Title III Newsletter - Dakota State University

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Page 2Title III NewsletterTitle III and the Academic Quality Improvement ProgramDSU is a member of the HigherLearning Commission’s AcademicQuality Improvement Program(AQIP). As defined by the HLC,the AQIP process allows an institutionto demonstrate that it meetsaccreditation standards through sequencesof events that align withongoing activities that characterizeorganizations striving to improvetheir performance. As part of theAQIP accreditation process, theUniversity identifies action projectsspecificinitiatives that focus onimprovement efforts. As action projectsare completed or retired, newprojects are selected and submitted tothe Higher Learning Commission’swebsite www.aqip.org. Dakota StateUniversity recently retired the AQIPProject Designing and ImplementingPrograms to Enhance Students Successand Retention. The AQIP reviewercommented that “DSU understandsthat progress must be trackedconcretely and consistently”. DSUsubmitted a new action project titledCollecting and Analyzing Data to ImproveStudent Retention to assess thecontributions that the new retentionprojects (many funded through theTitle III Grant) are making towardstudent retention. The new actionproject also supports the 2007-2012Strategic Plan initiative that focuseson retention and graduation rates.This Action Project began in October2007 and will be completed in September2009.Carrie Ahern, Activity DirectorWIST Women Bring Speakers to CampusDSU’s Women in Science & Technologyprogram provides an opportunityfor women majoring in specificdisciplines to meet and learn withothers who have similar interests andgoals, enabling them to create friendshipsand support networks early intheir academic careers.The newly established group hasbeen hard at work their first fewmonths of existence bringing manynotable speakers to campus. OnMonday, September 24, 2007 Dr.Peter Geltenbort from ILL Grenoble,France presented to the women andothers from across the state of SouthDakota his ideas on cold neutrons thatwere announced earlier that month.On October 24th the WIST programwelcomed Dr. Scott Meyer, VicePresident of Research for the SouthDakota Board of Regents. Dr. Meyerspoke to a good crowd about his pastexperiences with NASA and his workwith many of the astronauts in theprogram.On November 30th, Dr. BarbaraSzczerbinska and nine WIST womentook a trip to Sioux Falls to tour EROS(Earth Resources Observations Systems).The girls sat in on a scienceforum with EROS scientists as well asmet with members of human resourcesto discuss possible internshipsin the future.Thank you to all who have been instrumentalin the creation of thisprogram and to the women who havestepped up as its leaders.WIST OfficersPresident-Jennifer PueppkeVice President-Sarah RostSecretary-Kianne GillesTreasurer-Heather SpechtHistorian-Amanda ClobesFaculty Advisor– Dr. Barbara SzczerbinskaAngie Rime, Retention SpecialistDSU Rocks Again and Again!!On October 4, 2007, Tim Culver,Associate Vice-President for RetentionConsulting at Noel-Levitz,evaluated the third year of DSU’sTitle III Grant. Mr. Culver identified18 specific strengths- a few arelisted below. The full report is availableon the University’s intranet sitewww.intranet.dsu.edu/titleiii.Strengths:“Retention rate increase of five percent”“Staff are all working together toreach objectives”“Strong support of retention initiativesby academic leadership”“Early alert system proving strongoutcomes”“ Dashboard has increased from 13 to30 categories during the past year”“Parent program in development”“Strong endowment option”“GS100-University ExperienceCourse improvement”Mr.Culver provided suggestions forthe University’s next AcademicQuality Improvement Program Projectwhich will be related to evaluatingthe success of each retentioninitiative. He also recommended thatwe continue to engage the RetentionCommittee and the Title III CoordinatingCommittee so that successfulintegration can be maintained.Carrie Ahern, Activity Director
Volume I, Issue 9Page 3Faculty/Advisor Input Vital to Early Alert at DSUThe Early Alert (EA) Referral System,now in its’ 3 rd year, continues togrow! As students become familiarwith the EA process, positive studentfeedback has increased. Followinga referral, many students follow upwith their instructors, academic advisor,or Student Development staff,establishing a valuable line of communication.For 2007-2008, significant improvementsin reporting capabilities havebeen implemented, including onlineaccess to the EA database for instructorsand advisors! Faculty mayreview the status of referrals they’vesubmitted, and those submitted fortheir advisees, such as interventionstaken by the Student Support Specialistor other staff. Of equal importanceis the new capability forinstructors and advisors to reportdirectly to the Early Alert database.Faculty may report additional “action”they have personally taken on the referralusing an online form; and any“outcome” they’ve noted followingprevious interventions.The information that instructors andadvisors may now contribute is vital tothe growth and continued success of theEA system. Early Alert is most effec-We’re on the Web!tive when regularly utilized by facultymembers who consistently report studentissues. Gathering any additionalinformation on intervention outcomesthey may provide following the referralwill assist our continued efforts toevaluate and improve Early Alert atDSU.Patti Beck, Student Support SpecialistFor more information on DSU’s Title IIIGrant, check outwww.departments.dsu.edu/assessment/Title III Pilots New ProjectsEach year, new projects are pilotedto support the Title III Grant Objectives.During the third year of thegrant (October 1, 2006 to September30, 2007), there were severalpilot projects including: developmentof online material to assiststudents with proficiency testing,redesigning the Parent’s Program,and preparing a guide for new students.Three faculty received funding topilot projects to assist our studentswith the statewide proficiency testingprocess. The faculty analyzedseveral data reports which identifiedspecific areas where DSU studentswould benefit from additionalpractice. The faculty conductedreview sessions for the studentswho were retaking the proficiencyexams in March 2007. During thesummer of 2007, faculty developedextensive online review materials thatstudents can use to prepare for the writingexam. Ten of the sixteen studentswho were scheduled to sit for the writingexam in March participated in thereview sessions and accessed materialson the WebCT site. The average scoreimprovement was 3.9 points! In addition,three 2 nd time retesters participatedin the review sessions and all threepassed the retest in March. These materialswere used to help students preparefor the Fall 2007 proficiency tests.DSU implemented several new retentioninitiatives during the summer andearly fall of 2007. The InformationDevelopment Specialist developed proceduresfor student retention assistantsto call the registered freshmen from lastyear to welcome them back to DSUand to answer any questions they mighthave. The Retention Specialist isleading DSU’s Parent Program redesignefforts. The Student SupportSpecialist developed the Keys toSuccess, a guide for new studentswhich was distributed this fall in theGS 100 course.The Faculty Advising SpecialistTeam recommended that the Deansappoint additional faculty to serveon the University’s Retention Committee.This will ensure that the activitiesimplemented during the firstthree years of the grant will continueto be evaluated and improved. DuringYear 4 and Year 5, faculty representativeswill also develop andpilot new college-specific Title IIIprojects.Carrie Ahern, Activity Director

Title III Newsletter - Dakota State University

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?