Standardizing the First Year Experience in a Geographically Distributed University

1. Standardizing the First Year Experience in a Geographically Distributed University JESÚS FERNÁNDEZ – JFERNANDEZ@DEVRY.EDU ABOUR CHERIF - ACHERIF@DEVRY.EDU MARIS ROZE – MROZE@DEVRY.EDU LIN STEFURAK – LSTEFURAK@DEVRY.EDU DEVRY UNIVERSITY 27TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON THE FIRST YEAR EXPERIENCE FEBRUARY 15 – 19, 2008

2. Introduction • New student academic success and persistence continue to be issues faced by all higher education institutions. • The importance of a college degree to the individual and society as a whole is undisputed (Pascarella and Terenzini, 2005). • Lots of ideas and lots of programs but little improvement (Braxton, 2004).

3. DeVry University • A student centered career oriented University. • Accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. • Offers Associate, Baccalaureate and Master’s level degree in the areas of Business, Management, Health and Applied Sciences, Engineering Technologies, Computer Information Systems and Network Communications.

4. The Challenge at DeVry • Geographically distributed: 22 campuses, 85 learning centers located across North America, along with a growing on-line operation. • A decentralized metro-based administration delivering a highly standardized curriculum. • A strong career orientation in DeVry’s program. • Different academic organizations and staff composition across metros.

5. The Challenge at DeVry • A majority of students enrolling with an intended major, but not always with knowledge of what the major requires. • A mixture of students enrolling with prior college credit (up to 60 hours) directly from high school. • Changing student characteristics – more part time, less full time; expanding age range. • A diversity of academic preparation levels and abilities – from developmental to honors ready – from no previous college experience to up to 60 hours of transfer credit.

6. You want us to do what ??? Implement a comprehensive New Student Success Initiative across the entire University in spite of all of these factors (and others that we haven’t discovered yet !)

7. One more thing …. We want to define and measure student success in the following ways: • Academic quality and student performance • Student satisfaction • Student retention • Career attainment

8. The DeVry Response Initiate a major restructuring effort with the Academic Affairs function that establishes a system-wide common experience (University College) in the first three semesters for all students, while addressing the complex and variable conditions noted earlier.

9. University College at DeVry DeVry’s University College is at once a curricular cluster, an administrative structure, and a collaborative effort among faculty, academic administrators, and Student Services staff. It is a way of organizing the institution’s courses and services to build a culture of focused accountability on first year students, where persistence is lowest.

10. University College at DeVry Courses and Curriculum • A common core for all programs – at least one common semester. • A Critical Thinking and Problem Solving course (COLL-148) providing self-assessment, academic support, learning strategies, collaborative processes, and links to academic support and advisement. • A three semester roll out of courses students can depend on taking (annual schedule).

11. University College at DeVry • Major-field courses introducing their disciplines. • Early “theme” courses with career emphasis. • Use of mastery learning techniques and system supported learning in developmental and introductory mathematics. • A mix of on-site and on-line courses, blended or compressed courses that can be selected by student to fit their lifestyle and work/family/personal commitments.

12. University College at DeVry

13. University College at DeVry According to the National Training Laboratories in Maine:

14. University College at DeVryEarly Success Indicator Critical Thinking and Problem Solving Course • Used Noel Levitz CSI-B to establish student success skills components that were added to the course. • Course integrity was maintained by adding contact hours to accommodate student success skills components. • Early success so far at pilot location. 5 % increase in persistence rates each of last two semesters.

15. University College at DeVry Support Services • Success coaches assigned to each student. • Academic Support Centers providing tutoring and basic skills building. • Proactive orientation programs. • Personalized advisement. • Early involvement of Career Services staff to reaffirm/establish links between programs and careers.

16. University College at DeVryEarly Success Indicator Student Success Coaches • Handles all students • Proactive, intrusive approach • Use of technology to reach out – e-mail, cell phone, texting, networks. • Focused coaching sessions based on Noel Levitz CSI B data.

17. University College at DeVry Educational Technology • Use of educational technology to facilitate learning and program management. • Use of an on-line program resource center to provide supplementary resources and enable student collaboration and communication. • Use of on-line tutoring and advisement services to reach remote students.

18. University College at DeVryEarly Success Indicator System Supported Learning • Using My Math Lab and self-paced Mastery Learning we created an individualized learning atmosphere. • The road to success: • Re-designed courses were piloted and further refined. • Faculty training • System-wide implementation • Continuous support • Results: • Only three grades available (A, B and F) • A/B success rate increased from 36 % to 62 % • Withdrawal rate decreased from 21 % to 10 %

19. What lies ahead …. • Going from pilot to full implementation. • Staff selection and training. • Finalize measurement and assessment strategies. • Execute ! • Sustain it ! • Institutionalize it ! • Enhance it !

20. Questions ?? What would you recommend to us? Thank you for visiting our session !