1. Walmart Foundation, AIHEC, HACU, and NAFEO Student Success Project
AIHEC Summer Meeting- 2013
Santa Fe, NM
Deborah His Horse is Thunder, Ed.D.

2. Walmart Student Success Project
18 MSIs:
Six TCUs;
Six Predominantly and Historically Black Colleges and/or Universities, and
Six Hispanic-Serving Colleges and/or Universities
Train the trainer model – Mentor/Mentee Institutions.
Purpose: Collaborative initiative to pilot and test strategies designed to increase retention and graduation rates at MSIs.
Phase I - Grants of $100,000 to improve student retention

3. Goals for AIHEC Institutions:
Identify successful intervention strategies for supporting student success. These strategies were to be shared with all MSIs interested in improving the rate at which their students graduate and enter the workforce or transfer to other institutions to pursue advanced degrees.
Disseminate and support implementation of successful intervention strategies.
Build a community of practice among participating AIHEC tribal colleges on student success.
Institutionalize retention and student success as a high priority across the tribal college partnerships and assist mentor and mentee teams through integrating student retention into their Colleges’ strategic plans.
Institutionalize implementation of best practices for student success in tribal colleges.

4. Walmart Student Success Project
February 2010 – Official Award by the Walmart Foundation
December 2010 – RFP for Mentor Colleges
February 2011 – Two Mentor TCUs Selected (LLTC and IAIA)
April 2011 – Mentor Meeting in San Antonio, TX
May 2011 – RFP for Mentee Colleges
July 2011 – Four TCU Mentees Selected
September 2011 – Kick-Off Project Meeting of all 18 MSIs

5. Walmart Student Success Project
March nd Project Meeting of 18 MSIs - Durham, SC
June 2012– TCU “Develop a Community of Practice” Meeting at IAIA
September rd Project Meeting of 18 MSI on Developmental Education- Denver, CO
December Final Meeting for Phase I - Santa Fe, NM
January 2013 – TCU Data Meeting – Minneapolis, MN
February 2013 – Phase I Ended

6. Walmart Student Success Project
March 2013 – Phase II Began
The focus on Phase II is the collection, analysis, and use of data generated to support the success (or lack thereof) of the retention strategies identified in Phase I.
September 2013 – Project Meeting with all 18 MSIs at KSU
April 2014 – Project Meeting with all 18 MSIs at CSU in Fullerton, CA
July 1, 2014 – Project Ends

7. Walmart Student Success Project
Phase II
One-to-One Mentoring
IAIA and Ilisagvik
LLTC and Stone Child College
SBC and Ft. Peck Community College

8. Walmart Student Success Project
Strategies Identified include:
Development of an Effective College-wide Retention Plan
Learning Support Centers/Learning Labs
First Year Experience Class
Student Summit
Monday Drum
Re-focus on Student Orientation
Advising (1st Year; Mid-Term)

9. Walmart Student Success Project
Ilisagvik College (Mentee)
Implemented an Orientation Program … Each Semester
Aggressive Counselor Intervention by the Retention Coordinator
Implementation of a Freshman Seminar
Improved the Learning Center

10. Walmart Student Success Project
Stone Child College (Mentee)
Improved their Learning Center
Implemented Monday Drum
Implemented Aggressive Counselor Intervention by Retention Counselor
Implemented Mid-Term Advising
Established a Student of the Month Award
Established a Wall of Fame to Showcase Student Success

11. Walmart Student Success Project
Sitting Bull College (Mentee in Phase I)
Implemented a Student Summit
Implemented Freshman Seminar
Implemented Aggressive Counselor Intervention
Implemented At-Risk Advising
Implemented First-Time Freshman Advising
Re-conceptualized the First Year Experience Class.

12. Walmart Student Success Project
Fort Peck Community College
Focused on the Improvement of its Learning Center
FPCC has restructured the process of its admissions, enrollment and advising of students. Changes are seen in a new step-by-step registration process and new registration forms that create a check and balance to make sure students are sent to and have been advised by the correct individuals.

13. Walmart Student Success Project
Phase II Outcomes
Verify successful intervention strategies
Support and Institutionalize Successful Strategies
Build a “Student Success” culture and community of practice
Increase graduation rates at TCUs

14. Walmart Student Success Project
Dissemination of Information
AIHEC Summer Meeting
Effective Practices Professional Paper Series in process
Posting on the Student Success Portal on AIHEC’s Home Page or