UCO Commitment to TRIO Programs Students and Institutionalization

Myron L. Pope, Ed. D.SWASAP Annual Meeting

Dallas, TXNovember 11, 2014

Our Roadmap Today

• My background and current role• A little about UCO• UCO commitments• UCO commitment to institutionalization• What you should consider doing

My Background

• Math/Science Program at Stillman College• First FT job was as Talent Search Counselor at

Alabama Southern Community College• Served as a McNair Mentor at OU and UCO• VPEM in 2005• Fortunate to serve as the VPSA supervising

TRIO program

Changes…

• TRIO programs were under Academic Affairs• With the permission of USDOE, Barry Lofton

became Executive Director of Undergraduate Admissions and TRIO Programs

• Victoria Arnold became Director of SSS and Project Persist

• Commitment to undergraduate research• Commitment to diversity, student access,

affordability, and success

A True Metropolitan University: Access, Affordability, Commitment to Success

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 % Diff

Caucasian 9,910 10,530 10,552 10,372 10,235 3.3African-American 1,487 1,623 1,650 1,611 1,545 3.9%American Indian 803 786 696 666 677 -15.7%Asian 514 481 491 522 517 0.6%Hispanic 734 669 1,046 1,124 1,213 65.3%International* 880 1,031 1,231 1,321 1,421 61.5%Pacific Islander 38 35 26 27 29 -23.7%Two/More Races 165 488 840 988 1,136 588.5%Not Declared 1,561 1,458 707 580 444 -71.6%

Total 16,092 17,101 17,239 17,211 17,217 7.0%

Student Profile

• 54% of freshmen expect to work 30 hours or more

• Almost 50% each year are transfer students• 94% of our freshmen are committed to

completing their degree• …but there are challenges….

Class of 20181055 new freshmen surveyed

• What percentage have neither parent with an associate’s degree or higher

36.7%• What percentage of those have neither

parent who have ever attended college at all 42.6%

Class of 20181055 new freshmen surveyed

• What percentage have neither parent with a Bachelor’s degree

46.8%

Class of 20181055 new freshmen surveyed

What percentage have both parents with graduate or professional degree

5.4%

UCO commitments to TRIO

Any and all TRIO students receive free application fee waivers (applies to undergraduate students)

Each TRIO grant is assigned a grant accountant to help keep budgets on track

Under the Division of SA, TRIO grants will now receive their portion of IDC

UCO commits to providing staff with prominent office locations (University Library)

UCO commitments to Upward Bound and Upward Bound Math and Science

Discounted rates on housing and dining

Waived tuition for summer bridge students

Scholarship opportunities (Robert E. Burke Scholarship was created specifically for UB or UBMS students that attend UCO)

UCO commitment to McNair: Focus on Undergraduate Research

After grant was not refunded (2012), UCO continued to provide support for McNair Scholars and support staff

UCO funded McNair Scholars to attend and present research at the National Conference for Undergraduate Research, regional research symposiums, and TRIO Day

UCO provided tuition waivers for undergraduates and continues to provide tuition waivers for graduate students

Hosted an international research exchange program with sister university in India. All costs were paid by UCO. No cost to scholars or program. 4 Scholars in total were able to participate.

*UCO also hosts an TRIO SSS Day for community colleges (No cost to the participant or TRIO programs)

TRIO Day at Central for UB/TS juniors and seniors

• Understood the limitations of many UB and TS budgets

• Past administrations had not advocated for programming for TRIO programs (tours, etc.)

• No cost to the participants or TRIO programs• Further connect our TRIO programs with their peers• Transfer office connection with two year SSS

programs for “SSS DAY at UCO”• Create the pipeline to college (THE GOAL)

SSS Traditional, Est. 2001:TRIO Funded to Serve: 160

SSS-STEM, Est. 2010:TRIO Funded to Serve: 120

Project Persist - Freshmen Retention Initiative, Est. 2014:Institutionally Funded to Serve: 500

TRIO Student Support Services

*N/A = Graduation is reviewed at the conclusion of the sixth year of the grant.

Retention Graduation2012-2013 2012-2013

Traditional 83% 71%STEM 96% N/AUCO 68% 36%

Boise State University 69% 32%

California State University 87% 51%

Kennesaw State University 77% 41%

Missouri State University 73% 54%

Sam Houston State University 72% 49%

San Jose State University 85% 48%

Texas State University – San Marcos 79% 55%

Towson University 85% 68%

Wichita State University 70% 42%

Youngstown State University 68% 36%

Peer Institution Comparison

• Highlights• Peer Comparisons

• Future Focus• Beyond the Bachelor’s Grad Prep curriculum

• 19.2% of UCO SSS students attend graduate school compared to 9.3% of their peers

Probation and 1 Yr. Retention Rates (%)

• 26.7% of SRTK on probation after 1st semester.2011-2012 example: 525 of 1,964 FTF

• Only 25.6% of students placed on probation returned for 2nd year.2011-2012 example: 128 of the 525 returned

• Compared to 64.1% of SRTK that return for 2nd year.

FTFT Probation After

1st Semester by Academic Year &

Cohort Size0203

N=16300304

N=17960405

N=18760506

N=18560607

N=19090708

N=18170809

N=16550910

N=15981011

N=16801112

N=19641213

N=2168

Total

Yes 24.0 26.6 26.1 29.8 30.9 27.1 23.9 23.3 25.1 26.8 28.5 26.7

No 76.0 73.4 73.9 70.2 69.1 72.9 76.1 76.7 74.9 73.2 71.5 73.3

Graduation RatesSRTK Probation

CohortGraduatedw/in 6 yrs Cohort

Graduatedw/in 6 yrs

2002-03 36.0% 2002-03 7.4%2003-04 36.2% 2003-04 7.3%2004-05 35.7% 2004-05 6.7%2005-06 35.7% 2005-06 7.0%2006-07 32.5% 2006-07 6.9%

• 6 yr graduation rate average for SRTK Cohort is 35.2%

• 6 yr graduation rate average for Probation Cohort is 7.1%

Project Persist• Highlights

• 500 first-time, full-time freshmen with HS GPA < 3.16• Current fall-to-fall retention for a comparable cohort is

48%, high impact practices project an increase to 65% fall-to-fall retention

• Institutional Support• Four Retention Coaches each serving 120 students• Four funded and dedicated lecturer positions

• Future Focus • Refine selection and continue to scale• Impact 5 year graduation rates

So….What Now For You???

So….What Now For You???

• Lead from where you are

So….What Now For You???

• Lead from where you are• Tell your story: Everyone loves an underdog

story.

So….What Now For You???

• Lead from where you are• Tell your story: Everyone loves an underdog

story.• Collaborate, collaborate, collaborate

So….What Now For You???

• Lead from where you are• Tell your story: Everyone loves an underdog

story.• Collaborate, collaborate, collaborate• Engage TRIO alumni

So….What Now For You???

• Lead from where you are• Tell your story: Everyone loves an underdog

story.• Collaborate, collaborate, collaborate• Engage TRIO alumni• Seek out alternative funding

So….What Now For You???

• Lead from where you are• Tell your story: Everyone loves an underdog

story.• Collaborate, collaborate, collaborate• Engage TRIO alumni• Seek out alternative funding• Tie your outcomes to institutional

values/characteristics

So….What Now For You???

• Lead from where you are• Tell your story: Everyone loves an underdog story.• Collaborate, collaborate, collaborate• Engage TRIO alumni• Seek out alternative funding• Tie your outcomes to institutional

values/characteristics• Did I mention that you need to tell your story,

especially to new administrators!

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a

lifetime.

-Chinese Proverb