NASH Newsletter – February 2019
February 28, 2019
NASH SYSTEM LEADERSHIP ACADEMY—2019
In its third year, the NASH Leadership Academy has brought together leaders from five systems and a selection of their campuses to discuss one of the highest priorities facing U.S. systems and campuses: improving student success.
The Academy, held January 16-17, 2019, in Washington, DC, is designed to support systems in the development of high-performing teams that facilitate large-scale change, enhance campus and system performance, and scale best practices across multiple campuses. Participants worked as system-based teams and focused on leading change efforts that are known to enhance student success through a multilateral approach, considering relationships between system and campus leaders as well as among the campuses themselves.
Speakers provided a mix of content and case studies on leading for change, culture and innovation, and data informed action. Team sessions provided ample time to apply these ideas to the particular context of the systems and campuses, as well as the projects they identified in advance. Specific areas of team focus included:
- Engaging returning adult students
- Improving educator preparation
- Implementing high impact practices
- Advancing success for transfer students
The Academy comprises a two-day intensive workshop, with a follow-up meeting in April. System teams will develop action plans around a project of choice designed to significantly boost student success and will report on three-month accomplishments at the meeting in April.
We look forward to offering the NASH Leadership Academy again in January of 2020. Please contact Rebecca Martin (rebecca@nash-ed.org) for details.
TS3 HIGH IMPACT PRACTICES UPDATE
The NASH TS3: HIPS annual meeting, supported by Lumina Foundation, took place on February 18-20, 2019 in Nashville, TN. The meeting brought together project teams from the four state systems and 22 campuses for two and a half days of speakers, workshops and work sessions on scaling high quality equitable HIPs. We were also fortunate to be joined by representatives from eight of the greater TS3 Network systems. Extending participation to eight additional NASH systems whose systems are also focused on scaling High Impact Practices enriched the conversation by expanding its national scope and magnifying best practices.
On day one, we were joined by Sam Museus, Professor, University of San Diego, for a session on Making High impact Practices Equitable. Sam’s session provided a critical overview of the relationship between equity and HIPs with time to consider specific case studies. As a complement, Mary-Ann Winkelemes, Director, Center for Teaching & Learning, Brandeis University, joined us for a workshop on day two. In this session, Transparent Instruction to Improve Equitable Student Success, she discussed her research on transparency, which can provide a specific, cost-effective, research-based, framework that campuses can implement in their HIPs courses.
The meeting also highlighted project teams’ work during a campus panel featuring nine, five-minute “lightening round” presentations, as well as time for teams to collaborate both internally and with other network members. Teams report that two critical benefits of participating in this project are the space and time to collaborate and focus—so often unavailable when on campus—and the time to share successes and challenges with national colleagues.
After the TS3: HIPs convening, many members also attended the HIPs in the States Conference at Western Kentucky University. In fact, over 20 presentations were given by members representing all four systems, including a session by the system leads teams, “Systems Take Student Success to Scale: HIPs at the state level” and a lunchtime plenary by Claire Jacobson, NASH, on “Expanding Definitions of Evidence.” Next years’ HIPs in the States Conference will be held February 19-22, 2020, sponsored by Texas A&M University. Stay tuned for more information.
If you missed it, you can see Sam’s pre-conference webinar on equity in assessment and data practices here.
TS3 NETWORK CONVENING – APRIL 23-24, 2019
Our 4th Annual Taking Student Success to Scale (TS3) Network Convening will take place on April 23-24, 2019 in Baltimore, MD. This year’s convening will focus on linking closing equity gaps with improving student success. Highlights for the convening include:
- Keynotes from Tim White, Chancellor, California State University and Freeman A. Hrabowski, President, The University of Maryland, Baltimore County
- Focus sessions on our target interventions: Predictive Analytics, High Impact Practices, and Math Pathways
- Structured planning time for system/campus teams
The TS3 Network Convening brings together system and campus leaders from across the country committed to adopting evidence based practices in order to move the dial on our nation’s completion and attainment goals. We currently have 23 systems committed to this initiative. To learn more about the convening or to register, please visit: https://ts3convening.wordpress.com/. To learn more about Taking Student Success to Scale, including viewing past webinars on our three interventions, please visit our website: http://ts3.nashonline.org/.
