Zach Weinstein of Coastal Carolina University

This evaluation study measured the influence of an academic skills course for at-risk students on academic probation at Coastal Carolina University (CCU) on their academic success. The study identified significant gains in cumulative and semester grade point averages (GPA) for students who passed the course. Additionally, students who were eligible for the Pell Grant within this sample experienced increased GPAs.

Sarah Kyte, Lisa Elfring, Ashley Hurand, Jenn Schilling, Eduardo Guerrero, Amber Montz, & Lisa Rezende of University of Arizona

Previously, instructors at the University of Arizona had no way of examining (in)equities in their course outcomes or how changes to their course design or teaching might impact the success of students underrepresented in higher education or in particular fields of study. The Analytics Certificate for Course Equity and Student Success (ACCESS) Fellows program empowered tenure- and career-track faculty members to redesign their courses with an eye toward reducing curricular barriers to student success. Fellows received actionable data and ongoing support for implementing evidence-based instructional strategies, ultimately reaching 1,300+ students the next semester. Beyond promoting more equitable course outcomes and persistence in majors and at the university, these efforts developed an infrastructure to support a focus on student success and equity in teaching and learning. This paper details the lessons learned from the ACCESS fellows program with a focus on programmatic development, impact, and lessons learned. In doing so, we share the perspectives of leaders from student success, teaching and learning, institutional research, as well as faculty participants from multiple disciplines with the goal of modeling how our work could be adapted across institutional contexts.

Christy Mathew & Kristina Sharra of Berklee College of Music

This paper will discuss the inner workings of Berklee College of Music’s highly successful peer tutoring program in creating a collaborative learning environment that has significantly improved student retention and success. We will highlight the fundamental principles of our program, including selecting and training peer tutors, developing a student-centric approach, and monitoring the program's effectiveness. Additionally, we will discuss strategies for overcoming potential challenges such as stigma, tutor burnout, and logistical issues. The paper will provide evidence-based research to support the implementation of some of the special initiatives within the program. Finally, we will examine the impact of fostering a supportive learning environment on student retention and success. The presentation aims to give attendees a better understanding of how Peer-to-Peer Collaborative Learning can effectively promote student retention and success in higher education.

Christine Salvesen, Jennifer Ludwig, & Sarah Kyte of University of Arizona

Starting in 2015, the Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) implemented the “2025 Impact Arizona” strategic plan, which outlined critical goals for each Arizona university to promote increases in enrollment, retention, and graduation. As we continue to progress toward the ABOR goal of a 91% first-time full-time (FTFT) retention rate by 2025, The University of Arizona has seen our best performance in the three most recent years, despite the national volatility introduced by COVID-19. Helping students stay enrolled and working towards their degree is a collective effort at The University of Arizona; yet we are highly decentralized. This past year, we drew on established collaborations to coordinate centralized supports for decentralized retention efforts that ensured students heard the right message from the right person at the right time. We then communicated a wide range of data-informed insights back to partners. This paper details the collaboration, coordination, and communication behind the strategy that led to the 85.6% FTFT retention rate at the end of that cycle, our highest retention rate ever.

Debi Rutledge & Erica Suszek of Rochester University

Student support for conditionally admitted students is often approached from a deficit perspective. During the Spring of 2022, Rochester University performed an evaluation of the support programs in place to help these students achieve academic success. Despite institutional attempts to provide additional support, students entering conditionally struggle to meet Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) standards at a disproportionate rate. In response to this, a cross-departmental collaboration between Academic Support and Retention and Student Success and Well-being was developed to recreate the program with a strengths-based approach designed to motivate and empower students to achieve their academic goals. The program included academic coaching initiated prior to registration for classes and continued throughout the first semester, an online self-paced seminar delivered before classes started during the month of August and required enrollment in a three-hour study skills course. Each component of the revised program had a strong relational emphasis. Outcomes for students in all areas demonstrated significant improvement in first-semester grade point average and persistence.

Linli Zhou of Lasell University, Damji Heo Stratton of University of Missouri System, & Xin Li of New York University, Shanghai

This presentation focuses on leveraging NCES data for the examination of college student retention. It introduces the significance of NCES datasets in providing nationally representative estimates of student college experiences and guides participants on the selection of a suitable NCES survey based on their research interests in student retention. The presentation delves into NCES sample surveys by unveiling a presenter-led research project on STEM student retention, utilizing the B&B datasets. Participants follow the methodology walkthrough, explore PowerStats—a specialized data tool for NCES datasets—and understand its diverse analytical capabilities. The presentation concludes with general tips and cautions on NCES dataset usage, empowering participants to explore college student retention queries within their institutions or organizations.

