usc/wiche benchmarking equity and student...

Compiled by the Office of Academic Research and Student Affairs

USC/WICHE Benchmarking Equity

and Student Success Update

November 2012

(CULTURAL DIVERSITY COMMITTEE 11/30/12) Ref. CD-5, of 17

UNLV


New Programming and Activities initiated by UNLV since Sept 16,2011 NSHE Planning for Excellence and Equity by 2020 Workshop

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This summary of UNLV activities and programs newly initiated since the Sept 16, 2011 workshop largely follows the format and organization of the Summary of Planning for Excellence and Equity workshop, with several additional items that are specific to UNLV.

Enhance access to data on student progress at all levels of the University, using technology to identify students earlier in need of additional support and assistance.

Early Alert Programs: Using tracking features available in Peoplesoft/MyUNLV® an Early Alert pilot program has been launched to identify at-risk students before the 3rd week of the term and before their grade is in jeopardy.

College Source’s Transfer Evaluation System (TES): UNLV recently acquired and fully implemented new software, TES, that allows for review of transfer student course evaluations and expedites the transfer process so that transfer students can work with their advisors to plan a course program in a timely manner.

Retention Dashboard and Transfer Dashboards: Data Warehouse development efforts focused retention and transfer student dashboards are being designed to equip academic advisors and faculty with timely information on students with multiple risks to academic continuity and success. Information can be developed for a variety of classifications, including type of admission, gender and ethnicity.

Cohort tracking: The Office of Institutional Analysis and Planning is developing a student tracking application that allows departments to track the progress of custom student groups using disaggregated student retention and graduation data, for purposes of establishing goals, and monitoring targeted interventions.

Increased enforcement of current system policies (i.e., remedial math 30 credit rule) to improve student outcomes

Implementation of 100% testing-based placement in mathematics and English: Beginning Fall 2012, all UNLV applicants are required to take the ACT Math and English placement exams. If not completed, they must take math and English placement tests. Test results are used to identify students in need of help and to place students into appropriate levels of freshman math and english. Students are advised to complete remedial math and English within the first 30 semester credits.

Scaled up summer bridge Math program

Summer Bridge Program: One hundred and forty-three (143) new freshman students who had placed into remedial math, participated in an intensive 5-week enrichment program in Summer 2012. Students worked for 3 hours per day, five days per week in small groups to refresh their math skills. Upon program completion, 85% of participants placed into college-level math.



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Improve integration of registration and student advisement

Increased advising resources: UNLV established hiring priorities have brought the UNLV advisor-student ratio to 1:575, at parity with peer institutions, making it possible to require all students to meet with an academic advisor prior to registering each year. All new students are required to meet with an academic advisor. This mandatory session is accomplished for new freshman through New Student Orientation. At this appointment, all new students are introduced to academic advising staff and equipped with the degree plan of major. In addition, new students are informed of college and universities policies and practices. Advisors assist freshman students with placement in the correct class levels, and continuing and transfer students are informed of the need monitor course prerequisites/sequencing.

Developed interventional advising: Conducted by the Academic Success Center, this strategy forces at-risk students to meet with their respective advisors four or more times per semester. Advisors connect program participants to university resources, award grant aid to freshmen and sophomores, and advocate resolution of any challenges that impede their persistence.

Targeted Student Populations: Targeted student populations are provided an array of academic resources to promote their success:

Students admitted via alternate criteria by the admissions committee are required to meet with an academic success coach to build appropriate campus connections to faculty and academic support facilities.

Transfer Center. CSN students intending to transfer UNLV will soon be able to obtain services at a staffed UNLV Transfer Center located on the CSN campuses. The Center will be staffed with a full-time admissions counselor, a full time financial aid advisor, and also receive course transfer and curriculum planning assistance from two full-time UNLV academic advisors who will work in residence at CSN.

Resident Student Populations: Students living on campus who receive a mid-semester grade of a D or lower are contacted by the Residential Life Coordinator (RLC) and offered support such as tutoring, advising and counseling. A First Year Center provides in study, library skills, and professional academic advising in a learning community setting.

Re-entry Concierge: Advising staff member who assists ready adult learners returning to UNLV who need direction on selecting a major.

