2009 Performance Accountability Report Vol. 2 - Maryland Higher ...

The University’s Strategic Plan also sets high expectations for raising the retention and
graduation rates of all students and closing the achievement gap between minority students and
all students. Numerous initiatives are underway to achieve these goals, some designed
specifically to meet the needs of minority and first-generation students, and others available to
all students.
In FY09, UM developed a unique program to eliminate gaps in the undergraduate academic
success rate associated with race and income. The University launched the Achieving College
Excellence (ACE) program in Fall 2008, with 122 faculty volunteering to be mentors of students
who were entering the University with low math placement scores. Colleges and schools are also
designing new initiatives aimed at retaining and graduating more underrepresented students.
The University established an MFR goal to improve the second-year retention of all UM
minority students from 92% in 2004 to 95% in 2009. For African-American students, the goal
was to increase second-year retention from 89% to 93% over the same time period. The secondyear
retention rate for all minority students was 93% and for African-American students was
91% in FY09. The student success programs and policies described above should continue to
improve progress towards these benchmarks.
MFR goals also aimed to increase the six-year graduation rates for all undergraduates by seven
percentage points in five years, from 73% in FY04 to 80% in FY09. As of Fall 2009, the
University had reached a six-year graduation rate of 82%, exceeding its goal. For all minorities
the goal was to increase the rate from 66% in FY04 to 73% in FY09. By Fall 2009, the six-year
graduation rate for minorities was 76%, well above the University’s goal. The rate for African-
American students was expected to increase from 57% to 64% over the same period. The
African-American six-year graduation rate was 70% in FY09, six percentage points higher than
our 2009 goal.
In addition, in the Strategic Plan, the University established ten-year goals to reduce the gap in
graduation rates by 2014 for African-American students and Hispanic students by 50% and 40%,
respectively. Despite a thirteen-percentage-point increase in the graduation rate for African-
American students between FY04 and FY09, the gap in graduation rates between African-
American students and all students is currently at eleven percent. The gap in graduation rates
between Hispanic students and all students is at ten percent. Our goal is to reduce this gap to
eight percentage points for African-American students and three percentage points for Hispanic
students by 2014. The University’s retention initiatives should contribute to success in achieving
these goals.
Goal 3. Expand our Maryland family of alumni and constituents to achieve a network of
support that is the hallmark of an outstanding research institution.
MFR measures for this goal address effectiveness in fundraising and alumni involvement.
Annual Giving. FY 2009 has been challenging for fundraising due to the worst recession in
several decades. Nevertheless, the University has made progress. At the end of FY09, the
cumulative total for our Great Expectations campaign was $645 million, keeping pace with the
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