The Retention Task Force subcommittees will work over several months to address overarching research questions and submit recommendations to the task force in spring 2021.
Academics
Honing educational experiences and outcomes.
- Goal: Identify strategies that promote academic engagement and success among first-year students.
- Co-Chairs: Krista Hanypsiak (Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Education) and Carl Lund (School of Engineering and Applied Sciences - Engineering Education)
Barriers & Paths
Clearing institutional and financial obstacles.
- Goal: Identify recommendations for institutional policies, practices, and culture change; strategies for financial education and relief; strategies for programming and communication that simplify the complexities of UB for first-year students; and utilization of the EAB student success portal.
- Co-Chairs: Cathy Mann (School of Nursing) and Eric Streeter (College of Arts and Sciences)
Community
Building a sense of belonging and purpose.
- Goal: Identify strategies that promote a sense of emplacement among first-year students.
- Co-Chairs: Phyllis Floro (Student Life) and Jeff Good (College of Arts and Sciences - Linguistics)
Data & Assessment
Gathering and analyzing information.
- Goals:
- Identify and implement processes and tools for data sharing.
- Develop a comprehensive model and tools for retention assessment.
- Begin assessment of initiatives in which the university is invested heavily.
- Recommend an approach for leveraging predictive analytics.
- Support the data collection and analysis needs of the other subcommittees.
- Co-Chairs: Sarah Mack (Office of the Registrar) and Sean Bennett (Associate Dean, CAS and Professor of Geography)
- Assessment Lead: Carol Van Zile-Tamsen (Office of Educational Effectiveness)
- Data Sharing and Support Leads: Dan Kaczmerek (Student Life) and Mark Molnar (Office of Institutional Analysis)
- Predictive Analytics Leads: Eric Walsh (Student Life) and Melinda Whitford (Office of Institutional Analysis)
Governance & Communication
Collaborating across the enterprise.
- Goal: Identify strategies and recommendations for (a) communicating retention goals, challenges, and strategies to all campus stakeholders and (b) an initial and a long-term model of retention governance, including definition of the specific responsibilities of students, faculty and staff regarding persistence and retention.
- Co-Chairs: Nate Daun-Barnett (Graduate School of Education - Educational Leadership and Policy) and Dawn Reed (Interdivisional Marketing and Communications)
Subcommittees will:
- Review and define driving research questions and objectives.
- Gather allied information: UB data, literature, case studies, etc.
- Identify known and novel strategies.
- Select, combine and articulate proposed strategies.
- Deliver documentation, presentation and report to the task force.
Throughout these activities, they will consider how to:
- Build a sense of urgency among various stakeholders.
- Tailor recommendations to impact diverse and at-risk student populations.
- Understand the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on retention.
- Ensure recommendations meet the varied needs of those who struggle academically and those who succeed academically.