Facilitating change utilizing Starfish for an Institutional Approach to Student Success

Ramapo College of New Jersey

Joseph Connell, Director of Student Success

Christopher Romano, Vice President of Enrollment Management and Student Affairs

Ramapo College of New Jersey

Founded in 1969

Approximately 6000 students ~5800 undergraduate students ~ 200 graduate students

51% of students live on campus

Designated by the State as “New Jersey’s Public Liberal Arts College”

Fall 2014 First-Year Class: 978 students Average SAT of 1162 31% of class meet institutionally approved diversity metrics

Group Exercise

Where do you see student success?

Leading Change Management

The Imperative to Change

“The capacity of an academic institution to change is becoming a strategic value and organizational

asset; this capacity will confer advantages on those that learn how to do it and commensurate

disadvantages on those that persist in operating in the 20th century.”

(Holland, 2012)

Group Exercise 2 – Your Campus

Name the champion (s) of Student Success on your campus. How does everyone know who they are?______________________.

The connection between Recruitment, New Student Experience and Retention programming is __________ and reports to _____________.

Our senior leadership places a ________________ priority on student success as evidenced by ___________________.

Ramapo 2010

Name the champion (s) of Student Success on your campus. How does everyone know who they are? Director of Center for Academic Advisement and First-Year Experience

The connection between Recruitment, First-Year Experience and Retention programming is fragmented and reports through Enrollment Management, Student Affairs, Adjunct Faculty, Provost Office.

Our senior leadership places a lower priority on student success as evidenced by our budget, our staffing levels and absence from the strategic plan.

Ramapo 2015

Name the champion (s) of Student Success on your campus. How does everyone know who they are? Director of Student Success.

The connection between Recruitment, First-Year Experience and Retention programming is integrated and reports to Enrollment Management Student Affairs.

Our senior leadership places an increasing priority on student success as evidenced by inclusion in the Strategic Plan, SPIF Funding (Software) and staffing increase.

How did we get here?

5 Key Strategies for Facilitating Institutional Change

1. Adopt SEM as an overarching framework for the work your institution does.

2. Ask Fundamental Questions

3. Utilize an Inside Out Approach

4. Create a Guiding Coalition (Team)

5. Celebrate Small Victories

ADOPT A SEM PHILOSOPHY AND FRAMEWORK

The Adoption of Strategic Enrollment Management Philosophy

“a comprehensive process designed to help an institution achieve and maintain optimum recruitment, retention and graduation rates of students where 'optimum' is defined within the academic context of the institution”

(Dolence, 1993)

The SEM Perspective

Recruitment/ Marketing

Admission

OrientationCo-

curricularSupport

Academic Support

RetentionFinancial Support

Classroom Experience

Student’s College Career

Graduation

Alumni Support

ASK TWO FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS

The Fundamental Questions

Question 1: What is the promise that we make to students when we recruit them? (Brand Promise)

Question 2: Are we delivering on our promise? (Institutional Congruence)

Market Analysis and Brand Promise Development

The outstanding and devoted faculty of Ramapo College of New Jersey excel at teaching, mentoring and preparing

students to succeed personally and professionally, all within the small, picturesque campus environment

usually associated with an elite college.

Connect (i.e., Starfish) – Qualitative Feedback

Working with Connect has made the advisement process more interactive between the students and

myself. It really is a great central system that has even more capabilities than we are currently doing. I think the biggest relationship it has improved has been between student and faculty member. Students get flagged and

once I have been able to get in touch with them, a lot of them have already spoken to their faculty member. It has

given the students a better sense of ownership in terms of their progress.

- EOF Advisor

I believe I am better informed about how my students are doing in the classroom. Connect has

often prompted me to reach out to a student that I might have otherwise overlooked. When students receive a Connect report from a professor they

respond more proactively than an email just from me. - OSS Advisor

Connect identifies students who are struggling or are having academic

difficulty, which is a benefit to the student and me. We are able to determine the

support mechanisms needed. - Student Success Advisor

As an adjunct last semester, Connect managed to scare some of my students into doing their missing

assignments. It was effective too because the athletics department intervened in response to my

referral and told a student he could not come to practice until I said his work was turned in.

- Adjunct Faculty Member

Student Survey Data on Academic Advisement

• 2008 Upper-class/Transfer Student Survey showed that continuing students primarily advised themselves

• 2009 First-Semester Survey demonstrated first-year students were primarily advised by upper-class Peer Facilitators

Using Data to Answer Fundamental Questions

2008 Upper-class/Transfer Survey: How did you receive your primary academic advising at Ramapo?

Using Data to Answer Fundamental Questions

2009 First-Semester Survey : How did you receive your primary academic advising at Ramapo?

INSIDE OUT APPROACH- CHANGE FROM WITHIN FIRST

“We administrators identify an issue and want you faculty to change what you are doing to address that

issues and we’ll celebrate the results.”

