Staff and faculty who want to learn more about strategic plan-funded initiatives aimed at boosting student retention and graduation rates -- and how to sustain and expand them -- should register for a free symposium on Thursday, April 10 (9 a.m.-3:15 p.m., registration and refreshments start at 8 a.m., Memorial Union Sun Room). Student Success and Retention is one of the final pieces of a three-year, $1.5 million initial investment in the university's 2022-31 strategic plan.
"For their awareness, we're going to tell participants about our eight initiatives that have achieved some building and connecting, but this conference really is to make sure the work continues," said Andrea Wheeler, associate professor of architecture and faculty fellow for student success in the provost office. "We want to keep the conversation going, we want the train to keep moving."
All are invited. Academic advisors, student affairs staff and teaching faculty in all colleges especially are encouraged to attend, Wheeler said.
"We'd like faculty to fully understand what's available to students who may be a bit vulnerable, not students in crisis, but who could benefit if someone let them know the university offers these services," she said. "And we'd like to continue the work to build a campus-wide culture of supporting student success and retention."
Matthew Mayhew, professor of educational studies at Ohio State University who studies the climate and the challenges students face in higher education, will give the keynote and, with several Iowa State senior leaders, "set the scene for 2025," Wheeler said. Mayhew is the lead author of the book, "How College Affects Students: 21st Century Evidence that Higher Education Works," which synthesizes more than 1,800 research investigations.
The conference also includes two morning breakout sessions and two afternoon panels, one featuring students sharing their experiences of support and success, the other faculty, advisors and student support specialists exploring strategies that positively impact student success.
Registration is free and includes lunch. Wheeler encouraged faculty and staff to attend whatever portion of the conference their schedule allows.
Three years of connecting
During her three-year, half-time fellowship in the provost office, Wheeler worked with associate provost Ann Marie VanDerZanden to lead a task force focused on:
- Identifying initiatives at the college and university level to support students
- Expanding partnerships across the university
- Using data to develop metrics for meeting retention and graduation goals
An initial group of 14 identified eight initiatives to invest in with the strategic plan funds. The funding and Wheeler's fellowship end on June 30. She said at least five of the initiatives will continue into the next fiscal year, dependent in some cases on a new funding source. They are:
Learn more
A few more details about the eight funded initiatives
1. Cyclone Support Training for employees. With an anticipated May 1 launch in Workday Learning, this 30-minute, interactive module trains faculty and staff on how to connect students to academic and wellness support services. It includes information on using university processes, including the Navigate software.
2. Three years of supplemental funding for the Academic Success Center was used to raise the wage for peer tutors to $15/hour, pay tutors for training and prep time to boost the quality of sessions, and increase the number of Supplementary Instruction (SI) sessions, particularly for three gateway classes with low passing rates historically.
3. Online onboarding for incoming first-year students. The five-module Cyclone 101 was piloted in Canvas last summer. The intent is to provide early information on academic and campus life topics so students feel better prepared and confident when they arrive on campus in August. Completion is optional. The pilot phase continues this summer.
4. A Cyclone Support specialist, Stephanie Negoda, started in January 2024 and is part of VanDerZanden's team. 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 students quickly in a mode they use frequently.
5. The efforts of two student assistance specialists, Johnna Ragland and Autumn Diesburg in the Dean of Students' office of student assistance, also have streamlined the referral process 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, these specialists met individually with 52 students and identified assistance for their specific challenges.
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. The numbers of students who used these help rooms didn't warrant additional funding this year except in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
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 that work produced a needs assessment for each college. However, creating the required data dashboards proved difficult during a critical time in Workday Student implementation and data updates.
