Sacramento State

Graduation Initiative

Student Affairs Division MeetingOctober 18, 2011

Lori Varlotta, VPSA

Graduation Initiative (GI) OverviewAs part of a national and systemwide endeavor, Sacramento State’s Graduation Initiative aims to:Increase the overall number of

degrees awardedDecrease the achievement gap

between underrepresented minority (URM) students, and non-URM students

CSU-Specific GoalsBy 2015-2016, the CSU Chancellor has charged all 23 campuses to:Attain graduation targets for

freshmen and transfer students that put them in the top quartile of peer institutions

Reduce—by half—the achievement gap between URM and non-URM students

Sacramento State-Specific Goals1. Increase the six-year graduation

rate of first time freshmen by 8%2. Increase the four-year graduation

rate of transfer students by 5%3. Close the URM/non-URM FTF

achievement gap by 5% (current gap is ~10%)

4. Close the URM/non-URM TFR achievement gap by ~2.5% (current gap is ~5%)

What Makes Our Approach Unique in the System?1. Its thematic organization2. A truly joint venture between

Student Affairs and Academic Affairs

3. The use of URM programs and services as a prototype for more general programs and services

Our Five Themes:1. Services that Support2. Learning that Counts3. Defining and Developing Faculty

Roles that Promote Retention and Graduation

4. Incentives that Motivate5. Recruit-Back Strategies that Re-

Engage Students Who Stopped Out

A Comprehensive, Integrated ApproachThese themes, jointly formulated and operationalized by Student Affairs and Academic Affairs, identify, organize, and prioritize programs and services that facilitate progress to degree.

An important aspect of the Graduation Initiative is to communicate to all community members—the faculty in particular—that the University’s retention and graduation efforts involve everyone.

Broadening the Programs that WorkCampus-level data show that particular groups of students (e.g., freshmen, EOP participants, athletes, veterans, and probation students) who receive targeted advising, support, tutoring, and mentoring do better than the overall student population in terms of continuation and/or graduation. Therefore, we are interested in expanding many of these “special programs” to a more general student population.

The Involvement Plan1. Hold a series of activities and

trainings to foster campus involvement around degree completion

2. Charge a cross-divisional group of Student Affairs/Academic Affairs administrators, faculty, and staff to examine advising systems and structures

The Involvement Plan3. Grow and expand the usage of a

retention tracking tool to assess retention, advising, and tutorial support programs

4. Formulate a research team to assist with special projects and to aid in publication development

Current and Future Programs and ServicesMany programs and services are currently in place; others are “on the horizon” pending the identification of additional resources.

The following slides delineate some of our most successful programs as well as those we hope to implement.

Services That Support—Current “One Stop” Success Centers:

Student-Athlete Resource Center (SARC)

Veterans Success Center Educational Opportunity Program

(EOP) Mandatory Freshman/Transfer

Advising Intrusive advising for “at-risk”

students on academic probation

Student-Athlete Resource CenterThe SARC has contributed to the success of Sac State student athletes, whose first-year retention rate (86%) and four-class average graduation rate are higher than the overall student population.

Veterans Success CenterThe Veterans Success Center has contributed to the success of Sac State veterans whose average first-year retention rates (85%) and term GPAs (3.11) are higher than the overall student population.

Educational Opportunity Program (EOP)EOP students are individuals who have the potential to succeed at Sacramento State, but have not been able to realize their goal for a higher education because of their economic and/or educational background.

EOP provides: Admissions assistance A special orientation to the university Academic advising, personal counseling, and

tutoring Financial aid advising and information An EOP grant award for eligible EOP

students Course placement and planning Learning and study strategies Participation in a required EOP Learning

Community Referrals to other university special

programs and services Enrollment in a second-semester transition

program to aid with adjustment to university life

Orientation and Advising Mandatory first year orientation and

advising program has helped to bolster first-year continuation rates by 8.5%

The mandatory second year advising program for probation students has helped to double the “good standing” rates for students in the program

Services That Support—Future Create a Learning Resource Center

as a campus hub for tutoring/mentoring programs

Design and implement an early-warning alert system for at-risk students, and link that system to tutoring and advising services

