THIRD-PARTY VENDORS FOR DATA ANALYTICS: FRIEND OR FOE?

1. THIRD-PARTY VENDORS FOR DATA ANALYTICS: FRIEND OR FOE? Tiffany Beth Mfume, Assistant Vice President for Student Success and Retention, Morgan State University

2. Morgan State UniversityOffice of Student Success and Retention (OSSR) • The largest of four, public historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the State of Maryland • Enrollment just under 7,600 students, with approximately 6,300 undergraduate students • Entire campus designated as a National Treasure by the National Trust for Historic Preservation -- the only college or university to earn this designation for the entire campus • Listed by U.S. News & World Report as "one of student's most popular universities“ and named by Forbes magazine among "America's Best Colleges and Universities 2016" • Identified as "one of the 25 Best Universities for African Americans, Hispanics, and Women" by the Black EOE Journal, Hispanic Network magazine, and Professional Woman's magazine

3. Morgan State University Office of Student Success and Retention (OSSR) • For six consecutive years, Morgan’s retention rate has exceeded 70%. This achievement was highlighted twice in U.S. News & World Report magazine where MSU has been listed as one of the top 12 HBCUs where freshmen return. • More than 90% of our undergraduates receive some type of financial aid and approximately 60% are Pell-eligible.  • Morgan’s student body is still primarily a first-time, full-time population of African American students, many of whom are first generation college students.  • More than 65% of our undergraduate students test into developmental English, reading, and mathematics courses.  • By every traditional measure, many Morgan students are "high risk" students.

4. Morgan State University Office of Student Success and Retention (OSSR) • The only HBCU to win a $100,000 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for the implementation of Integrated Planning and Advising Services (IPAS) technology (2013) • Winner of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) Project Degree Completion Award (2015) • Invited participant: Ed Trust OASIS (Optimizing Academic Success and Institutional Strategy) Network (2016) • Winner of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) Turning Points Video Competition Award (2016) • Winner of a $760,000 HBCU Student Success Project grant from the Lumina Foundation (2016) • Winner of the Hobsons Education Advances Award for Student Success and Advising (2017) Director of Student Success and Retention, Dr. Tiffany Mfume, receiving APLU 2015 Project Degree Completion Award

5. Morgan State University has increased its retention rate from 63% (2006 cohort) to 73% (2015 cohort) and graduation rate from 28% (2005 cohort) to 38% (2011 cohort), both ten-point increases that are directly correlated to the ongoing efforts of the OSSR. Morgan State University Office of Student Success and Retention (OSSR) In the Fall (2015) our retention rate for the 2014 freshman cohort was 76.% for the 2nd year in a row, Morgan’s highest retention rate in 20 years; Morgan has had seven consecutive yearsof a retention rate above 70%. The Fall 2017 retention rate is up an additional +2 points to 75.2% for the Fall 2016 cohort of freshmen.

6. Starfish Implementation and Campus-Wide Adoption • In 2013, Morgan State University applied for and was awarded a $100,000 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for the implementation of Integrated Planning and Advising Services (IPAS) technology. • Morgan identified Starfish Retention Solutions as its designated IPAS system for implementation by Spring 2014 and named the new initiative Morgan’s STAR (Student, Technology, and Retention) Enterprise.

7. What is Starfish? “I made a difference for that one.” We are. • A Student Success Company We believe. • The campus community engaged with a student will lead to that student’s success. We help academic institutions. • Identify. Which students are at risk now? • Guide. Where do I go to get/offer help? • Connect. When can I get help? • Optimize. How are services performing?

8. Starfish Solutions Educational Support Networking System Early Warning and Student Tracking System • Feedback on students can be manually recorded when observed or through periodic surveys. • Recommendations can be communicated to the student. • Appropriate personnel are informed of tracking items raised and cleared. • Close the loop with faculty when progress is made. • Each student has personal My Success Network of instructors and staff. • Online scheduling for in-person meetings – both individual and group appointments. • Appointment confirmation by email. • Documentation of contact with students through private and shared notes. • Service catalog of available campus support resources.

