The goals of this project are to: 1) increase applications,
yield, and retention of student cohort groups identified in Western's
Enrollment Management Strategic Plan; and 2) increase student engagement
as directly measured by the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE)
and indirectly by improved retention. This action item involves many other
of the seven components of Western's strategic planning processes,
including branding and marketing and three national initiatives connected
to student engagement, the National Learning Community Project, The
American Democracy Project, and Foundations of Excellence in the First
Year.
Related AQIP Criteria
Primary
1-Helping Students Learn
Related
2-Accomplishing Other Distinctive Objectives
Related
3-Understanding Students' and Other Stakeholders'
Needs
Related
8-Planning Continuous Improvement
Related
9-Building Collaborative Relationships
Related AQIP Principles
Principle
A - A mission and vision that focus on serving
students and other stakeholders
Principle
D - A learning-centered environment
Principle
H - Planning for innovation and improvement
Principle
I - Fact-based information-gathering and thinking to
support analysis and decision-making
Rationale for Action
Western has strategically combined the academic and student
affairs divisions to emphasize the seamless nature of the student learning
inside and outside of the classroom as one means of increasing student
engagement. The Citizen- Scholar concept is employed to introduce first
year students and other constituents to this holistic nature of the
Western learning community—one that has two distinctive signatures—applied
learning and service to the region. This action project combines
components of the campus strategic plan and three national projects. Two
of the three national projects are through the American Association of
State Colleges and Universities: the American Democracy Project (ADP) and
the Foundations of Excellence™ in the First College Year Project
(Foundations). The third national project is participation in the National
Learning Community Project (NLCP). Each of these projects has an
engagement emphasis and is relevant for first year students. This action
project will address student engagement as a developmental process
beginning with the marketing/branding of an engaged learning community to
prospective students and continuing with the intentional educational
programs provided for enrolled first year students. Further, Western seeks
to improve recruitment and retention of students through the deployment of
a strategic enrollment management plan called Assets and Aspirations.
Areas Affected
Primary involvement is with the Academic and Student Affairs
Division, including Admissions, Student Development, Academic Departments,
and Student Services. Secondary involvement is with branding initiatives
associated with the Image and Advancement sector of the strategic plan.
Processes Affected
The processes involved include engagement
branding/advertising directed toward prospective students and their
families, opinion leaders influencing college choice, recruiting
activities, orientation programming, and curricular, co- curricular, and
extra-curricular offerings related to engagement.
Process Measures
Western will employ existing strategic planning
implementation teams and committees associated with the three national
projects to establish process measures during the Spring 2004 semester.
Outcome Measures
With respect to outcome measures, Western will begin to use
the NSSE survey to monitor changes in students’ expectations and attitudes
toward their college experience, including: · Level of academic challenge
· Student-faculty interactions · Active and collaborative learning ·
Enriching educational experiences · Supportive campus environment Both ADP
and Foundations allow some peer group comparisons using NSSE results. In
addition to NSSE, the College will employ the faculty version of NSSE from
the Center for the Study of Higher Education or CSHE, which measures: ·
Background and demographic information · Professional activities (e.g.,
preferred teaching methods, research activities, advising duties,
professional development activities, informal interactions with first-year
students) · Perceptions of various aspects of their institution’s
policies, practices, and values as they relate to first-year students and
one or more of the Dimensions With respect to measuring enrollment
management related engagement goals, application numbers, yield rates, and
retention of student cohort groups identified in Western’s Enrollment
Management Strategic Plan will be used as an indirect measure of student
engagement for prospective and current students.
Performance Targets
Year
Quantitative and Qualitative Stretch
Targets
One
Administer NSSE (March 2004) and CSHE instruments
(February 2004)to establish baseline results for measuring student
engagement improvements. Enrollment management measures of
application numbers, yield rates, and retention of student cohort
groups identified in Western's Enrollment Management Strategic Plan
will be used as an indirect measure of student engagement for
prospective and current students.
Two
Design, develop, and implement any campus specific
measures using strategic planning implementation funding and
participation in the ADP, Foundations, and NLCP national projects.
Evaluate NSSE and CSHE results to establish stretch goals based on
comparative results from other campuses. Reflect on results from
campus measures and implement continuous improvement efforts as
needed. Track progress of enrollment management measures such as
application numbers, yield rates, and retention of student cohort
groups identified in Western's Enrollment Management Strategic Plan
for prospective and current students.
Three
Evaluate progress on NSSE and CSHE stretch goals.
Reflect on results from campus measures and implement continuous
improvement efforts as needed. Track progress of enrollment
management measures such as application numbers, yield rates, and
retention of student cohort groups identified in Western's
Enrollment Management Strategic Plan for prospective and current
students.
Keeping Focus
Campus teams such as the Academic Affairs and Enrollment
Management Strategic Planning Implementation Team and the Foundations
committee continue to meet regularly to monitor progress on engagement
initiatives. A series of student engagement community forums were
initiated in 2004 to stimulate dialogue on engagement issues outside of
campus teams and to disseminate information about the work of campus
teams.
Contact Person Information:
First Name:
David
Middle Initial:
J.
Last Name:
Arnold
Title:
Vice President for Academic and Student
Email:
arnold@missouriwestern.edu
Phone:
816-271-4234
Annual Update: 2004-09-13
A. Describe
the past year's accomplishments and the current status of this
Action Project.
