An Equal Opportunity University

Third Annual Meetingof the

Provost’s Committee onUndergraduate Student Success

October 22, 2009

Today’s Agenda

• Introductions all around• NSSE 2009 and other data resources• Retention and Graduation Rates • GEN ED Update• Comments/discussion• Closing remarks

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NSSE AND OTHER DATA RESOURCES

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National Survey of Student Engagement

• Assessment of:– time spent on educationally effective practices– Activities and opportunities supporting academics

• First year Freshmen and Graduating Seniors• Five Benchmarks – 42 contributing items• Fifth participation since 2001• See reports and data at Institutional Research

website

NSSE 2009 SummaryCategory Class UK Carnegie

Bench

Level of Academic ChallengeFR 53.8 53.9

SR 55.2 56.3

Active and Collaborative LearningFR 40.9 41.5

SR 48.6 48.4

Student/Faculty InteractionsFR 34.1 32.3

SR 41.9 39.7

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NSSE 2009 SummaryCategory Class UK Carnegie

Bench

Enriching Educational ExperiencesFR 27.6 30.1

SR 41.2 42.7

Supportive Campus EnvironmentFR 59.8 60.3

SR 54.3 55.7

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NSSE 2009 SummaryAcademic Challenge Items Class UK Carnegie Class

% Saying quite a bit or very much

Memorizing facts, etc..so you can repeat them in same form

FR 75 71

SR 68 62

Synthesizing and organizing ideas, info into more complex relationships

FR 66 71

SR 73 75

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NSSE 2009 SummaryAcademic Challenge Items Class UK Carnegie Class

Preparing for class (studying, reading, writing, doing homework or lab work, etc…

8 point scale (4 = 11-15 hr/wk and 5 = 16-20 hr/wk)

FR 4.30 4.49

SR 4.06 4.37

Number of assigned books or book-length packets

1=None, 2=1-4, 3=5-10, 4=11-20, 5=More than 20

FR 3.24 3.28

SR 3.10 3.20

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NSSE Enriching Educational Experiences

• FR & SR - Less frequent serious conversations with students:– Of a different race or ethnicity– Who are very different in terms of religious,

political, or personal values

• SR – less participation in:– Study abroad, independent study, capstone

experiences

NSSE Supportive Campus Environment

• Seniors report lower institutional emphasis on:– Providing support services for academic success– Helping students cope with non-academic issues

NSSE 2009 - AdvisingAdvising Class UK Benchmarks

% Saying Good or Excellent

Overall, how would you evaluate the quality of the academic advising you have received?

FR 81 77

SR 62 66

2007 DATA – SAME QUESTIONFR 73 74

SR 61 65

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NSSE 2009 – College Data Active and Collaborative Learning Class UK College of

Agriculture

Overall, ACL ScoreFR 40.9 40.3

SR 48.6 50.7

Participated in a community-based project as part of a course

FR 19.5 19.6

SR 19.6 26.1

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NSSE 2009 – College Data Advising Class UK College of

Engineering

Rating on 4 pt scale

Overall, how would you evaluate the quality of the academic advising you have received?

FR 3.12 3.32

SR 2.75 3.07

2007 DATA – SAME QUESTIONFR 2.94 3.30

SR 2.66 2.86

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Resources of Use to Colleges

Student Level Data• Student Headcount• First-Year Student Credentials (HS GPA, ACT

score, and First Fall GPA at UK)• Degrees Awarded• Course History• Retention and Graduation Rates

www.uky.edu/IRPE/colleges.html

Resources of Use to Colleges

Student Surveys• National Survey of Student Engagement

(NSSE)• Campus Climate for Learning • Graduating SR Survey• Alumni Survey• Graduate Student Survey

www.uky.edu/IRPE/colleges.html

Other Resources – Example from Graduating SR Survey

www.uky.edu/IRPE/colleges.html

RETENTION AND GRADUATION

UK and War on Attrition, 2007-09

• Why focus on retention?– UK rates: between 76%-81%– 20th institution: 92%

• Resulting graduation rates: – UK rates: between 57-61%– 20th institution: 77.5%

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UK Retention & Graduation

UK and War on Attrition, 2007-09

Guiding Principles• Intentionality with student success as end

outcome• Systematic communication between colleges

and UE• Use of best, promising practices• Data-driven, evidence-based approach to

process refinement

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UK and War on Attrition, 2007-09

Investments• Faculty and academic advising staff• Student scholarships• Classroom renovation & library investments• Enhanced K-Week activities & peer mentors• More UK101s & new orientation courses• More tutoring and academic counseling

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UK and War on Attrition, 2007-09Investments• More living-learning communities• Student learning initiatives• BCTC Blue+ dual enrollment program• Midterm grades • Purpose-driven communication technologies

– Hobsons Connect (recruiting/admissions)– Hobsons EMT Retain (Undergrad Ed)– UK Second Life & Big Blue Network

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Academic Alert System

• Fall 07 and 08 - >50% of freshmen on “alert”• Fall 09 – alerts on 1698 students so far• Fall 09 expanding partnerships:

– Residence Life re attendance

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Academic Readiness Program

• 766 Students identified with ACT/SAT Scores in Math, English, Reading below State Standards

• 175 tested out prior to fall semester• Supplemental Reading, English workshops, MA

108R taught by BCTC.• 591 distinct ARP students, but, only 335 were

enrolled in a remedial or supplemental course.

WHAT ARE OTHER UNIVERSITIES DOING?

Retention Rates - 2007

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UK

A Comparison - 2007

School Grad Rate Median SAT %URM UG Enroll

UC-Riverside 66 1075 32.4 14,452

U of AL 65 1105 13.5 18,346

U of KY 61 1125 6.6 18,081

Source: The Education Trust. College Results Onlinehttp://www.collegeresults.org

Retention Rates

• UC-Riverside and Alabama– Very large increases in enrollments of incoming

cohorts– lower average ACT/SATs than UK– higher retention rates

• What are Alabama & UC-R doing differently from UK to effect change?

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Retention RatesWhat is Alabama doing?• Course redesign initiative

– Lowered DEW rate in College algebra from > 50% to ~25% from 1998 to 2004

– Mandatory interactive lab time– Erased differences between AA and White success

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Retention RatesWhat is UC-Riverside doing?• use of social networking in student affairs and

academic advising• learning communities in each college• accountability for learning communities

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GENERAL EDUCATION REFORM

CLOSING THOUGHTS, REMINDERS

Mid-term Grades

• 2786 students w/ D, E, or F so far• Compliance

– Encourage your faculty to submit– As of Oct 21, 27% reporting

• I grades? Uncommon usage at mid-term.

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