Higher Education Conference

1. Higher Education Conference

2. Enrollment Management in a National Context: Challenges and Responses for States and Institutions Oklahoma Enrollment Management Conference Oklahoma City February 20, 2007 Peter Ewell National Center for Higher EducationManagement Systems (NCHEMS)

3. A National Challenge • “Student Success” = Access + Persistence/Completion + an Outcome of Value (Learning) • Payoffs of Earning a College Credential to Both Individuals and Society • U.S. Falling Behind Leading Nations in the Proportion of Young Adults with a College Credential

4. 45 to 54 Percent of Adults with an Associates Degree or Higher - 2003 60 25 to 34 50 40 30 20 10 0 Italy Spain Korea Japan Poland Ireland Greece Iceland Austria France Finland Mexico Turkey Norway Canada Sweden Belgium Portugal Germany Hungary Australia Denmark Netherlands Switzerland Luxembourg New Zealand United States Czech Republic Slovak Republic United Kingdom Source: Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development, American Community Survey

5. A National Challenge • “Student Success” = Access + Persistence/Completion + an Outcome of Value (Learning) • Payoffs of Earning a College Credential to Both Individuals and Society • U.S. Falling Behind Leading Nations in the Proportion of Young Adults with a College Credential -- Largely Because of Our Comparatively Poor Collegiate Completion Rates, Especially for Under-Served Student Populations

6. LEGEND White African-American Hispanic/Latino Native American/AK Native Asian/Pacific Islander Males Males Males Males Males Females Females Females Females Females 1.8 Bachelor’s Degree or Higher All College Degrees (Associates or Higher) 1.6 1.6 1.5 1.4 1.2 1.2 1.2 Norway Canada 1.0 1.0 0.9 0.9 0.8 0.8 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.0 Educational Attainment of the US’ Young Workforce (Ages 25 to 34) Indexed to the Most Educated Country - 2000 US Index = 0.86 US Index = 0.77 Sources: US Census Bureau, Public Use Microdata Samples (Based on the 2000 Census), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

7. A National Challenge • “Student Success” = Access + Persistence/Completion + an Outcome of Value (Learning) • Payoffs of Earning a College Credential to Both Individuals and Society • U.S. Falling Behind Leading Nations in the Proportion of Young Adults with a College Credential -- Largely Because of Our Comparatively Poor Collegiate Completion Rates, Especially for Under-Served Student Populations • Graduate Abilities Appear to be Eroding

9. States Differ Substantially in Student Success Rates (www.higheredinfo.org)

10. Otherwise Similar Institutions Can Differ Substantially in Graduation Performance[Data from www.collegeresults.org]

11. A Summary of the National Challenge To Attain “World Class” Collegiate Attainment Rates, We Need to: • Get More Citizens Through the “Educational Pipeline • With Particular Attention to “New Majority Students” and the Quality of Student Learning Outcomes • At a Cost the Nation Can Afford

12. Approaches to Improving Success AND Conserving Resources at All Levels • Design and Implement More Cost-Effective Systems • Reduce Per-Student Demands on the System • Change the Academic “Production Function” • Reduce “Leakage” at All Stages of the “Educational Pipeline”

13. Design and Implement More Cost-Effective Systems • Expand Enrollments in Institutions/Entities Where Per-Student Unit Costs are Historically Low • Create New Kinds of Providers or Instructional Units Organized on Alternative Educational Designs • Promote More Effective Collaboration Across Institutions or Units • Articulation and Transfer Across Institutions; Curricular Coherence within Institutions

14. Reduce Per-Student Demands on the System • Early Assessment and Directed Placement Programs to Ensure Readiness • Accelerate Student Progress through PLA, Test-Out and Mastery-Based Approaches • High School/College Dual Enrollment Programs • Reduce “Re-Work” and Provide Incentives for Early Completion

15. Change the Academic “Production Function” • Utilize Underused Instructional Assets and Capacity (e.g. Year-Round Attendance) • Remove Subsidies from Unproductive Programs and Units • Redesign Curricula toward Core Requirements (as Opposed to Distribution Requirements) • Limit Excessive Credits at Graduation • Re-Engineer Large-Enrollment Courses

16. Themes from the National NPEC Student Success Conference • Act on What We Already Know About Student Success • Intentionality and Alignment • Need for More “Fine Grained” Analyses and Research Approaches • Need for “Action Research” About Student Success

17. Student Success Approaches that Research has Established as Effective • Use of Active and Engaging Pedagogies, Including Learning Communities and Collaborative Approaches • High and Clear Expectations for Students • Proactive Early Warning and Intervention Strategies • Mandatory Assessment of Basic Skills and Directed Placement of Students with Deficiencies

