What 30+ rising higher education leaders learned in EAB’s spring 2024 fellowship

Decision Support for Academic Programs

Michael W. Bowden, Assistant Vice President for Planning & Assessment, Coppin State University

Challenge: New academic programs are often developed and implemented without sufficient information on demand and a focus on program viability. Information on process and use of data indicators to monitor implementation success are frequently not available to ease of faculty use.

Project: The Decision Support for Academic Programs presentation is designed to provide faculty members with tools which include a blueprint, data, and workshops to develop and implement programs that retain relevancy to institutional mission, meet workforce needs, and evolve with student demand.

Early Results: After presenting preliminary information related to my presentation, curricular undergraduate and graduate committees are advising faculty members to use the resources presented prior to presenting their proposals for internal approval. Both curricular committees have adopted the forms for external protocols and faculty have made use of the data resources as they plan to launch new programs during fall 2024.

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Improving Peer Evaluation of Teaching

Toni M. Torres-McGehee PhD, SCAT, ATC, FACSM, Associate Dean for Access & Collective Engagement and Director of Athletic Training Programs, University of South Carolina–Arnold School of Public Health

Problem: Despite the critical role that teaching plays at our institution; the evaluation of teaching effectiveness for faculty lacks rigor and consistency across both the tenure and non-tenure track faculty lines.

Solution:

• Review current peer evaluation of teaching practices and barriers
• Integrate best practices for peer evaluation of teaching with a focus on development of consistent process and standardized criteria, comprehensive training, and ensuring fair and objective reviews

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Developing a Roadmap for a Comprehensive Resource Plan

Jeffrey Palmer, Assistant Vice President of Academic Affairs Planning and Financial Strategy, University of South Florida

Challenge: As a finance professional entering a new work environment, developing a credible resource plan from a relatively blank canvas can be a daunting exercise.

Project: The objective is to develop a roadmap for building, delivering and enhancing a robust resource allocation plan for university stakeholders. Having a strategic approach in mind at the outset will maximize efficiencies and deliver important value to the enterprise sooner rather than later.

Early Results: Necessary institutional knowledge was cultivated by identifying key constituents early on and forging those relationships, applying past experiences to assess comparable and/or contrasting dynamics, and adjusting accordingly. I also supplemented the feedback/intelligence received from colleagues by pursuing and examining relevant materials posted on various university webpages, and I became familiar and fluent with systems and reporting — a critical component for the desired outcome. Preliminary plans/reporting portfolios continue to take shape as the focuses and priorities shift in accordance with the fiscal calendar.

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Academic Resource Allocation Planning

Kari Saunier, Associate Provost, Academic Budget and Planning, Ohio University

Challenge: Develop a new methodology for academic resource allocation amongst the colleges that balances and aligns resources with strategic priorities, while ensuring institutional financial strength.

Project: Through this project, I have developed my understanding of budget models and identified limitations of our current model. The goal is to create an allocation methodology that is simple enough to understand and predict, powerful enough to support decisions that benefit the institution, and nimble enough to provide transitional support to the colleges. The allocation methodology must be supported by shared principles to ensure institutional benefit, minimize internal competition, and reduce incentives to favor activity based upon model methodologies.

Early Results: We have begun facilitating conversations with our college deans regarding allocation methodologies, shared principles, and key metrics. We are working through modeling of different options for review and input, as well as developing data dashboards to support the underlying data and analysis.

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Financial Training Program Proposal

Fran Lawrence, University Controller, NC State University

Challenge: My challenge is to create and implement a comprehensive financial training program at North Carolina State University for over 1,000 users that have access to enter and approve financial data in the financial system.

Project: Create a training plan for campus partners that will focus on web-based training modules in the areas of responsibility in the University Controller’s Office. This includes travel, accounts payables, capital assets, accounts receivable, taxes, payroll, internal controls, and journal entries. The web-based training modules will be based on a published manual with more detail and resources available.

Early Results: From the training plan, we have completed an Asset Management Certification Program, an Accounting 101 course, and created a manual that will be the basis for the Internal Controls for Financial Data training. We have received positive feedback from campus and utilized finance partners as testers/reviewers for these projects.

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Governance Structure Proposal for Learning Spaces

Gavan Watson, PhD, Vice Provost of Teaching and Learning, Queen’s University

Challenge: Queen’s University faces a challenge in providing strategic oversight and cohesive management for both physical and virtual learning spaces. Existing governance structures were fragmented, leading to inefficiencies and redundancies in resource allocation and technology use.

