Year 1: Activities and support
Step 1: Shared vision
What is the current state of affairs in our department when it comes to retention? What are our collective aspirations?
Department activities
- Identification of key challenges and a collective vision for student success
- Review of existing data to understand retention and equity gaps
- Identification of additional data needed
- Initial drafting of retention goals and metrics for success
Data Team support
SERP orientation session
- COAS retention goals
- Collective Impact
- Targeted Universalism
- Strategic retention planning resources
Data consultations
- Fate data
- Course-level data
- Student experience data
- Data organization and interpretation strategies
Year 2: Activities and support
Step 1: Launch preparation
What data and systems need to be in place before we begin?
Department activities
- Organize baseline data
- Finalize retention metrics
- Finalize systems for tracking student participation and outcomes
Data Team support
Data consultations:
- Refinement of metrics and measures
- Data organization
- Assistance with data tracking tools
Strategic planning resources
The COAS SERP Data Team will draw from a number of existing strategic planning resources as they support departments.
SERP Frameworks
Our COAS SERP centers on two frameworks that are essential to the larger vision:
- With Collective Impact as our guide, we resist the template of isolation and defensiveness and instead embrace the power of the collective. Members of collective impact networks aim to “advance equity by learning together, aligning, and integrating their actions to achieve systems-level change.”
- Through Targeted Universalism, we make a commitment to prioritizing needs assessment before action. Our year-long training and planning process allows adequate time for goal-setting, data disaggregation, analysis of structural barriers and the design of strategies that target key structural gaps.
Example Strategic Planning Resource: The Tamarack Collective Impact Toolkit
Needs assessment and planning
Disaggregated retention data helps us to identify which groups are in need of attention, but it does not provide any magical answers as to why some student groups are performing better than others and what interventions are needed. Compiling equity gap data is one step in a larger process of needs assessment and strategy planning. Needs assessment involves a number of research strategies, including the identification and examination of existing qualitative data (e.g., student surveys, focus groups); review of existing research on underrepresented students and promising practices; and the design and implementation of additional data collection efforts. Ideally, these research activities are conducted in collaboration with students who are members of the groups in focus.
Example Strategic Planning Resource: Knowing our Students: Understanding & Designing for Success (Achieving the Dream Guidebook)
High-Impact Practices and evidence-based strategies
Once we have a better understanding of particular groups’ experiences— the barriers they’ve faced and the supports they need— we can move to designing targeted interventions. The recommendation here is to focus on changes to structures, rather than isolated efforts that impact a small number of students. High Impact Practices (HIPs) have been found to improve retention, particularly for underserved student populations, primarily because they are designed to address structural barriers and can be scaled across a department or university. In addition, a number of evidence-based strategies, such as peer mentoring and success coaching, have received attention more recently as effective interventions for students at risk of stopping out.
Example Strategic Planning Resource: Achieving the Dream’s Teaching and Learning Toolkit
Implementation guides
Drawing on the field of public health, we will also explore resources from the research domain of Implementation Science, which focuses on the adoption and integration of evidence-based strategies in real-world contexts. Although the focus of this field is primarily on evidence-based practices and in healthcare settings, the frameworks and tools have relevance to higher education. Implementation Science recognizes that the adoption of evidence-based strategies is not an easy or straightforward process; it requires careful planning, monitoring and evaluation.
Example Strategic Planning Resource: Implementation Science at a Glance (NIH/NCI Guide)