No More Advising in the Dark: Using Data to Design Interventions

for Specific Student Populations

Mr. Greg DieringerAssistant Dean of University CollegeThe University of Akron

Dr. Jennifer HodgesAssistant Dean of University CollegeThe University of Akron

NACADA Annual ConferenceOctober 2011Session Code 536

• Campus Stats– Located in Akron, OH– Undergraduates: 25,190– Total enrollment: 29,699– 75% of undergraduates are

full time students– 50% male / 50% female for undergraduates– Almost 50% of first-year students live on-campus(16% of all undergraduates live on-campus)– 23% of undergraduates are 25 or older– 96% are from Ohio– 78% receive financial aid– Carnegie Classification:

• Research Universities (high research activity)

Who is The University of Akron?

What information are you already collecting about your students?

• How many of you collect midterm reports?• How many of you use early alerts/warnings?• How many of you have a required FY course?• How many of you have Learning Communities?• Percentage of residential vs. commuter?• Does anyone use products such as MAP-Works,

Grades First, Starfish, etc.?

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What data collection methods do you utilize?

What Do We Know about UA Students?

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Admission Categories• Direct Admits

– Top 21% Admitted Directly into Major– 3.0 or higher HS GPA/19 ACT or higher

• Standard Admits– Middle 62% Admitted into University College– 2.3-3.0 HS GPA/17-23 ACT

• Provisional Admits– Bottom 17% Admitted into Associate of Arts– <2.30 HS GPA/16 or less ACT

What Do We Know about UA Students?

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Basic Demographic & Programatic Data• Residential/Commuter• Participation in FY Programs• Age• Financial Need• Developmental Courses• Majors• PT/FTState and National Reporting Data• Retention & Graduation Rates• HEI, VSA (NSSE & CLA), IPEDS

What else would we like to What else would we like to know about our students and know about our students and their success?their success?

Student Characteristics•Gender•Race/ethnicity•Entrance exam scores•# credit hours enrolled•High school GPA

Self-Assessment•Communication Skills•Analytical Skills•Self-Discipline•Time Management•Health and Wellness

Social Integration•Peer Connections•Living Environment (on/off campus)•Roommate Relationships•Homesickness

Academic Integration•Academic Self-Efficacy•Core Academic Behaviors•Advanced Academic Behaviors•Commitment to Higher Education

Information Collected

MAP-Works Process

• Student Profile• Institution Profile• Campus Resources

• Expectations• Behaviors

• Social Norming• Expectations• Campus Resources

• Student Summary• Sort Students• Coordinate Efforts

Data Inspired Interventions

Course Difficulties

Student-Reported• How many courses are you taking?• Of those, how many are you struggling in?• Regarding the course you’re having the most

difficulty, to what degree:– Have you talked with your instructor regarding your

difficulties– Have you turned in assigned homework– Have you done required readings

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Course DifficultiesFaculty/Staff-Reported• Alerts

– Allows faculty to input alerts for a single student.

• Academic Updates– Allows faculty to input alerts for an entire class section.

• Alerts and Academic Updates are primarily for academic issues such as poor grades, excessive absences, overall risk of failure.

Advisers have access to both student and faculty reported course difficulties to recommend individual strategies...tutoring, academic workshops, withdrawal.

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Student Success Seminar Instructors– Focused course topics on areas in need of attention based on survey results– Created assignments for students to use student reports to develop an

individualized action plan for the semester– Class discussions illustrating survey results for the class cohort

Academic Behaviors &Time Management• How many of your scheduled classes have you

attended this term?• To what degree are you the type of person who:

– Attends class– Takes Good Notes in Class– Spends sufficient study time to earn good grades– Shows up on time– Plans out your time– Makes “to-do lists”– Balances time between classes and other activities

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Fall Transition Written Student Report

Sense of Belonging/Peer Connections

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To what degree:• Do you belong here• Are you fitting inTo what degree are you connectingwith people:• Who share common interests with you• Who include you in their activities

Off-Campus Outreach Team

• MAP-Works questions used to identify 297 students– Intent to Return for Spring and Next Year– Commitment to Institution– Commitment to Completing Degree– Sense of Belonging

• Off Campus Outreach Team– Volunteers from various Student Affairs

departments– Assigned an average of 11 students each– Trained on MAP-Works– Guidelines and Scripts

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Off Campus Outreach Fall 2010 Outcomes

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Residence Life and Housing

• MAP-Works questions used to identify students– Homesickness– Social Aspects– Roommate Relationship– Sense of Belonging

• Keep track of “frequent flyers” prior to survey launch• Integrate Map-Works into everyday work pattern

(student conduct meetings, room changes, etc.)• Map-Works follow up plan submitted by Hall Staff• Used data to create floor and building programs

Fall Cum GPA > 2.5

Fall to Spring Persistence

Spring Cum GPA > 2.5 Fall 2011 Retained

Overall 54.59% 85.34% 56.60% 66.3%

On Campus 62.90% 89.21% 64.66% 70%

Room Type – Single 63.37% 87.21% 66.67% 64.53%

Room Type – Double 66.64% 92.46% 68.00% 67.82%

Room Type – Triple 51.61% 81.72% 53.51% 51.97%

Do I belong here – Green 65.67% 92.98% 65.96% 68.67%

Do I belong here – Yellow 60.28% 87.03% 62.61% 56.69%

Do I belong here – Red 52.59% 71.55% 56.63% 47.41%

RLH MAP-Works Data Points

Commitment to the Institution& Intent to Transfer• To what degree are you committed to completing your

degree at this institution.• To what degree do you intend to come back to this

institution for the:– Spring term– Next academic year

Enrollment Management identified students who indicated they intended to transfer.

• At the time of fall registration, approximately half of those students were enrolled for the fall.

• Of those who had not yet enrolled, 30 students with a 3.0 or higher GPA were offered scholarships as an incentive to stay.– 15 of those students accepted.

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First-Generation Status (and financial need) – Integrated with other interventions

3.0 or higher Less than 2.0 Overall

Mother no college degree

48.8% 60.8% 54%

Father no college degree 50.5% 64.4% 56.2%

Off Campus On Campus Overall

Neither parent has a college degree**respondents only

43.9% 36.1% 39.2%

Off Campus On Campus Overall

100% of financial need met by financial aid**respondents only

37.7% 27.8% 31.8%

UA Fall to Spring Persistence& Fall to Fall Retention

Fall 2010 Outcomes

Off Campus On Campus Overall

Good Standing 68.6% 77% 72.5%

Academic Probation 31.4% 23% 27.5%

Overall 53.5% 46.5%

Persistence Off Campus On Campus Overall

Enrolled Spring 2011

85.2% 88.5% 86.7%

Not EnrolledSpring 2011

14.8% 11.5% 13.3%

Retention Off Campus On Campus Overall

Enrolled Fall 2011 62.9% 70% 66.3%

Not EnrolledFall 2011

37.1% 30% 33.7%

Further Discussion/Questions?

Thank you for your participation!

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Greg Dieringer - gdierin@uakron.edu

Dr. Jennifer Hodges - jhodges@uakron.edu