Project: The capstone project aimed to develop a unified governance model for learning spaces and educational technology at Queen’s University. This model combines oversight of both physical and virtual environments into a single framework, addressing the strategic integration of technology and space design. Although the initial meeting with EAB staff did not provide direct insights, broader trends and best practices in higher education were shared and considered. Consultations with senior leaders, including the Chief Information Officer and the Provost & Vice Principal Academic, were pivotal in shaping the proposal.

Early Results: As the capstone project was focused on drafting the governance there are no early results. The expected outcomes, however, of this project include a reduction in the duplication of tools, increased efficiency in resource utilization, and harmonization of learning spaces across the university. By implementing this governance structure, Queen’s University anticipates enhanced student learning experiences through a more cohesive and strategically aligned educational environment.

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Formalizing the Capital Planning Process

Adam Tate, Executive Director of Finance, The University of Alabama

Challenge: The University of Alabama needed a comprehensive approach to capital planning that included project prioritization and financial modeling.

Project: Formalizing the capital planning process included identifying the key stakeholders to be involved at all points along the plan and create a consolidated approach that would produce outputs relative to the priority of capital projects, capital spend by funding source, a 5-10 year financial model, and projected financial ratios.

Early Results: The capital planning model was used extensively in the lead-up to the next planned bond issuance for The University of Alabama, which was approved at the June board meeting, with the expectation to complete the bond issuance by September 2024. This new capital planning model allowed for a collaborative approach with executive leadership which helped to map out a clear path forward.

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Allegany Gives Day of Giving: Designing and Implementing a Giving Day Initiative

Courtney Jensen, Director of Grants & Development, Allegany College of Maryland

Challenge: My capstone project focuses on designing and implementing a Giving Day initiative tailored for Allegany College of Maryland, with the goal of fostering community involvement, generating funds for targeted campus funds, and nurturing a culture of philanthropy within our community college setting. Allegany College of Maryland has never hosted a digital fundraising campaign of this magnitude. This fundraiser will be the first annual Giving Day Campaign. The goal of this campaign is to rain $62,000 for 62 years of service.

Project: My capstone project focuses on designing and implementing a Giving Day initiative for Allegany College of Maryland, aiming to foster community involvement, generate funds for targeted campus projects, and nurture a culture of philanthropy within our community college. This initiative, led by the Advancement Department, will have a profound impact by securing critical resources, enhancing community engagement, and elevating the institution’s reputation. By the end of the Fellowship, success will be marked by the completion of a comprehensive pre-event marketing and promotion strategy, establishment of a solid fundraising framework, and the initiation of fundraising activities, ensuring a successful Giving Day event.

Early Results: Our Giving Day initiative at Allegany College of Maryland has yielded impressive early results. We successfully raised $88,627, achieving 142% of our initial goal. The fundraiser resulted in 383 donors, including 57 new donors, showing strong community support and engagement. Additionally, we saw a significant increase in social media activity and overall engagement, highlighting the initiative’s success in fostering a culture of philanthropy within our college community.

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Academic Anxiety About Disability Accommodations in Law School

Jason J. Jarvis, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Pepperdine Caruso Law

Challenge: Like many universities and law schools, Pepperdine Caruso School of Law is experiencing an unprecedented increase in students with disabilities and accommodations. This has created pernicious academic, organizational, and cultural effects and burdens.

Project: My capstone project is designed to present the problem to an academic but non-law school audience and share our strategies for alleviating it.

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Developing Culturally Informed Strategies to Recruit In-State Business Students of Color

Olivia Law-DelRosso, Assistant Dean, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Belonging, College of Business, Kansas State University

Challenge: My goal was to develop a strategic plan to position the K-State College of Business for diverse enrollment growth.

Project: Using EAB research I identified best practices for recruiting students in underrepresented racial and ethnic groups. I met with key administrators on campus to discuss their strategic plans for recruiting underrepresented students and opportunities to partner for mutual benefit.

Expected Future Results: I have developed a strategic plan using the EAB Strategic Plan resources and templates. The plan includes identified financial resources, key people with similar responsibilities and goals to partner with, and two specific solutions with measurable outcomes. We expect to improve representation to help meet the university’s goal of growing total enrollment to 30,000 learners.