Revised curriculum, and improved integration with academic success services

An array of programs have been developed to enhance student preparedness by providing them with overarching success skills or information and knowledge specific to a discipline:

New General Education Program: Passed by UNLV’s Faculty Senate in November 2011, and implemented beginning Fall 2012, UNLV’s new General Education program, while not strictly a retention effort, through it’s University Undergraduate Learning Outcomes (UULOs), is intended to improve student performance, and indirectly retention by intentionally addressing the common set of skills and knowledge that all UNLV undergraduate majors are expected to acquire during their undergraduate careers. The program implements the UULOs progressively and developmentally at the beginning, middle and end of students careers through a vertical



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curriculum which has four courses or experiences at its core, a First Year Seminar, a Second Year Seminar, and then in the majors, Milestone and Culminating Experiences. Current general education courses required of all majors, such as English, US and Nevada Constitutions, Sciences and Math will also be aligned to reinforce the UULOs.

First-Year Seminar: Effective Fall 2012, all incoming freshmen are required to take a First Year Seminar, which is a key element of the revised General Education curriculum. This course includes an academic success component where students are provided with success skills, advising and the expectation of the university environment.

Academic Success Coaches: All Alternate Admit students are required to meet with an Academic Success Coach, and a hold is placed on their registration until a meeting with a coach is completed. All first-year students have access to Academic Success Coaches who work intensively with students to address any academic performance issues. Coaches help students deal with time management, study skill and test taking skill issues that are applicable to all courses. Coaches also have access to mid-semester grades and help students connect with advisors when needed to address poor mid-semester grade performance.

Improved Administrative Coordination

Academic & Student Affairs Leadership (ASAL) Council This group was created in Fall 2011. It consists of UNLV leaders from the Offices of Student Affairs and Academic Affairs who meet monthly to tackle problems that impede student progress. Retention of students is a major focus of the ASAL Council.


On-going efforts for Excellence and Equity – UNLV – started before Sept 16,2011 NSHE Planning for Excellence and Equity by 2020 Workshop

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Summary of UNLV student retention and support activities that have been continuing since before the Sept 16, 2011 NSHE-WICHE BESST workshop.

Enhance access to data on student progress at all levels of the University, using technology to identify students earlier in need of additional support and assistance.

Mid-Semester Grading: Mid-semester grading program gives students feedback on their performance before the drop date. Academic advisors contact students who earned D or F mid-semester grades and determine the best course of action.

Mid-semester courses are offered during the last 5 weeks of semester instruction to allow struggling students to replace a course in which they are receiving a D or F with a new one in their schedule.

College based Academic Advising Centers, and for undeclared majors, the Academic Success Center, identify students who are performing poorly early in the semester and provide feedback to the student and faculty to obtain additional help and resources.

Admissions and graduation policies to better assess and prepare applicants for academic success at UNLV

Early Application for Admission Deadline: Moved the deadline for Fall 2012 admission two months (July 1) earlier, to better align university policy with strategic goals. Research shows that students who apply and are admitted very close to the start of classes are significantly less likely to persist and graduate, partly as a result of the lack of availability of desired classes and lack of familiarity with the campus environment and services.

Timely graduation planning: Peoplesoft®/MyUNLV is used to alert students who have completed 90 credits with messaging that encourages them to apply for graduation and to meet with advisors. Advisors can use MyUNLV to identify those students proactively to apply for graduation and initiate the academic review with the student.

Improve integration of registration and student advisement

New Student Orientation: Programming and printed materials are used to educate students and parents about key campus academic supports services.

Targeted Student Populations: Targeted student populations are provided an array of academic resources to promote their success:

The UNLV TRIO Student Support Services and UNLV TRIO Ronald E. McNair Scholars Institute serve students from low income, minority and first generation backgrounds. Services provided by these programs ensure that students receive the necessary tools to adjust to the demands of college and matriculate towards graduation.

UNLV's Engelstad scholars’ grades are regularly monitored. Students participate in progress check-ins to discuss their grades and create plans as needed.

Alternate Admits have a coaching hold placed on their registration and are required to meet with an Academic Success Coach on an ongoing basis.


On-going efforts for Excellence and Equity – UNLV – started before Sept 16,2011 NSHE Planning for Excellence and Equity by 2020 Workshop

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Hixson-Lied Success Scholars are regularly monitored. Students participate in progress check-ins to discuss their grades and create plans, as needed.

