Bringing Theory to Practice Cost Study Report:

1. Bringing Theory to Practice Cost Study Report: College and University Expenditures in Addressing Patterns of Student Disengagement Ashley Finley, Dickinson College, BTtoP Lynn Swaner, Long Island University-CW Post

2. Institutional Change & Social change: The Necessary Ingredients • Common understanding of the problem • Common understanding of how to fix the problem • RESOURCES

3. Cost Study Objectives • To identify and itemize costs related to resources, personnel and programming used to address symptoms of student disengagement • Gather information through campus collaboration • Analyze aggregate data to identify, describe, and interpret trends over time (FY 2001-2002 and FY 2006-2007)

4. Overview: mETHODOLOGY & sample • Timeline: January 1, 2008 – September 8, 2008 • Recruitment, instrument development, data collection, analysis, and final report • Data entered onto secure website • Sample of 9 schools • Spans geographic location, number of students , institutional type & mission (see Carnegie Class. below)

5. Resource categories • Institutional Data • Counseling and Psychological Services • Alcohol/Substance Abuse Prevention • Security/Emergency Services/Crisis Response • Civic Engagement • Engaged Learning Efforts • Student Activities/Residential Life • Institutional & Funded Research • Judicial Affairs • Insurance* • Legal Counsel* • Types of allocations = Total operating budget, specific programming budgets, total # of staff, salaries, programming hours, # student participants, “In-kind” funding (any donated resources, i.e. volunteered time, donated money or other material resources)

6. Trends in Institutional dataAvg. % Change: fy 01-02 to 06-07

7. Summary of major findings: Mental health & well-being • Programmatic spending generally increased • Related to direct responses to well-being (counseling, alcohol programming) • Related to direct responses to outcomes (security services, judicial affairs) • Demand for services has increased over time • Staff has stagnated or declined

8. Mental Health & Well-being:Trends IN DEMAND FOR SERVICES

9. Engaged Learning & Civic Eng: Trends in participation

10. ENGAGED LEARNING & CIVic Eng.: trends in spending • Engaged learning • Wide variation in spending patterns • Spending per student showed deficit spending or modest increase • Indication that faculty training is increasing • Civic engagement • Substantial increases over time • The good news about missing data?

11. The big picture: Total % change for BTtoPRelated resources • Composite variable of average change across budget years related to resources central to engaged learning, civic engagement, mental health and alcohol/substance use • Approximately 67.6% increase in spending over time • Resource allocations by type of institution • Private institutions in the sample spent more total $ but decreased spending by 5% between budget years vs. • Public institutions spent less total $ but increased budget allocations to these areas by 15.4%

12. moving forward: progression in recession • 1) Budget accountability • Build silos with glass walls • 2) Programming & Staffing • Scarcity is the mother of invention • Use expertise as a basis for innovation • 3) Assessing allocations as preventive & responsive measures • What if programs built foundations that helped students help themselves/and others? • Social support, fulfillment, engagement

13. Action Strategies • Recruit Stakeholders • Think beyond leaders to constituency leaders (including students) • Recruit the dissenters • Distribute ownership of programmatic development, practices and results • Find what you do best • What is the gem of your institutional culture/mission? • What/where is the unique quality of your institutional backdrop upon which you can capitalize? Consider location, local community resources, student body • Fuse new to old • What is already working? • Where are resources already going? • Consider how existing programs can be expanded or used to catalyze new efforts.