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Investing in a Website Content Strategy to Support Strategic Enrollment

Giselle Luevanos, Senior Director of Communications and Marketing, California State University San Marcos

Challenge: My strategic goal was to outline a plan for how California State University San Marcos can invest in a website content strategy to support strategic enrollment during a particularly challenging budget and staffing year.

Project: With help from EAB resources including the EAB Student Communication Preferences Survey results and the .edu Content Strategy from EAB Agency Services, I was able to build a case for the importance of this work and its impact on strategic enrollment. I paired that with direct data from my institution’s Google Analytics. Overall this initiative is supported by leadership, but we are in need of a roadmap and process for moving forward given circumstantial challenges.

Early results: I completed a roadmap and phased implementation plan to present and hopefully use to identify key stakeholders and an project management working group that can own this project and see it to completion.

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Visitor Experience, Community Engagement & Brand Showcase

Kelli Hollinger, Director of Visitor Experience, Texas A&M University

Challenge: Following extensive organizational change at the unit, department, division and university-level, the Visitor Experience team was working toward a clearer vision that showcases its expanded services, defines its value proposition, and maximizes its impact within the future Aplin Center.

Project: I explored lessons learned from evolving the visitor experience’s purpose as a channel for enrollment goals, community engagement and brand experience.

Early Results: Through internal review of core branding messages and external focus to partner with community tourism boards and local events, campus recruitment programs can better personalize messaging for diverse Gen Z audiences.

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How Can University of the Ozarks Integrate Admission and Athletics to Stabilize Ideal Athletics Enrollment?

Joey Hughes, Executive Director of Admission, University of the Ozarks

Challenge: My focus was to build a plan to integrate Admission and Athletics at University of the Ozarks to stabilize athletic enrollment. The market and industry changes since the COVID pandemic have caused destabilization to the ideal athletic enrollment of 37% of the student body.

Project: I worked with a committee of three head coaches at Ozarks to identify opportunities and blind spots in collaboration. I also surveyed three NCAA Division 3 colleges to gather current information about the relationship between Athletics and Admission, and how Athletics uses data to define best fit students.

Early Results: Through my research, it became clear to me that all colleges need to focus more on strategic planning for and with Athletics. Over the next six months, Ozarks will focus on building a strategic plan with Athletics. We are also creating a recruiting team for all who recruit on campus and optimizing data analyzation for Athletics.

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The Middle-Income Student…A Financial Aid Opportunity to Be Explored

Jevita R. Rogers, Assistant Vice Chancellor of Financial Aid and Student Employment, University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS)

Challenge: In a time of declining college age students and increased competition to attract, retain and graduate students, it has become increasingly important to find new and unique ways to look into a new financial aid funding opportunity for its students.

Project: This project allowed me to look at the national trends and opportunities that are happening nationally and to create an innovative financial aid program that could have multiple benefits to my public, regional university. Researching the national income trends along with the new FAFSA simplification from the U.S. Department of Education, which became effective for the 2024-2025 academic year coupled with the needs of UCCS, which has been struggling to increase our retention, persistence and graduation rates.

Early Results: As UCCS is starting to return to all campus budget reviews and also finalize it’s Strategic Enrollment Plan (SEP) for the upcoming year, this fellowship has allowed me to look at a new proposal for the next fiscal year as we prepare to for approval of the plan. As a co-leader for the financial aid and fiscal health subcommittee for the SEP, I have been able to utilize my work on that project with the fellowship.

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Enhancing Student Learning and Experience through Campus Wellness, Student Well-being, and Mental Health Initiatives on ELC Campuses

Christopher Lemasters, Dean of Students, Randolph College

Challenge: The ever-increasing demand for mental health resources is severely impacting students, faculty, and staff. Counseling centers are understaffed and unable to keep up with demand. The staff/faculty/peer leaders are undertrained to assist with the resultant mental health support work.

Project: Randolph College (RC) is a part of the Endeavor Learning Collaborative (a group of 13 small, private institutions) that received funding for a five-year project to support work on mental health and wellness. My work focused on immediate improvements to RC’s campus, as well as leading the expanded services ELC group.

Early Results: RC created new health and well-being spaces on campus, developed/approved a contemplative studies minor, and began offering telehealth services to our students. The expanded services group hopes to bring trauma informed training to all ELC campuses in the upcoming academic year.