Availability of student counseling and support services

Counseling Center Services: The UNLV Counseling Center provides interventions for students who have academic problems that are directly or indirectly related to a mental health concern such as depression, anxiety, stress, and relationship problems.

Disability Resource Center: Students with learning disabilities are provided proper services and accommodations through the UNLV Disability Resource Center.

Class Concierge: The UNLV class concierge assists graduating students with processes regarding enrollment, course scheduling and graduation. Specifically, this position is designed to troubleshoot and document situations in which students need special assistance to continue taking classes and progress toward graduation.

Revised curriculum, and improved integration with academic success services

REBELS R.I.S.E. [Reflection. Involvement. Scholarship. Engagement]: Since 2010, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas academic advising community has hosted a fall event for UNLV students, focusing on sophomores. Called REBELS R.I.S.E, the event takes place during the third week of the fall semester and is designed to create opportunities for students to become more engaged and involved in the campus community, as well as to support the commitment to participate in self-reflection and self-exploration. The Rebels R.I.S.E. program encourages UNLV students to rise above obstacles and uncertainty and reflect personally, increase their involvement on campus, seek scholarly activities and increase their engagement within the community. One main focus of Rebels R.I.S.E. is to promote meaningful learning experiences for students during their sophomore year. The Rebels R.I.S.E. Fall Event is open to all students on campus and includes a Sophomore Recognition Ceremony, to recognize and celebrate UNLV sophomores for their accomplishments.

Tutoring Services: Students are provided with free tutoring through the Academic Success Center, with supplemental instruction available for historically difficult courses. About 85% of the tutoring effort is for math and science courses.

Department Learning Centers: Many departments have been developed these centers to provide direct support for students in the form of tutoring, practice exams, study groups and one-on-one instruction.


Academic Success Center

Student Support Initiatives

The overarching goal of the initiatives listed below is to serve students transitioning into UNLV as high school graduates into their Freshman year, and then to continue that support throughout their Freshman year. Please note that this report focuses primarily on those areas, but these support services are available to all undergraduate students at UNLV. The report also includes a breakdown by ethnicity and gender of students served, and a few, key initiatives for ready adult learners and students close to graduating.

1. Advising – includes career exploration, course selection, guidance in major selection and referrals to academic support services (eg., tutoring and coaching).

537 new exploring majors for Fall 2012 300 women 55% 237 men 45% Race/Ethnicity Headcount

American Indian or Alaska Native 2 0.37% Asian 77 14.34% Black or African American 21 3.91% Hispanic 163 30.35% Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander

7 1.30%

Two or more races 33 6.15% Unknown race and ethnicity 5

0.93% White 229 42.64%

Class Concierge--The UNLV class concierge assists graduating students with processes regarding enrollment, course scheduling and graduation. Specifically, this position is designed to troubleshoot and document situations in which students need special assistance to continue taking classes and progress toward graduation.


Re-entry Concierge – Advising staff member who assists ready adult learners returning to UNLV who need direction on selecting a major.

2. First Year Experience: COLA 100E Freshman Seminar Course—a three-credit course through the College of Liberal Arts that introduces students to college-level studies, including research, study skills and campus connections. 325 students enrolled for Fall 2012 176 Women 55% 149 Men 45%

Race/Ethnicity Headcount

American Indian or Alaska Native 2 0.62% Asian 34 10.46% Black or African American 24 7.38% Hispanic 106 32.62% Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander 5

1.54% Two or more races 18 5.54% Unknown race and ethnicity 2 0.62% White 134 41.23%

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3. Academic Success Coaching – available to all undergraduate students with special attention to Alternate Admits and Freshman. Coaching includes ongoing academic mentorship in a range of areas, including test anxiety, math anxiety, connections to tutoring, study plans, time management, note-taking, etc.

Fall 2012 New Freshman Alternate Admits=939 50% men/50% women American Indian or Alaska Native

1 0.11%

Asian 83 8.84% Black or African American 128 13.63%


Hispanic 254 27.05% Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander

31

3.30% Two or more races 89 9.48% Unknown race and Ethnicity 11 1.17% White 342 36.42%

939

Academic Success Coaching sample data Fall, 2010- Spring, 2011

Students who came in for Academic Success Coaching both Fall 2010 and Spring 2011 semesters had higher Cumulative GPAs (M = 2.33) than students who had no coaching at all for either semester (M = 2.05).

