University of Cincinnati’s

SUCCESS CHALLENGE: Placing Student Success

at the Center

Consortium for Student Retention Data ExchangeFor Early Intervention Committee Meeting – October 16, 2008

Caroline Miller, PhDSr. AVP Enrollment

caroline.miller@uc.edu

Maria Palmieri, PhDSr. Research Assoc, IRmaria.palmieri@uc.edu

UC status in 2000

• Almost 30% baccalaureate Freshmen gone by the start of the second year

• Fewer than half graduated within 6 years

• That’s a tragedy for students & tax payers

• That’s a tough track record to market for a research extensive campus

What Contributes to Retention?

• Profile – largely a function of institutional & student profile (academic, financial & demographic)

• Progress – prevailing model is around persistence, but if the goal is graduation we must focus on progress – the distance to the finish line, not the distance from the start line

What Contributes to Retention?

• Process – If the goal is to raise the overall retention and grad rates, it’s important to focus on the “all” not just those most at risk

• Promise – Experiences are consistent with the “Promise of the Brand” – break the promise, we will lose students

Access Without Success

National Trends:• Retention rates up, then stable – now

reported to be dropping

• Graduation rates now reported to be dropping

• The disparity is greater for students from low socio-economic backgrounds

Pell Eligibility

• UC’s Uptown campus enrolls the third highest percentage of Pell-eligible students among research extensive institutions nationwide – about 30%.

• 50% of UC students are 1st-generation (40% of Uptown students are 1st-generation)

So how does UC compare – particularly for High Risk

Students?

ENTERSUCCESS CHALLENGE

Success Challenge

Ohio Board of Regents Initiative (1999)

Challenges university main campuses:

1. To increase the baccalaureate graduation rates of in-state at-risk students

2. To shorten the length of time to degree

Note: Not U College, Not CAT, Not Branches

Success Challenge Management & Partnership

• Oversight shared by Sr. Assoc VP for EM and Sr. Vice Provost for Academic Planning

• PI’s in Academic Affairs and Student Affairs manage programs and are accountable for budget and reporting

• Research Office within Institutional Research performs annual assessment and maintains the data mart

Efforts that Touch all First-Year Students

• Bearcat Bound Summer Orientation

• Mandatory Placement in math, English & languages

• First-Year Experience (some colleges)

• Mandatory advising (some colleges)

Academic / Social Integration

• Writing Center• Math Learning Lab• Learning Assistance

Center• Killer-Course Supports• Supplemental

Instruction

• Faculty-Student Interactions

• Learning Communities

• First-Year Experience Courses

Focused Efforts

• Students of Color

• BASE – Brothers And Sisters Excelling

• Cincinnati Pride Grant

• Students in Transition • Center for Exploratory

Studies • Career Navigator

Series• Transfer and Lifelong

Learning Center

Research Goal: Determine if Success Challenge is

achieving its goals

1. Are in-state at-risk baccalaureate students graduating at higher rates?

2. Are they graduating in a more timely manner?

Methodology

• 2000 and 2001 First-Time, Full-Time Baccalaureate Degree-Seeking Cohorts

• Compared Success Challenge Participants to SC Non-Participants

– Graduation Rates

– Time to Degree

– Grouped by Pell-Eligibility Status

Methodology

• Degree Sought

• Pell-Eligibility Status

• Residency Status

• Credit Load Level

• Gender

• Ethnicity

• ACT/SAT Scores

• Graduation Status

• SC Participation

• 1st Year GPA

– Defined 2000, 2001 Cohorts– Collected Data:

Control Group

• Chosen from pool of Success Challenge participants

• Match the proportion of Success Challenge non-participants

• Based on stratification variables

Stratification Variables

Variables Categories

Pell-eligibility Pell-eligible

Pell-ineligible

Gender Female

Male

Ethnicity Black

White

ACT/SAT Rank

(Preparedness)

Bottom third

Middle Third

Top Third

No ACT/SAT

Preparedness Groupings

ACT / SATPreparedness

GroupHead Count

Percentage

21 & under 1 1602 33.1

22 – 25 2 1655 34.2

26 and up 3 1576 32.6

no ACT/SAT reported

0 57

Grand Total 4890

Mean ACT/SAT (t-Test)

SC Non-SC Sig.

N ACT N ACT p-val Sig

2000

Pell-elig 111 21.927 111 22.018 0.8691 -

Pell-inelig 484 23.338 484 23.015 0.1936 -

Total 595 23.076 595 22.829 0.2805 -

2001

Pell-elig 107 21.445 107 21.385 0.9174 -

Pell-inelig 386 23.491 386 23.410 0.7491 -

Total 493 23.064 493 22.988 0.7489 -

RESULTS

Success Challenge Participants Do Graduate at Higher

Rates than Non-Participants

2000 Cohort Graduation Rates

SC Non-SC

Yrs to Grad

N % N %

≤4 118 19.8 % 80 13.4 %

≤5 275 46.2 % 195 32.8 %

≤6 309 229

No Grad 286 48.1 % 366 61.5 %

Total 595 100 % 595 100 %

51.9% 38.5%

Success Challenge Participants Do Graduate

in a More Timely Manner than Non-Participants

2000 Cohort Time-to-Degree

SC Non-SC Significance

No TTD No TTD p-val Sig.

Pell Elig 51 27 0.0221 *

Pell Inelig 280 4.73 225 4.76 0.8150 -

Total 331 4.72 252 4.79 0.3452 -

4.69 5.07

2001 Cohort Time-to-Degree

SC Non-SC Significance

No TTD No TTD p-val Sig.

Pell Elig 55 4.71 29 4.93 0.1487 -

Pell Inelig 224 4.75 173 4.92 0.0364 *

Total 279 202 0.0118 *4.75 4.92

Success Challenge Participants Have Better First-Year

Academic Performance than Non-Participants

2000 Cohort First Year GPA

SC Non-SC Significance

N1 yr GPA

N1 yr GPA

p-val Sig

Pell Elig 111 2.688 111 2.329 0.0001 *

Pell Inelig 484 2.798 484 2.666 0.0003 *

Total 595 2.780 595 2.611 <0.0001 *

Validation

• Rising scores in Student Satisfaction as measured by Noel-Levitz Student Satisfaction Inventory

• Rising levels of Student Engagement as measured by NSSE.

Continued Success

University of Cincinnati Uptown Campus Retention Rates (Autumn Quarter, 2008)

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

1st Yr 73.3 75.0 77.4 77.5 78.7 80.0 82.0 82.9

2nd Yr 63.8 66.3 66.7 68.2 70.0 71.2 73.8

3rd Yr 58.5 60.8 63.4 64.7 64.3 66.4

UC Graduation Rate climbs to 55% – Up from 48% just 5 years ago!

UC|Recognition

Awarded National Best Practice Recipient for the institutionalization of enhanced retention and

graduation rates

ByConsortium for Student Retention Data Exchange

at the National Symposium on Student Retention