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A Wellness Strategic Plan: Strengthening a Culture of Care

Kha’ Sadler, PsyD, Associate Provost for Wellness and Inclusivity, Rowan University

Challenge: My capstone aims to establish and organize Rowan University’s wellness and overall well-being goals for the campus community. Rowan University currently lacks a Wellness Strategic Plan (WSP). As Rowan embarks on the journey toward an R1 institution, a Wellness Strategic Plan plays a vital role in creating a clear path toward establishing a healthy, supportive, and thriving campus community. We are agile, inclusive, and responsive to the holistic health and well-being of constituents, and embedding wellness into our University of the Future is paramount.

Capstone Project: This project focuses on creating a University Wellness Strategic Plan to provide Rowan University with a structural and formalized process of identifying wellness goals for campus constituents, including students, faculty, staff, and administrators. The strategic plan will integrate the Okanagan Charter, an International Charter for Health Promoting Universities and Colleges and will use a socioecological model to conceptualize and understand the work.

Early Results: A Wellness Strategic Plan Taskforce has been created and subcommittees were established based on the five priorities identified. A rough draft of the Wellness Strategic Plan and an executive summary will first be presented to the Senior Vice-President for Academic Affairs/Provost, followed by the President’s Cabinet.

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Prioritizing Well-Being on Campus: Exploring the Role of a Chief Wellness Officer (CWO)

Eileen Lubeck, Psy.D., Dean of Students, William Paterson University

Challenge: In recent years, it has become more apparent that well-being is a retention issue, both for students and for faculty/staff in higher education settings. Colleges and universities have long had services in place to attend to the needs of students. However, research suggests that faculty/staff are becoming overwhelmed and overburdened and are more likely to leave if their needs are not addressed as well.

Project: I reviewed a multitude of position descriptions, beginning with those that appeared in EAB’s white paper, “The Rise of the Chief Wellness Officer”, and explored the various responsibilities of CWOs who oversee student well-being and those who oversee well-being for the entire community.

Results: I believe there are many potential benefits of a Chief Wellness Officer who would be responsible for well-being programs and initiatives designed to serve the entire campus community. At the conclusion of the fellowship, a position description, and a proposal for an inaugural Chief Wellness Officer, will be submitted to the President for his consideration.

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Integrating Shifting Student Demographics with Research and Institutional Mission

Barrie Bode, Interim Associate Vice President for Research, Northern Illinois University

Challenge: Northern Illinois University is a regional public research university that serves a largely first-generation student population, many of whom require enhanced support, in the face of declining enrollments, budgets and shifting student demographics. As a Carnegie R2 emerging research institution, NIU must reconcile its research mission with these challenges and status as an emerging Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI).

Project: As Associate Vice President for Research and Innovation Partnerships (RIPS) and active researcher, my capstone project focuses on building regional community college partnerships to recruit students to NIU through STEM education networks, leveraging our Offices of Student Engagement and Experiential Learning (OSEEL), and Outreach, Engagement and Regional Development (OERD), as well as our Wastewater Surveillance Testing (WST) Lab that I direct. The regional community colleges I focus on are also HSI designated institutions, which will help contribute to enrollments and sustain our HSI status moving forward, a designation that opens opportunities for external resources to support our mission.

Early Results: As proof-of-concept, an emerging partnership with Waubonsee Community College in Aurora, IL was initiated through an existing network connection with an NSF-funded STEM training grant. Students in the NSF-funded program will visit our WST lab, and meetings between institutional administrators were arranged, including our community college liaison and the directors of Latinx Centers on both campuses, which help set and establish the environmental support infrastructure for success in HSI institutions, to share best practices for recruited students. Collectively, this integration of missions will allow NIU to serve the evolving needs of the region and state in the future.

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Building an International Research Office at NYU

Jason St. Germain, Senior Director, Office of Sponsored Programs, New York University

Challenge: How to make NYU #1 in Science and Tech as part of NYU President Linda Mills’ vision and strategic pathways for the future of the institution.

Project: I reviewed resources developed or shared by EAB, EAB member institutions, NCURA and internal NYU documents and data detailing NYU’s international activities, its international research portfolio and existing resources/infrastructure supporting global programs.

Early results: Developed for NYU senior leadership’s consideration an initial recommendation that a centralized International Research Office be created at NYU to support international research (sponsored and non-sponsored) at NYU’s global sites and campuses and activities involving key institutional research partners (KAIST, IIT-Kanpur). Three key roles and responsibilities for an International Research Office were proposed (Collaboration Support, Project Management, Research Security) with preliminary key performance indicators (KPIs) for each noted.

