Beyond Retention:

1. Beyond Retention: Enhancing Student Success Loralyn Taylor, Ph.D. Virginia McAleese

2. Outline • Focus on Standards 9,8,7 • About us • Our retention efforts • Strengthening our support services • Changing our focus • Results so far

3. Standards 9, 8, 7 Student Support Services • Provides SSS to enable each student to achieve the institution’s goals for students. Student Admissions and Retention • …seeks to retain students through pursuit of student’s educational goals Institutional Assessment • Develop and implement assessment process evaluating overall effectiveness

4. Paul Smith’s College • ~1000 FTE • 80/20% bachelors • Very diverse • Culinary and Hospitality • Forestry, Natural Resources, Recreation • Science, Liberal Arts and Business

5. Paul Smith’s College • High First Generation • High Pell • ~70% male • 85% residential • Ave HS GPA: 82-83 • SAT Combined: 940-980

6. Retention Rate • 59-63% • FTFT freshmen • 52-55% • Associate • 64-65% • Bachelors

7. Support Services

8. Instructors Faculty Advisor Program Coordinators Deans Student Life Student Retention Office Academic Support Student Development TRiO Advisor Health Services HEOP Advisor ARP Advocate Accommodative Services

9. Student Instructors Student Life Faculty Advisor Academic Support Program Coordinators Student Development Deans Accommodative Services TRiO Advisor ARP Advocate Retention Office Health Services HEOP Advisor

10. Common Theme of Retention Committees, Councils, our MSA Self-Study, and Strategic Planning process • Improve communication within and between faculty and support offices • Information flow • Improve coordination of response • Close the reporting loop • What was done/what happened

11. Strategic Plan Initiatives Comprehensive Student Support System • Prioritize existing resources and create comprehensive support program • Intentionally cross-collaborate • Create a student success network for all students • Identify individual student needs • Connect students to services

12. Searching for Solution • Technology • Automation • Gather, manage and distribute information • Appropriate offices • Coordinate response • Easy to use • No extensive training • Not intimidating

13. Early Warning & Student Tracking System • Manual flags or flag surveys. • Automatic flags • based on system data • Automatic communication • appropriate personnel and/ or student • Close the loop • Results of intervention to flag raiser • Educational Support Networking System • My Success Network • Personalized for each student • Service catalog • Campus support resources • Online scheduling • Appointment confirmation by email. • Documentation of contact with students • private and shared notes.

14. Information Management Three types of Flags • Informational • Notify about concern • Action • Student in need of intervention • Urgent • Critical action needed • Student in danger of suspension

15. Informational Flags

16. Action Flags

17. Urgent Flags • Academic Recovery Program Suspension Warning • Health Services Suspension Warning • SafetyNet Notification of a Health/Safety or Behavioral Concern • Trespass Notice

18. Dear STUDENT FIRST NAME: Your instructor in CLASS NAME has reported that they are concerned about your grades on assignments and/or tests We are concerned about your success! Paul Smith’s has a number of student support services designed to help you on your path to graduation. These can be accessed through your home page in Starfish in the My Success Network channel on the bottom left of the screen or through the Success Network link at the top of the page. Please take advantage of our student support resources. The Academic Success Center has a number of resources including individual and group tutoring, supplemental instruction, and the Writing Center. Appointments can be made with Renee Marleau, the Tutor Coordinator, through Starfish. Sincerely, Virginia McAleese, Associate Professor Director of the Academic Success Center

19. Feedback to Faculty Feedback has been provided for the Low Grades flag which you raised on STUDENT NAME. Flag Details Student: STUDENT NAMEFlag Name: Low GradesCategory: AcademicRaised On: 9/14/2010Cleared On: 9/20/2010 Feedback From: Monica BurielloFeedback: The student will be speaking to his professor, attending the SI, and getting tutoring. His tutoring was just assigned for Dendrology. This email is a service of Starfish. Click here to change your notification preferences.

20. Instructors Faculty Advisor Program Coordinators Deans Student Life Student STARFISH Academic Support Student Development TRiO Advisor Health Services HEOP Advisor ARP Advocate Accommodative Services

21. Re-framing the Conversation • Traditional Retention • Focus on academic • Prevention of student loss • Target at risk students • Student Success • Add non-academic • All students

22. Reorganization Academic Success Center • Academic Support Center • SI, Tutoring, Writing Center • Targeted Population Programming • ARP, Transitional Student Program • High Risk Students • Early Outreach Program • All Students • Opt into mentoring program

23. Support Services

24. Assessing our Initiatives Comprehensive Student Support System • Prioritize existing resources and create comprehensive support program • Intentionally cross-collaborate • Create a student success network for all students • Identify individual student needs

25. Critical points—Before Starfish • Attendance • weekly • Early Alert Program • 4th week • MidTerm grades • 8th week

26. With Starfish • 4th Week Early Alert Survey • 8th Week MidTerm Grade warnings • Flag students • Anytime • Wider safety net • Not just instructors

27. With Starfish Spring 2010 • 271 flags raised • Prior to first survey • No marketing • 49% of flags raised outside of EA or MT

28. Early Alert Survey • 4th week • Automated faculty survey • Low grades, • Attendance Concern, • Low Motivation or • Social/Personal concerns

29. Early Alert Survey

30. Starfish Early Alert Survey Results

31. Early Alert Flags

32. Early Alert Flags

33. Assessing our Initiatives Comprehensive Student Support System • Intentionally cross-collaborate

36. Feedback to Faculty Feedback has been provided for the Low Grades flag which you raised on STUDENT NAME. Flag Details Student: STUDENT NAMEFlag Name: Low GradesCategory: AcademicRaised On: 9/14/2010Cleared On: 9/20/2010 Feedback From: Monica BurielloFeedback: The student will be speaking to his professor, attending the SI, and getting tutoring. His tutoring was just assigned for Dendrology. This email is a service of Starfish. Click here to change your notification preferences.

37. Assessing our Initiatives Comprehensive Student Support System • Prioritize existing resources and create comprehensive support program • Intentionally cross-collaborate • Identify individual student needs • Connect students to services

41. Assessing our Initiatives Comprehensive Student Support System • Identify individual student needs • Connect students to services

44. Unexpected Benefits • Reinvigorated discussion • How can we help • Want to be on board • Increased faculty participation • Improved communication • Exploring the possibilities

45. Questions? Loralyn Taylor, Ph.D. Director of Institutional Research Registrar LTaylor@paulsmiths.edu Virginia McAleese Director Academic Success Center Associate Professor VMcaleese@paulsmiths.edu