The goals of this Action Project are to: 1) increase
applications, yield, and retention of student cohort groups
identified in Western’s Enrollment Management Strategic Plan; and
2) increase student engagement as directly measured by the
National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) and indirectly by
improved retention rates. With funding from the Strategic Planning
Implementation Fund, Western engaged the national firm of
Noel-Levitz to assist the college with the development of a
tactical/operational annual recruitment plan from June 2004 to
December 2004. These planning efforts focus on formulating a
recruitment plan, based on market research, for the matriculation
class of 2005. To date, three site visits by Noel-Levitz
consultants have involved more than sixty faculty and staff and
resulted in a draft plan that is currently being reviewed. Western
continues its active involvement with three national initiatives
connected to student engagement, the National Learning Community
Project (NLCP), The American Democracy Project (ADP), and the
Foundations of Excellence™ in the First Year Project. NLCP
involved a site visit in fall 2003, ADP involved attending two
national meetings, and the Foundations of Excellence™ in the First
Year Project involved two site visits during the spring 2004
semester.
Review (10-31-04):
This Action Project involves two distinct initiatives,
increasing enrollment and retention and increasing student
engagement through a variety of campus and curricular initiatives.
The two initiatives seem to be related through the use of the
culture of engagement as a marketing/recruiting tool. Since the
effectiveness of the engagement initiatives is unmeasured at this
point, it might be wise to separate the retention initiative from
engagement until results are known. Separating these two
initiatives might allow for more focused work on
each.
B. Describe how the institution involved
people in work on this Action Project.
Between 100 and 200 faculty, students, and staff
attended a series of five forums held during AY 2003-2004. One
forum was associated with the a site visit and workshop about the
National Learning Community Project; two sessions involved guest
speakers from the Foundations of Excellence Project, John Gardner
and Edward Zlotkowski, who addressed first year programs and
service learning respectively; and two involved identifying
student engagement strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and
threats at Western. The fourteen member Academic Affairs and
Enrollment Management Strategic Planning Implementation Team
continues to be the primary vehicle for addressing recruitment and
retention issues. The membership of the committee includes members
from the faculty, deans' council, admissions, athletics, the
registrar, and the directors of financial aid and public
relations/marketing.
Review
(10-31-04):
The significant participation of students, faculty,
and staff in the engagement initiative positions the College to be
able to move the Learning Community, service learning, and
first-year program initiatives forward. The fourteen members of
the Enrollment Management Committee result in a less widely
participated in initiative. More participants in this initiative
would provide a wider perspective and less campus
buy-in.
C. Describe your planned next steps for
this Action Project.
Assessment data for the ten implemented learning
communities will be collected this fall. Consulting with
Noel-Levitz will result in an annual operational/tactical
recruitment plan for the matriculation class of fall 2005. This
plan will include specific enrollment management targets. Early in
calendar year 2005, Western will develop an annual
operational/tactical retention plan parallel to the
operational/tactical annual recruitment plan. In fall 2004,
Western will begin to analyze its first set of NSSE survey
results, monitoring changes in students’ expectations and
attitudes toward their college experience, including: Level of
academic challenge Student-faculty interactions Active and
collaborative learning Enriching educational experiences
Supportive campus environment The college also will examine the
survey designed by the Center for the Study of Higher Education
for the Foundations of Excellence™ in the First Year Project,
which measures faculty activities and perceptions of various
aspects of policies, practices, and values as they relate to
first-year students and one or more of the Dimensions. The
capstone meeting for the Foundations of Excellence™ in the First
Year Project will be held in October 2004—the President, Vice
President for Academic and Student Affairs, the campus project
Director, and Institutional Research Analyst of Western all will
attend this meeting.
Review
(10-31-04):
The report is not prefaced by an Action Project Plan.
The absence of this three-year early planning component makes it
difficult to determine the full intention of the Project.
Completing the planning process will give the College the
opportunity to think through final goals and target measures of
successful achievement of the goals as well as defining the
process that will be followed. The second year plan does identify
areas in the engagement initiative for which baseline data will be
collected and analyzed. It also provides for recruitment and
retention planning with specific enrollment targets. These targets
will give the College clear enrollment and retention goals by
which to measure success.
D. Describe any "effective practice(s)"
that resulted from your work on this Action Project.
The college participates in national enrollment
management benchmarking efforts through Western’s involvement with
Noel-Levitz and its participation in the Consortium for Student
Retention Data Exchange (CSRDE). Participation in the ADP,
Foundations, and NLCP national projects provides access to best
practice models from other colleges and universities. After the
college evaluates NSSE and CSHE results based on comparative
results from other campuses, faculty and staff will reflect on
results from campus measures and implement continuous improvement
efforts as needed.
Review (10-31-04):
Using benchmarking will help the College set realistic
enrollment goals. The College will also be helped in the
development of its enrollment management and retention plans by
studying and adopting appropriate best practices of peer
institutions.
E. What challenges, if any, are you still
facing in regards to this Action Project?
The richness of the NSSE data will require substantial
internal analysis and reflection to determine which areas to
prioritize in terms of action items related to continuous
improvement efforts.
Review
(10-31-04):
The challenge of analyzing NSSE data provides the
College with the opportunity to use data-based decision making
which will enhance its quality processes.
F. If you would like to discuss the
possibility of AQIP providing you help to stimulate progress on this
action project, explain your need(s) here and tell us who to contact
and when?
Review (10-31-04):
The College has not requested any help from AQIP with
this Project. The College does now seem to have a plan for the
second year of the Project. Taking this opportunity to get help
with developing a complete three year plan would enable the
College to better set targets for measuring quality improvement
and better analyze processes. Such planning might also help the
College clearly define the two initiatives currently under this
one Project and either separate them or clearly integrate the two
sets of
outcomes.