Increasing STEM Graduation Rates at UAlbany: A Holistic Model

The Center for Achievement, Retention, and Student Success (CARSS) is a comprehensive program that addresses retention of freshmen and transfer students in STEM fields at the University at Albany-State University of New York (UAlbany). We utilize a holistic model reliant on the creation of learning communities through group study and support. We have met the original program goals of: sustainability, institutionalization, provision of peer tutoring and peer/staff mentoring, ongoing project evaluation, and dissemination. The program continues to grow as evidenced by an increase in the number of tutoring sessions by 1,029 from year one to year two. As a result, pass rates in key gateway courses have improved. For example, the pass rate in Organic Chemistry I increased by 9% in year one and by 18% in year two, while the year one pass rate in General Chemistry I increased by 7%. Based on these two courses alone, 98 additional students will proceed toward graduation in STEM as a result of CARSS services. Inclusion of the data for Genetics, Physics and General Biology II increases this number by a factor of two. We specifically tracked STEM major sub-groups of female, self-identified minority and transfer students. CARSS tutoring had a statistically significant impact on pass rates of females in targeted biology, chemistry, and physics courses and on the pass rates of underrepresented ethnic groups for chemistry. There was an increase in CARSS participation among transfer STEM students, from 8% to 13% from year one to year two, and the 19% increase in pass rates for minority students in organic chemistry in fall 2009 translates into 10 students who we anticipate would not graduate without CARSS intervention. The project will be sustained because: I. It has a dedicated permanent fully furnished space from which to operateII. UAlbany has committed to continuing the CARSS program coordinator staff

line III. UAlbany has committed $150,000.00 annually in support of the CARSS

program at the termination of the grant funding period

GOALS AND STRATEGIESGoals Increasing the 4-year graduation rates of a cohort of freshman with declared

STEM majors Increasing the 2-3 year graduation rates of transfer students entering into

UAlbany in their junior year Institutionalizing the Center for Achievement, Retention and Student Success Increasing retention of historically underrepresented students in STEM majors Creating and supporting learning communities

Strategies Career counseling Provision of free tutoring in STEM gateway courses Provision of review/recitation sections Creation of an on-campus home Establishment of a STEM Tutors training course Aggressive dissemination: website (www.albany.edu/carss); brochure; faculty

in-class support; participation in new student orientations Establishment of a bona fide, furnished, dedicated center space Hiring of a full-time program coordinator Securing financial commitment from the University Administration to

permanently support tutor and coordinator salaries

Establishment of CARSS Tutor Training Course (ACAS 498), a college wide course offered three consecutive semesters

Acquisition of a permanent well-furnished space in a centralized location Appointment of a full-time program coordinator Appointment of qualified, trained tutors Provision of 3 types of tutoring services (weekly study sessions;

review/recitation; one-on-one tutoring Active evaluation since program’s inception including development of

formative assessment instruments (survey tools, focus groups, daily student feedback, tutor round-table feedback sessions); realignment of goals to fit student population needs; identification of areas of greatest challenge to students; statistical analysis of incoming data; real-time program adjustments

Program dissemination through electronic reserves, Blackboard, and a web site (www.albany.edu/carss); brochures; faculty in-class support; participation in year around new student orientations; aggressive and continuous e-mail advertising of program offerings; prominently posted program flyers

LEVELS OF PARTICIPATION

IMPACT OF STRATEGIESChallenges & OpportunitiesChallenges: Meeting the demand for those needing CARSS services: The

extreme cuts that have been made to SUNY funding have resulted in fewer academic support services for students. This in turn has meant that greater numbers of students in need are turning to CARSS for assistance, and we cannot always meet the demand. 

Manual management of student requests for tutoring: Scheduling for tutoring services has been extremely time consuming, as all requests for tutoring are made directly to our program coordinator. To resolve this issue, we recently retained a student from the computer science department to develop an online sign-up system for students which we will be testing during the spring 2011 term.

 Opportunities Tailored math tutor sessions: We have observed that students

enrolled in STEM gateway courses such as general chemistry and genetics need additional assistance with the math that is germane to these subjects. To help these students, we are piloting a program in which tutoring services in math for general chemistry and genetics are offered alongside the courses when they are taught. Thus far, this has been well-received by students.

Omit spring semester genetics and physics: We have observed that for certain courses, the demand for tutoring services varies depending upon the semester in which the course is offered. For example, the demand for genetics tutoring is significantly less in the spring semester compared with the fall. Therefore, we are considering devoting less of our resources towards the provision of genetics tutoring in the spring. The demand for physics tutoring is less than it is for all other courses combined. Thus, we are considering devoting the resources that are currently being directed to physics tutoring to other areas where there is greater demand, such as general and organic chemistry courses.

