creating a “no-combat zone”: maneuvering …...creating for sustainability • review the...
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Creating a “No-combat Zone”: Maneuvering Institutional Change, Sustaining Program Relevance
Dr. Dorothy Ward, Director, Entering Student Program, UTEP
Dr. Maggy Smith, Chair, Department of English, UTEP
© The University of Texas at El Paso
Presentation Overview
• The University of Texas at El Paso • The Entering Student Program (ESP) • Creating for Sustainability • Maneuvering Institutional Change • Sustaining Relevance • Recommendations
© The University of Texas at El Paso
The University of Texas at El Paso
• Public, RU/H Research University (high research activity) • 70 bachelor’s degrees • 76 master’s degrees • 20 doctoral degrees
• Emerging Tier One University
© The University of Texas at El Paso
Fall 1999 • 14,696 students
• 12,471 undergraduates
• 68% Hispanic • 83% from El Paso County • 99% commuter • 54% receive financial aid
Fall 2014 • 23,079 students
• 19,817 undergraduate
• 80% Hispanic • 84% from El Paso County • 97% commuter • 75% receive financial aid • 78% employed • 53% first generation
The University of Texas at El Paso Student Profile
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UTEP Entering Student Program
Program Design/Components • UNIV 1301: Seminar in Critical Inquiry
• Peer Leader Program
• Learning Communities
• Global Learning Communities
• UNIV 2350: Interdisciplinary Technology and Society
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Entering Student Program (ESP) Fall 1999
• Administrative Staff • Director • Administrative Assistant
• 2 ESP Employees • 18 Peer Leaders • 18 Sections of UNIV 1301 • 13 Learning Communities
(190 students)
Fall 2014 • Administrative Staff
• Director • Associate Director • Peer Leader Manager • Office Supervisor
• 20 ESP Employees • 94 Peer Leaders • 87 Sections of UNIV 1301 • 14 Learning Communities
(317 students) • 2 Global LCs • 5 UNIV 2350
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Entering Student Program Recognitions
• 2003 Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board Star Award
• 2006 Finalist for Examples of Excelencia • 2011 Educational Policy Institute
Outstanding Retention Program Award • Highlighted in several publications
• Student Success in College: Creating Conditions That Matter
• Challenging and Supporting the First-Year Student: A Handbook for Improving the First Year of College
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Creating for Sustainability and Relevance
How do you create a program that will have long-term sustainability while continuing to have relevance?
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Creating for Sustainability
• Review the national landscape (what works in what context)/critically examine local needs (based on student demographics, fiscal strengths, and staff/faculty availability)
• Build on institutional disciplinary strengths • Work for campus buy-in
• Form a university-wide committee to strategize program needs & structure
• Include all who need to be there, all who want to be, and the nay-sayers
• Locate program strategically in campus organizational structure (academic vs. student affairs)
• Review potential funding streams
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Creating for Sustainability (con’t)
• Assess on an ongoing basis • Part of the design • Part of the program
• For programmatic improvement • For programmatic defense • And for garnering programmatic support
• Predict institutional responses to program changes
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UNIV 1301: Seminar in Critical Inquiry • 3-Hour Core Curriculum Course
• Discipline-Based, Theme-Driven
• Small Class Size = Hands-on Work with Students
• Instructional Team
― Instructor ― Peer Leader ― Librarian ― Advisor
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UNIV 1301 Goals
Students will • examine the roles and responsibilities
crucial for success in college. • practice essential academic success skills. • build a network of faculty, staff, and peers. • assess and understand their interests,
abilities, and values. • become involved in UTEP activities and
utilize campus resources.
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Peer Leaders Support
• Serve as role models for the students ― Model ideal classroom behavior ― Attend all class sessions ― Arrive to class on time
• Make department referrals when appropriate • Meet with the students outside of class during the
semester • Maintain 2-5 office hours per week • Serve as an intermediary between the student
and the instructor
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Librarian Support
• Partnership – Librarian & Instructor are assigned by area of expertise (theme is matched to reference area)
• Contact information on syllabus • Planning meetings (guided) • Library Trainings
– Online tutorials and quizzes – Library tour or scavenger hunt – Activity (or activities) in library computer lab – Follow-up assignment(s)
• Lib Guides • Follow up visits
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Advisor Support
• Assigned to course based on discipline • Contact information on syllabus • Visits class at least once to present:
– Requirements of the core curriculum – Academic standing/probation/reinstatement – How to calculate GPA – Degree plan(s) – How to navigate “What If” degree plan
• Available for group advising for majors
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Borders Textbook
• Low cost • Greeting from UTEP President and ESP Director • History of UTEP • Testimonials/success tips from UTEP students • Authors from AA and SA (who teach or work with ESP)
address: — academic skills, study strategies — transitional issues (family, work, time management) — financial aid — career opportunities — healthy lifestyle — campus safety
• Library and other campus unit information • Locations for computer labs, study areas
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Maneuvering Institutional Change
What happens when a change in institutional leadership is accompanied by a significant shift in philosophical assumptions about what is important?
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Maneuvering Institutional Change
• Maintain agility and flexibility in the face of change (is that opposition?)