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Preparing Merrimack to Become an R2 Institution

Lindsey Carbone, Assistant Dean & Director, Graduate Student Life, Merrimack College

Challenge: Merrimack College has been growing at an advanced rate over the past decade and has the goal of becoming an R2 institution by 2034. With that comes many moving parts. There is much work to do in building and restructuring existing programs, implementing new doctoral programs and supporting faculty and students on their research journeys.

Project: I focused on evaluating current student supports and offerings at Merrimack in relation to research as well as conducted an environmental scan of other recently awarded R2 institutions. With that information I provided recommendations that can be implemented now as well as developed a new summer research opportunity for students to develop skills and work with faculty. This new program, I call G.R.O (graduate research onboarding) will also help recruit and attract high level students interested in research and doctoral programs.

Early Results: The program has not been implemented but the plan will be to launch it as an offering for Summer 2025, which would require having the structure in place by the end of August 2024, when applications open.

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Completion of the PhD Degree

Michelle Meloy, Graduate Dean Arts & Science, PhD, Rutgers University, Graduate School-Camden

Challenge: Rutgers Camden was recently designated a Carnegie R2 institution. While the necessary research and development expenditures have increased in accordance with this designation, the production of research doctorates remains at the low end of the threshold (n=23). My capstone project hopes to identify opportunities to increase doctoral education efficiencies.

Capstone Project: This project included focus groups with PhD students, faculty, and staff directly supporting/leading the PhD programs on campus. Research questions explored perceptions regarding institutional/curricular barriers and/or opportunities related to PhD completion and time-to-degree efficiencies. EAB resources suggested a focus on full-time and funded PhD students for the capstone.

Early Results: Having directed conversations with doctoral program leaders about curriculum, clear academic expectations, faculty mentoring, and time to degree completion has already started to manifest changes. Revised student handbooks with greater specificity on academic benchmarks (by semester) and modifications to curriculum with time to degree completion as a focus has already occurred. Institutional gains in doctoral education are expected at Rutgers-Camden if this focus continues.

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Comms and Culture: Understanding the Intersection of Internal Employee Communications and Institutional Strategic Planning

Jenny Lavey, Director of Content and Creative Strategy, University of Montana

Challenge: My strategic goal was to uncover connections between employee culture and strategic planning as related to internal communications in preparation for the University of Montana’s new sector, People and Culture.

Project: I identified areas of challenge on the UM campus through a survey gauging employee communication and understanding of UM’s strategic priorities. Additionally, I benchmarked best practices of high-impact and strategy communications using EAB research and examined peer institution platforms via my capstone partners and their respective institutions.

Early Results: UM intends to purchase a new software for internal communications, in addition to identifying and defining an employee content strategy. The new software provide analytics and a platform where communication, culture and strategy can intersect.

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Integrating and Promoting Workforce Development

Gabby Sloss, Director Workforce Services, Clackamas Community College

Project Analysis: Workforce Development Services have been a cornerstone of the college for over 20 years, earning a respected reputation within the community. In the past three academic years, significant investments from established workforce and community partners have provided the college with essential staff who can bridge academia and workforce languages, enhance the college’s visibility in its local service area, and support employer engagement for vital career development services.

Despite this, the department is often misconceived within the college as merely another grant program. Navigating the workforce system can be complex, with its intricate funding, programming eligibility, and performance data tracking which poses challenges in aligning with higher education systems. However, by identifying and leveraging key areas of overlap, both systems can be integrated to create a dynamic approach that supports economic mobility within the community.

Early Results: WDS has been positioned to present at Executive Leadership meetings and institution’s Board of Education. A similar department, Career Pathways, is moving into our shared space in hopes of strengthened collaboration and leveraging funding streams. Furthermore, WDS has been included in several strategic planning initiatives for the college including Financial Council and Community Connections.

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How to Be a Change Agent: Managing Change for Student Success

Lisa McIntyre, Vice Provost Student Success, University of North Texas

Challenge: as Vice Provost for Student Success, I coordinate alignment of effort across the University of North Texas (UNT) to achieve student success outcomes. Achieving these outcomes, at times requires us to work differently.

Project: I was interested in developing a change management framework that was easily adoptable within the context of UNT broadly, and the VPSS teams specifically. I reviewed change management models from business and higher education; tried them on for size; adapted them to prototype a practical tool. 

