The Power of KudosStrategies for Engaging

Faculty

Stacy HollidayDavidson County Community College

Why do we care?

“If student success initiatives are to be successful, it must be a campus-wide effort”

Students spend the majority of their time on campus, in the classroom

Faculty energy and enthusiasm most commonly cited factor in the success of initiatives

- American Council on Education

What do we mean?

“Faculty Engagement”-

Involving faculty early, creatively, and authentically

More than just data sources

Beyond just your early adopters

Faculty are NOT:• “the enemy”• An obstacle to overcome• Whiny lazy complainers

• Valuable Partners• Knowledgeable Data Providers• Influential Champions for Students

Faculty Are:

A New Way of Seeing

The Starfish Story

A man was walking along a deserted beach at sunset. As he walked he could see a young boy in the distance. As he drew nearer, he noticed that the boy kept bending down, picking something up and throwing it into the water.

As the man approached even closer, he was able to see that the boy was picking up starfish that had been washed up on the beach and, one at a time, he was throwing them back into the water.

The man asked the boy what he was doing. The boy replied, “I am saving these washed up starfish.”

“But,” said the man, “You can’t possibly make a difference or save them all.” The boy smiled, bent down and picked up another starfish. As he threw it back into the sea, he replied,

“It made a difference to that one!”

Student Success Initiatives at DCCC

2008 Campus Task Force with NACADA

2009 Achieving the Dream

2011 Completion by Design

2012 Quality Enhancement Plan (FYE)

2012 Student Success Center Opened

‘Storming toward Success’ FYE Model

Success Center as a one-stop-shop Enrollment, Financial Aid, Advising,

Career Counseling A proactive enrollment approach Centralized intrusive (proactive)

advising Mandatory Orientation First year success course (ACA-090) Faculty mentoring

Centralized Proactive Advising Consistency- 3 Advisors Per School of Learning

Assigned to Specific Programs, 400-425 Advisees Supportive Relationship

thoughtful decision-making and educational planning Increasing student’s interdependence, self directed

learning Personal and professional goal setting

Early intervention via Starfish Progress surveys and mid term grades entered by

faculty Continued intervention via academic warning,

probation

Overview of Starfish at DCCC3 Progress Surveys per termMidterms- Kudos-Satisfactory, Flags-Marginal,

UnsatisfactoryAll Faculty Record AttendanceOnline Appointment Scheduling

oFaculty Office HoursoAdvising and Financial Aid

Student Success Plans oAcademic Alert and Probation StudentsoFirst Year-Entering Students

Deliverables

Communicate

Relevance

EasyEfficient

C.R.E.E.D.

COMMUNICATE

Understanding Perspective

• Half of you please close your eyes and keep them closed but still pay attention

Two Way Communication

Communicate Communicate, Communicate,

Communicate! CELEBRATE Successes! Share student stories & comments Give Credit where its Due Opening and Closing Sessions Standing Meetings Facilitated discussions- LISTEN! Multiple Modal- Videos for Visual and Auditory Ongoing Communication

RELEVANCE

RELEVANCE

• Ask Them! Can you predict student’s final

course grade based on their early performance in your course?

If so, how are you able to make an accurate prediction?

What would help students perform better in your course? What resources should students use to be more successful in your course?

Starfish Integrated into our Student Success Model Utilizing Loss/Momentum Framework- Completion by Design·Lack of direction

·Need Proactive Advising that is Consistent·‘Stuck’ in Developmental Ed

·Struggle Academically·Part-time enrollment means slow progress, lose momentum·Life “gets in the way”

·‘Swirling’ causes excess credits and can prevent completion·Not able to get into selective admission programs

·Misunderstanding of Program of Study Choices and Connection to Future Career ·Confused about Financial Aid process and requirements

·First year Student Success Plans in Starfish-steps to increase student engagement and connection to college resources·Starfish notes provide students’ extended support network access to pertinent information·Starfish Academic Plans allow students to see pathway past Developmental Ed courses

·Flags raised in Starfish by faculty allow students to receive on-time intervention, tutoring referrals, etc… ·Midterms through Starfish ensure all students are aware of their progress in each course·Academic Plans in Starfish help students to stay on track·Schedule childcare appointments in Starfish

·Success Plans in Starfish assigned to students who indicate interest in selective admissions programs ·Academic Plans in Starfish reduce ‘swirling’ by providing clear pathway to student goals·Students use Starfish to schedule resume review appointments with career counselors

·Enrollment Counselors use Starfish to refer undecided students to career counselors to help with major selection·Can keep detailed notes that will be helpful for students’ advisors ·Schedule appointments with financial aid advisors

EASY

EASY“You mean that’s all I have to do?”

An intentional clear simple intuitive design is critical to the success of your system

Where to go for help- Easy to Find!

Video Tutorials:Follow the KISS method

Progress Surveys to Faculty

Faculty Easily Input Concerns, Kudos, Attendance Withdrawals, Midterms

They just check the box next to each student’s name and hit ‘Submit’

EFFICIENT

EFFICIENT

EFFICIENT

“Starfish is even a more powerful tool than I realized”

Institutional Analysis:

Which existing processes could be made more efficient by utilizing Starfish?

