleges • Provide clear outcomes and assessments to benchmark student academic performance

42. Key Strategy: Hospital Hill • Academic Units at Hospital Hill: Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy • Student Affairs Suite includes Financial Aid manager specifically for health sciences students • Assistant Dean of Students works closely with Hospital Hill Liaisons to ensure students need are met • Provided data and collaborated on accreditation requirements

43. Access 2 Success • The data indicate several key leading indicators. Students are more likely to be retained if they: • Enroll in and successfully complete at least 12 hours per semester and 24 hours per year • Successfully complete at least 80% of their hours • Enroll in and successfully complete a college-level math and a college-level English course during their first year • Common trend: according to UMKC’s data, students who complete these indicators are retained at higher rates than those who do not. However, A2S populations are often less likely to complete the indicators. These trends are similar for both first-time college students as well as for transfer students. • How do we get more students to successfully complete these leading indicators?

44. UMKC Advantage Grant • Part of A2S Initiative to impact success of low-income students: designed to cover the gap between a student’s gift aid and cost of attendance • Students must be Pell-eligible, Missouri residents, maintain full-time enrollment, and maintain 2.5 GPA • Transfer students must have already received their Associate’s Degree • Worked with Deans for their support to implement program for Fall 2011 • Since implementation, 198 students have received a grant, disbursing in total $199,480

45. Final Thoughts • Focus on your University’s Mission and Strategic Plan. • Build relationships…who should be at the table? How can you work together to support student success? • What data do you currently use and how do you share the information with your campus community?