Transition

Student
SUCCESS
They’ve been classified by higher education experts as “the murky
middle” — those students in the middle of the spectrum who many
colleges and universities tend to leave to their own devices.
T
THEY ARE THE STUDENTS WHO
manage to get through their first year without
raising any red flags, yet stand a good
chance of dropping out before completing
their degree.
Those students are the target of a new
partnership between the University of
Arkansas at Monticello and the Education
Advisory Board (EAB). UAM recently
joined more than 1,000 colleges and universities
from across North America
and Europe in utilizing EAB to improve
graduation and retention rates. EAB was
established in 2007 to serve as an advisor
and performance improvement partner
for higher education using best practice
research, data analytics, technology and
consulting services.
UAM’s involvement with EAB is part
of a Student Success Collaboration initiated
by new Chancellor Karla Hughes to
improve both retention and graduation
rates while remaining true to UAM’s historical
role as an open admissions institution.
“Being an open admissions university
makes us unique within higher education
in Arkansas,” Hughes explained, “but it
does not mean that we have to lower our
standards. On the contrary, with effective
remediation, direction to appropriate
degree pathways, and services focused on
retention and completion, we can improve
student outcomes while honoring our traditional
role as a campus of opportunity.”
As a partner with EAB, UAM will have
access to analytics and training to improve
work flow and decision-making; academic
analytics and predictive modeling to help
faculty advisors analyze student data to
identify at-risk students and direct them
to the appropriate services for assistance
that will lead to success; communication
platforms and tools for student case management
and centralized advising notes;
analytics for institutional administrators
that highlight indicators of student success
and aid in institutional decisions; and
access to a network of higher education
institutions to exchange ideas concerning
student success.
“EAB will be able to provide hard
data which we can use as a foundation
for the decisions we make with respect to
student success,” said Hughes. “In an era
of performance-based funding, evaluating
what we are doing with a different lens,
while learning from others, may be the
most cost effective and efficient way to
improve student outcomes.”
12 UAM Magazine