Recently, I was fortunate enough to be invited to a dinner with author Jeff Selingo and Student Success expert Tim Renick of Georgia State. At the dinner Tim shared some of the best practices in Student Success they engaged in at Georgia State. This got me to thinking about some of the practices I have worked to implement at a couple institutions where I have served.
First, for those first-year students who stumble in the first semester, there is an opportunity to implement a second semester program where these students can engage in an academic enrichment program that helps put them back on track academically. The manner in which they have worked at two institutions is to incentive the students to join the program. What we did was communicate to students if they enroll in and complete the program, and if they earn a GPA in one semester that they needed to have achieved in two semesters, than they could keep their merit scholarship or not have their financial aid impacted by satisfactory academic progress requirements. The enrichment program involved seminars on time management, study skills, and career preparation. It involved intrusive advising sessions where students worked one on one with student success coaches who would assist in the above topics to keep students on track. At two institutions, the retention rate and one semester GPA increase students have realized was meaningful. While launching the programs were initially met with some resistance, I was able to find one college dean who was willing to try a pilot program in his/her college. After experiencing success, other college deans joined in and were willing to pilot the program in their respective colleges. I consider the success of this program to be a highlight or shining star in my higher education experience.
Next, there are students who come to college who either receive no or little financial aid yet have a demonstrated financial need. In addition, within this population of students, there are also those who have been incredibly successful inside and outside of the classroom. I refer to these students as difference makers. These students can also be at-risk for attrition because of their demonstrated financial need. To overcome this, at two institutions, we launched programs where students could earn additional financial aid based on their difference making experiences inside and outside of the classroom. The program involved an application that highlighted the student’s academic success, extracurricular achievements, a recommendation from a faculty member, and one who had applied for financial aid and showed a demonstrated financial need. The awards helped close the demonstrated financial need gap and resulted in increased student persistence.
When students first enroll in college, the path to student success can be unclear. Where do I go with questions? What do I want to achieve? What do I want to study? How do I spend my time studying efficiently and effectively? At one institution, we launched a first-year course that was capped at 20 students where we worked to answer each of the above questions. Like the second semester enrichment program, the course involves learning about time management, study skills, and involved a career development component. Students have the teacher as a resource by which to get answers to questions so they are not on an island looking for where to go. Again, while the course was met with some initial resistance, we found a dean willing to pilot the course. After showing the success of the program, meaning student attrition was meaningfully less for students who had taken the course than not, the program has now grown to over two-thirds of the colleges at the institution.
Last, at two institutions, I have found there are students who have been near graduation that have stopped out and are no longer enrolled for a variety of personal or financial reasons. What we have done is to reach out to these students who are within two courses of graduation and have incentivized them to return to complete their degree by providing additional financial assistance. In a word, this outreach and additional financial aid has been life changing for some students. Students have seen that the institution cares about their college completion and have been financially able to achieve their dream of achieving a college degree. The feedback students have shared has brought tears to my eyes. Some have gone on to medical or graduate school because they were able to complete their undergraduate degrees.
The above programs are not silver bullets that solve the student success puzzle. However, they are tools that allow institutions to help students achieve their dreams of a college degree. They have proven to be meaningful in helping students either get on a path to student success or get back on track resulting in student success. From my perspective, this is what working in higher education is all about.
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