This presentation focuses on the intentional redesign of an institution’s academic support services toward an integrated, data-informed peer-to-peer model.
Following the loss of significant external funding, efforts to sustain or revitalize the college’s student academic services were grounded within the institution’s ongoing strategic planning process. This set the stage for an expanded service scope; retained the unit’s focus on serving high potential student cohorts, and introduced new models for support (i.e., strengths-based; leveraging the co-curricular transcript to capture the development of skills and competencies for college and career). Despite the new budgetary reality and fiscal constraints, the services have demonstrated compelling outcomes and challenged deficit-based opinions related to student learning and success.
The leading questions are often the same: How do we turn a negative into a positive? How can we do more with less? How will we know if it’s working?
This session seeks to illustrate how data and new models of support can inform strategy and intentional design in student success efforts; how those efforts can be assessed; and, how the assessment outcomes can then be utilized to raise awareness of, and support for, broader institutional initiatives focused on equity and social mobility. Finally, we will model the importance of cross departmental collaboration as central to student success.
Presenters will share lessons learned, next stage planning, and facilitate a brief discussion around the topic so that participants can share related insights.