18. Student Success Approaches that Research has Established as Promising • Early Assessment Programs in Early Years of High School with Tailored Intervention • Faculty Development for New Teaching Staff in Pedagogies Established as Effective • Electronic Portfolios as an Alternative Means to Assess Student Achievement • More Sophisticated and Carefully Targeted Financial Aid and Assistance Strategies

19. Dimensions of Program and Research Alignment Identified by Participants • Between K-12 and College Study (and Between Community Colleges and Four-Year Institutions) • Across Jurisdictions (e.g. Federal, State, Institutional) • Within Institutions, Between Academic Affairs and Student Affairs • Within Institutions: The Problem of “Project-itis”

20. Fine-Grained Models and Approaches • Alternative Definitions of “Student Success” • Contextualized Models and Interventions Designed to Fit Particular Student Populations • Models of Student Progress that Emphasize “Swirl” Instead of “Pipeline” • More Detail About Educational “Treatments” and Experiences • Research Models from within Particular Cultural Contexts and Settings

21. Demand for “Clinical” Action Research • Clear Distinction Between Policy Variables and Contextual Variables in Research • Search for “Root Causes” Beyond Correlation • Research on Implementation • Need for a “Research Translation” Function • Need for Collaboration Between Academic Researchers and Student Success Practitioners in Specific Settings

22. A Summary of Factors Associated with Student Success at All Institutions • Integrated, “Best Practice” Programming that Distinguishes Key “Student Bodies” • A Pervasive Campus Culture that Puts Student Success at the Forefront • A Flexible, Accessible, Student Information Infrastructure  Effectiveness Requires All Three of These

23. Aspects of Campus Culture Related to Student Success • High Expectations and the Presumption that All Students Can Meet Them • A Culture of Inclusiveness and Belonging • Organizational Cultures that Emphasize Cross-Unit Cooperation and Continuous Improvement • Leadership at All Levels that Supports Risk-Taking and Visibly Models Student-Centered Values

24. Characteristics of an Effective Information Infrastructure for Student Success • Longitudinal Student Databases Capability that is “Beyond Student Right-to-Know” • Ability to Identify Combinations of Student Characteristics and Disaggregate Them On Demand • An Interpretive Staff Role—Reports and Displays that Compel Action • Broadly Participatory Interpretation of Results and What they Mean

25. To Close the Credentials Gap, We Must: • Make Use of Both the Traditional College “Pipeline” and the “Adult Re-Entry Pipeline” • Use the Best Practices We Already Know About on a Greater and More Systematic Basis to Improve Student Success Rates • Find Ways to Multiply Postsecondary Capacity through More Effective Uses of Existing Resources and Greater Use of Technology • Keep at It for Long Enough to Make a Difference

26. The Bottom Line for Improving Student Success There is No “Magic Bullet” to Improve Retention and Graduation Rates. Success is Instead a Product of Many Little Things, Done Consistently by Diverse Individuals, Who Share a Common Vision of Student Success and a Constantly Reinforced Commitment to Make it Happen…

27. Some Questions to Ponder • Are We Sending a Consistent Message About Student Success? • Are Resources Directed Visibly and Effectively Toward Student Success? • How are We Using Faculty/Staff Recruitment Processes to Reinforce a Student-Centered Culture? • Are We Investing in Appropriate Academic Management Information? • What am I Doing Every Day that Can Further this Vision?

28. Higher Education Conference

29. [Registrars’ Material]

30. “Milestone Events” in Student History

31. Some Recurring Data Problems • Trade-offs Between “Currency” and Consistency: File Freeze Dates and Analytical Databases • How “Accurate” Does Accuracy Have to Be? • The Challenge of “Guerilla Databases” • Data Capture for Non-Academic or Other Non-Recurring Events (e.g. Tutoring, Advising) • Others?

32. What Can You Do with These Databases • Complex Long-Term Longitudinal Studies Involving Many Different Kinds of Outcomes • Analyses of Developmental Placement Levels and Collegiate Readiness • Evaluations of the Effectiveness of New Policies, Practices, and Approaches to Instruction • Studies that Link Outcomes with Student Engagement and Experience (e.g. NSSE/CCSSE)

33. Some Lessons from Experience • Data Systems Can Acquire a “Logic of their Own” • Data Use Drives Data Quality • Just “Having Good Data” Doesn’t Guarantee Good Policy or Sound Action • You Can’t Disaggregate Enough • A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

34. [Concluding Questions]

35. Closing Exercise • What is the Single Most Important Thing I Learned Today? • What Will I Do Tomorrow to Act on What I Learned?