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K-State Today

October 15, 2019

Student Success Collaborative progress update

Submitted by Mary Tolar

Dear Colleagues, 

The last few months have seen much progress in the effort to redeploy EAB's Student Success Collaborative, known as SSC, platform at K-State. The SSC Redeployment Team would like to provide you a few updates on what has been done and what is coming soon that will enable full use of SSC to enhance student success.

Representatives from all undergraduate programs worked over the summer to update Student Success Markers. Success Markers in SSC are typically courses that correlate strongly with student completion of a degree program. We were overwhelmed by the positive response to this effort and we're happy to report that the newly identified Success Markers are now live in SSC. Please review the Success Markers for students in your program and let us know if they don't appear to be functioning properly.

The SSC Institutional Reports area has been updated. These reports enable analyses of historical data on student academic performance in relation to graduation rates. We are happy to report that the Institutional Reports now include the 2013 incoming class, the most recent students that have six-year graduation data. In the next year, we will work to enable additional analyses for more recent cohorts. 

A pilot test is ongoing in the College of Business Administration and the English Language Program related to SSC Progress Reports. This feature enables faculty, academic advisors, support offices, and students to be more proactive in taking corrective measures that lead to success within a course. During weeks five and 10 of the semester, faculty in the pilot group identify students at-risk of not completing their course. Advisors use this information to proactively intervene with their advisees and refer them for additional support when needed. As this pilot test concludes, results will be shared across the institution for better informed decision making as we work to bring this effort to scale. 

The Predicted Risk Level indicators will be updated over the next few months. The risk levels currently in the system predict students' risk of not graduating. This graduation-focused model will be transitioned to a persistence-focused model in early 2020. Student persistence toward degree is a critical factor in our Strategic Enrollment Focus and we believe the new model be more indicative of students' immediate outlook for success. Another announcement will be made when the change is finalized. 

Positive momentum continues toward pervasive use of SSC across the university. Advisors and support offices that use SSC to automate appointment scheduling report reduced email traffic, enabling them to spend more time working with students. Fewer appointments are missed because students receive automatic text message reminders. Other SSC features, including meeting notes, greatly enhance the potential for coordinated care across the many offices and units that support students. 

If you would like to explore ways you or your unit can utilize SSC, please don't hesitate to contact any member of the Redeployment Team: Lynn Carlin, Brad Cunningham, Greg Eiselein, Scott Finkeldei, Chris Urban, Kristin Waller, Shannon Washburn and myself. We want to work with you to increase efficiency, enhance student support, and help more students successfully navigate their K-State experience from enrollment to degree.

Sincerely, 

Mary Tolar
Interim vice provost for student success