Student Success
Team Members Responsible: Anderson, DeBoer, Doan, Dubinsky, Ledom, Nietfeld, Swartzlander, VanGoethem
Objective 1: Increase Enrollment in the College
Strategy 1.1: Expand outreach pathways for undergraduate, transfer, and online recruitment.
Key Result 1: Expand and enhance engagement opportunities for incoming students.
Key Result 2: Increase the number of transfer students enrolling in the College as a result of specialized outreach and increased recruitment activities.
Key Result 3: Increase the number of online students who enroll in the College.
Strategy 1.2: Increase marketing of College programs, including majors and minors.
Key Result 1: Significant increase in production of focused marketing materials for the Fall 2025 recruitment cycle.
Objective 2: Improve Student Retention by Enhancing Engagement and the Academic Experience
Strategy 2.1: Identify students in the engagement gap and pilot programs to engage them more effectively in the College.
Key Result 1: Pilot at least four new engagement efforts for undergraduate students in the College no later than December 2025 with review of impact one year after launch.
Key Result 2: Better connect online students to the College community through the offering of at least two new engagement efforts directed at building community in the online space.
Strategy 2.2: Create a comprehensive plan to address high DFW rates and low retention rates in the College beginning with piloting large-enrolled classes contained in the KU Core 34.
Key Result 1: Significant reduction of DFW rates in the pilot study.
Key Result 2: Ensure pathways to degree completion for residential students that are not dependent upon online courses.
Strategy 2.3: Identify students who may be at risk of not thriving academically and reach out earlier to engage or re-engage them.
Key Result 1: Compared to previous years (before intervention was used) students remain at KU at a higher rate two semesters after they were proactively contacted through one of the College’s engagement methods.
Strategy 2.4: Strengthen graduate student academic progression through program and process enhancements.
Key Result 1: Implement measures aimed at reducing time to degree between oral comprehensive exams and completion, and for overall time to degree for doctoral programs in the College.
Key Result 2: Implement measures to assure continuity and consistency of graduate advising and student services even if there is staff and leadership turnover.
Objective 3: Support Long-Term Student Success by Improving Placement
Strategy 3.1: Continue with KBOR Math Pathways planning for 2026 with special attention to DFW rates in those who will move from Algebra to Statistics.
Key Result 1: Math Pathways built and pilot implemented by Fall 2025.
Objective 4: Assure Quality of Academic Programs
Strategy 4.1: Attract highest quality doctoral students.
Key Result 1: Partner programs with KU Marketing and Graduate Admissions to develop and implement new strategies that support program recruitment and admissions goals.
Key Result 2: Increase the number of 1:1 advising meetings COGA graduate program coordinators hold with prospective students/applicants and in the number of interviews College faculty hold with candidates identified as highly competitive.
Key Result 3: Identify $10,000 in funds to provide 20 awards of $500 to support campus visits to bring in competitive candidates.
Key Result 4: Implement measures aimed at increasing the number of programs that issue admission acceptances within two weeks for highly competitive candidates.
Metrics Impacted
- Enrollment
- Increase in Kansas resident, transfer, online, and concurrent enrollments
- Increase in pre-health and second major
- Increase in student satisfaction
- Retention, graduation, and student debt
- Persistence to 2nd year, especially for underrepresented students
- Decrease in DFW rates
- Reduce time to degree between oral comprehensive exams and completion, and overall time to degree for doctoral programs