Executive
Trinity: SSAO/VPAA/CIO
Working Together
for Student Retention
SOME UA FACTS
• Founded in 1885 as a land grant
• AAU institution
• 38,000+ students; 25,000+ undergrads;
7,300 freshman
• Mean SAT of entering freshman: 1105
• 2010 academic year awarded
8,240 total degrees
SOME CONTEXT
Over $100 million cut in last 3 years
Freshman retention rate between 78
and 80%. The UA has recently gone
through a retention audit and written a
retention strategic plan
Three execs appointed by same
administration within the last five
years all reporting to the Provost
University has a strong history of
interdisciplinary, collaborative
interactions
GOAL OF THE
PARTNERSHIP
Work more efficiently
and effectively on
programs that impact
student retention.
PROJECT 1:
MEGA-CLASSES
Implement classes of 700-1200
students while maintaining
quality of instruction and
positive student experience.
RETHINKING TEACHING IN
THE MEGA CLASSROOM
Faculty
Technology
Student needs/support
Faculty needs/support
IMPLEMENTATION
Decision in May for August launch
Appointment of external project
manager
Building a staff/faculty team
Visit to Apple
Delegation of responsibilities
CENTENNIAL
HALL
STUDENT AFFAIRS
• Learning Support
(supplemental instr., tutoring)
• Preview Slides
• Cohorts
• Student input and feedback
ACADEMIC AFFAIRS
OFFICE OF TECHNOLOGY
• Faculty selection
• Funding for TA’s
• Faculty training
• Library support
• Teaching evaluations
• Course evaluation
• Classroom technology
• Podcasting
• Response devices
• D2L
FIRST YEAR
FINDINGS
Overall student satisfaction: 67%
Students considered classes of 50
to be “large”
Overall student final grades
declined slightly
Teacher evaluation scores declined
for some professors
Students identified slides as a
major source of information
Mega-classes magnified issues that
were common in all classes
PROJECT 2:
EARLY ALERT
Update and refine a system
that warns students, faculty
and staff when milestones are
not met in a specific class.
STUDENT AFFAIRS
EARLY
ALERT
• Tracking during course
• Engaging students
• Post-semester analysis
ACADEMIC AFFAIRS
OFFICE OF TECHNOLOGY
• Faculty selection
• Identify triggers
• Compare data
• Dashboards
• D2L integrations
PROJECT 3:
CLASSROOM
TECHNOLOGIES
Equip our classrooms and
learning spaces with modern
state-of-the-art technologies.
Just getting started…
“Early alert has helped
me to be in sync with atrisk students as well as
those who just needed a
reminder now and then.
I definitely had more
emails from students
after an alert went out.
Those emails ranged
from simple questions to
exam preparation and
exam grade
consequences.”
Elaine Marchello -Assistant Dean, College of
Agriculture and Life Sciences
EARLY ALERT
FALL 2011 QUICK FACTS
Participating classes:
General Chemistry
Intro to Biology
Multiple math levels
Language
General Education
Students received 2-4 alerts in
different classes from emails to
phone calls from Student Affairs
Outreach Facilitators
Range of Course
Enrollment: from 157 to
2042
ALERTS SENT THIS
SEMESTER: 2,482
TOTAL STUDENTS
ALERTED: 1,944
Alerts by Academic Standing
Freshmen (75%) 1,862
Sophomore (18%) 453
Junior (5%) 115
Senior (2%) 52
CLASSROOM
TECHNOLOGIES
STUDENT AFFAIRS
• Engage students for input
• Emergency response
requirements
• Classroom scheduling
ACADEMIC AFFAIRS
OFFICE OF TECHNOLOGY
• Faculty input
• Instructional support
experience
• Classroom scheduling
• Project planning
& management
• Installation & support
of equipment
• IT fee
Project 4:
HELPING STUDENTS
FIND AN ACADEMIC
HOME
HELPING STUDENTS
GRADUATE IN 4 YEARS
Working with Admissions,
Advisors, Faculty, and Students
and using Technology to
inform students
Degree Search
Degree Tracker
Degree Search
Degree Tracker
STUDENT AFFAIRS
• Admissions website modified
• Student input and feedback
ACADEMIC AFFAIRS
OFFICE OF TECHNOLOGY
• Advisors involved in
development and testing
• Faculty involved in
transfer articulation
• Faculty involved in
curriculum review
• Programmers
• Web designers
• PeopleSoft consultants
http://degreesearch.arizona.edu
http://aprr.web.arizona.edu/data/114/UGRD.USBSC.JOURBA.pdf
DEGREE TRACKER
DEGREE TRACKER
WHAT
WE LEARNED
Appreciation for each other’s
staff and areas
A sense of urgency helps
Use best practices from
each culture
Have the help of an external
project manager
WHAT
WE LEARNED
Working together in
this way has built a
broader understanding
of and commitment to
student retention.
UNEXPECTED
OUTCOMES
Centennial has become a highly
desirable venue for faculty
Greater attention to testing,
clickers, academic integrity
Greater involvement of faculty in
SA events
Collaborative projects with
senior executives are extremely
valuable
SUMMARY
Collaboration and
cooperation allows
top administrators
to tackle difficult
problems with
creative solutions
and strong
institutional
support