REPLENISHING OPPORTUNITY IN AMERICA The 2012 Midterm Report of Public Higher Education Systems in the Access to Success Initiative Florida State University Tallahassee, Florida

‘GRADUATION IS EVERYONE’S it turns out, FSU campus leaders and Abele posits three necessary condi- RESPONSIBILITY’: LESSONS staff work exceptionally hard to ensure tions for increasing student success: FROM FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY the success of their students, particu- by Jennifer Engle larly those from low-income and un- 1. A person, by force of position or derrepresented minority backgrounds. personality, drives the process. Florida State University has long been This case study documents lessons 2. Detailed data analysis undergirds recognized for providing a high-quality learned from the university’s retention improvements. education to a diverse student body.1 efforts over nearly two decades. 3. A cross-campus team meets Located in the state capital of Tallahas- weekly to assess progress. see, the university enrolls more than Creating Conditions for 30,000 undergraduates, about a quar- Student Success The former FSU provost also argues ter of whom are African American (10 Since 1994, when former Provost for long-term, incremental reform. percent) and Hispanic (13 percent), Larry Abele and former Associate “My rule is that you have to go for five and nearly 25 percent of whom are Provost Pat Haywood began these years relentlessly without blinking,” Pell Grant recipients.2 In 2010, a series efforts in earnest, Florida State’s Abele says. Despite FSU’s eventual of Education Trust reports featured first-year retention rate has increased success, the first-year retention rate Florida State for boosting graduation 4 nearly 10 percentage points. Overall only increased by about one percent- rates of underrepresented minority stu- graduation rates, meanwhile, have age point or less each year. In fact, dents and for having consistently small climbed nearly 13 points since 2000, the rate actually fell initially before or no gaps in its graduation rate.3 which marks the first cohort (1994) increasing nearly every year since. affected by reforms. Graduation “There’s no silver bullet,” Abele says. Nationally respected in both academ- rates for underrepresented minority “You increase retention literally one ics and athletics, Florida State could students have risen almost 12 percent- student at a time.” have chosen to pursue higher gradua- age points since 2002, the first year tion rates simply by creaming the best disaggregated data are available.5 Jennifer Engle is director of higher education students from across the country. As research and policy at The Education Trust.

GRADUATION RATES INCREASE FOR ALL, WHILE GAPS REMAIN SMALL AT FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY

Six-year graduation rates Underrepresented Minority White 74.1% 71.5% 64.5% 60.0% 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Source: College Results Online Note: Underrepresented minorities include African-American, Hispanic, and Native-American students.

THE EDUCATION TRUST | REPLENISHING OPPORTUNITY IN AMERICA | CASE STUDY: FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY | MAY 2012 As provost, Abele embraced retention as a Looking at year-to-year attrition rates, for top priority, but it certainly wasn’t his only instance, they noticed low-income students one. He credits the drive and determina- and students of color did not follow the tion of Associate Provost Haywood as par- same dropout pattern as their peers. White ticularly instrumental in the reform effort. students at FSU experience the largest Together, they institutionalized procedures attrition rates in the first year, and progres- and relationships that drove the process as sively drop out at lower rates over time. much as they did. By contrast, African-American males often post higher dropout rates in the second, Data: Mining and Minding Patterns third, or even fifth years. “At least initially, of Performance we threw everything into the first year and Under the provost’s leadership, FSU then realized you have to use your resourc- effectively used data to identify patterns es for the long term,” Abele says. and potential problems, design interven- tions, and monitor results. They also rou- People: Forging a Frontline Team tinely disaggregated data to target interven- Florida State also assembled a strong tions to certain populations. A scientist by team with representatives from across the discipline and a self-described “data nut,” campus that met weekly to “to go over, Abele worked closely with the institutional not the data, but the students within the research office to track student performance data,” Abele says. The team is charged with across campus. Despite his knowledge of identifying roadblocks to student retention statistics, he often looked at the data using and assigning clear responsibilities to team nothing more than a simple spreadsheet members for removing them. Consisting and “common sense.” As a result, campus of about 20 frontline people from offices leaders were regularly looking at the data, including core services (admissions and asking questions, and taking action. financial aid), support programs (orienta- tion and advising), and academic programs (undergraduate research and the library),

THE EDUCATION TRUST | REPLENISHING OPPORTUNITY IN AMERICA | CASE STUDY: FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY | MAY 2012 the team is chaired by the dean of under- ing and reporting student progress weekly. graduate studies, currently Karen Laughlin. Advisors, in particular, were required to “The advantage of the team is that each document every interaction with students person has a different perspective and by time of day, day of week, and method different access to students,” Abele says, of contact. Campus leaders would review it adding that meeting weekly means “you all. “Monitoring data and responding don’t go a month without knowing about to it can be a powerful cultural change on a problem.” John Barnhill, vice president campus,” Abele says. for enrollment at FSU, depicts the era before the team’s advent as one of isolated Actions: Implementing efforts. “We all used to do our own little Successful Strategies thing trying to help kids,” Barnwell recalls, Other researchers have cited Florida State noting that over time the group evolved for its Center for Academic Retention & from working confrontationally to more Enhancement, which recruits first-gener- collaboratively. Students also play a role in ation, low-income students and provides “Monitoring data and FSU’s retention efforts; the student body them with ongoing, intrusive support from responding to it can be a president, for example, frequently attends 6 entry through graduation. Founded in powerful cultural change the weekly meetings. “If you pay atten- 2000, C.A.R.E. is integral to the campus on campus.” tion,” says Abele, “you will see leadership retention strategy, particularly for under- emerge at all levels” to bolster retention. — Larry Abele, former provost served students, a number of whom enter Florida State University less academically prepared than their peers. The team eventually developed a series of However, the university stresses the value 93 action steps tied to every month of the of an effective support network for all academic calendar. Action steps included students, as well as selected student groups, e-mailing students whose grades dropped including the following core retention and meeting with students placed on strategies. probation. Each action step had a time frame and a person responsible for record-