9. Morgan’s Program Goals and Objectives • University-wide academic advising technology system that interfaces with existing systems (Banner/WEBSis) • Consistent, comprehensive intervention (OSSR) • Enhance the value of Academic Advising Services • Promote the use of early alerts (flags, kudos, referrals, and to-do’s)

10. How We Measure Success IN THE SHORT TERM • Adoption of Starfish (usage) • Increased consistency of process and data (progress surveys) • Engagement (appointments, student folder) • Course Completion (grades, GPA) IN THE LONG TERM • Persistence (retention & progression) • Degree completion

11. Starfish Super Users at Morgan Role of Administrative Director and/or Retention Coordinator = Super User! • Train and encourage use of Starfish among instructors and advisors - act as evangelists for the project • Assist in testing Starfish configuration and revising training materials • Advise students • Brainstorm solutions and improvements as part of steering committee • Share knowledge and gather feedback • Report issues and help troubleshoot

12. Starfish: Instructor Role Instructors can: • Set up office hours and a profile that students can see • Raise alerts • Respond to progress surveys • Communicate with their students via Starfish • Make appointments with their students and document outcomes • Guide their students to information about available services • Review student information of students enrolled in his/her courses

13. Starfish: Advisor Role Advising roles can: • Set up profile and office/service hours • Manage alerts, document activities and communicate with students. • Manage assigned cases and provide advising services to students • Connect students to other available services • Review student information of assigned students or students in their area • Create and document appointments

14. Starfish: Administration Other monitoring roles (e.g. Deans/Chairs) can: • Monitor alerts • Review case information for their programs/campuses • Review student information Central Administration role can: • Monitor and manage alert workflow • Review case information across the institution • Manage Steering committee • Collect feedback and make decisions about Starfish configuration • Develop Metrics and Reports

15. Starfish: Student All students who are Starfish users can: • Set up a profile and communications preferences • Review flags/kudos raised and respond • Find and connect to recommended/ available services • Make and Track appointments with instructors or others in their “success network”

16. Starfish: Early Alert General Workflow Student Instructor Retention Advisor and Assigned Advisor • Instructor raises a flag • Student receives a notification and flag is displayed in Tracking tab • Retention Advisor reaches out to the student and makes comments on the flag • Student makes an appointment for services • Advisor Closes the flag and enters ‘close loop’ comments which are sent to the instructor

17. Morgan State University Starfish Success 223,623 total tracking items in Starfish

18. Starfish: Spring 2017 Update Total Unique Students with a Flag or Kudos: 5,533 Average Number of Flags Per Student: 5.12 Average Number of Kudos Per Student: 2.15 Table Includes all Starfish tracking items from 1/23/17 – 5/1/17.

19. Starfish: Progress Surveys Update

20. Outcomes A Spring 2015 analysis of Starfish (IPAS) from Spring 2014 through Spring 2015 by the Office Institutional Research at Morgan found that: • the majority of D’s at mid-term were raised to C or better by the end of each semester; • the mean cumulative GPA of students with concern flags has been above 2.0, with about 75% of these students ending the semester with GPAs at or above 2.0; and, • results of the annual University Student Satisfaction Survey indicate that student satisfaction with advising increased from 2.4 to 2.6 on a scale of 0 (F) to 4 (A) from Spring 2014 to Spring 2015.

21. Outcomes The Starfish Early Alert System was first used in the spring 2014 semester. At that time, analyses were conducted to see if there was a difference in grade improvement between students who received Starfish alerts and those who did not. Now that Starfish has been operational for a number of semesters, we see that the overwhelming majority of mid-term grades were awarded by instructors who use Starfish. As with the mid-term grades, the overwhelming majority of final grades were awarded by instructors who use Starfish.

22. Third-Party Vendors for Data Analytics: Friend or Foe? Starfish Best Practices: • Patty Raymond & Richard Calhoun! • Workflow design • Progress Surveys • Attributes • Message templates • Reports • YouTube videos • Photos of students

23. Third-Party Vendors for Data Analytics: Friend or Foe? Communication and Ongoing Feedback: • Surveys every semester • Presentations at every Faculty Institute • Updating faculty via email twice / semester • Sharing changes and modifications which have resulted from advisor feedback.

24. Third-Party Vendors for Data Analytics: Friend or Foe? Lessons Learned: • Let Leadership Lead • Engage Strategic Partners (IT, IR, CFO) • Remember Data Integration • Discuss Tools with Users at Other Campuses • Set Clear Goals and Objectives • Make the Most of Training • Celebrate Your Wins • Evaluate and Share Results • Be Open to Tweaking and Evolving • Stay Focused!

25. Third-Party Vendors for Data Analytics: Friend or Foe? Bottom Line: Technology, tools, and systems can help faculty, administrators, and staff work smarter and not harder. With the support of external partners and collaborators, institutions can use technology to design and deliver strategic initiatives to foster student success and degree completion.