Inside Out

Year 1: Move professional advisement staff from walk-in advisors within a center to assigned caseloads;

• 900 first-year students across 4 academic advisors

Structure assigned all first-year students to a professional advisor in the advisement center and required that advisors assist those students at least twice in their first-year through two processes:

1. Present to all First-Year Seminar courses;

2. Implement Registration Holds until students see the advisor that presented in their FYS course

ESTABLISH A GUIDING COALITION

4 CORE COMPETENCIES OF COALITION

Position power: Are the main individuals and key members who are going to have to implement the changes on the committee?

Expertise: Are the multiple perspectives represented on the committee relevant to its charge so that informed decisions can be made?

Credibility: Does the committee have people on it who are well respected and have influence by their attendance and participation?

Leadership: Are there leaders who can translate the discussions of the committee into tangible actions that will lead the change

ACADEMIC ADVISEMENT COUNCIL (AAC)

• The AAC is a coalition of faculty from each of Ramapo’s five academic schools and professional staff from key areas (e.g., athletics, specialized services, opportunity programs, and the advisement center) where students seek mentoring, advising and support

• The AAC is co-chaired by a faculty representative and the College’s Associate Director of Academic Advisement.

CELEBRATE SMALL VICTORIES

CHANGE WORK NEEDS TO BE SMALL ENOUGH TO BE MANAGEABLE, BUT BIG ENOUGH TO BE MEANINGFUL.

2010: Assign CAAFYE advisors by FYS and in course presentations2012: Mandatory Advisement in Spring semester

Data-driven Results from First-Semester Survey

Student Success’s Web of Connection

Starfish for Case Management and Early Alert

The Strategies for Facilitating Change will be referenced as we look at the successful implementation of Starfish

Technology at Ramapo College.

Implementation of Starfish (i.e., Connect at Ramapo)

Charged SEM Retention Early Alert Task Force: January 2013

Task force objectives:1. Improve campus-wide student case management by

replacing AdvisorTrac, a software solution used in CAAFYE and EOF for caseload management, and other local office systems.

2. Add Early Alert to increase academic engagement and student persistence as aligned with the Strategic Plan.

Selection of Starfish for EARLY ALERT and CONNECT: June 2013

Connect Screenshot of a Student’s Success Network

Connect Screenshot of an Academic Progress Survey

Implementation of Starfish (Contd.)

Implementation of Starfish: 2013-2014 Academic Year Creation of Faculty Advisory Board

1 faculty member per School

Student Populations Targeted: special populations and first-year students Offices Using Starfish: Academic Advisement, Tutoring & those serving the special

populations Predictive Indicators: academic progress survey flags and demographic data from

Admissions

Implementation of Starfish: 2014-2015 AY Student Populations Targeted: all of the above + sophomores and those on academic

warning Offices Using Starfish: all of the above + Career Development, Financial Aid, Residence

Life and International Office Predictive Indicators: all of the above + student actions captured within Banner

Implementation of Starfish: 2015-2016 AY Student Populations Targeted: all of the above + juniors and transfers Offices Using Starfish: all of the above + student affairs offices Predictive Indicators: all of the above + implementation of predictive model

Connect Screenshot of Filtering an Advisee List

Connect Goals and Outcomes

2013 – 2014• Reduce the number of units sending academic progress reports to faculty

• Finding: Number of units sending surveys was reduced from 3 to 1.

• Increase percentage of academic progress reports submitted by faculty• Finding: 77% of faculty submitted academic progress reports during the 2013-2014 Academic Year and

over 56% of courses had surveys completed. (No unit had previously achieved a 50% survey completion rate.)

• Provide earlier outreach to academically at risk students as identified by academic progress reports, grades and other early alerts

• Finding: Percent of Academic Warning first-year students who met with their advisor twice on or before 4/2/14 course registration date was 30.9%. (In 2012-2013, CAAFYE met with less than 20% of first-year students on academic warning two times in the spring semester)

2014 – 2015• Expand student’s success network.

• Finding: Number of professional staff in student’s success network by 50%

• Increase percentage of academic progress reports submitted by faculty• Finding: Percentage of academic progress reports submitted by faculty stabilized at 56%; goal will shift for

2015-2016 to expand faculty usage in other areas of Starfish

• Provide earlier outreach to academically at risk students as identified by academic progress reports, grades and other early alerts

• Finding: Number of first-year students on academic warning meeting with their academic advisor twice prior to course registration in the Spring 2015 Semester increased by 60 percent from the Spring 2014 Semester

Connect Screenshot of a Center Waiting Room

Connect Screenshot of a Student Success Plan

Connect – Quantitative Feedback

Question: As a result of the messages from connect@ramapo.edu that indicated opportunities for improvement in your courses, please specify if you followed up with

any of the following campus resources; check all that apply:

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

55%

22%

28%

16%

21%

Professor/Course Instructor

Tutor (Center for Reading and Writ-ing, Math or other)

Advisor (Athletics, CAAFYE, EOF, OSS, Scholarship)

Service (CAAFYE, Center for Read-ing and Writing)

I received messages and chose not to act on them.

