Back in 2016, the University of Kentucky further strengthened student success as a strategic goal. The initiative includes realigning resources toward the four main reasons universities have discovered students persist, or don’t: academic readiness, physical and mental health, financial security, and a sense of belonging and community. That was included.
As part of this realignment, UK officials also reconsidered their student communication strategy, prioritizing intentional and diverse communication and working to build a culture of care.
Finally, leaders wanted a culture of data analysis and associated evidence to guide much of their work. But getting administrators, faculty, and staff to talk about student success data is easier said than done. What has helped the UK adopt its common language? Hold weekly public data conferences focused on retention.
Todd Brann, UK’s executive director of institutional research, analysis and decision support, calls these conferences the “secret sauce” of the university’s success to date.
Process and purpose: The conference, which originally attracted about 10 participants, now draws participants from across departments, offices, and programs.
Attendees will help Brann and his colleagues contextualize and identify barriers to success from billions of student data points collected from various university platforms. This process can also work in reverse. Conference attendees may share problems or anecdotes from the field, then look to the data for larger patterns and explanations.
Either way, the real purpose of the meeting is to brainstorm data-driven interventions and solutions.
“We’re creating a space where people can ask questions about data and be curious about data, and then come back the next week to close the loop and provide answers,” Brann says. . “And then we’re going to prioritize those data points that can actually lead to action.” For example: One year, a drop in priority enrollment for first-year women prompted student success leaders to prioritize specific social clubs. A conflict was reported and intervention was arranged.
Why it’s useful: Kirsten Turner, vice president for student success and chief student affairs officer, said the conference will be particularly helpful in democratizing and speeding up problem-solving.
“A lot of times in higher education, someone has to identify a problem and move it up the chain of command. You have to wait for a meeting, you have to talk to someone, and then you have to find the problem. Funding. Once you deliver that, you have to go back up the chain of command. It all takes weeks. And you have to be able to pivot and intervene in real time.”
She added:[Brann] “Data is screaming at us if we want to hear it,” he always says.
Who is invited (and who shows up): All faculty and staff with a special interest in student success. The average number of participants is around 60 to 80 people. Data analysts, deans of students, information technology, academic and program advising, tutoring and academic support, residence life, public relations and grading, student account services, and financial aid personnel are particularly well represented.
How to use: Meeting leaders begin each week with slide decks, review highlighted data, and gather input and questions. Practical items and updates from campus partners follow. The meeting concludes with a strategic communications plan, a calendar of student communications, and a summary of action items. At a recent meeting, discussion centered on the university’s predictive student success model, which will be updated after the fall semester, and how to work with first-generation opportunity students. The model currently suggests that these students are most likely not going to attend next fall.
when And where It happens: We meet in-person every Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. More than 300 campus partners are participating in the conference’s forum on university learning management systems, but Zoom isn’t an option as leaders emphasize in-person attendance. As for the venue for the meeting, the leaders chose a classroom in the heart of campus, in what is now the Gatton College of Business and Economics building.
Impact: By focusing on current data and analytics for new students and linking that information to specific action items, Brann, Turner, and colleagues are able to target limited resources to students who need them most at higher rates. I believe we can make it successful. .
The culture of evidence continues to grow in the UK and is contributing to student success, including improved retention rates, Turner says. The university’s retention rate for first- and second-year students is currently 87%, up from about 80% in 2016, and the six-year graduation rate is between 60% and 70%. Over the same period, the UK increased student numbers, but not selectivity, in keeping true to the university’s land-grant mission.
The University of Kentucky’s Institutional Research, Analytics and Decision Support Department is tracking key student success metrics such as student retention rates for fall 2023 and sharing them in weekly data conferences focused on retention rates .
University of Kentucky
“We represent a state with challenges. Our goal is to advance Kentucky, and we believe that to do that we need to attract more students with UK degrees. ,” says Turner.
5 practical points for data conferencing
In her student success data advocacy work, Jillian Kinsey, associate director of the National Student Engagement Survey at the Indiana University Bloomington School of Education, said that higher education institutions and learning, advice, achievements, etc. However, institutions must adopt a “connect the dots” strategy and find ways to combine and “connect” data to create a more complete picture of student success.
Kinzie’s Five Student Success Data team guiding principles include:
- The question, “How can data about the undergraduate student experience help us think smarter about student success?” We need to energize every student’s commitment to success. Kinsey credits this to the late Susan Wheeler Johnston, president and CEO of the American Association of University Administrators.
- Data teams should not be tasked with “mindlessly tracking metrics or routinely collecting data that is disconnected from meaningful questions about student success.” Instead, teams should start and continue their work with meaningful questions that campus audiences want to understand. Data should be compiled and presented as answers to these questions. ”
- Student success data should include aggregated and disaggregated measurements and be examined from an equity perspective. Kinzie cited a variety of comprehensive quantitative and qualitative methodologies, including person-centered approaches, culturally responsive assessments, critical methodologies, community-based participatory research, and evaluating rich data from underrepresented populations. I am.
- Student success data “should hold great promise for improved behavior.” Units and departments can act on data to meet the needs of today’s students and address inequitable outcomes. Must take responsibility for demonstrating continuous improvement to eliminate
- Ask, “Do I know enough to try something else that might benefit my students?” Various trade-offs and methodological constraints will make some analyzes incomplete, so “don’t stall.” Combining “good enough” data with expert wisdom and action to improve practice. and bring about change.
Kinsey adds that today’s adage that “student success is everyone’s responsibility” makes it imperative to develop a broad knowledge of student success. Success teams representing a variety of perspectives and voices on campus (including students) may meet regularly under the direction of the Vice President for Student Success or similar leadership, and then communicate with their respective academic or program departments. You can be empowered to foster a culture of evidence within your organization.
“There is too much information readily available about student experiences and successes these days to leverage and monitor it to derive insights into what works for whom and inform action.” she says. “We provide day-to-day institutional, program, and course-level data, including semester retention rates, gateway course grades, learning analytics, student engagement surveys and climate results, student engagement levels, advising visit rates, and more, among other things.” Insights into what needs your attention. Student success initiatives must be centered around data.”
What about your educational institution? Are you making evidence-based decisions about student success? Please share your approach and best tips Data conference was successful.