Learning that Counts—Current Emerging four-year and two-year

Roadmaps to Degree for each major

Roadmaps to Degree Each department is currently

developing one page, easy to follow “roadmaps” to degree

These roadmaps help students simultaneously navigate GE and “Major” policies and avoid roadblocks

Example Degree Roadmap—Ethnic Studies

Learning that Counts—Future Develop a Sophomore Success

Curriculum that is prominent and broadly accessible to all second-year students

Provide a credit-bearing option for students in math remediation modeled after the English Stretch option

Defining and Developing the Faculty Role—Current Faculty-led Living Communities in

the Residence Halls: Fitness and Wellness Leadership and Community

Engagement Social Justice and Global

Community

Defining and Developing the Faculty Role—Current Campus-wide training sessions are

in place for Fall 2011 and Spring 2012 to help faculty get involved in the advising process and use the new roadmaps

Defining and Developing the Faculty Role—FutureSecure “buy-out” time for faculty

involved in Residential Hall Living CommunitiesExpand opportunities for faculty to

rotate through Academic AdvisingIncrease the amount of advising

interaction between faculty and studentsIncrease the number of faculty with

advising experienceDevelop structured and purposeful

advising programs in every academic department

Incentives that Motivate—Current

Leadership Initiative (LI) Provide a credit-bearing “Experiential

Leadership” course that is connected directly to the Leadership Initiative Class was approved three weeks ago!

Host an annual “Degrees to Dreams” reception for scholarship recipients and donors

Leadership Initiative (LI)The LI engages students in co-curricular

activities which tie into their academic studies and helps them develop their leadership skills.

Students progress through a series of certificates, earning one after another at their own pace depending on their goals.

Students advance through the program by becoming increasingly engaged in programs and activities.

Leadership Initiative (LI)Student participation in the LI has rapidly

increased in its second year, from 70 to 700 students.

The LI was designed using local and national data, which suggests a positive relationship between student co-curricular engagement and persistence and graduation of URM students.

Leadership Initiative (LI)Participation in the Leadership Initiative provides many incentives for students:A semester-end ceremony that

recognizes all student participants who have earned co-curricular leadership certificates

An e-Portfolio that allows students to track and showcase (for use in resumes, graduate school applications, etc.) all of the academic, co-curricular and work experiences they logged in during their time at Sacramento State

Leadership Initiative (LI) The LI will be supported long-term

in part by the Full Circle grant just awarded to Sacramento State’s Ethnic Studies and College of Social Sciences.

The grant is meant to bolster recruitment, retention, and graduation rates among Asian American and Pacific Islanders in particular.

Grant funds will support a full-time program advisor for the Leadership Initiative.

Incentives that Motivate—Future Financially support faculty/student

research that fosters innovations in retention and persistence practices

Better and more routinely publicize this research through media outlets such as:Publications, social networks, webinars, and live media coverage

Outreach and Recruit-Back Strategies—Current Reach out to students who were

eligible to enroll for Fall 2010 but had not done so by June 2011 Messages were sent in June, July

and August Of ~2,500 students in this

category, roughly 500 re-enrolled Many had registration or financial

aid issues that Student Affairs was able to address

Outreach and Recruit-Back Strategies—Future Develop mechanisms to track the

reasons students depart Engage in retention and recruit-

back promotional campaigns to keep students enrolled

Reach out to student groups most likely to return (i.e. students in good standing, non-traditional students, etc.)

GI Steering CommitteeExecutive Team LeadersJoseph Sheley Provost and Vice

President for Academic Affairs Lori Varlotta Vice President for

Student Affairs

GI Steering CommitteeCommittee Co-chairsMarcellene Watson-Derbigny

Associate Vice President, Student Retention and Academic Success

Kathryn Palmieri Associate Director, Academic Advising Center

GI Steering CommitteeStudent Affairs Committee Members

Brigitte Clark Associate Director, Career Center

Jasmine Murphy Scholarship & Customer Service, Financial Aid Office

Ed Jones Associate VP, Campus Life/GI Team Leader Emeritus (Theme #1)

GI Steering CommitteeDena Lemus Assistant Director of

Admissions and Outreach/GI Team Leader (Theme #5)

Karlos Santos-Coy Leadership Programs Coordinator, Student Organizations & Leadership/GI Team Leader (Theme #4)

Thank you.