Improving Four-Year Graduation Rates – Why It is Important Susan Powers, AVP for Academic Affairs Josh Powers, AVP for Student Success The Pathway to Success Strategic Plan Conference March 4, 2014

FR Cohort Persistence on Path to Graduation: Percentage Note: Falls 3-7 include both enrolled and graduated students by those points.

The Pathway to Success Source: IR Data 1-Yr Retention and 4 & 6-Yr Completion: Total FTFT-BDS Cohort by Snapshot Year Noted Changes in this Period: Slow enrollment decline early part of decade; large increases began Fall Lilly Grant for 1 st Year Programs ended Low income, minority, & cond. admit enrollment jump in Noted decline in conditional admits in subsequent years.

The Pathway to Success Source: IR Data 1-Yr Retention and 4 & 6-Yr Completion: Pell Student Cohort by Snapshot Year Noted Changes in this Period: Pell grant maximums largely flat through Changes in Pell eligibility definition resulted in jump in Pell students in 2009, but very large jump in Economy tanked in 2009.

The Pathway to Success Source: IR Data 1-Yr Retention and 4 & 6-Yr Completion: African American Student Cohort by Snapshot Year Noted Changes in Period: Substantial growth in African American students from urban areas, particularly Chicago and Indy, starting in federal ethnicity definition change. Initiation of ISUcceed Program in African American Cultural Center in Change in recruitment strategy in Chicago area in 2011.

The Pathway to Success Source: IR Data 1-Yr Retention and 4 & 6-Yr Completion: White Student Cohort by Snapshot Year Noted Changes in Period: Enrollment decline starting in 2003, started increasing in 2007, largest jump in 2010.

The Pathway to Success Source: IR Data 1-Yr Retention and 4 & 6-Yr Completion: 21 st Century Scholar Cohort by Snapshot Year Noted Changes in Period: State policy change 2011: Eligibility changes aimed at reducing program costs. State policy change 2012: Fall 2013 FR must complete 30 CRs/year to keep full aid. Large jumps in 21 st Century Scholar enrollment Fall 2010, 2011, and 2013.

The Pathway to Success Source: IR Data Change in SAT Scores of Entering Freshmen:

The Pathway to Success What Does the Research Say Impacts Completion at 4-Year Institutions? The Big 4 – TPSC T ime (i.e., longer it takes to do anything, more likely “other things” get in the way) P redictability S tructured pathways to degree C o-requisite remediation Way that most institutions increase completion: Change who they admit

The Pathway to Success State Mandates HEA (Credit Creep Bill) – implemented Fall 2013 SEA (Statewide Transfer General Education Core) – implemented Fall 2013 SEA (Single Articulation Pathways) – to be implemented Fall 2015 HEA (Degree Maps) – to be implemented Fall 2014

The Pathway to Success ISU Response Curriculum Summer School Instruction and Related Activities

The Pathway to Success ISU Response Curriculum Board of Trustee Components of a Degree 120 credit hours – 4 programs approved for exemption Foundational Studies Core to not exceed 45 hours Minimum of 45 hours of 300/400 level coursework A major consisting of hours of approved coursework 30 programs exceed 72 hours (10 are revising) A major can be completed in 6 semesters 10 programs - 7 semesters 13 programs - 8 semesters ✔ ✔ ✔

The Pathway to Success ISU Response Curriculum Board of Trustee Components of a Degree STGEC 30 credit hour transfer core as a block Faculty developed outcomes Single Articulation Pathways Transfer from Ivy Tech & Vincennes 60 credit hours Development underway for at least 10 areas Degree Maps MySAM General Interest Areas 6 credits remedial coursework General Studies Degree – Target for Fall 2014

The Pathway to Success ISU Response Summer School 4-Year Graduation Incentive Summer Marketing Taskforce for Summer 2015

The Pathway to Success ISU Response Instruction and Related Activities Faculty Center for Teaching Excellence Academic Department Student Enrollment and Success Plans Advising post University College Enrollment * Retention * Completion * Post-College Achievement Sessions get to the root of advisement problems Indiana Statesman, February 24, 2014

The Pathway to Success ISU Response Instruction and Related Activities Graduation Guarantee Over 1,000 students from Fall 2012 and 2013 All students Fall 2014 Accountability Handbook policies related to faculty responsibility Remedial Math Contracted to Ivy Tech and Departmental success taskforce Examine dept. issues that hinder student success Evaluate the chair’s role in promoting/supporting dept. behaviors related to student and faculty success Identify specific faculty behaviors that promote student success

Small Group Discussion Exercise At your table, please discuss these three questions related to student completion at ISU: 1.What are the time-to-degree facilitators and inhibitors within programs or curriculums that you observe? Are there ones that would be useful to examine? 2.What factors do you observe that enable or hinder predictability for students as they plan or change their academic course of study and/or select or change a major? Where are the gateway course bottlenecks and are there ways to reduce them? 3.What do you feel are important considerations in discussions about strategy in the college completion arena?

Re-defining Excellence Traditional Definition in Higher Education: Who gets excluded The ISU Way: Who gets included and the transforming experiences they receive Our Challenge to Ourselves: Being that rare institution that evidences rising completion rates on the back of inclusion, not exclusion. It is generally easier for a college to change who they admit than it is to change the success rates of the students already there. - American Enterprise Institute study of 1,700 U.S. colleges (Feb. 2014)