Getting to the Core of Higher Education: How to Strengthen Student Success
A Mission-Critical Focus for Higher Education
Student retention has become increasingly important for colleges and universities, especially with a shrinking pool of new students due to demographic shifts. Institutions must now focus on retaining their current students more than ever before.
Student retention is crucial for fulfilling the mission of serving students and helping them learn and grow. It is also vital for the financial sustainability of institutions. Retention offers schools an opportunity to reevaluate how they serve students, how their staff interacts with students, and their existing processes. Continuous evaluation is essential in an ever-changing higher education landscape.
In terms of student success, institutions typically focus on identifying at-risk students, engaging with them effectively, and providing necessary support. It is also beneficial for institutions to analyze and understand successful students characteristics and behavior patterns and leverage this understanding to develop initiatives that support all students.
Technology role is critical in this process, helping institutions gather and analyze data, communicate with students, and provide academic and emotional support. Efficient use of technology enables institutions to identify, engage, and support students in a timely and effective manner, contributing to overall student success and retention.
A key indicator of an institution’s need for engagement is the retention rate, which reflects the percentage of students returning for their second year. This rate is a critical benchmark reported by all colleges and universities. Schools can assess their competitiveness by comparing their rate to those of similar or aspirant institutions. It is important to note that the retention rate highlights when students are most vulnerable to withdrawal, typically at the end of their first year.
However, understanding this retention rate is just the first step. To truly address retention challenges, institutions must identify the factors contributing to this rate. By aligning strategies with the institution's mission, schools can improve their retention rates and provide better student support. Strengthening student success is not just about improving retention rates; it is about ensuring students have the support and resources needed to thrive. This commitment to student success impacts the core mission of higher education institutions, fostering a supportive and enriching learning environment that benefits both students and the institution as a whole.
Main Takeaways
Strategies for Assessing and Improving Student Success.
Strengthening student success is critical for higher education institutions. By assessing current conditions, developing targeted strategies, and fostering collaboration, institutions can improve student retention and completion, enhance academic performance and satisfaction, and contribute to community development. Here's how to approach projects aimed at assessing and enhancing institutional operations to increase student success.
Who should be involved?
Conducting a serious and effective assessment of an institution to strengthen student success involves collaboration with various departments, including Student Affairs, Academic Affairs, Enrollment Management, Student Financial Aid, and Institutional Research. Creating and implementing a guiding coalition is essential if there is no dedicated Student Success/Retention team. Engaging these stakeholders ensures a coordinated and comprehensive approach to student success initiatives.
How are these engagements managed?
Assessing the current state of an institution and developing strategies for student success requires a structured approach. Key initiatives include constituent journey mapping, which examines student, staff, and faculty experiences at critical touchpoints in the student lifecycle. This serves as a foundation for business process improvement sessions, aimed at identifying more effective and efficient processes for essential student functions. Additionally, selecting appropriate technology solutions that align with institutional needs is crucial. Ensuring independence and objectivity in decision-making helps institutions develop concrete plans that can be implemented immediately after the engagement.
Objectives and outcomes of the engagement
The primary goal is to align the institution's efforts with its mission of successfully educating future citizens and professionals. Streamlining processes such as class registration, financial aid, and student support allows institutions to focus on their students' intellectual growth and development, making the college experience more fulfilling and less challenging.
Key outcomes include:
Recommendations for Improvement: Making cost-effective recommendations for new programs or initiatives to enhance student success, which may occasionally require the creation of new staff positions. Implementing these recommendations can be complex, requiring approval and building momentum across the institution.
Enhanced Collaboration and Communication: Fostering buy-in, collaboration, and communication among different departments to break down isolated pockets within the institution and create a unified approach to student success. Involving faculty and staff in decision-making ensures a shared vision for the institution's future direction.
Improved Student Outcomes: Critical outcomes for students include improved academic performance, enhanced satisfaction with their college experience, increased opportunities to secure employment and achieve career goals, and increased opportunities to pursue professional, graduate, or advanced degrees.
Effective retention plans are vital for the economic and social development of communities. Graduates contribute to the workforce, innovation, and cultural enrichment, driving positive change and prosperity beyond the campus borders.
Why Doctums?
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Ready to take action on student success?
We understand student success issues from both strategic and functional perspectives, recognizing that technology is a crucial part of the overall solution.
Doctums is uniquely positioned to help higher education institutions strengthen student success due to its world-class experience and proven approach. Our team of consultants offers a remarkable blend of skills and experiences, including:
Extensive Experience: Leading student success and retention initiatives in colleges and universities.
Technological Expertise: Optimizing the functionality of CRM systems and other technologies.
Data Proficiency: Expertise in best practices for collecting, interpreting, analyzing, reporting, and applying data to improve outcomes.
Current Insights: Understanding current patterns and trends in enrollment and retention,? and best practices in enhancing student success.
Customized Services
Our services are tailored to meet each institution's specific strategic, functional, and tactical needs. By partnering with Doctums , you gain access to a team of higher education experts who fully understand your business processes and operations.
Strategic Approach
Doctums brings a wealth of experience in education business processes and maintains an unbiased view independent of any technology solution. Our singular focus is on helping our clients achieve their desired outcomes. We take a strategic approach to every engagement by prioritizing people and processes before technology.
Constituent Experience Focus
We believe the constituent experience is paramount. Our engagements begin with understanding the outcomes our clients want to achieve and focus on optimizing technology to guide them towards those outcomes.This ensures that every solution we provide is aligned with the institution’s goals and enhances the overall student experience.
About Tim Coley & Will Kartsimas:
Tim worked in Student Life for colleges and universities for 26 years, and then became a consultant 15 years ago, focusing on student success, retention, and planning for colleges. As a first-generation college student, he believes in the transformative power of higher education.?
Will evaluates students holistically, considering academics, extracurriculars, and leadership. His decade on-campus focused on student success and retention. In consulting, he helps schools improve recruitment, enhance student experiences, and optimize processes.
The people who make things happen in higher education.