TAKING STUDENT TO SUCCESS TO SCALE (TS3) WEBINAR
Please join NASH and the TS3 Network for our upcoming webinar Communicating HIPs Strategy and Impact to Faculty and Senior Leadership. The webinar will be held on March 21 at 3:00 pm Eastern. Please register for the webinar on our website: http://ts3.nashonline.org/news/.
- March 21: Communicating HIPs Strategy and Impact to Faculty and Senior Leadership
Presenter: Debra Humphreys, Lumina Foundation
Description: In this Webinar, participants will learn strategies for effectively communicating about efforts to scale and measure the impact of HIPs. Session will cover such issues as “framing” research and how to use it effectively to “make the case” for the importance of HIPS to the success of today’s students. Participants will also learn about research on impact of HIPS that can be deployed in effective ways to communicate their value to various constituents.
QUALITY ASSURANCE AND THE ROLE OF STATE SYSTEMS AND SHEEOS
With support from the Lumina Foundation, NASH and SHEEO have been collaborating on a project to learn how SHEEOs and State systems currently view their roles in quality assurance. Last spring, we conducted a survey of SHEEOs and System Heads, performed follow up interviews, and are compiling the results of this research into a forthcoming report. In November, we held a convening to explore these issues in more depth.
The convening brought together a small group of state higher education leaders, regional accreditation executives, and a few individuals engaged in relevant research and leadership. The convening was organized for discussion of the roles of state systems, SHEEOs, and accreditors in assuring quality and furthering equity in postsecondary education. Its objectives included (a) the sharing of quality assurance practices, (b) the identification of needed reforms in state approaches to quality assurance, (c) exploration of how existing and emerging sources of state-level data might be used more resourcefully to assure quality and promote equity, (d) discussion of roles accreditors now play and of roles they might consider, and (e) consideration of how shifting alliances and partnerships bear on divisions of responsibility for assuring quality and promoting equity.
The discussions focused on these high-level themes:
- quality assurance to advance equity goals
- quality assurance for non-degree credentials
- shifting responsibilities of federal and state quality assurance actors
- shifting roles for accreditors and their member institutions
Click here to view the summary notes
We hope to share the full report of this project with you in the next several months.
NEW SELF-PACED COURSE ON USING DATA ANALYTICS FOR STUDENT SUCCESS
We know that colleges and universities are collectively investing millions of dollars in technology and infrastructure related to data analytics. We also know that it takes more than raw data to transform the way our institutions make decisions about student retention and success. An Introduction to Data Analytics and Student Success is an online, self-paced and interactive course designed to support students, faculty, staff, and administrators to improve their understanding of the basics of data analytics in higher education and how it is being used to support student success.
With support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a group of TS3 members from the State University of New York, Tennessee Board of Regents, University System of Maryland, and the University System of Georgia came together to design a toolkit for assisting colleges and universities in implementing predicative analytics platforms and initiatives. The culmination of that work was the development of this course, which is housed by SUNY’s Strategic, Academic, and Innovative Leadership (SAIL) Institute. The course is available to anyone and we invited members of NASH to share the course with their campuses. Comments, questions, and feedback for improvement can be directed to the lead course designer, Dr. Jason Lane (jlane@albany.edu).
The course can be accessed at the following address: https://online.suny.edu/sail/datacourse
LEVEL UP LAUNCH
For several years, NASH has been engaged as a founding member of Higher Ed for Higher Standards, a partnership of higher education and K-12 stakeholders focused on improving college and career readiness. To move this work forward in our changing environment, we are launching Level Up, a new collaborative of state and national partners committed to measurably increasing the numbers of high school students prepared for and successfully transitioning to postsecondary education and training programs.
The Education Strategy Group (ESG) is hosting a Level Up launch event on March 8 from 9:30 am – 12:00 pm EST at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. Our systems are invited to livestream the event. At the launch event, Matt Gandal, President of ESG, will lay out a set of key strategies that every community and state can take to accelerate student transitions.
Former U.S. Secretary of Education John King will engage a set of students about the barriers they faced in making the transition from high school to postsecondary education.
And CCSSO Executive Director Carissa Moffat Miller will lead a panel discussion of state and local leaders about the value of cross-sector alignment to close preparation and success gaps, including: Mike Krause, Executive Director, Tennessee Higher Education Commission; Eduardo Padron, President, Miami Dade College; Pedro Rivera, Secretary, Pennsylvania Department of Education; and, Sonja Santelises, CEO, Baltimore City Schools.