Implementation

Spring 2009

Fall 2009 Spring 2010

Spring 2009

Fall 2009 Spring 2010

Year 1 Year 2 Year 1 Year 2Female Male

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

14% 18% 18%10% 10% 10%

86% 82% 82%90% 90% 90%

STEM Student CARSS Participation by Gender

Carss Non-Carss

CA

RSS

par

ticip

a-tio

n

Spring 2009

Fall 2009

Spring 2010

Spring 2009

Fall 2009

Spring 2010

Spring 2009

Fall 2009

Spring 2010

Spring 2009

Fall 2009

Spring 2010

Year 1 Year 2 Year 1 Year 2 Year 1 Year 2 Year 1 Year 2White Black Hispanic Other

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

11% 11% 12% 12% 17% 18% 20% 23% 22%13% 14% 15%

89% 89% 88% 88% 83% 82% 80% 77% 78%87% 86% 85%

STEM Student CARSS Participation by Ethnicity

Carss

- Other includes American Indian or Native Alaskan and Asian or Pacific Islander

CARS

S pa

rtici-

patio

n

Spring 2009 Fall 2009 Spring 2010 Spring 2009 Fall 2009 Spring 2010Year 1 Year 2 Year 1 Year 2

Non-transfer Transfer

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

13% 13% 13% 8% 14% 13%

87% 87% 87% 92% 86% 87%

STEM Student CARSS Participation by Transfer Status

Carss Non-Carss

CARS

S pa

rtici-

patio

n

General Chemistry

II

Organic Chemistry

II*

General Chemistry

I*

General Chemistry

II

Organic Chemistry

I*

General Chemistry

I

General Chemistry

II

Organic Chemistry

II*SPRING 2009 FALL 2009 SPRING 2010

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

83%

48%

88%91%

71%77% 75% 78%

91%

65%

95% 93%89% 88%

82%90%

STEM Student CARSS Participation and Per-formance in Chemistry

Non-CARSS* Pass rates for CARSS participants are statistically higher than Non-CARSS participants for denoted courses (only courses with enrollment of at least 30 were tested) - Pass is defined as a D- or better grade in the course (includes "S" grade)

Perfo

rman

ce -

Pass

Rat

es

Gen

eral

Phy

sics I

*

Phys

ics I:

Mec

hani

cs

Gen

eral

Phy

sics I

Gene

ral P

hysic

s II*

Phys

ics II

: Ele

ctro-

mag

netis

m

FALL 2009 SPRING 2010

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

120%

83%83% 67% 85%

86%

100%100%

67%

98%

93%

STEM Student CARSS Participation and Per-formance in Physics

Non-CARSS CARSS* Pass rates for CARSS participants are statistically higher than Non-CARSS participants for de-noted courses (only courses with enrollment of at least 30 were tested) - Pass is defined as a D- or better grade in the course (includes "S" grade)

Perfo

rman

ce -

Pass

Rat

es

Gene

ral B

iolo

gy II

*

Intro

duct

ory

Gene

tics

Intro

duct

ory

Gene

tics

Intro

duct

ory

Gene

tics

SPRING 2009 FALL 2009 SPRING 2010

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

120%

82%61%

88% 88%

96% 88%93%

94%

STEM Student CARSS Participation and Per-formance in Biology

Non-CARSS* Pass rates for CARSS participants are statistically higher than Non-CARSS participants for denoted courses (only courses with enrollment of at least 30 were tested) - Pass is defined as a C- or better grade in the course (includes "S" grade)

Perfo

rman

ce -

Pass

Ra

tes

General Chemistry II

Organic Chemistry II

General Chemistry I

General Chemistry II

Organic Chemistry

I*

General Chemistry I

General Chemistry II

Organic Chemistry

II*SPRING 2009 FALL 2009 SPRING 2010

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

120%

76%

45%

86%

92%

66%63% 70% 70%

100%

48%

91%

86%85% 82% 81% 91%

STEM Student CARSS Participation and Performance in Chemistry Underrepresented Ethnic Groups

Non-CARSS CARSS* Pass rates for CARSS participants are statistically higher than Non-CARSS participants for denoted courses (only courses with enrollment of at least 30 were tested) - Pass is defined as a D- or better grade in the course (includes "S" grade)

Perfo

rman

ce -

Pass

Ra

tes

General Biology II Introductory Genetics Introductory Genetics Introductory GeneticsSPRING 2009 FALL 2009 SPRING 2010

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

120%

75%

44%

85%

88%88%

100%

92%

80%

STEM Student CARSS Participation and Per-formance in Biology

Underrepresented Ethnic Groups

Non-CARSSCARSS

- Pass is defined as a C- or better grade in the course (includes "S" grade)

