HLC Honors First Graduates from Student Success Academy
HLC’s Student Success Academy took center stage this spring as its first group of 18 institutions graduated from the data-informed program with ambitious, well-thought-out student success plans in hand.
Representing nine states and multiple sectors, including private, public, for-profit, a seminary, a college nursing school, a military institute, as well as tribal and community colleges, the institutions were recognized by HLC during its 2022 Annual Conference.
“The first thing participants learn in HLC’s Student Success Academy is the importance of defining what student success means in a way that reflects institutional mission and the educational intentions of students,” said Barbara Gellman-Danley, president of HLC.
From there, they learn with guidance from Academy scholars and mentors how to identify numerous gaps in information, service and performance that need to be addressed in order to support equitable student outcomes, she said.
The inaugural group of institutions completing the three-year Student Success Academy, which is HLC’s newest training program, includes:
- Barton Community College, Great Bend, Kansas
- Bismarck State College, Bismarck, N.D.
- Central Lakes College, Brainerd, Minn.
- Concordia University St. Paul, St. Paul, Minn.
- Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, Mich.
- Elgin Community College, Elgin, Ill.
- Goldfarb School of Nursing at Barnes-Jewish College, St. Louis, Mo.
- Indiana University East, Richmond, Ind.
- Indiana University Northwest, Gary, Ind.
- Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wis.
- Midwest Baptist Theological Seminary, Kansas City, Mo.
- Monroe County Community College, Monroe, Mich.
- New Mexico Military Institute, Roswell, N.M.
- Ranken Technical College, St. Louis, Mo
- Saginaw Valley State University, University Ctr., Mich.
- Saint Paul College – A Community & Technical College, Saint Paul, Minn.
- Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute, Albuquerque, N.M.
- University of Phoenix, Phoenix, Ariz.
Some of the institutions discovered during the program that they were not as familiar with their student populations as they had thought. Others found they were not doing effective outreach with students who needed it most. Still others learned that supporting their students’ success simply wasn’t a campus-wide effort, according to the Academy.
Reflecting on data, resources, priorities and past decision-making, the institutions leave the Academy with both a solid plan and framework for effectively taking on one of higher education’s biggest challenges - how to respond when students are left behind in reaching their higher-education goals.
Many have already begun implementing changes that will address shortcomings in policy, procedure and practice and support institutional priorities. Targeted student success centers, permanent student-success teams/committees, program reviews of engagement initiatives and strategic interventions for reaching women and minority students are just a few of the many initiatives being introduced.
Some of the institutions’ efforts already are being recognized in local communities including in Roswell, N.M, where the New Mexico Military Institute (NMMI), one of the nation’s first to admit female cadets and among the inaugural group of Student Success Academy graduates, talked about its plan for the future with a local newspaper.
Plans formulated by another inaugural graduate of HLC’s Student Success Academy, Indiana University East, also already have been featured in HLC’s March issue of Leaflet.
Watch for continuing coverage on the innovative work being done by other institutions from the inaugural group of the Student Success Academy in upcoming issues of Leaflet.
The next Student Success Academy cohort begins in fall 2022. Applications are being accepted through June 13.
