Improving Minority Student Success

Essential Data, Important Policy and Best PracticesBy Frank D. Sanchez, Ph.D.

Assoc. Vice Chancellor for Enrollment and Student EngagementUniversity of Colorado Denver and Health Science Center

Overview A framework for serving minority students 50 Essential Data Points 20 Important Policy Discussions 10 Best Practices Resources and Reports Q&A

Contact Information

A Framework for Serving Minority Students Leadership, Vision & Commitment Goals Plan: Strategic Action Items Infrastructure

policies, programs, services, curriculum, funding Culture of Data Driven Decisions/Evidence-

Based Practices Use of Best Practices

Polling Question #1 My campus uses data to help guide and drive

campus decisions around minority student success. Always Sometime Rarely Never

50 Essential Data Points for Serving Minority Students Persistence:

First-time freshmen, fall to fall D. on first 6-weeks D. on first semester D. on first year Residential v. Nonresidential Identify classes with high “Fs”, “Ds”, I, W Track attempted v. completed credit hours Identify # of students on academic prob./susp. Graduation rates by discipline

50 Essential Data Points (continued)

Financial Data Debt data – 1st year experience packaging Track # of students with “0” EFC but no Federal Aid Who has unmet need? How much? D. on all institutional scholarships/those remaining D. on Pell Grant recipients Time limits on scholarship eligibility Average Financial Aid Package for successful M. students National Scholarship awards data

50 Essential Data Points (continued)

Academic Data Success by credit hour Major v. non-major persistence by school and by

discipline Academic success based on participation in academic

programs % not chosen major by end of the 1st year Impact of instructional effectiveness on grades and course

completion D. on faculty instructional effectiveness and analysis of

evaluations Extended courses & On-line retention

50 Essential Data Points (continued)

Demographic Data Parental education/income First-Generation data Transfer student data Non-traditional age Graduate students ACT/SAT, HS GPA, HS % Rank Longitudinal undergraduate Work hours Dependent care Retention data by high school, county, state Remediation v. no remediation data (conditional admit)

50 Essential Data Points (continued) Service Data:

Cost Effectiveness of Support Services D. on utilization of services Staffing of support services Funding of support services Impact data on cultural programming Participation in leadership organizations Involvement in internships Engagement with undergraduate research Completion of study abroad

50 Essential Data Points (continued) Student Experience Data

Student satisfaction data Student engagement data (NSSE) D. on why they leave D. on why they don’t return Residential v. Off-Campus Sense of connectedness, social integration Recommend institution to another student

Polling Question #2 My campus actively reviews institutional

policy as a strategy to improve minority student success. Always Sometimes Rarely Never

20 Important Policy Discussions

Enrollment Policy Disenrollment Policies Conditional Admit Policies Readmit Policy and Practices Transfer Policy and Practices Policy for course withdrawals (penalty) and no credit

course repeats (excessive time to degree) Probation/Suspension Policy Attendance policies Late Course Add Policies

20 Important Policy Discussions(continued)

Financial Policy Policies addressing Financial Aid requirements for

institutional scholarships Payment Plan policies (low past primary drop-out points) Policies for tuition rebates given at time of completion Scholarship policies that require service Renewable scholarship policies for academic progress Summer attendance policy: Incite summer credits Foundation development policy

20 Important Policy Discussions(continued)

Student Support Policy Orientation Requirement Mandatory participation support services

following probation First-year live-in policy Changing your major policy Advising Requirement policy Tenure Review – “Teaching” component Early Contact/Early Alert Policy

Polling Question #3 My campus has an expectation that evidence-

based practices (best practices) are used to improve minority student success. Always Sometimes Rarely Never

10 Best Practices Supplemental instruction (evidence-based) Learning communities, First-year

Experiences, Early Contact (EPO) Quality Engagement

Internships Undergraduate research Study abroad Service learning

10 Best Practices (continued) The following 7 recommendations come from the

Educational Policy Institute Report: Latino Student & the educational pipeline by Swail, Cabrera, Lee and Williams (2005)

Make certain that classroom and out-of-classroom experiences are geared to enhance learning acquisition and use of competencies

Provide appropriate levels of academic and social “safety nets,” for students

10 Best Practices (continued) Track student progress throughout the

postsecondary experience, with special emphasis on the freshman year

Stress financial aid policies and programs that enable Latino students to maintain continuous enrollment while bringing about engagement with faculty and academic staff

10 Best Practices (continued) Adopt a long-term strategy whereby year-to-

year persistence strategies are articulated with the objective of securing a four-year degree

Provide invasive counseling for students to encourage continuous enrollment and prudent course selection

10 Best Practices (continued)

Link the financial aid office with academic and social services to ensure that students are provided with a coordinated level of support that encourages continued enrollment and progress toward student goals

Resources and Reports Learning Reconsidered 2: A Practical Guide to

Implementing a Campus-Wide Focus on the Student Experience, 2006.

American Council on Education Series: Leadership for advancing diversity; Race-conscious Financial Aid; Minority Success in Science and Technology

Latino Students & the educational pipeline, Part III: Pathways to the bachelor’s degree for Latino students, Swail, Cabrera, Lee and Williams, 2005.

Excelencia in Education: www.EdExcelencia.org

Q & A Thank you Resources Contact Information:

Frank D. Sanchez, Ph.D Associate Vice Chancellor for Enrollment and

Student Engagement University of Colorado Denver and Health

Sciences Center Frank.Sanchez@cudenver.edu