Early Results: I developed “Operationalizing our Values,” a planning tool for initiating new initiatives that are grounded in UNT’s values and change management best practices.

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Using Credit for Prior Learning in Helping Students Reach Degree Completion

Frenika Rivers, Assistant Dean, Student Services, University of the District of Columbia

Challenge: My strategic goal was to improve how the University shares credit for prior learning opportunities in order to enhance student success and experience.

Project: I created a webpage on the UDC website that listed opportunities student have to gain credit for prior learning experiences. This centralized the information and also connects the information with transfer student information, the Office of Military and Veteran Student Services, and first year student experience webpages. I worked with Dr. Christian Hubbard, who developed Credit for Prior Learning policy at NOVA, a similar institution to understand how UDC could implement a formal Credit for Prior Learning Program. This page can be found at: www.udc.edu/registrar/credit-for-prior-learning

Early Results: UDC will hire a coordinator for Prior Learning and I am excited to be able to share my research to inform the work that will be done in this area for UDC students.

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One Stop Virtual Campus: Enhancing Student Success Outcomes through Collaboration and Innovation

Nicole D. Cippoletti, Ed.D., Dean of the Scotch Plains and Virtual Campus, UCNJ Union College of Union County, NJ

Challenge: My project aligns with UCNJ’s Institutional Priorities of formalizing the Virtual Campus to ensure equitable access to support services.

Project: I conducted a needs assessment of the Virtual Campus to identify limitations. This analysis informed a multi-pronged approach:

• Task Force: A cross-departmental task force was established to foster collaboration on improving communication and resource delivery.
• Innovation: We explored leveraging existing and emerging technologies to streamline service provision and user experience.
• Training: Targeted professional development will be provided to equip staff with the skills to best support students through the virtual platform.
• Service Blueprints: Will be developed to map student service processes, ensuring a more efficient and user-friendly experience.
• Marketing Campaign: To ensure all students are aware of the Virtual Campus’s resources.

Early Results: A significant increase in virtual campus usage with 9,000+ students using the services in 2023 and a projected 48% increase in usage from 2023 to 2024. 90% of students who use the virtual campus rate it as excellent.

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Enhancing the First-Year Experience Program at North Shore Community College

Amanda Dooling, Assistant Dean of Academic & Student Development, North Shore Community College

Challenge: My EAB capstone project is about “Enhancing the First-Year Experience Program at North Shore Community College (NSCC)” to increase student success and retention. A robust First Year Experience Program provides academic and social support which is vital for student success.

Project: I reviewed NSCC data on first year student retention and reviewed literature and data on strategies to enhance and expand a First Year Experience Program. Throughout this project cross-functional teams were created to review our current siloed first year experience programs. These cross functional teams reviewed the new student on-boarding process and another team had the opportunity to attend the Gardner Institute: An Intensive on the First Year Seminar.

Early Results: By taking a collaborative student-centered approach, we have revised and piloted our new student on-boarding process and are currently in the process of making recommendations how to build upon the foundation of our first-year experience course.

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Supporting Pell-Eligible Students to Graduation

Samantha Bottoms, Dean of Student Success, Houston Christian University

Challenge: With over 50% of undergraduate main campus students eligible for a Pell grant, support of these students is essential. My strategic goal is to create better programming and connections for Pell-eligible students, leading to higher retention and graduation rates.

Project: Summer Launch is an existing academic bridge program for incoming students, including a large percentage of Pell-eligible students. This project will infuse research-based best practices for supporting Pell-eligible students into the Summer Launch program, track the students over the next year, and create programming for all Pell-eligible students from the results for fall 2025.

Early Results: The program is set to begin Summer 2024. 35 students have already registered to attend the program, with 46% eligible for a Pell grant by the historical definition.

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Creating a Culture of Student Success

Jennifer Ludwig, Director, Strategic Interventions & Data Management, Student Success & Retention Innovation, University of Arizona

Challenge: With the need to raise retention and graduation rates, how can we create a culture of student success on a decentralized campus?

Project: I utilized a subcommittee from our Persistence & Completion Working Group to identify topics and a structure for the creation of campus-wide retention training. We’re using EAB research to support the development of the curriculum for different employee populations.

Early Results: We have expanded the project to include additional partners and we are moving to create a certificate component for the training to incentivize participation. We are also piloting with faculty/instructors.