Connect – Quantitative Feedback

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

48%

34%32%

14%

18%

They motivate me.

They gave me timely feedback.

They made a positive difference in the amount of effort that I put in to the class.

They were not necessary.

I did not receive any of these messages from connec-t@ramapo.edu.

Question: You may have received messages rom connect@ramapo.edu that indicated positive performance in your courses. Check all that apply about these messages.

Questions?

APPENDICES

ACADEMIC ADVISEMENT COUNCIL CHARGE

• Oversee the implementation of the Academic Advisement Plan, influences its future direction, and serves as a critical link to update faculty and administration on the data, expectation and experience of creating a culture of advisement; establish shared definition of Academic Advisement at Ramapo and key points in a student’s career when it is most needed; create a forum where professional and faculty advisors determine the learning outcomes expected from each mandatory advisement milestone and collaborate to improve the advisement experience.

Implementation of Starfish (i.e., Connect at Ramapo)

Charged SEM Retention Early Alert Task Force: January 2013

Task force included representatives from Advisement, Athletics, Faculty, First-Year Seminar, Instructional Design Center, IT, Registrar, Special Populations, Student Government and Tutoring

Task force objectives:1. Improve campus-wide student case management by replacing

AdvisorTrac, a software solution used in CAAFYE and EOF for caseload management, and other local office systems.

2. Add Early Alert to increase academic engagement and student persistence as aligned with the Strategic Plan.

Selection of Starfish for Early Alert and Connect: June 2013 Campus presentations by Committee’s recommended vendors

invited stakeholders in addition to the Task Force members

Implementation of Starfish (Contd.)

Implementation of Starfish: 2013-2014 Academic Year Creation of Faculty Advisory Board

1 faculty member per School

Student Populations Targeted: special populations (adult degree completion, athletes, grant program, scholarship recipients and students with disabilities) and first-year students

Offices Using Starfish: Center for Academic Advisement & FYE, Center for Reading and Writing and those serving the special populations

Predictive Indicators: academic progress survey flags and demographic data from Admissions application

Implementation of Starfish: 2014-2015 AY Student Populations Targeted: all of the above + sophomores and those on academic warning Offices Using Starfish: all of the above + Cahill Career Development Center Advisors, Financial Aid

Counselors, Residence Life Directors and Roukema Center (International student advisors) Predictive Indicators: all of the above + student actions captured within Banner (e.g., dropping a

course or not renewing FAFSA)

Implementation of Starfish: 2015-2016 AY Student Populations Targeted: all of the above + juniors and transfers Offices Using Starfish: all of the above + student affairs offices (e.g., Counseling, Student Conduct) Predictive Indicators: all of the above + implementation of predictive model that identifies students

most at-risk of leaving and prioritizes outreach to them

Connect Goals

Goals for 2013 – 2014• Reduce the number of units sending academic progress reports to faculty• Increase percentage of academic progress reports submitted by faculty• Provide earlier outreach to academically at risk students as identified by academic

progress reports, grades and other early alerts• Increase retention rates

Goals for 2014 – 2015• Expand student’s success network• Increase percentage of academic progress reports submitted by faculty• Provide earlier outreach to academically at risk students as identified by academic

progress reports, grades and other early alerts

Goals for 2015 – 2016• Provide earlier outreach to academically at risk students as identified by academic

progress reports, grades and other early alerts• Pilot use of predictive model• Increase faculty and academic school users of Starfish’s Connect capabilities for case

management• Incorporate transfer students into Early Alert academic progress surveys

Connect Goals and Outcomes

Outcomes for 2013 – 2014• Reduce the number of units sending academic progress reports to faculty

• Finding: Number of units sending surveys was reduced from 3 to 1.

• Increase percentage of academic progress reports submitted by faculty• Finding: 77% of faculty submitted academic progress reports during the 2013-2014 Academic Year and

over 56% of courses had surveys completed. (No unit had previously achieved a 50% survey completion rate.)

• Provide earlier outreach to academically at risk students as identified by academic progress reports, grades and other early alerts

• Finding: Percent of Academic Warning first-year students who met with their advisor twice on or before 4/2/14 course registration date was 30.9%. (In 2012-2013, CAAFYE met with less than 20% of first-year students on academic warning two times in the spring semester)

Outcomes for 2014 – 2015• Expand student’s success network.

• Finding: Number of professional staff in student’s success network by 50%

• Increase percentage of academic progress reports submitted by faculty• Finding: Percentage of academic progress reports submitted by faculty stabilized at 56%; goal will shift for

2015-2016 to expand faculty usage in other areas of Starfish

• Provide earlier outreach to academically at risk students as identified by academic progress reports, grades and other early alerts

• Finding: Number of first-year students on academic warning meeting with their academic advisor twice prior to course registration in the Spring 2015 Semester increased by 60 percent from the Spring 2014 Semester