1. Something from Nothing: Creating an Advising-Centric First-Year Student Success Program at a Faculty- Centric Institution Alan Bearman, Ph.D. John Dahlstrand, Ph.D.

2. About Washburn University Founded in 1865, Washburn is an open- access municipal university in Topeka, Kansas, with approximately 6,300 FTE.

3. About Washburn University What do we mean when we say that Washburn is a Faculty-Centric Institution?

4. A Faculty-Centric Washburn University 1979 There exists an apocryphal story of Noel-Levitz coming to campus and after demonstrating the need for a sustained commitment to successfully transitioning students from high school to university, being run-off. 1993 A new “Advising Plan” for Washburn was presented and largely rejected. Although one element of the plan did kind-of survive: IS100 was created to transition “conditional” students into their university studies.

5. A Faculty-Centric Washburn University 2005 Washburn joined the John Gardner led “Foundations of Excellence” process with the goal/hope of using it to help design and implement a new Student Success culture and programs. Spring 2010 After a precipitous drop in first to second-year retention rates a new First-Year Experiencecommittee was created to suggest steps to address this issue. Summer 2010 The FYE committee authored a Nine-point framework for discussion

6. The 2010 FYE Plan 1.Creation of a First-Year Center. 2.New Student Transition Programming. 3.A commitment to Academic Advising. 4.Required first-semester 3-hour FYE course. 5.A commitment to Academic Support (tutoring, etc.). 6.Appropriate Remediation. 7.Career Services. 8.Faculty and Staff enrichment. 9.Assessment.

7. Windows of Opportunity 1.Washburn Forward 150. http://www.washburn.edu/about/leadership/strategic-planning/index.html 2.Foresight 2020. http://www.kansasregents.org/resources/PDF/1795Andy%27sCompleteSimple 2020List_Sept2011.pdf

8. Windows of Opportunity Forward 2020: “By 2020 or before, Kansas will achieve a 10 percentage point increase in first-to-second year retention rates across the higher education system.”

9. Organizational Chart Dean of University Libraries Assistant Dean of Libraries: Sean Bird, M.L.S Assistant Dean of Student Success: John Dahlstrand, Ph.D. Friends of Mabee Library Digital Initiatives

10. Libraries Organizational Chart DeanAssistant Dean Carnegie Education Library Information Literacy Instruction Program Liaison Program Library Operations Special Collections & Archives Faculty Library Committee Digital Initiatives

11. Center for Student Success Organizational Chart DeanAssistant Dean Academic AdvisingPassport for Success Academic Testing & Placement Assessment & Evaluation First-Year Experience WU101: The Washburn Experience Tutoring & Writing Center Success Workshops Faculty FYE Oversight Committee Digital Initiatives

12. Center for Student Success 10 Professional Staff, 1 Administrative Assistant and 53 student employees operate the Center for Student Success. Locations include Advising and Testing offices in Mabee Library, tutoring locations in Mabee Library and the Living Learning Center (partnership with Residential Living), and an FYE program that increasingly goes wherever it needs to go in order to impact first-year students. Your Center for Student Success Team

13. Student Pathways to Success Regular Exploratory Bridge Exception Window Honors Student High Achieving Student General Student Access Criteria for Admissions Pathways At Risk Student High Risk Student Washburn Tech

14. Student Pathways to Success FYE STEP #1 New Student Orientation FYE STEP #1 New Student Orientation FYE STEP #2 Welcome Week FYE STEP #2 Welcome Week FYE STEP #3 WU 101 The Washburn Experience FYE STEP #3 WU 101 The Washburn Experience Honors General High Achieving At Risk FYE STEP #3 HN 101 FYE STEP #3 HN 101 Testing & Placement for scheduling Testing & Placement for scheduling Testing & Placement for scheduling Testing & Placement for scheduling

15. Student Pathways for Success Strongly Suggested Success Services Strongly Suggested Success Services Recommended Success Services Recommended Success Services Required Success Services Passport to Success WU 101 (3) ENG COMP (3) MATH (3) GEN ED (6) WU 101 (3) ENG COMP (3) MATH (3) GEN ED (6) WU 101 (3) DEV ENG or ENG COMP (3) GEN ED (9) WU 101 (3) DEV ENG or ENG COMP (3) GEN ED (9) WU 101 (3) CIS (3) DEV ENG or ENG COMP (3) GEN ED (3) WU 101 (3) CIS (3) DEV ENG or ENG COMP (3) GEN ED (3) General High Achieving At Risk ENG COMP (3) MATH by Placement (3) CAREER/MAJ EXP (2) LIBRARY (1) GEN ED (3-6) ENG COMP (3) MATH by Placement (3) CAREER/MAJ EXP (2) LIBRARY (1) GEN ED (3-6) GEN ED (15) ENG COMP (3) GEN ED (6-12) MATH by Placement (3) ENG COMP (3) GEN ED (6-12) MATH by Placement (3)

16. The First-Year Experience The Washburn University First-Year Experience supports the academic, social and personal transitions of all first- year students. Through collaborative efforts with faculty, staff and peer educators, we empower and support first- year students by providing intentional courses, programs and services that promote success and persistence in college. The Washburn FYE program seeks to help students begin the process of becoming information literate to promote student success in the Information Age. Mission Statement

17. The First-Year Experience 1.Improve student understanding of self-awareness by helping them define their educational goals 2.Assist students in understanding the value of a liberal arts education 3.Introduce students to the concept of Information Literacy as an important skill for lifelong learning in the Information Age 4.Help improve Washburn University graduation rates, by improving first-to-second-year student retention rates The First-Year Experience program at Washburn University through its interpretation of the “Pathways to Success” model seeks to define student success at Washburn University in the following manner:

18. WU101: The Washburn Experience 1 Lead Faculty Member (can be a Librarian or Student Success faculty) 1 Librarian 1 Academic Advisor 2 Peer Educators The Success Team

19. Final Thoughts Washburn University seeks to ensure access to higher education, while also fulfilling the goals of the national completion agenda conversation. This is no easy task, but we believe that our model of the Engaged University Library aligned with the Center for Student Success aids this effort because it creates for students the necessary holistic academic success support structure.