February 1, 2022
Background:
- The College’s framework for student success provides a roadmap for increasing degree completion and closing the equity gap through college-wide engagement and prioritizing student retention and graduation outcomes.
- The framework will be used to guide CASNR and academic program-level decisions related to student success.
- While providing a framework for the College, it is less prescriptive than a strategic plan, allows more autonomy and creativity, and serves as a unifying way of setting priorities and decisionmaking.
How It Was Developed:
- College-level trend analysis conducted for degree completion outcomes
- Analysis of the types of strategies institutions employ and the impacts on student outcomes
- Interim Teaching and Learning Workshop focused on - More Degrees for More People with More Equity
- Three listening sessions for advisors, student success coaches, instructors, and unit leaders
N2025 Targets:
- 4-year graduation rate increase from 46.9% to 55%
- 6-year graduation rate increase from 67.8% to 72%
- First- to second-year retention rate of 88%
- Equity gap in degree completion reduced from 14.4% to 7%
CASNR 2025 and Beyond Targets:
- Continue to achieve or exceed N2025 Targets for retention and graduation rate
- 4-year graduation rate of 55%
- 6-year graduation rate of 72%
- First- to second-year retention rate of 88%
- In addition, CASNR will embrace our commitment to the University’s land grant mission and establish a long-term goal to increase degree attainment for all students enrolled in CASNR; thereby, contributing to the economic growth and vitality of Nebraska through a talented workforce
- Focus on all CASNR students including those who enter through other pathways beyond full-time first-time freshman
- Closing the equity gap by measuring success of first-generation, Pell-eligible, and underrepresented minorities through degree attainment
Degree Completion
Trend analysis:
Over the last five years, both the four- and six-year graduation rates have been steady to increasing, with the four-year rate increasing from 46.5% to 62.2% (34% increase) and the six-year rate holding steading at around 70%. Notably, for both the four- and six-year graduation, CASNR’s rate has exceeded UNL’s rate for every cohort and CASNR is already exceeding or slightly below the Chancellor’s 2025 targets.
Strategy:
- Focus on holistic student development
- Curriculum linked with experiential learning and co-curricular programming
- Career exploration
- Health and wellbeing
- Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging
- Continue to implement college and degree program-level data-driven best practices and student success initiatives for retention and degree completion
- Leverage university-level student success initiatives
- Establish Student Success Networks
- Goal is for each student to have at least 3 points of contact
- Points of contact examples:
- Unit-level (advisors, degree program point(s) of contact, student success coaches)
- College-level (CASNR Student Success Team, CASNR First Gen Connect, and Career Development Team)
- University-level (Center for Academic Success and Transition, Big Red Resilience and Wellbeing, ISSO, Faculty Fellows for Student Success)
- Emphasis on continuous improvement
- Form a college-level Student Success Working Group to guide college-wide efforts
- Identify and empower decision-makers for each academic program or unit
- College-wide awareness of “Who are our students?”
- Quantitative and qualitative data approaches to drive decision-making
- Workshops and other professional development opportunities for college-wide Student Success Community focused on data-driven best practices for student success and degree completion
- Advising models – professional advisors, faculty, hybrid approach
- Deploy intervention strategies
- Encourage instructors to leverage Canvas as an early alert and implement course design strategies that provide timely feedback to students
- Outreach to students indicating a concern and/or challenge in their responses to the Husker POWER survey
- Expand CASNR’s tutoring support platform with a focus on critical courses that meet the needs of multiple programs
- Utilize UNL graduation planning hold
- Ensure students, faculty, and staff are aware and know how to connect with CASNR CARES, unit-level student success hubs, and university resources
- Leverage unregistered dashboards for outreach to re-engage students not enrolled
- Reactivate your education program
- Deploy emergency funds for students with unexpected or emergency financial shortfalls and connect students facing food insecurity with the East Campus Husker Food Pantry
- Expand student success programming for second- and third-year students
- Annual unit- and degree program-level planning and reporting aligned with the college’s smart enrollment framework and N2025 goals (enrollment, retention, matriculation success, equity gap)
Equity Gap
Trend Analysis:
First-Generation Students: While the First-generation students have lower four-year graduation rates, the gains have exceeded those of the overall College rates. A similar pattern holds with the six-year graduation rate.
