Ref: Student Success in College: Creating Conditions that Matter (chapter 14)

by GD Kuh, J Kinzie, JH Schuh, EJ Whitt, and associates

Jossey-Bass, 2005

ORGANIZING FOR STUDENT SUCCESS

A. Feature student success in the Institution’s Enacted Mission and

Purposes

1. Feature student success in the vision of what is aspired to accomplish

within the undergraduate programs.

2. Clarify and translate the mission in plain language to stakeholders.

3. Ensure that the espoused mission is enacted.

4. Senior leaders must publicly and repeatedly champion undergraduate

education.

5. Strive to appropriately balance the institution’s multiple missions.

B. Make Talent Development a Central Tenet in the Institution’s

Operating Philosophy

1. Establish high expectations – for everyone.

2. Know your students.

3. Set performance standards for students at high but attainable levels

consistent with their academic preparation.

4. Provide generous amounts of helpful, constructive feedback.

5. Balance academic challenge with adequate support.

6. Use pedagogical approaches that complement student learning styles.

7. Encourage the student-faculty interactions that pay dividends in terms of

student development.

C. Cultivate an Ethic of Positive Restlessness

1. Steer the organization toward continuous improvement.

2. Use data to inform decision making.

3. “Sunset” less effective programs and activities in order to support high-

priority initiatives.
 4. Put someone in charge (“there is an old adage that when everyone is
responsible for something, no one is accountable for it”).

D. Put Money Where It Will Make a Difference in Student Engagement

1. Invest in activities that contribute to student success.

2. Invest in faculty members who are doing the right things.

3. Invest in teaching and learning centers….. Library and its

satellites

4. Invest in opportunities that allow students to apply what they are learning
in ways that also benefit others.

5. Consider a budgeting model that privileges student learning processes

and outcomes.

E. Feature Diversity, Inside and Outside of the Classroom

1. Use a multifaceted, aggressive approach to diversify the student body,

faculty, and staff.

2. Ensure that diverse perspectives are represented in the curriculum.

F. Attract, Socialize, and Reward Competent People

1. Award the reward system with the institutional mission, values, and
priorities.

2. Pick institutional leaders right for the times, campus cultures, and
institutional trajectory.

3. Recruit faculty and staff who are committed to student learning.

4. Emphasize student centeredness in faculty and staff orientation.

5. Make room for differences.

6. Ensure high-quality student support services.

G. Encourage Collaboration Across Functional Lines and Between the

Campus and Community

1. Encourage and reward cross-functional activities focused on student

success.

2. Tighten the philosophical and operational linkages between academic and

student affairs.
 3. Harness the expertise of other resources.

4. Make governance a shared responsibility.

5. Form partnerships with the local communities.

H. Lay Out the Path to Student Success

1. Draw a map for student success.

2. Front load resources to smooth the transition.

3. Align the physical environment with institutional priorities and goals for
student success.

4. Teach newcomers about the campus culture.

5. Create a sense of specialness about being a student here.

6. If an activity or experience is important to student success, consider

requiring it.

7. Develop interventions for under-engaged students.

I. Re-culture the Institution for Student Success

1. Identify cultural properties that are obstacles to student success.

2. Expand the number of cultural practitioners on campus.

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Ref: How College Affects Students (pp 396-406) Vol 2. A Third Decade of Research
by ET Pascarella and PT Terenzini
Jossey-Bass, 2005
ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

Evidence from the 1990’s

Probable no other variable’s relation to persistence or degree completion has

attracted more attention than grade performance. Grades are more likely
confounded measures, reflecting a combination of a student’s previous academic
achievement, general intellectual capacities and abilities, academic skill (such as
computer literacy and study and time management skills), and personal traits (such
as motivation, self-discipline and perseverance).

Academic achievement during a student’s first-year of college may be a

particularly powerful influence on subsequent retention and degree completion.
Good grades reduce dropout behavior in the first year more than they do in
subsequent years; the effect of good grades simultaneously reduces the chances of
stopping out and increases the probability of timely graduation.

Programmatic interventions

8. Developmental studies and other remedial programs

9. Supplemental instruction (SI) --- instruction in academic skills e.g. PLTL

10.First-year seminars

11.Advising and counseling programs

12.Student support services --- comprehensive support and retention

programs

13.Undergraduate research programs

Ref: Challenging & Supporting the First-Year Student

By ML Upcraft, et.al.

Jossey-Bass, 2005

Good Practices for the 1st College Year

1. Organizing for first-year student success

a) Promote the first-year student success in the institution’s mission
statement
b) Develop a strong commitment of the administrative leadership
c) Engage deans and department heads in initiatives that promote first-year
student success inside and outside the classroom
d) Focus the institution’s enrollment management not only on recruitment
and admission of qualified students, but in subsequent student success
initiatives
2. Promoting first-year student success in the classroom
a) Develop first-year seminars
b) Reform classroom practices so that they reflect an emphasis on student
learning
c) Create developmental education programs that promote the intellectual,
social and emotional growth of all students
 d) Focus the library services on the unique needs of first-year
students by teaching them how to become more information
literate
3. Promoting first-year student success outside the classroom
e) Create learning environments, both on campus and off campus
f) Target all student support services to first-year student success
g) Develop alcohol and other drug educational and prevention initiatives that
combat the negative influence of alcohol and drugs on first-year student
success
4. Promoting collaboration and partnerships between Student Affairs
and Academic Affairs
a) Involve the chief student affairs officer and the chief academic affairs
officer in intentional initiatives that help first-year students integrate their
in-class and out-of-class learning experiences
b) Develop service learning initiatives that help first-year students
develop a sense of civic responsibility
c) Develop learning communities that help first-year students better
integrate their in-class and out-of-class experiences
5. Making assessment an essential part of promoting first-year student success
a) Develop a comprehensive assessment program that provides information
necessary to evaluate initiatives that promote first-year student success
b) Disseminate assessment results in ways that establish and revive
institutional policies and practices as well as maintain accountability of
first-year student initiatives
6. Helping students make constructive use of technology
a) Use technology in ways that promote, not detract from, first-year student
success.
7. Other
a) Develop school-college partnerships that are designed to involve
secondary schools in first-year student success efforts
b) Look beyond the first year of college to subsequent transitions