Project Succeed Funded by the U.S. Department of Education

Project Succeed Funded by the U.S. Department of Education

SJSU Washington Square Project Succeed is a five-year graduation and retention improvement plan beginning in October 2014. Project Succeed intends to strengthen SJSU’s culture for undergraduate student success by increasing our retention and graduation rates as well as closing the achievement gap for Under-Represented Minorities (URMs).

SJSU Washington Square Project Team Dr. Patricia Backer, Project Director Project Team Dr. Maria Luisa Alaniz, Professor and Coordinator, Social Science Teacher Preparation. Dr. Maureen Smith, Professor of Child and Adolescent Development Ms. Stephanie Hubbard, Associate Director of Residential Life Ms. Cynthia Kato, Director of Academic Advising and Retention Services.

SJSU Washington Square Goals 1. Strengthen SJSU’s core academic performance in two key areas: retention and graduation. 2. Provide an improved supportive environment for URM students 3. Enhance the delivery and integration of academic and co-curricular support services for students

SJSU Washington Square Agenda Advisory Board Introduction of new members Block Scheduling Update (Cynthia Kato) Peer Mentors and Educators Update (Deanna Peck) Faculty Mentor Program Update (Maria Alaniz & Marlene Stern) First Year Experience Update (Maureen Smith & Stephanie Hubbard) Student Learning Communities Update (Stephanie Hubbard) Evaluator Update (Daniel Brenner, WestEd) Discussion and Feedback FYE Project Groups Continuation of Peer Educator Pilot in Spring 2017 Question and answers Adjournment

SJSU Washington Square Block Scheduling Update For Fall 2015 newly matriculated freshmen in the College of Business, the College of Engineering, and Child and Adolescent Development (CHAD) were assigned schedules that included at least 2 shared classes with other students in their declared majors. Total enrolled Fall 2015 Retention after 1 year % Retention SJSU units earned SJSU GPA Blocked Unblocked 1272 2198 1136 1877 89.3% 85.4% 24.8 23.1 2.872 2.899 probability 37% p .001 p .001 p .149 Probation % Probation 95 7.5% 160 7.3% p .421 Disqualified % Disqualified 31 2.4% 48 2.2% p .317

SJSU Washington Square Block Scheduling Update Comparison of retention after the first year for Fall 2015 freshmen in Business and Engineering to that of the prior two years is shown in the table. Data for the Fall 2013 and Fall 2014 cohorts can be found in the Student Success Milestones on the Institutional Effectiveness & Analytics website. Retention after 1st year Business Engineering 2013 89.9% 2013 86.8% 2014 87.4% 2014 87.5% 2015 88.0% 2015 90.0%

SJSU Washington Square Block Scheduling Update Fall 2016 Block scheduled only 2 classes, preregistered students for those classes, and increased proactive communication with instructors regarding block scheduling, peer mentors, etc. We added Music to Business, Engineering, and CHAD majors. We collaborated with departments and scheduling to hide sections held for the blocking to reduce confusion on the part of students and with the Registrar to batch enroll students. Fall 2017 we plan to add 2-3 majors each in the Colleges of Applied Sciences and Arts and Social Science and to add all majors in the College of Science. We have also already planned with scheduling to use specific section numbering to identify blocked classes.

SJSU Washington Square& Educators Peer Mentors 30 Faculty working with Peer Educators The faculty are either being paid through the Project Succeed Grant or they are working with Peer Connections. This number does not include the 3 faculty working with Peer Connections to have Supplemental Instruction Leaders that are not being paid through the grant. 50 Peer Educators (All being paid through the grant) How are the Peer Educators being utilized by the various instructors? 12 being used as Tutors 20 being used as Mentors/Hybrids 18 being used as Supplemental Instruction Leaders

Why Students Hired interns Participate Project Succeed Collaborative Support Discussion Session 9/9/11 – 30 attendees Space – Peer Mentors Block classes - 5 orientations COMM 20 MAS 10A – Residence Hall Presentations – COSS Admin Orientation Fall Pilot – 48 mentors 17 mentees registered Fall ‘16 Pilot

Mentees Mentors Gender Ethnicities Generation

Challenges & Future Plans Infrastructure/Integration – Block class requirement – FYE class requirement – others Spring Launch 2017 Capacity SJSU Commitment to Sustainable Program

SJSUProgram Washington Square FYE Hosted a 3-hour FYE Forum Staff Faculty/MPP/Library Students Established FYE Working Groups Muse/Area E (n 3) 1 Unit FYE (n 2) Housing/1st 6 weeks FYE (n 3) On-line Orientation Plus (n 4)

SJSUProgram Washington Square FYE Established an FYE Steering Committee Fall 2016 Will establish FYE standards Will review FYE proposals Pilot and Assess FYE proposals in Fall 2017 Propose New FYE Policy and Guidelines Spring 2018

SJSU Washington Square Student Learning Communities There are currently six Living Learning Communities (LLCs): located within our first year residential areas: Arts Village Black Scholars Community BUILD Global Village Rainbow Village CELL Block Scheduling in BUILD, CELL, and Arts Village Community Councils in Black Scholars Community, Rainbow Village and possibly BUILD Nine Faculty In Residence (FIR) hired Three new academic positions

SJSU Washington Square WestEd Evaluation Update Impact on Academic Outcomes Compare the Project Succeed group to the rest of the cohort to see if they differ on academic outcomes (e.g., retention, probation, GPA, units taken) Create a matched group that is matched on characteristics we thing might be correlated with outcomes Run the comparison of outcomes between the treatment group and the matched group Conduct exploratory analyses to determine whether the intervention impact is larger for certain traditionally lower performing subgroups

SJSU Washington Square WestEd Evaluation Update Findings from Analysis of Student Survey Results, Spring 2016 Block scheduling, the Peer Mentor program and Themed Housing were positively reviewed by student respondents Both Academic Advising experiences and Meeting with Faculty Formative Evaluation of Other Program Aspects in Progess Peer Educator Program Faculty Mentor Program FYE Program

SJSU Washington Square Discussion and Feedback FYE Project Groups Continuation of Peer Educator Pilot in Spring 2017 Question and answers