• Accept criticism and put it to work to your advantage
• Don’t be defensive; don’t go on the offensive • Look critically at your program all the time:
don’t ever say “all is going well”
Retention and GPA for UNIV 1301
One Year Retention (2003-13)* Two Year Retention (2003-12)*
1st Term GPA (2003-13)**
1st Year GPA (2003-13)**
2nd Year GPA (2003-2012)**
Never enrolled in UNIV 1301
UNIV 1301
n = 13,873 n = 1,558
n = 13,581 n = 1,467
n = 12,784 n = 1,315
n = 12,907 n = 1,332
n = 12,665 n = 1,254
*First-time, full-time, freshmen with fall semester entry term; ** Adjusted to exclude UNIV 1301 Grade
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UTEP Risk-Level Determinants
• High School Rank • Math Placement • Anticipated Hours Spent Working • Direct Matriculation from High School
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UNIV 1301 and Retention* *
n= 3,835
n= 329
n= 5,480
n= 328
n= 2,386
n= 125
n= 329
n= 5,480
n= 328
n= 2,386
n= 125
UNIV 1301 Never enrolled in UNIV 1301
2003
- 20
13 O
ne Y
ear
2003
– 2
012
Two
Year
*First-time, full-time, freshmen with fall semester entry term.
n= 3,613
n= 399
n= 6,633
n= 733
n= 3,627
n= 426
n= 3,541
n= 375
n= 6,534
n= 702
n= 3,506
n= 390
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High Medium Low Risk Risk Risk 1st Term GPA**
n= 4
,174
n= 4
10
n= 7
,572
n= 7
23
n= 5
,181
n= 5
30
n= 4
,260
n= 4
25
n= 7
,642
n= 7
32
n= 5
,198
n= 5
34
n= 3
,324
n= 2
95
n= 6
,460
n= 5
78
n= 3
,582
n= 3
42
*First-time, full-time, freshmen with fall semester entry term; ** Adjusted to exclude UNIV 1301 Grade
High Medium Low Risk Risk Risk 1st Year GPA**
High Medium Low Risk Risk Risk 2nd Year GPA**
GPA for UNIV 1301, First-Term and First-Year (2003-13) and Second-Year (2003-12)*
UNIV 1301 Never Enrolled in UNIV 1301
n= 3
,044
n= 2
75
n= 6
,189
n= 6
33
n= 3
,551
n= 4
07
n= 3
,099
n= 2
83
n= 6
,244
n= 6
39
n= 3
,564
n= 4
10
n= 3
,048
n= 2
68
n= 6
,169
n= 6
10
n= 3
,448
n= 3
76
As a result of taking UNIV 1301, I believe that I feel an
increased sense of belonging to UTEP.
% Agree + Strongly Agree
As a result of your UNIV 1301 experience, to what
degree did your skills improve in managing time?
% Some + Very Much
UNIV 1301 helped me learn how to succeed at UTEP.
% Agree + Strongly Agree
UNIV 1301 End-of-Semester Feedback, 2010-2012
High Risk Medium Risk Low Risk
n= 7
10
n= 9
72
n= 1
,447
n= 7
19
n= 9
50
n= 1
,439
n= 7
33
n= 9
76
n= 1
,482
© The University of Texas at El Paso
Honors and Top 15% Learning Communities
Created 7 learning communities designed to academically challenge and engage low risk students
• Included strong research component • Provided opportunity for students to earn
honors credit • Established expectation that students would
work toward having a research project accepted for the Showcase
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Learning Community Themes
• Inventing America: UNIV and RWS • Thinking Historically, Research and Writing
Academically: UNIV and HIST • Social Justice and Activism: UNIV and
RWS • Imagining Nations, Imagining Regions:
UNIV and RWS Global Learning Community
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Student Comments
• Research is to be willing to make connections and try something new, to take on a new perspective.
• This project required my work to be at a much higher level than in high school. I had to learn how to collect and analyze information independently. Your evidence doesn’t always give you the answer you’re looking for.
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Sustaining Relevance
How do you sustain first-year program integrity AND relevance while responding to changing institutional demands and changing student demographics?
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Sustaining Relevance
• Critical nature of leadership: big picture/little picture
• Importance of maintaining a dynamic program • Respond to changes in institutional focus • Focus on student need • Consider programming for un(der)served
student populations such as veterans, transfers, international, online, honors
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Global Learning Community
• GLCs link UNIV 1301 with comparably-themed first-year course at another institution
• Students participate in a collaborative learning experience
• Interactions include shared readings and lectures, discussion forums, video conferences, and videos
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Global Learning Community Themes
• Imagining Nations, Imagining Regions: The Making of Cultural Diversity in Australia and on the U.S.-Mexico Border: UTEP and Victoria University
• Stories Across Cultures: Mobile Worlds and the Politics of Belonging Amongst Communities in Australia and the United States: UTEP and Victoria University
• Exploring Racial and Ethnic Borders in American Colleges: UTEP and John Jay College of Criminal Justice
• Society Through Graphic Novels: UTEP and John Jay College of Criminal Justice
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Why GLCs?
Students gain • a deeper understanding of different regions
and cultures • a more global perspective • expanded social and academic networks • a collaborative learning experience • an interest in study abroad and travel
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Entering Student Research and Creative Projects Showcase
• Videos, Poster Sessions, Creative Projects • Instructor Nominated; Committee Selected • Intended Purpose
• Challenge and engage students • Integrate students into university community • Inform El Paso and university community
• Unforeseen Effect • Inspire and reinvigorate faculty
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Research and Creative Projects
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Recommendations
• Engage in comprehensive, ongoing assessment (data-based changes & decision making)
• Create a flexible structure for serving students • Collaborate across campus for entering student success • Engage in holistic support for learning • Engage with the undergraduate curriculum in a dynamic
way • Manage resources strategically (both campus-based and
external resources) (based on Evenbeck, S. E., et al. (2010). Organizing for Student Success. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina.)
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Recommendations
• Carefully review student needs • Establish institutional support at all levels • Create solid core components that can be
responsive to changing needs and change • Be responsive to criticism • Assess, assess, assess and use the
assessment data to make changes • Maintain engagement with relevant
professional communities
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Questions ?
Contact information:
Dr. Dorothy Ward: [email protected] Dr. Maggy Smith: [email protected]