The more students came in for Face to Face meetings with Academic Success Coaches, the better the GPAs in the Fall (1-2 times M = 2.16 vs. 5 or more times M = 2.40) and Spring (1-2 times M = 1.91 vs. 4 or more times M =2.37).

In the first year of the coaching program, with no requirement that the student meet with their coach, those that met with their coach face to face at least one time were retained year to year at a 10% greater level.

Fall 2011 Coaching Survey Results: How helpful were the discussions you had with your coach over the last two weeks? 60% Extremely helpful 33% Very helpful 6% Moderately helpful Note: As of September 15, 2012, Coaching had increased by 82.5 %

4. Tutoring and Supplemental Instruction—available to all undergraduate students, with special attention to Freshman and Sophomore-level courses that are challenging (eg., Math and English)

Fall, 2012:

3,749 tutoring sessions have been conducted so far between all 3 tutoring centers. 1,430 students have received tutoring (we served 1,305 students last semester, so we have surpassed the total of last semester by 7% in the first 6 weeks of tutoring). We have tutored 105 subjects (all listed below) representing all colleges.


Summer Bridge-- Tutoring launched a new Summer Bridge program for incoming freshman, which heavily emphasized a Math review and college study skills.

Each fall about 1000 new students place into Math 95 Elementary Algebra Math 95 and Math 96 Intermediate Algebra are not college level courses Most students have taken high school algebra but need a refresher on math skills With support from a grant from the Provost We invited 1000 incoming students who had placed into Math 95 to join us for summer

session 3 to refresh their skills 143 student agreed to join us 3 hours per day, 5 days per week for 5 weeks of intensive

review and tutoring 8 were age 25 or older 88 female (60%) 54 male (40%)

No cost to the student if they complete the program


118 students with test scores All were placed in Math 95 before Summer Bridge After Summer Bridge 85% placed into college level math 42% placed into Math 120 43% placed into Math 124 or higher Tuition and fees for one 3 credit class for in state resident = $656.16 101 students will skip 2 remedial math courses Student savings in tuition and fees as a result of Summer Bridge = $132,544.32 7 students that placed into Math 95 before Summer Bridge scored 24 on the placement

test and placed into Math 128 Pre-Calculus I and 2 delivered in 1 semester (5 credits) 5 students that placed into Math 95 before Summer Bridge scored 26 on the placement

test and placed into Math 127 Pre-Calculus II or Math 132 Finite Math Ethnicity for Summer Bridge Participants American Indian or Alaska Native 2 1.40%

Asian 21 14.69% Black or African American 25 17.48%

Hispanic 57 39.86% Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander

3 2.10%

Two or more races 1 0.70%

Unknown race and Ethnicity 2 1.40%

White 32 22.38%

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NSC


OFFICEOFTHEPROVOST

303SouthWaterStreet,Ste.135,Henderson,NV89015|Phone:702.992.2500|Fax:702.992.2351|www.nsc.nevada.edu

Since the time of the BESST workshop, NSC has significantly expanded our use of disaggregated data and broadened our approach to data analysis. Although the BESST model itself provided useful guidance in the examination of critical milestones along the degree completion pathway, the data provided for NSC were derived from an extremely small 2004 cohort and consequently were too limited to identify factors that impact student performance. As a result, NSC has invested significant resources in building our internal capacity to leverage data in the pursuit of improved student outcomes, as detailed below. After the workshop, we reconstituted our Institutional Research (IR) Office, which was previously eliminated due to budget cuts. The IR Office now reports directly to the Provost and is led by a doctorally qualified Director who is highly skilled in data analysis and computer programming. The IR Office is in the process of building a comprehensive campus-wide database that disaggregates all institutional data by key demographics. This database includes information from multiple constituents, including academic affairs, student affairs, advising, tutoring, support services, and our accreditation teams, and it will reveal trends, opportunities, and solutions that help ensure the success of our diverse student population. To ensure data accuracy, we established a data collection procedure that requires all data on campus to be reported directly to a central database within the IR office. This office is then responsible for extracting and generating data for all internal and external reports. Campus data are regularly reviewed and analyzed in standing campus meetings, including Deans Council, Provost Council, Student Affairs Council, and faculty development workshops. Policy, procedure, strategic initiatives, and resource allocation are heavily influenced by this data review. As we are building this database, we are identifying risk factors that impede student performance at particular milestones and developing interventions to improve student performance and timely progression towards degree completion. This analysis includes risk factors related to college readiness, enrollment patterns, use of advising and tutoring, and financial aid status. By reviewing the data over milestones, as opposed to at entrance and exit from the institution, we are identifying and intervening with student populations in need of specialized support services at key points in their collegiate career. Another challenge with the BESST model as it relates to the NSC student population, similar to IPEDS data more broadly, is that it does not capture the progress of students who “stop out” for a single semester but subsequently return to campus. When we include these individuals, who collectively represent a substantial proportion of our student population, our graduation metrics improve significantly. For example, the USC/WICHE Benchmarking Equity initiative materials presented in Fall of 2011 reflect an NSC graduation rate of 9%. By including the “stop-out” students, this percentage increases to 38%. The analysis of this disaggregated data on student performance has impacted a number of new initiatives on campus.

