One of President Wendy Wintersteen's initial investments in the 2022-31 strategic plan was $1.5 million for university-wide strategies to increase student retention and graduation rates, with a focus on first-generation students and students whose academic progress was most impacted by the pandemic. Associate professor of architecture Andrea Wheeler accepted a three-year, halftime faculty fellow post in the provost office to coordinate the investment. Below is a little more information about the eight initiatives funded.
Wheeler said five of the initiatives should continue into the next fiscal year. In some cases, recurring funds still are being identified to sustain them. The eight are:
1. Cyclone Support Training for employees. Former student wellness director Brian Vanderheyden and Leif Olson, student success and retention specialist in the provost office, worked with a vendor to produce a 30-minute, interactive module that trains faculty and staff on how to connect students to resources and care, in part by raising awareness of existing processes and tools such as the Navigate app. May 1 is the anticipated launch date in Workday Learning, and the training may be added to new faculty onboarding. Currently, some of this training is offered in-person by student wellness staff.
2. Three years of supplemental funding for the Academic Success Center was used to: raise the hourly pay for student tutors to $15 to recruit and keep strong tutors, pay tutors for training time, and increase the number of Supplementary Instruction (SI) sessions, particularly for three 'gateway' classes with low passing rates historically. Average attendance in SI sessions for those three courses went from 4-6 students to 15-18 students. Funds also paid an administrative fee for the Knack online tutoring pilot this academic year. Students submit all tutoring requests through Knack, which is being evaluated for renewal this fall. During fall 2024, 873 students completed at least one tutoring session, but the average was just over four sessions per student.
3. Online onboarding for incoming first-year students, Cyclone 101, was created and piloted in the summer of 2024. The five modules (about an hour each) in Canvas provide information on both academics (for example, online campus systems, time management) and student life (financial aid, residence life, support services, on-campus employment) so students are more confident when they arrive on campus in August. Wheeler praised Clayton Johnson, associate director for student services in the College of Health and Human Sciences; and UIA fellow Nicole Bartolozzi, division of student affairs, for completing a big task in a short time, with assistance from the Iowa State Online team. Completion is not mandatory, and Johnson said about 46% of invited students completed at least part of the series by the start of fall semester. The series stays in Canvas and can be a resource for students all year. Iowa State Online received funding this spring for additional support for Cyclone 101 to continue the pilot phase this summer. In a follow-up survey, students who completed the modules largely found the content valuable. Its impact on student success still is being studied, as are options for an instructor of record in Canvas.
4. A Cyclone Support specialist, Stephanie Negoda, started in January 2024 and works on VanDerZanden's team in the provost office. She responds to individual tags and requests in the Navigate app and, via texts to the student, shares the appropriate, responsive resources for each situation. The point is to reach the student quickly in a mode they use frequently. She collaborates with the student assistance specialists (below) and other program leads and has streamlined processes for referral and outreach to students. Last fall, from referrals from multiple programs for 1,718 students, 424 students completed at least one appointment with the recommended office. Remaining strategic plan funds will cover this position for an additional year.
5. The efforts of two student assistance specialists, Johnna Ragland and Autumn Diesburg in the Dean of Students' office of student assistance, also has strengthened partnerships across college and campus units. In fall 2024, the Navigate team started a Cyclone check-in survey, inviting students to identify any barriers they faced during the semester. In response, the student assistance specialists met individually with 52 students and assisted with their specific challenges, some academic, others seeking a sense of community or access to resources. Students have responded positively to the personalized support they provide, and this case management approach underscores the value of early, human connection in addressing barriers to student success.
6. College-level help rooms. In fall 2022 and 2023, funds were distributed to pay graduate students to staff help rooms in the undergraduate colleges, typically focusing on specific courses. The intent was to supplement central tutoring and SI with a "local" option to reach more students. In most colleges, the numbers of students who used these local help rooms didn't warrant additional funding, and by year three (2024-25), only the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences received funds for student help in high-enrollment math and physics courses.
7-8. A goal to develop a data-driven student retention plan in each undergraduate college was completed in one college. Associate deans and other college representatives were interviewed about the kind of data they needed and a process to access it. That work produced a needs assessment for each college. However, creating the required data dashboards proved difficult during a critical time for data updates and Workday Student implementation. Wheeler said college data dashboards may be a future project for the team in institutional research.