Perfo

rman

ce -

Pass

Rat

es

Gene

ral C

hem

istry

II

Orga

nic C

hem

istry

II

Gene

ral C

hem

istry

I

Gene

ral C

hem

istry

II

Orga

nic C

hem

istry

I

Gene

ral C

hem

istry

I

Gene

ral C

hem

istry

II

Orga

nic C

hem

istry

II

SPRING 2009 FALL 2009 SPRING 2010

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

120%

73%

34%

79%

88%

69%78%

67%68%

100%

81%

90%

100%

88%

100%

78% 81%

STEM Student CARSS Participation and Per-formance in Chemistry

Transfer Students

Non-CARSS

- Pass is defined as a D- or better grade in the course (includes "S" grade)

Perfo

rman

ce -

Pass

Rat

es

DUE-0756985

Principal InvestigatorRabi A. Musah

Co-InvestigatorsDenise M. McKeonHua Shi

Project EvaluatorPatrice Lancey—Market Research Analysis LLC

Project Program CoordinatorDianne E. Jester

CARSS Center for Achievement, Retention, and Student

Success

Spring 2009

Summer 2009

Fall 2009 Spring 2010

Fall 2010 Spring 2011

0

50

100

150

200

250

ReviewsCHMBIOPHYMAT

Number of Small Group and Review SessionsYears 1-3

CARSS PROGRAM YEAR 1

DEGREE OF HELPFULLNESS OF TUTORING SESSION

CARSS Program Year 1Total 2008-09

Spring 2009 Summer 2009

Number Percent Number Percent

To a Great Extent248 50% 105 61%

To a Moderate Extent196 40% 55 32%

To a Small Extent44 9% 12 7%

Not at All4 1% 0 0%

Total Sessions Provided492 100% 172 100%

CARSS PROGRAM YEAR 2

DEGREE OF HELPFULLNESS OF TUTORING SESSION

CARSS Program Year 2 Total 2009-10

Fall 2009 Spring 2010

Number Percent Number Percent

To a Great Extent910 67% 1252 68%

To a Moderate Extent391 29% 517 28%

To a Small Extent46 3% 64 4%

Not at All5 <1% 7 <1%

Total Sessions Provided1352 99% 1840 100%

Number, Percent and Extent of Helpfulness of Tutoring Sessions

Provided to CARSS Participant STEM Majors

STUDENT COMMENTS• My name is Will and I want people to know about our wonderful CARSS program

here at UAlbany. I don't have much of a formal background in the sciences, yet through the assistance I am receiving through this program, I have earned the highest grade in my chemistry lab section last semester, a "B" in general chemistry (a real accomplishment for me), and I have a 3.79 GPA in the pre-med program. The large lecture courses at a state university this size have been a difficult transition for me to make from previous college experiences with much greater individual attention.

• CARSS bridges [this] gap for me, and has encouraged me [so] that I can not only survive chemistry, but I actually can enjoy it and feel confident about doing well. I highly recommend this program to anyone eligible to avail themselves of this most helpful resource. Thank you, CARSS!!!

• CARSS has been an amazing resource for me this semester that’s been both readily available and greatly beneficial. Thank you so very much.

• Over all very helpful. Have noticed an improvement in my general understanding of Chemistry. Feel more confident when taking tests. Hopefully this study group review will be available for General Chemistry II.

• This service is great to have available because the tutors are always easy to interact with and interaction in the subject makes it more fluid and easier to understand.

• CARSS has been infinitely helpful this semester. Without it I probably wouldn’t have done well at all. CARSS is a great program and will definitely keep students in the math and sciences. Thank you.

• I would like to thank you for your help in [the] study group (Genetics) during this past semester. Your knowledge and overall passion to teach biology, specifically genetics, helped me tremendously. I believe that the CARSS program is a great tool that assists students in the learning process. Without the CARSS program and your help, I am sure that I would not have done as well as I did in this course. Once again, thank you.

CARSS Investigators, Program Coordinator and Tutor Staff—Spring 2011

Abstract

A Learning Community

Spring 2009

Fall 2009

Spring 2010

Spring 2009

Fall 2009

Spring 2010

Spring 2009

Fall 2009

Spring 2010

Spring 2009

Fall 2009

Spring 2010

Year 1 Year 2 Year 1 Year 2 Year 1 Year 2 Year 1 Year 2Freshmen Sophomore Junior Senior

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

20%12% 13% 13%

21% 18% 13% 14% 19%5% 4% 5%

80%88% 87% 87%

79% 82% 87% 86% 81%95% 96% 95%

STEM Student CARSS Participation by Student Classification

Carss Non-Carss

CARS

S pa

rtici-

patio

n