Think creatively, beyond just the typical

EFFICIENT

EFFICIENT

THEN• Multiple requests from

multiple sources• Various paper or on-line

forms • Several items to complete

for each student• Little feedback about

student referral • No knowledge of who is

addressing student concern

NOW• One box to click on a

roster-type form • Student receives

notification • Concerns promptly

addressed• Student university

connections can be viewed

• Detailed information and notes about interventions are accessible

Early Alert Warning and Referrals at DCCC

DELIVERABLES

DELIVERABLES

• Close the Loop!

• Short term Wins

• Meaningful to Faculty

• Share Success Stories

• Encourage Faculty “Champions” to ‘spread the word’

Types of Data that can be Collected

Direct measures of Faculty Engagement Progress Survey Completion, Office Hours Entered Student Reports of Feedback from Faculty

Measuring the Impact of Implementation Overall course success and completion rates% of students w/ positive change in academic

performance from midterm to final after being flagged

Starfish Campus Wide Implementation- Spring 2012

Spring Terms Fall Terms0

5

10

15

20

25

302010

2010

2011

20112012

2012

2013

2013

Proportion of Courses Withdrawn from by First-term students

Perc

enta

ge o

f cou

rses

enr

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Student Comments- KUDOS I am a single mother, working full time and going to DCCC full time. Times are stressful

and the stress was getting unbearable. When I received my Starfish Report and saw the good comments and encouragement it reminded me why I'm doing all this. I am now steadily headed toward graduation and am so proud of myself :)

The Starfish emails always encourage me and make me feel that the hard work I have put into my classes is recognized. It gives me hope and promise I can do it and not give up.

The emails sent by Starfish have been encouraging since they recognize me as an individual student working hard towards my educational goals. Each time I receive an email it makes me want to continue to strive for my best. It's like a little gold star sticker on your homework in elementary school. It makes you feel good about yourself and your efforts.

Starfish has really helped me to keep focused. Starfish has been a little cheerleader for me. Every time I get starfished I get excited. It just helps to solidify that all my hard work is paying off and for the first time in my life I feel like I have people watching out for me. It may be silly but I have every message from starfish saved. I look forward to adding more.

Starfish has helped me to recognize my strengths that I never knew I had before. I know for a fact Starfish was beneficial for me because I have NEVER been an A student. Sometimes all a person needs is some positive and reassuring words in order to be successful.

Student Comments- FLAGS Starfish has helped me to continue to want to do good when no one else seems to

notice. It has also told me when I need to work harder on getting better grades in class I may have started slacking in.

One semester during a math course I was taking, Starfish would email me stating that I had gotten a little behind and that really motivated me to know that someone cares enough to send me an email telling me to get it in gear. This semester, I have gotten up to four emails in one week stating how good of a job I am doing and to keep up the good work! On those days where I just want to stay in bed and say forget school, those emails pop into my head and really motivate me to get up put on my best face and continue my education at DCCC.

I'm glad that DCCC saw fit to be concerned for the student body to give us starfish. Starfish keeps me in line because I get instant notification less than 24 hours when there's trouble academically or progress or if there's a seminar or a study session that would help me to be a better student. I think the faculty and staff at DCCC have the students’ best interest in mind.

Starfish helps keep me on track through the emails I receive. I know if I my performance is where it should be, or I need to seek help, tutoring to get back on track.

Faculty and Advisor Comments I have had at least 10 students each semester that I have flagged

as needing to improve academic performance who then as if by magic started coming back to class and stepping up their performance. So much so that these failing students have become stars in class, completing extra credit, and earning an 'A' in the course! Starfish was the magic that worked for these students

Last semester, a Developmental Math student received a Kudos email from Starfish. She was so excited about getting positive feedback in her Math class, that she printed it off and put it on her refrigerator at home so that she could see it everyday (and she also wanted to brag about it to her family members).

According to one of my students, she knew that she needed to come see me following a brief conversation we had after class but it was something that she just continued to put off. Receiving the email alert from Starfish made it seem much more "official," causing her to follow up immediately to avoid failing.

Faculty and Advisor Comments I have an ACA 090 student that has really benefited from Starfish.

Having been out of college for a long while, she began the semester confused, defensive, and overwhelmed. She had difficulty with remembering her weekly journals and a Starfish flag was raised to let her know that she had been missing assignments. She met with me in my office and we established a self-management (time management) system for her. The next time in Starfish, she earned a "Kudos." She came to class with tears in her eyes and I asked her what was wrong. She then replied, "Thank You so much for the Kudos.“ I think her positive progress surprised herself and she needed to be encouraged and rewarded once she had shown growth. She will be finishing up the class soon and has shown great growth.

I think Starfish helps build that very vital advisor, student, instructor, education community bond that keeps our students motivated and in the game.

Continued Improvement

Pitfalls to Avoid

• Delayed Response to Help Requests

• Deploying too Fast

• Much harder to regain trust in the system once you’ve lost it!

• Don’t ignore your Adjunct Faculty

Lessons Learned

• Don’t stop communicating!

• Keep Listening- Ask for Feedback

• Keep monitoring usage and keep providing recognition

• Single Point of Contact for Help

• Accessible Documentation

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step