Georgeanna Robinson, Ben Newhouse, & Mark Peltz of Grinnell College

What does student success mean? Institutions often define it as 'grades and grads.’ These metrics are easily measurable and thus make effective assessment tools. However, to the students earning the grades and persisting to graduation, how meaningful is this definition? Recognizing that our undergraduates held more nuanced aspirations, we designed a class to examine this question. With an understanding of the variations of “success” within our students, we anticipated being better positioned to offer individualized support and guidance. Students first learned student development theories and how student success has been studied. They reflected on their development and understanding of success. Then, with some research training, the class collaboratively designed interview questions, and each student conducted 8 peer interviews. The results of this class are mutually beneficial to students and the institution, and threefold: 1) students engage in material that is directly relevant to their current experiences; 2) students become aware of, and reflect upon, their behaviors, becoming more intentional to their own engagement and success practices; 3) the institution receives a relatively large qualitative data set that is analyzed and communicated to leadership, with the intent of informing practitioners across the institution. This webinar describes the course and its outcomes. The analysis of the class collaborative research project were continued by students working on a mentored advanced research project. These graduates will share a brief overview of the findings from their research as follows. Students’ definitions of success were initially—prior to matriculation—heavily based on their backgrounds and preparation for college. Once matriculated, students began to integrate into the values of the institution and its student body. Over time, participants developed their identities and associated individual definitions of success, having reconciled their expectations of college with their actual experiences, explored and constructed their path through college, and developed and followed their beliefs of what success looks like. In doing so, students made adjustments to reconcile their expectations with their reality and negotiated their identity in their new environment. These processes of destabilization and restabilization were most evident in the stories of upperclassman participants.

Juan Carlos Apitz, Mahmoud Albawaneh, Tyler E. Nakamura, & Dhushy Sathianathan of California State University at Long Beach

In this work, we explored the many causes of attrition and created models to predict and identify students’ risk of attrition, ideally helping administrators so they may intervene and keep students on track to obtain their degrees. We utilized machine learning classification methods to build CatBoost, LightGBM, XGBoost, and Random Forest models, designed to assign a probability of attrition to each student, based on demographic, pre-collegiate, and academic features. We then evaluated the performance and appropriateness of each model to determine how it applies to universities.

Coryn Gonzales & Jamie White of Ohio State University at Newark

This study compares the outcomes of students enrolled in two different required online academic success programs, the Academic Success Workshop or Buckeye Roadmap to Academic Success, following their placement on academic probation between autumn semester 2018 to 2022. The Buckeye Roadmap to Academic Success is a new, comprehensive, non-credit-bearing course that was introduced in autumn 2021 to replace the Academic Success Workshop. The program is designed to provide holistic support to students by strengthening academic and personal skills to increase their overall success. Significant improvements in academic outcomes were found following the implementation of the Buckeye Roadmap to Academic Success program. Of those students who completed the redeveloped, full-semester Buckeye Roadmap to Academic Success program, 87% achieved good academic standing or met their required GPA conditions (13% dismissal rate). This rate is in comparison to the overhauled Academic Success Workshop, which saw a 33% dismissal rate (67% met or exceeded required GPA conditions). Additionally, this paper expands on the expected learning outcomes of the new program, topics covered, and intentional changes made.

Melissa Dennis & Ashley S. Dees of University of Mississippi

The Research & Instruction Department (R&I) at the University of Mississippi Libraries (UML) has a longstanding partnership with campus units to embed the library into first-year courses called the First Year Instruction Initiative (FYII). In particular, the Center for Student Success and First Year Experience (CSSFYE) has grown significantly during UML’s FYII program (nearly 2 decades) and has quickly become a significant partner in library goals for student success. CSSFYE is made up of multiple units all working towards student success. The library works with these units to ensure that course goals strategically align with the library’s information literacy learning outcomes for librarians and CSSFYE to create meaningful information literacy instruction sessions for UM’s diverse student population. This case study will present how UML has assessed and evaluated the effectiveness of this partnership over time and plans for future FYII sessions that help students develop needed critical thinking skills at various levels in their time at the university.

Michael Morsches of Moraine Valley Community College & Grant J. Matthews of Lane Community College

What advice do you give to struggling students—students who do not know how to start studying or students who have begun to study but who are now lost? Would that advice be the same for any level of students in any subject? Are there standard principles of studying that can benefit all students? These are the questions we have contemplated over the past What advice do you give to struggling students—students who do not know how to start studying or students who have begun to study but who are now lost? Would that advice be the same for any level of students in any subject? Are there standard principles of studying that can benefit all students? These are the questions we have contemplated over the past 30 years in subjects ranging from developmental mathematics to graduate coursework. In this pursuit of a standard set of practices, we have developed a model that has shown success across the spectrum of college-level courses. As important as the results, we have also realized this model has a high level of face validity with students. Students find comfort when they realize there are concrete solutions to their studying issues instead of just needing to “study harder.” In essence, students have three responsibilities as they study: 1) they must first learn the material at the appropriate level, 2) they must manage the material in their memory, and 3) they must be prepared to prove that they have mastered the material. We have identified these as the 3 Responsibilities of Students. This paper will detail the components of the 3 Responsibilities of Students model, the appeal it has for students and instructors, and the success it has achieved in dozens of applications.

Jairus L. Johnson & Renyetta M. Johnson of East Mississippi Community College

U.S. community colleges play a vital role in providing higher education opportunities for members of society and are often viewed as the gateway to a post-secondary education. Two-year colleges foster a robust mission that is supported by a variety of curricular functions. Most colleges have an open-door policy with minimum admission requirements. These factors have created inherent challenges associated with persistence, institutional retention, program completion, and graduation rates. As compared to universities, community colleges have lower graduation and retention rates. Researchers suggest that student persistence is influenced by the social and academic integration of students into college life, and the classroom represents the site for social and academic integration. Studies suggest that there is a positive relationship between transformational leadership (TL) characteristics that are exhibited by instructors and outcomes such as extra effort of students, effectiveness of the instructor, and satisfaction with the instructor. Missing from the literature is an exploration of the association between instructor leadership and students' motivation to persist in a course. This study supports previous TL studies and the findings are applicable to community college classrooms. Instructors who exhibit TL characteristics are related to students' motivation to persist in a course.