- About: Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is a public research university in Bowling Green, Ohio, with an undergraduate enrollment of 14,099 and a six-year graduation rate of 55%.
- Challenge: In recent years, BGSU experienced decreases in retention. Upon joining SSC, BGSU leadership anticipated it would be a challenge to engage advisors given the proliferation of technologies that had come and gone over the past 10 years. Leadership knew they needed a new approach that would empower and engage advisors across campus.
- Solution: BGSU created a strategic Peer Training Team charged with increasing SSC buy-in and competency among advisors. BGSU’s SSC Dedicated Consultant helped to coach this team, provide resources, set expectations, and develop protocols.
- Impact: Within just three months of creating the Peer Training Team, advisor logins increased by 150%. BGSU also doubled the number of users across nine months. This engagement contributed to corresponding 1.6% increase in retention and $305,691 in preserved revenue.
New Culture of Intentional, Data-Driven Advising Drives Early Impact
“We’re now approaching a 78% retention rate for first-time, full-time students—an increase of nearly 2 percentage points over last year, after having gained nearly 6 percentage points the previous year—and we have our sights set on breaking the 80% mark. We can certainly attribute the uptick, at least in part, to the work our advisors have done with SSC. More than anything, I think SSC has quickly propelled us to a more intentional model of using data and information to pay close attention to the students most in need and those we have the greatest capacity to support.” -Andy Alt, Assistant Vice Provost of Academic Affairs, BGSU
Creating a Tipping Point Within the Advising Community
Peer Training Team Allows BGSU to Reach Advisors and Scale Data-Driven Expertise
Shifting the Campus Culture with a Phased, Multi-Level ApproachTraining Plan Achieves Widespread Adoption with Dedicated Consultant Support
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