Pell-Eligible Students: For Pell-eligible students, there is a similar story for four-year graduation rates, as the gains have exceeded those of the overall College rates. The six-year graduation rate for Pell-eligible students is variable and more difficult to explicate.
For CASNR, both cumulative earned hours and years to degree have steadily fallen over the last eight years (earned hours: 136.7 to 127.9; years to degree: 4.30 to 3.66). At the same time, the cumulative GPA has been steady to rising (3.23 to 3.39). Of note, positive and more substantial trends have been observed among our First-generation students (earned hours: 136.7 to 127.4; years to degree: 4.35 to 3.57; GPA: 3.26 to 3.41) and the Pell-eligible students (earned hours: 137.9 to 128.7; years to degree: 4.46 to 3.64; GPA: 3.17 to 3.34).
Underrepresented Minorities (URM): Unfortunately, there are not enough students in the underrepresented minorities population to draw conclusions (for example, our URM cohort size ranged from 11 to 36). Our population of URM students is very small, and the successful retention or loss of a small number of students can wildly swing the percentages for retention and degree completion.
Strategy for First-Generation and Pell-Eligible Students:
In addition to the strategies identified above:
- Increase number of students participating in the CASNR First Gen Connect as part of the college’s Student Success Networks initiative
- Ensure all First-generation and Pell-eligible students have at least 1 touchpoint with CASNR CARES
- Emphasis on continuous improvement
- Quantitative and qualitative data approaches to evaluate and respond to access and equity barriers for recruitment, retention, and matriculation success
- Workshops and other professional development opportunities for college-wide Student Success Community on narrowing the equity gap and inclusive teaching and learning
- Narrow the DFW equity gap for CASNR courses with more than a 10% equity gap
- Continually assess best practices to identify gaps and opportunities
Strategy for URM students:
In addition to the strategies identified above:
- Focus on individual students rather than percentages
- Use qualitative and quantitative approaches to evaluate and respond to access and equity barriers for recruitment, retention, and matriculation success
- Explore the attributes of retained and degree completion students to create best practices for narrowing the equity gap.
- Qualitative approach (students retained and those that have left the University)
- Identify best practices, gaps, and opportunities:
- Improvement tailored to academic programs and student background
- Ensure accessible pathways for all students
- Increased focus on recruitment initiatives to increase the number of URM students enrolled in CASNR
- Education and Career pathways (FEWS2 LPS, Grand Island, Panhandle, Northeast Nebraska Education Compact)
- Increase CASNR brand to prospective out-of-state students (Jr MANRRS Chapters, Cultivate ACCESS, digital ad marketing, etc.)
- Co-create with students individualized success plans and networks that leverage MANRRS, CASNR Emerging Leaders in Diversity, CASNR First Gen Connect, and other student success programs
- Workshops and other professional development opportunities for college-wide Student Success Community on narrowing the equity gap for URM students and inclusive teaching and learning
- Narrow the DFW equity gap for CASNR courses with more than a 10% equity gap
Responsibility:
Who will be responsible for ongoing review of data related to progress in achieving proposed targets?
- College leadership team in partnership with unit leaders, CASNR Student Success Working Group, and IANR Director of Analytics
Stakeholder Involvement:
How will faculty, staff, and students be involved in achieving the college’s degree completion and equity goals? How will progress be assessed? How will the college’s progress be communicated?
- Leverage the Student Success Working Group, CASNR Faculty Advisory Council, CASNR Curriculum Committee, CASNR Teaching and Learning Improvement Committee, and CASNR Advisors, Recruiters, and Student Success Professionals
- Annual unit- and degree program-level planning and reporting aligned with the college’s smart enrollment framework and N2025 goals (enrollment, retention, matriculation success, equity gap) will be used to assess progress towards degree completion and equity goals
- College progress will be communicated through the CASNR Faculty Advisory Council, CASNR Curriculum Committee, CASNR Teaching and Learning Improvement Committee, CASNR advisor meetings and listserv, IANR Leadership Council, CASNR Student Advisory Board, Student Success Working Group, and CASNR Annual Meeting and Interim Teaching and Learning Workshop