No More Advising in the Dark: Using Data to Design Interventions for Specific Student Populations Mr. Greg Dieringer Assistant Dean of University College The University of Akron Dr. Jennifer Hodges Assistant Dean of University College The University of Akron NACADA Annual Conference October 2011 Session Code 536

Campus Stats – Located in Akron, OH – Undergraduates: 25,190 – Total enrollment: 29,699 – 75% of undergraduates are full time students – 50% male / 50% female for undergraduates – Almost 50% of first-year students live on-campus (16% of all undergraduates live on-campus) – 23% of undergraduates are 25 or older – 96% are from Ohio – 78% receive financial aid – Carnegie Classification: Research Universities (high research activity) Who is The University of Akron?

What information are you already collecting about your students? How many of you collect midterm reports? How many of you use early alerts/warnings? How many of you have a required FY course? How many of you have Learning Communities? Percentage of residential vs. commuter? Does anyone use products such as MAP-Works, Grades First, Starfish, etc.? 3 What data collection methods do you utilize?

What Do We Know about UA Students? 4 Admission Categories Direct Admits – Top 21% Admitted Directly into Major – 3.0 or higher HS GPA/19 ACT or higher Standard Admits – Middle 62% Admitted into University College – HS GPA/17-23 ACT Provisional Admits – Bottom 17% Admitted into Associate of Arts – <2.30 HS GPA/16 or less ACT

What Do We Know about UA Students? 5 Basic Demographic & Programatic Data Residential/Commuter Participation in FY Programs Age Financial Need Developmental Courses Majors PT/FT State and National Reporting Data Retention & Graduation Rates HEI, VSA (NSSE & CLA), IPEDS

What else would we like to know about our students and their success?

Student Characteristics Gender Race/ethnicity Entrance exam scores # credit hours enrolled High school GPA Self-Assessment Communication Skills Analytical Skills Self-Discipline Time Management Health and Wellness Social Integration Peer Connections Living Environment (on/off campus) Roommate Relationships Homesickness Academic Integration Academic Self-Efficacy Core Academic Behaviors Advanced Academic Behaviors Commitment to Higher Education Information Collected

MAP-Works Process Student Profile Institution Profile Campus Resources Expectations Behaviors Social Norming Expectations Campus Resources Student Summary Sort Students Coordinate Efforts

Data Inspired Interventions

Course Difficulties Student-Reported How many courses are you taking? Of those, how many are you struggling in? Regarding the course you’re having the most difficulty, to what degree: – Have you talked with your instructor regarding your difficulties – Have you turned in assigned homework – Have you done required readings 10

Course Difficulties Faculty/Staff-Reported Alerts – Allows faculty to input alerts for a single student. Academic Updates – Allows faculty to input alerts for an entire class section. Alerts and Academic Updates are primarily for academic issues such as poor grades, excessive absences, overall risk of failure. Advisers have access to both student and faculty reported course difficulties to recommend individual strategies...tutoring, academic workshops, withdrawal. 12

Student Success Seminar Instructors – Focused course topics on areas in need of attention based on survey results – Created assignments for students to use student reports to develop an individualized action plan for the semester – Class discussions illustrating survey results for the class cohort

Academic Behaviors & Time Management How many of your scheduled classes have you attended this term? To what degree are you the type of person who: – Attends class – Takes Good Notes in Class – Spends sufficient study time to earn good grades – Shows up on time – Plans out your time – Makes “to-do lists” – Balances time between classes and other activities 14

Fall Transition Written Student Report

Sense of Belonging/Peer Connections 16 To what degree: Do you belong here Are you fitting in To what degree are you connecting with people: Who share common interests with you Who include you in their activities

Off-Campus Outreach Team MAP-Works questions used to identify 297 students – Intent to Return for Spring and Next Year – Commitment to Institution – Commitment to Completing Degree – Sense of Belonging Off Campus Outreach Team – Volunteers from various Student Affairs departments – Assigned an average of 11 students each – Trained on MAP-Works – Guidelines and Scripts 17

Off Campus Outreach Fall 2010 Outcomes 18

Residence Life and Housing MAP-Works questions used to identify students – Homesickness – Social Aspects – Roommate Relationship – Sense of Belonging Keep track of “frequent flyers” prior to survey launch Integrate Map-Works into everyday work pattern (student conduct meetings, room changes, etc.) Map-Works follow up plan submitted by Hall Staff Used data to create floor and building programs

Fall Cum GPA > 2.5 Fall to Spring Persistence Spring Cum GPA > 2.5Fall 2011 Retained Overall54.59%85.34%56.60%66.3% On Campus62.90%89.21%64.66%70% Room Type – Single63.37%87.21%66.67%64.53% Room Type – Double66.64%92.46%68.00%67.82% Room Type – Triple51.61%81.72%53.51%51.97% Do I belong here – Green65.67%92.98%65.96%68.67% Do I belong here – Yellow60.28%87.03%62.61%56.69% Do I belong here – Red52.59%71.55%56.63%47.41% RLH MAP-Works Data Points

Commitment to the Institution & Intent to Transfer To what degree are you committed to completing your degree at this institution. To what degree do you intend to come back to this institution for the: – Spring term – Next academic year Enrollment Management identified students who indicated they intended to transfer. At the time of fall registration, approximately half of those students were enrolled for the fall. Of those who had not yet enrolled, 30 students with a 3.0 or higher GPA were offered scholarships as an incentive to stay. – 15 of those students accepted. 21

First-Generation Status (and financial need) – Integrated with other interventions 3.0 or higherLess than 2.0Overall Mother no college degree48.8%60.8%54% Father no college degree50.5%64.4%56.2% Off CampusOn CampusOverall Neither parent has a college degree* *respondents only 43.9%36.1%39.2% Off CampusOn CampusOverall 100% of financial need met by financial aid* *respondents only 37.7%27.8%31.8%

UA Fall to Spring Persistence & Fall to Fall Retention Fall 2010 Outcomes Off CampusOn CampusOverall Good Standing68.6%77%72.5% Academic Probation31.4%23%27.5% Overall53.5%46.5% PersistenceOff CampusOn CampusOverall Enrolled Spring %88.5%86.7% Not Enrolled Spring %11.5%13.3% Retention Off CampusOn CampusOverall Enrolled Fall %70%66.3% Not Enrolled Fall %30%33.7%

Further Discussion/Questions? Thank you for your participation! 24 Greg Dieringer - Dr. Jennifer Hodges -