increasing retention through an integrated student experience approach

Dawna Perez, PhD

Dean, Student Success

2 Year Public College – Hispanic Serving Institution

Campuses in Haverhill and Lawrence (12 miles apart)

½ hour from Boston, one of poorest in Commonwealth

Fall 2015 Head Count: 6628 FTE: 3951 (-9.8%)

Fall 2016 Head Count: 5,976 FTE: 3,606 (-8.7%)

FT/PT: 33.5%/66.5%

Males: 2560 (38.6%) Females: 4068 (61.4%)

Under 25 years old: 4595 (69.3%)

Hispanic: 38.8% (Lawrence Campus: 61.2%)

AN INTEGRATED STUDENT EXPERIENCE

NECC 2020, our new strategic plan this fall. One of our four goals is to create an

INTEGRATED STUDENT EXPERIENCE

Colleges flourish when the student experience empowers students to take ownership of their success. Every stop on the student pathway—from recruitment and early college, to financial aid and support services, to academic achievements,

retention, and completion—is guided and seamlessly connected through personal relationships with faculty and staff, buttressed by an efficient infrastructure that links organization, technology, facilities, and services across campuses. Ensuring access for students and preparing them to meet their

educational goals, enter the world of work, and be informed, active citizens in our global society is paramount.

2016-2020 ACADEMIC MASTER PLAN VISIONStudents will identify and achieve their academic and career goals

through highly structured academic experiences that provide

opportunities to build relationships with their peers, faculty and staff

in meaningful and substantial ways. Students will experience a

personalized, integrated support system as part of clearly articulated

student academic pathways. Faculty and staff will engage in a team-

based approach to educating and supporting students that recognizes

their key role in student success, and values the contributions of each

employee at every level.

IPASS – INTEGRATED PLANNING AND ADVISING FOR STUDENT SUCCESS

Creating urgency around transforming our work with students: Lower enrollment

flat retention rates

tighter budget, ending of Title V and no new big grants

Recognizing high-functioning areas that only touch small percentages of students—too random and disconnected from each other

Multiple technology platforms for students, staff and faculty to master and use regularly, but they don’t always speak to each other

For all these reasons, we have begun the work of re-imagining how we work with students, how we are organized and the processes we use. STARFISH Early Alert is a part of that equation. We’ve used it successfully on a small scale; how will we integrate it with our BIG PICTURE?

HOW WE’RE LEVERAGING TECHNOLOGY FOR STUDENT

SUCCESS GOALS1) Quicker, easier way for faculty to alert for early struggle,

report progress, and communicate with staff connected to students.

2) More efficient system for support services to respond to alerts

3) More face time with students who need intervention

4) Greater Student Success as measured by higher retention rates and better course completion rates.

Early Alert piloted in 2011 with 6 cohorts; in-house system

Starfish Pilot Implementation fall 2014

College Wide implementation fall 2015

Current cohorts: Current cohorts: SSC (FYS & 2+ Dev), PACE, Athletes, LAC, Clubs & Organizations, Veterans & Military Svcs, STEM, Early College & Dual Enrollment, Suspended/Special Probation, International Students, Section 30/ITA, CBE, CVTE

MODULES, FEATURES AND INTEGRATION

Early Alert only

Flags, Kudos, GPA, FAFSA, Registration system flag, 3-Flag Rule, Student-raised flags

SIS Integration (Banner), LMS (Blackboard)

Companion, but not integrated:

DegreeWorks

TutorTrac

Symplicity – NACElink (NECClink)

Implementation/Faculty Buy In

Faculty/Student Use of Starfish

Contract negotiation/WTR

Differences in Interventions

& Support

Early Strategy Team faculty/staff

Department/Division presentations/Training

Increased outreach/marketing

Hired Faculty as Starfish Coaches

Starfish Mascot – Johnny Blue Fins

Create interdisciplinary coaching teams

Increase Training

Improve protocols/intervention guidelines

Faculty

Participation

Total #

Students

# Unique

Students

Receiving Flags

or Kudos

Number of

Flags

Number of

Kudos

Fall 2014 45% 1653 1206 1210 2021

Spring 2015 55% 2406 1069 1415 2350

Fall 2015 56% 6628 4077 3443 6145

Spring 2016 51% 5649 5530 2365 4180

Pil

ot Y

ea

r

SSC OUTCOME DATA

As a sampling of data, the Student Success Center tracks Latino student success for our Title V grant. We compared Latino students in our cohort who came in to the Center for services vs. those who were flagged but did not.

Starfish Early Success SSC cohort

Fall 2014

Cohort: 610 students

Hispanics: 334 students

H. Flagged: 164 (49%)

Latino students using services had an 11.3% higher CCR and a 19%

higher retention rate than Latinos not using services.

Spring 2015



H. Flagged: 261 (53%)

Latino students using services had an 8.4%

higher CCR and a 23.3% higher retention rate than

Latinos not using services.



H. Flagged: 149 (23%)

Latino students using services had an 18%

higher CCR and a 25% higher retention rate than

Latinos not using services.

Fall 2015

Excelencia in Education! National recognition as one of four finalists in the associate’s category of 2015 Examples of Excelencia, honored by Excelencia in Education in Washington, D.C. in September 2015.

2015 Starfish Rising Star

One of 12 HSI initiatives in The Alliance of HSI Educators’ national report entitled From Funding to Practice: A Status Report on Federal Funding and High Impact Programs Among Hispanic Serving Institutions, as part of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics 25 year Anniversary Commitment to Action program.

Building Bridges – SSC/FYS Collaboration

Support for faculty –

Training

Success Coaches/Starfish Coaches (especially useful for adjunct faculty)

Communication

Reinforce message (students don’t read college email)

Need to Show Outcomes (faculty buy in)

Increase functionalities as possible

Build Starfish Training into Orientation/FYE

Refine intervention guidelines/training

Create interdisciplinary coaching teams to streamline student support services and optimize use of technology to support student success

Continue evaluating delivery of services, student outcomes (college wide)

For more information, please contact:

Dawna M. Perez, Ph.D., Dean, Student Success

[email protected]

(978) 738-7605

Questions?

mailto:[email protected]