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Elevating the Student Experience: The Role That Co-curricular Pathways Play in Enhancing the Curricular Experience

Clinesha Johnson, Psy.D., Assistant Dean of Students, Fairfield University

Challenge: Student life experiences (e.g., co-curricular activities/opportunities) are one of the connective tissues to academic success, but at times, it is not apparent “how”. My strategic goal was to further illustrate and review the ways in which Student Life at Fairfield University contributes to the developing student and academic student success.

Project: This project will highlight the ways that Fairfield University’s Division of Student Life promotes academic success by its robust offering of programs, activities, and various student support services. I identified all of the departments within Student Life and received data from each that assisted in validating the co-curricular experiences that lend themselves to curricular success within students at Fairfield.

Early Results: The review of departmental data in Student Life provided me with substantial evidence/positive outcomes that appear to greatly contribute to curricular student success. It appears that enhanced and intentional collaboration between Academic Affairs and Student Life can contribute toward stronger positive outcomes for students.

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Aligning Advising Practices to Provide More Equity in the Student Experience at Northeastern Junior College

Andrea Orin, M.S., Director of Student Success, Equity, and Inclusion, Northeastern Junior College

Project: My goal was to determine how Northeastern Junior College can align advising practices using the Navigate360 Academic Planner to provide a more equitable student experience. I created an outline for a pilot program to look at barriers within the advising tool in order to make the necessary changes prior to implementation and then train advisors to use the tool by the end of spring 2025.

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Analyzing Exit Survey Data Provided by Former UNC Employees

Milan Larson, PhD, Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Programs, Monfort College of Business

Challenge: Like most organizations, UNC has been challenged by noticeable turnover and retention of its employees. While many leaders in today’s organizations assume most turnover is “out of their control,” the data often doesn’t support this assumption. The project offers a chance to gain insights by reviewing the data UNC has been collecting during the exit interview process.

Project: This capstone project for the EAB Fellowship program is intended to assist our university with its 2030 strategic plan, “Rowing, Not Drifting.” Like most institutions of higher education, UNC is also faced with budget challenges and these challenges are having a natural progression to our university’s overall work environment. By analyzing this important data, we can implement solutions that are still within reach even in the midst of the budget world we live in and can be budget-friendly.

Preliminary Results: The early analysis of our exit survey data shows that 53% of our former employees left because they felt “pushed” out by the overall experience they were having as an employee. These “push” factors are controllable by our university taking the necessary steps to make our campus a stronger, more supportive environment with better leaders, more frequent recognition for the hard work being done by our employees. The findings from this capstone project will be shared in the next two months with our university’s cabinet, HR Department, and other senior leadership groups on campus. From these conversations, more specific action items will be identified and implemented to support the overall strategic plan.

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Managing Hybrid Work Teams – Best Practices for Success

Roberta Kelley Paul Sr., University Director for Employee and Labor Relations, Georgetown University

Hybrid work enhances Georgetown University’s ability to attract and retain a world-class workforce. Equipping Georgetown University managers to effectively manage hybrid teams is critical to our success.

University Human Resources has worked with schools and business units across the University to evaluate the modes of work for staff positions to provide flexibility while meeting the operational needs that allow Georgetown to achieve its educational and research missions. Ongoing support of managers leading hybrid teams is required to ensure that our workforce is being led effectively.

For this project, I reviewed existing Georgetown University resources, EAB data, and reviewed best practices for managing hybrid teams available online and in resources including the Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM) toolkits and the Harvard Business Review. I also drew upon anecdotal data gleaned from day to day interactions with managers in my role as the Sr. University Director of Employee and Labor Relations.

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Developing a Staff Mentoring Program to Influence Employee Retention in Higher Education

Armando Martinez, Director, Inclusion & Belonging, Syracuse University

Challenge: In 2021, a Syracuse University survey revealed that women and people of color have “limited agreement with ideas that they have opportunity and are growing while at Syracuse University.”

Project: My goal was to develop a program that would respond to both of those needs – a staff mentoring program pairing early career professionals with mid to senior level administrators that can assist in facilitating professional development and provide opportunities for further advancement. While this initiative pre-dates my fellowship with EAB, I utilized EAB resources to identify ways to enhance the program for future iterations.

Early results: Thanks to EAB and their suggestions, early data retrieved from informal check-ins with mentees reveals that they are learning and having an extremely positive experience. Mentors are sharing information that is helping to shift the perspective of their mentees to consider new possibilities within the university and boosting their confidence.

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