VOICES FROM STUDENTS IN THE C.A.R.E. PROGRAM

“I don’t even know where I’d be, honestly, if it wasn’t for C.A.R.E.” — African-American male junior

“C.A.R.E. gives you those resources you need to have that confidence, whether it’s the success coach or the tutoring, so you know that you can do it. … If you stay connected with the C.A.R.E. program, I feel there’s no way that you can fail.” — African-American female junior

“I’m intelligent, just like everyone else, but because I have no one [in my family] who went to college before me, I don’t know what to do. C.A.R.E. gives you that guidance and support. They don’t just throw you in the water and tell you to swim. They show you how.” — African-American male junior

THE EDUCATION TRUST | REPLENISHING OPPORTUNITY IN AMERICA | CASE STUDY: FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY | MAY 2012 Build a bridge. A robust set of first-year like the student center and the library on programs has significantly increased reten- evenings and Sundays. Administrators also tion rates at FSU. These include manda- partnered with student government (which tory orientation, living-learning com- has a budget of $12 million) to offer tutor- munities, and freshman interest groups. ing in the library five nights a week. In addition, the university offers a success course for students identified as dropout *** risks after their first semester, which boosts With the budget crunch on campuses retention rates by as much as 9 percentage today, some university leaders may be points. FSU also requires an intensive reluctant to invest in improving retention, summer bridge program for C.A.R.E. but FSU administrators say they make students. that money back. By reducing first-year Chart a course. In 2003, FSU created attrition rates since 1994, Abele estimates an online guide that lists the courses that that his campus retained more than students need to take, term by term, for 2,000 additional students, resulting in a each academic major, to graduate on time. $6 million gain in tuition alone. Reten- If students go “off the map,” a hold is put tion programs over the same period cost on their registration, forcing them to meet about $2.5 million, a significant return on with advisors. investment for the campus and, above all, for students. “I’ve never seen a project fail Support all along the way. FSU makes for lack of money,” Abele says. “I’ve seen it advisors a critical part of its retention fail for lack of the right attitude: You have strategy, carefully hiring, cross-training, to be committed to this.” Commitment to and monitoring them, and deploying them equity at Florida State has reaped impres- where and when students need them most, sive results. “I’ve never seen a project fail for lack of money. I’ve seen it fail for lack of the right attitude: You have 1. Kevin Carey, “Graduation Rate Watch: Making Minority Student Success a Priority” (Washington, D.C.: Education Sector, 2008). to be committed to this.” 2. College Results Online (www.collegeresults.org), 2012. 3. Jennifer Engle and Christina Theokas. “Top Gainers: Some Public Four-Year Colleges and Universities Make Big Improvements in Minority Graduation Rates,” (Washington, — Larry Abele, former provost D.C.: The Education Trust, 2010); Mamie Lynch and Jennifer Engle. “Some Colleges and Universities Do Better Than Others in Graduating African-American Students” Florida State University (Washington, D.C.: The Education Trust, 2010. 4. Data provided by Florida State University. 5. College Results Online (www.collegeresults.org), 2012. 6. Carey, “Graduation Rate Watch.”

THE ACCESS TO About The Education Trust college and university systems of higher SUCCESS INITIATIVE The Education Trust promotes high education in the United States. Unique Launched in 2007, the Access to academic achievement for all students among higher education associations Success Initiative joins the leaders at all levels — pre-kindergarten through in its focus on systems, NASH seeks of public higher education systems college. We work alongside parents, ways to leverage system capacity to in working toward two ambitious goals: educators, and community and business meet current and future needs for higher increase the number of college gradu- leaders across the country in transforming education. NASH collaboratives, such as ates in their states and ensure those schools and colleges into institutions the partnership with The Education Trust, graduates more broadly represent their that serve all students well. Lessons are voluntary, and bring together system states’ high school graduates. Indeed, learned in these efforts, together with and campus leaders interested in work- A2S leaders have pledged that by 2015 unflinching data analyses, shape our ing together toward the common goal of their systems will halve the gaps in col- state and national policy agendas. Our improved effectiveness. lege-going and completion that separate goal is to close the gaps in opportunity Acknowledgment African-American, Latino, and American- and achievement that consign far too NASH and The Education Trust are grateful Indian students from their white and many young people — especially those to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Asian-American peers — and low-income who are black, Latino, American Indian, Lumina Foundation for Education for their students from more affluent ones. Now or from low-income families — to lives support of the Access to Success Initiative, 1250 H St. N.W., Suite 700 counting 22 member systems, 312 on the margins of the American main- and to the Carnegie Corporation of New two-year and four-year campuses, and stream. Washington, D.C. 20005 York for its support of the cross-system 3.5 million students, the A2S initiative About the National Association workgroups organized by the U. S. Educa- 202/293-1217 remains the nation’s only concerted ef- of System Heads tion Delivery Institute. The views expressed fort to help public college and university www.edtrust.org The National Association of System in this report do not necessarily represent systems boost attainment. Heads (NASH) is the association of the those of these foundations, their officers, To reach any staff member via e-mail, use chief executive officers of the 52 public or their employees. the first initial and last name @edtrust.org. For example, [email protected].

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