Getting Serious About Student Retention
Transcript of Getting Serious About Student Retention
Meet the crew…..
Scot BeekmanAssistant Director of Administrative Information Systems, Tech Lead
Heather DarrowStaff Associate for Student Retention
Rebecca LawsonOpen SUNY Concierge & Academic Coach
Who is Broome?• Community College in the State University of New York system
• Approx 7,000 students per semester (Fall 2016)– 4,000 full time – 3,000 part time
• Fall to Fall Retention Rate of 52.1% (2015-‐2016)
“While we have an excellent track record of student success…we are always seeking ways to innovate and improve our students’ experience. We want even more
students to achieve their academic dreams…”
–Kevin E. Drumm, President, SUNY Broome Community College
“I believe that as an institution of higher
education, we have a moral obligation to offer all that is possible to assist with a
student’s success. Starfish has been a meaningful
partner with assisting us to reach this imperative.”
Francis L. Battisti, PhDExecutive Vice President & Chief Academic Officer
Getting Serious…Starfish • Fall 2015
– Pilot Group 40-‐50 faculty and staff
– Manual alerts & progress surveys campus-‐wide
• Spring 2016– Campus-‐wide roll out &
training for faculty & staff • Fall 2016 to present
– Ongoing expansion & optimization
Achieving The Dream• Fall 2016
– Joined ATD network with the goal of improving student outcomes for all
– Looking to streamline and focus our retention efforts
– Move toward a culture of evidence.
Skimming the Surface: Our Early Alert History
• Limited homegrown early alert system in BANNER – Alerts only, no positive feedback– Notifications came from Learning Specialist– No close the loop feature– Only ¼ of faculty using it
Getting on board with Starfish• System Configuration and Staffing• Roles and permissions• Staffing considerations• Academic coaches (Existing staff)• EOP, SSS, Open SUNY, Perkins, LA
Overflow• Triaged intervention approach• Ongoing coordination & collaboration
Lessons Learned: A Tech Perspective
• Banner/Argos/Blackboard/Google Calendar/RR Advisor(Tutor)Trac• Prioritize your data file programming• If integrating with Blackboard, use BB user and section ID’s• Imports are incremental only, full data push available by request• If possible, base roles on position number• Multiple data files for multiple terms for easier troubleshooting• Once live, version your change requests into semester releases
All Hands on Deck!!• Our strategy for improving campus buy-‐in• Starfish Communication Plan
– Fish food messages– Faculty emails
• Starfish training options• Division outreach• Faculty Ambassador program• Orientation demo for students• Faculty “Course Tools”• Faculty resources/website (www.sunybroome.edu/starfish)
Making a Splash with Starfish!
• Faculty usage & alerts have more than doubled over our previous system
• Greater than 2:1 Kudo to Flag ratio• Fall to Spring retention of alerted (flagged) students has risen 7% since our pilot in Fall 2015
89.4%91.1%
77.5%76.2%
70.0%
75.0%
80.0%
85.0%
90.0%
95.0%
Fall 2015 Fall 2016
Fall:Spring Retention Comparison First Time, Full-‐time Students
Students Tracked in Starfish Students Not Tracked in Starfish
# of Students # Retained % Retained # of Students # Retained % RetainedTracked in Starfish 710 635 89.4% 650 592 91.1%Students not Tracked in Starfish 825 639 77.5% 1063 810 76.2%
Fall 2015 Fall 2016