1. Measuring the Impact of Service-Learning on Student Retention and Civic Skills Matthew Roy, Ph.D. Assistant Vice Chancellor for Civic Engagement University of Massachusetts Dartmouth

2. Regional Context

3. City Profiles Fall River and New Bedford  Populations 89k and 95k (were 150k in 1920s)  Textile and whaling capitals of the world  Long slow economic decline Education and Unemployment Struggles  Unemployment (11.1 and 10.4% vs. Mass 6.1%)  High school diploma (68.8 and 69.9% vs. Mass 89.1)  Poverty (25% vs. Mass 11%)

4. Institutional History UMass Dartmouth built between the 2 cities  Economic, social, and cultural catalyst for region Commitment Through Strategic Planning  Engaged, Embedded, Evolving  UMassDTransform2020 National Recognition  President’s Higher Education Honor Roll  Washington Monthly Top 25

5. Student Involvement – Community Service Hours Roughly ½ service-learning 70% graduating class

6. Increasing Capacity Internally  Since 2010 – 96 to 140 faculty  Since 2010 – 146 to 205 classes Externally Service-Learning Faculty Fellows Program SouthCoast Serves

7. Total Number Students Exposed to Service-Learning by Semester

8. Big Caveat

9. NSSE: National Student Survey on Engagement Annual survey of U/G experience with learning and personal development. Takes b/t 10-15 minutes to complete.  Academic challenge  Co-curricular learning  Campus environment Began in 2000. University of Indiana  In 2013, 621 colleges and universities participated  N = 371,284  Since 2000, N > 4 million

10. Participated in 6 surveys since 2000, most recently 2014  Spring 2014 results not included here Administer to full time Freshmen/Seniors every 3 years  2011: N= 326 freshmen and 187 seniors Service-learning Experience in 2011 FreshmenSeniors UMass Dartmouth All NSSE 35% 41% 58% 50% NSSE @ UMass Dartmouth

11. Primary Question How much has your experience at this institution contributed to your knowledge, skills, and personal development in the following areas. Likert scale  Very much.. Quite a bit.. Some.. Very little  Analyzed differences SL vs Non-SL students for freshmen and seniors. T-test all significant p<.05

12. Results - Freshmen

13. Results - Seniors

14. Differences SL vs Non-SL Gender, Race, 1 st Generation College – n/a SAT – small effect size  Lower for SL students both fresh/seniors  Students with lower ability gain more from high impact practices (Kuh, et al, 2008)

15. UMD Service-Learning Student Survey 2009 Learn & Serve grant from CNCS  C. Burack developed student SL survey Administer end of semester to sample of SL classes  Post only survey – 5-8 minutes to complete 2013-14 academic year  N = 334  Across all years - 65% seniors or juniors

16. Primary Questions Civic K/S/A  Please indicate how well you can do each of the following at each point in time (beginning / now).  5 point Likert scale and either side of the statement Connectedness and Retention  Because of my SL class … Class learning objectives, etc….  This SL class …

17. Result: Impact on Civic Skills Civic Skills Pre-mean Skill Score Post-mean Skill Score Identify needs and resources of the community*2.854.11 Apply knowledge and skills gained to real problems/opportunities in my community* 3.004.06 Make connections between learning and needs of the community*2.974.07 Articulate the value of engagement to other members of the community*2.934.00 Communicate effectively orally and in writing*3.354.12 Evaluate and integrate information from multiple sources*3.384.18 Organize other students to take action on a community problem*2.753.38 Create a plan to address the issue*2.973.57 Get people to care about the problem*3.013.59 Organize and run a meeting*3.063.59 Find and examine research related to the issue*3.253.80 Apply what I learned in my service-learning class*2.993.80 * P <.001

18. Results: Connectedness and Retention Student Retention “As a result of my service-learning class here…” Cum Totals: Agree & Strongly Agree N% of total I will be returning next semester or year28645.5 I am more involved in the campus community30930.9 I have gotten friends involved in service31532.0 I feel a part of the UMD campus32047.7 I am choosing to graduate from UMD31876.1 I feel a part of the local community31753.5

19. Conclusions Must continue to improve on assessment of SL Results validate – High impact practice  Learning and Retention Most Importantly… 63% of UMass Dartmouth students said… “Thinking about or preparing for a career that helps my community.”

20. Questions or Comments