One of the first initiatives we undertook was to carefully examine student performance in critical gateway courses characterized by high enrollment and high failure rates (e.g., math and English). For example, our analysis of course completion and retention data revealed low completion rates, high dropout rates and particularly low persistence rates for students enrolled in remedial mathematics. In addition, the data showed that enrollment in remedial mathematics varies


NevadaStateCollege Page2

significantly by ethnicity and is nearly twice as high for Latino/a and African American students than it is for white students. Our mathematics department initiated a complete overhaul of our remedial mathematics program, including a realignment of our placement process. The essential premise of the redesign is the modularization of course content into 5 week segments as opposed to 15 week semesters. While there are myriad advantages to this approach, the most critical feature is that it allows us to more discretely identify and deliver precisely those fundamental mathematics concepts that students are lacking. Our preliminary data suggest that this redesign greatly improves student mastery of the material and promotes their progression through college level math courses in an expeditious, cost-effective manner.

Poor performance in gateway courses extends to a variety of disciplines, and the problem generally is more pronounced in classes helmed by part-time faculty members. Consequently, we recently launched the “SuperCourse” program, a new initiative that leverages the dedication and expertise of our full-time faculty to enhance a broad array of essential gateway courses, including those led by part-time instructor. For each SuperCourse, full-time professors develop a robust content foundation that includes engaging learning videos, step-by-step lecture plans, hands-on exercises, and effective assessments that drill down into the most essential student learning outcomes. This foundation is then adopted by part-time faculty, thereby liberating them to invest more heavily in time-intensive activities (e.g., student interaction, quality feedback) and helping us ensure that critical student outcomes are being attained across the curriculum.

We have also begun to tailor interventions to student demographics thereby providing our at-risk students with early, targeted support that enables them to make timely progress toward degrees. For example, we have expanded our workshops on study skill development and school/life balance, significantly expanded our tutoring services, introduced asynchronous online tutoring services to support our non-traditional student population, established an E-Alert office that identifies students at risk for failing individual courses in the first 8 weeks of the semester and initiated a complete restructure of our advising office to provide centralized and more consistent student advising.

Finally, our advising office has initiated outreach efforts to students to encourage full time enrollment, summer session enrollment, re-enrollment for students who have not attended for more than two semesters, and timely degree progression for students who have earned 90+ credits to improve their likelihood of degree completion.


CSN


Office of the President Charleston Campus Sort Code W 32 E 6375 West Chari 's tOll Boulevard Las Wgas, V 89 146- 1 J 64 ..~CSN

COLLEGE OF, 'tii: 7()2.G51.5600 ...~ ~. SOUTHERI'; !\'EVADA

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Since the time the WICHE/CUE workshop was held in September 2011. At this time, CSN does not have an update related to the WICHE/CUE workshop . For additional information on the Achieving the Dream initiative, please see CSN's Cultural Diversity Summary from Agenda Item #7 on the November 30, 2012, Cultural Diversity Committee agenda. This summary provides an update on CSN's diversity efforts and includes a report on the drive by CSN to become an Achieving the Dream institution, a strategic move by CSN to transform itself into an institution which effectively serves all its students,

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