Provost’s Task Force on Student Success
Report

I. Background

Missouri State has a history of conducting activities designed to improve retention and graduation rates. This has been “common knowledge” by many and the work of the Provost Task Force on Student Success confirmed it. Another important finding is that past efforts to improve student success is sporadic and fragmented across units. One of the major recommendations of the committee is to make a directed effort to coordinate student success efforts. Several major initiatives to improve student success in the immediate and more distant future were begun on campus after receiving its charge early in the fall 2006 semester. Many of these efforts are included in the first part of the committee report. The report is in the form of an executive summary with documentation found in the appendices.

II. Composition of Task Force

Belinda McCarthy – Provost, Chair
Barbara Bushman – Graduate College
Yungchen Cheng – Mathematics
Susan Cohen – Adult Student Services
Deborah Cox – Counseling
Kathy Davis – Academic Advisement Center
Martha Kirker – Assessment and Instructional Support
Paul Langston – Institutional Research
Sally Mason – Student Ombudsman
Victor Matthews – Humanities and Public Affairs
Kelly McNeilis – Communication
Pete Richardson – Management
Roger Sell – Academic Development Center
Don Simpson – Enrollment Services
Michelle Visio – Psychology
William Cheek – Office of the Provost (“Managing” Chair)

III. Charge from Provost McCarthy

Plan and make recommendations for implementation of strategies to improve student success, including retention and graduation rates, at Missouri State University.

IV. Steps taken by others during 2006-2007 academic year and endorsed by Task Force

• IDS 110
  • Mike Wood, Director
  • Early intervention by peer leaders and instructors

• Special Admissions
  • Workshops conducted by Susan Martindale
  • Tracking of success (Appendix A.1)

• Intervention in MTH 135
  • Yungchen Cheng
    (Report may be obtained from Mathematic)

• Residence Life Academic Planning
  • Denise Baumann
  • House Calls
  • Special programming designed to improve academic performance
    (Report may be obtained from Residence Life)

• College retention activities

• First Year Experience
  • Eleven persons from Missouri State will attend a conference in June, six from academic affairs and five from student affairs
  • Will allow team to develop first year experience for university
    (Appendix A.2)

• Enrollment retention, and graduation rate data
  • Institutional Research
  • Enrollment Management

• Increasing Student Success: Student Voices and Their Undergraduate Experience
  • Conducted by Academic Development Center with support from the
    Office of the Provost (Appendix A.3)

V. Consultant Visited Campus in November 2006

• Dr. Maribeth Ehasz
• Report contained 10 recommendations (Appendix B)

VI. Task Force subcommittees based on categories of recommendations from Ehasz report

• Three Subcommittees
  • Organizational (Ehasz report recommendations 1, 3, 4)
  • Risk Courses and Student Support Services (Ehasz report recommendations 5, 6, 7)
  • Data Needs (Ehasz report recommendations 1, 2)

 

 

 

VII.     Recommendations by Subcommittees

 

• Designate responsibility for the coordination of comprehensive efforts for retention, graduation rates, and other student success issues to one person
  • Establish advisory committee for retention activitie
    • This to be drawn from current membership of Executive Enrollment Management Committee and Provost’s Task Force for Student Success
  • Endorse decision that this person be an Associate Provost
    • Dr. Cindy Pemberton named
  • Establish Student Ombudsman
    • Ms. Sally Mason named
  • Track student success data
    • Associate Director, Institutional Research
      • Responsible to Associate Provost for enrollment management data
  • Recommend and initiate actions to improve student success
    • Example: intervention for freshmen struggling early in semester
    • Work with Residence Life
    • Work with academic advisors (advisement centers and faculty)

• Identify and monitor freshman success courses (Full recommendations in Appendix C.1)
  • Students who need preparatory/foundation courses, such as MTH 101 and ENG 100, should have access to those courses during their first semester if space is available.
  • Determine courses that have a 75 percent or greater success rate for freshmen. Students should be steered towards these courses. The subcommittee recommended that advisors be educated about higher success rate courses for freshmen.
    • Encourage freshmen to take these courses
    • RELATED: Identify and monitor courses in which freshmen seem to have difficulty (Appendix C.2)
  • A comprehensive list of available tutoring services should be developed and made available to all Missouri State students.
  • Best practices
    • Advisor intervention
    • Develop programs for commuter students
    • Continue or develop tutorial programs in selected area
      • Writing Center (current)
      • Mathematics (current)
      • Selected disciplines

• Data needs
  • Emphasize longitudinal data collection by cohort and other groups
    • This has been done in past, but not continuous
  • Look at chance of success for various beginning courses. The subcommittee recommends looking at several years’ data on student success in specific courses (see recommendations in item b above). The subcommittee also recommends examining number of withdrawals and N’s in these courses, which students are withdrawing, and why they are dropping.
  • Encourage faculty to submit mid-term grades for all freshmen
    • Based on hours
    • The subcommittee recommends continuing practice of submitting mid-term grades for transfer students
    • The subcommittee recommends determining ways that submitting mid-term grades for freshmen and transfer students may be made mandatory
  • The subcommittee recommends advisors be encouraged to follow up with all advisees at mid-term based on submitted grades.
  Appendicies