Taking Steps to Improve Student Success

By Heather Zimar, AACRAO SEMQ Managing Editor

AACRAO releases SEMQ Volume 10, Issue 2

Student success at the University of South Florida (USF) has become everybody’s business, writes Thomas E. Miller in the July SEMQ. The case study, a follow-up to a 2019 SEMQ article, describes how the university has continued over the last several years to implement success strategies and predictive tools to best utilize campus resources and improve persistence and graduation rates.

After a reorganization in 2016, USF staff developed predictive tools such as logistic regression and machine learning to focus on students who need the most support in persistence. Several strategies were then implemented for first-year as well as transfer students. These, among others, included a persistence committee, a care management team, an advocacy office, residential education, financial education, and new student connections. Other efforts included utilizing the Beginning College Survey of Student Engagement (BCSSE) and offering financial support. 

The activities associated with the success of students are highly regarded and widely applauded, largely because they have produced unparalleled results, Miller concluded. Predictive analytics allow those who advise and serve students to give their energy and efforts to those students who need their support.

The latest issue of SEMQ also includes the following articles: 

• A Lottery-Based Admissions Process for Faculties of Nursing: An idea Whose Time Has Come by Catherine M. Laing, Sandra Davidson, and Carrie MacKay 
• Machine Learning Methods for Course Enrollment Prediction by Lucy Shao, Martin Ieong, Richard. A. Levine, Jeanne Stronach, and Juanjuan Fan
• Understanding the Complexities of the Transfer Function by Casey Bullock
• Creating a Strategic Plan for the Transfer Student Experience by Kim Morton and Kelly C. McCallister