In The News

From 2008 to 2018, the six-year graduation rate of students at the main campus of the University of South Florida (USF) increased from 48% to 73%. This 25-point gain is the largest improvement in this metric among all public doctoral-granting institutions during this ten-year period. However, in the middle of that ten-year span, retention and graduation rates plateaued, compelling university leaders to find new ways to boost persistence and completion rates.

Since the state of Florida uses the FTIC retention rate and the six-year graduation rate to recognize and reward state universities for performance, USF placed the highest priority on increasing these two rates. As a result, they were compelled to find new ways to identify and prioritize students who were in need of assistance. They turned first to a homegrown predictive analytics model, saw some positive results, and then deployed a state-of-the art predictive analytics platform, from Civitas Learning, in 2014.

Mesa Community College is inducting 11 alumni and community members into the MCC Hall of Fame, including Mark Milliron, Ph. D, Civitas Learning co-founder and Chief Learning Officer.

Every few years new technology emerges that promises to improve student success and make it easier for college officials to do their jobs. Some tools have delivered on that promise, but many face blowback when they don’t quickly fix the problems they were designed to solve.

Every day, you go into your office and you work diligently to improve student success. It’s hard work, but it’s noble work. The good news is that — overall, advising work is working. It’s proven to improve student persistence by 5.8 percentage points. The lift is even more significant for our most vulnerable students.

Whether you’re energized, skeptical, or a bit of both, there’s no denying that the innovation imperative has become an animating force in college leadership since the 2000s, and especially in the wake of the Great Recession. More than a talking point and a conference theme, it is now a currency of its own, a standard by which institutions and presidents are judged and even ranked.

Four waves of technology are linked to access and success—the twin pillars of community college philosophy. We are poised to have more tools, techniques, and technologies at our fingertips than ever before to help our students access learning, succeed on their learning journeys, and ready themselves for productive careers and lives.

Eleven outstanding alumni and community members will be welcomed into Mesa Community College’s Hall of Fame during a reception and ceremony hosted by the MCC Alumni Association on October 24. The MCC Hall of Fame honors alumni, community members, and MCC employees whose personal and professional accomplishments, and positive contributions to the college and community set them apart.

Guided pathways have become a full-fledged movement among community colleges in the past few years.

So far, more than 300 institutions have adopted the model, which helps students graduate on time by outlining the courses they need to earn a credential or transfer to a four-year college.

Student success initiatives may not have as much impact as intended–a new study shows that just 60 percent of student success initiatives have a positive impact on student persistence, with 40 percent having either no impact or a negative impact.