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Today, we are joined by Dr. Steve Wilkerson and Dr. Tammy Wyatt of the University of Texas San Antonio. Dr. Wilkerson is the Associate Vice President and Chief Analytics Officer, and Dr. Wyatt is Vice Provost for Student Success. You can catch an earlier conversation with Dr. Wyatt in Episode 5.
Today we’re talking about how the UTSA Student Success Team works closely together with Institutional Research to improve student outcomes. We talk about how they’ve deconstructed silos, how IR works together with campus partners to support proactive student success, and how regular evaluation of their student success initiatives allows the UTSA team to be responsive rather than reactive to student needs.
Show Notes:
- [2:35] – Dr. Wilkerson and Dr. Wyatt share their background and current roles at UTSA.
- [5:16] – Dr. Wyatt describes the way the Student Success team is structured at UTSA and the programs they offer.
- [8:04] – As they saw continued success, the work became more refined. It’s less about the what and more about the how now.
- [10:11] – When something is in place, things tend to plateau, but small gains add up.
- [12:50] – What has driven Dr. Wilkerson is access to data and asking the right questions.
- [14:37] – What does it look like to integrate and partner with IR?
- [17:39] – All programs have been analyzed by the Impact tool in Civitas. This has helped UTSA be more efficient.
- [19:14] – Conversations go now much differently from how things were a few years ago.
- [21:03] – This helped the institution to deconstruct silos.
- [22:19] – Supporting students from start to finish is the goal for everyone on campus.
- [23:45] – How can we support sustainable student success?
- [25:04] – Faculty has appreciated the data that shows how their support is a part of student success.
- [27:47] – The data gives the information needed to decide how to approach student success.
- [28:33] – Learn what Impact Analysis in Civitas Learning does.
- [31:15] – Dr. Wilkerson shares what he likes about the tool and the benefits it has brought to the team.
- [33:43] – They started working with IR around the start of Covid-19. It might be time to reassess and see the differences over time.
- [36:01] – The data shows points that may be surprising and helps you understand the why.
- [39:02] – How do we drive in the students that need help and aren’t coming?
- [42:10] – We can reflect on our own educational journey and think of moments that changed our trajectory.
- [44:33] – Most institutions are doing a lot of what, but are they really thinking about how?
Links and Resources:
Dr. Steve Wilkerson, Associate Vice President and Chief Analytics Officer for the University of San Antonio
Steve Wilkerson, Ph.D., serves as the Chief Analytics Officer for The University of Texas at San Antonio. Throughout his 30-year higher education career has had experience in academic advising, learning assistance, strategic planning, assessment, and institutional research. As a first-generation college student, his primary research interest is student success. His teaching interests include program evaluation, survey methodology, research design, and administration.
Dr. Tammy Wyatt, Vice Provost of Student Success for the University of San Antonio
Dr. Tammy Wyatt provides cross-campus leadership and fosters partnerships with key stakeholders, both internal and external to the university advancing initiatives that support student success, engagement, and the student experience; developing and implementing organizational goals, strategic plans, and intelligent information systems that respond to the changing needs of the university’s student community; establishing and employing an ecosystem of supports utilizing data-informed programs and initiatives that serve a vibrant and diverse student body while systematically improving retention and graduation rates; and creating a campus culture that embraces excellence, accountability, and measurable outcomes.
