May 15, 2015
K-State forms Student Success Collaborative
With the support of Provost April Mason, K-State is now a member of the Education Advisory Board, or EAB, Student Success Collaborative.
Joining about 150 other institutions, K-State's membership will permit us access to a rapidly growing, wide range of cutting-edge analytical tools as well as to dedicated consulting and best practice resources, the sum total of which will contribute to our student success efforts at every level, from universitywide to support for academic advisors in their work with individual students.
A significant component of the Student Success Collaborative is an advisor platform, which will be integrated with, and build upon, the already much enhanced and widely used KSU Advisor Center in KSIS. With additional state-of-the-art tools at their disposal, faculty and full-time advisors will be further supported in their crucial work with K-State students. The value of these tools will be measured by our ability to engage in more efficient and effective advising, foster greater engagement and deeper learning among our students and, ultimately, significantly improve student retention and graduation success.
To help K-State implement and realize maximal value from membership, we have formed a universitywide committee and executive team — the latter referred to in Education Advisory Board jargon as value leaders.
The K-State Student Success Collaborative includes Diana Blake, Information Technology Systems technical leader; Kris Boone, College of Agriculture; Becky Brady, Student Governing Association; John Buckwalter, value leader; Kathy Burkholder, Global Campus value leader; Kimathi Choma, College of Arts & Sciences diversity; Brad Cunningham, College of Business Administration value leader; Steve Dandaneau, undergraduate studies, chair; Jan Elsasser, Student Life; Lynn Ewanow, College of Architecture, Planning, & Design; Robert Gamez, Student Life value leader; David Griffin, College of Education; Carla Jones, Student Life; Kent Kerby, Pre-health Advising Subcommittee; Molly McGaughey, Student Life; Charlie Nutt, National Academic Advising Association; Karen Pence, College of Human Ecology; Charlotte Pfaff, Office of the Registrar; Larry Satzler, College of Engineering value leader; Alysia Starkey, K-State Salina; Anne Stearns, Planning and Analysis; Alison Wheatley, College of Arts & Sciences; and Loren Wilson, Information Technology Systems technical leader.
One of the benefits of the Student Success Collaborative is that it provides a large number of faculty, staff and administration — about 1,300 enjoy the advisor role in KSIS, which gives them access to helpful data and data analysis capabilities which bear directly on strategic student success goals. What's more, all the data is K-State data, all the information is updated daily, and all the tools are subject to continuous tailoring and refinement. Other institutions, including those as different from each other as Georgia State and Wichita State, swear by it.
The K-State Student Success Collaborative, identified above, will meet with Education Advisory Board consultants for the first time on May 27. Universitywide training opportunities and Student Success Collaborative integration with KSIS are expected in August. In the meantime, we will develop an implementation timeline and method for keeping the university community apprised of opportunities, developments, and outcomes. At present, please forward questions to Dandaneau, vice provost for undergraduate studies, at dandaneau@k-state.edu or 785-532-1097.