Please click here to register to livestream the event.
CSU CHANCELLOR WHITE TO RECEIVE LEADERSHIP CHAMPION AWARD
Tim White, Chancellor of California State University and NASH Board Chair, is being awarded the 2019 Leadership Champion Award by Leadership California. Each year, Leadership California recognizes women, companies, and, new in 2019, one man, who lead the way through civic, business and service achievement, while advancing and supporting women leaders.
Chancellor White has made an immeasurable impact on the opportunities for women in California. “With the majority of our 23 campuses now led by women presidents, the California State University is an exemplar for our state and nation,” said White. “We take immense pride in serving the country’s most diverse group of students, and I am equally as proud that our leadership reflects the diversity of our students.” Chancellor White will be honored with the award in May at the annual Legacy of Leadership awards ceremony.
RECENT REPORTS OF INTEREST
Here are several reports that have crossed my desk recently that I would like to bring to your attention.
- Race and Ethnicity in Higher Education: A Status Report, American Council on Education, 2019.
Lorelle Espinosa and her research team have developed an important report that examines over 200 indicators, looking at who gains access to a variety of educational environments and experiences, and how these trajectories and their outcomes differ by race and ethnicity. These data provide a foundation from which the higher education community and its many stakeholders can draw insights, raise new questions, and make the case for why race still matters in higher education. Visit www.equityinhighered.org to learn more about the project and to download the full report. Also available on the site are downloadable figures, detailed data, and other resources on race and ethnicity in higher education.
- Balancing Work and Learning; Implications for Low-Income Students, Center on Education and the Workforce, Georgetown University, 2018.
Anthony Carnevale and Nicole Smith explore the impact of hours work, types of work, and differences in enrollments and completions between low-income and higher-income working learners. About 57 percent of low-income working learners do not earn a postsecondary credential within six years, compared to 46 percent of higher income working learners. A more worrisome fact is that even if they come from the upper end of the academic performance distribution, low-income working learners are less likely to earn a credential overall.
https://cew.georgetown.edu/cew-reports/learnandearn/
- Improving College Affordability with New Higher Education Business Models, RPK Group, 2019.
Donna Desrochers and Richard Staisloff present fundamentals of strategic finance and provides a roadmap for moving forward. The focus is on public colleges and universities, with a particular emphasis on non-research institutions that serve large populations of students (including those with higher financial need), but have fewer alternative sources on institutional revenues to tap.
Click here to read the full report
- The Gender Pay Gap and the Representation of Women in Higher Education Administrative Positions: The Century So Far, College and University Professionals in Higher Education, 2017.
Jacqueline Bichsel and Jasper McChesney looked at how higher education has paid women in administrative positions from 2001 through 2016, found that women occupy only 30 percent of the senior-most positions in higher education. It also found that in positions where women are less represented, they tend to be paid more. However, as a whole, women administrators earn on average 20 cents less than their male counterparts.
https://www.cupahr.org/blog/gender-gap-persists-higher-eds-c-suite/
- First-generation Student Success: A Landscape Analysis of Programs and Services at Four-year Institutions, Center for First-generation Student Success, NASPA–Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education, and Entangled Solutions, 2018.
First-generation students make up a third of all college students, but only 27 percent will attain their degrees within four years—markedly lagging behind their continuing generation peers. While research suggests that certain intentional practices can improve first-generation college success, there is a need for greater clarity around existing approaches and impediments if institutions are to scale effective, data-informed solutions. Dr. Sarah E. Whitley, Grace Benson, and Alexis Wesaw detail how institutions are serving first-generation students, the challenges institutions encounter in providing support, and how first-generation students perceive their institutional experience.
Click here to read the full report
MEMBERSHIP UPDATE
New System Heads
Dr. William Roper, Interim President, University of North Carolina
Mr. Randy Boyd, Interim President, University of Tennessee System
UPCOMING MEETINGS AND EVENTS
| Type | Topic | Date | Location | Meeting |
| Leadership | AGB Institute for Board Leaders and Chief Executives of Public Universities and Systems | April 12 – 14 | Orlando | AGB |
| System Heads | NASH Board & System Heads Meeting | April 14 | Orlando, FL | AGB |
| Leadership | NASH Leadership Academy – Part 2 | April 23 | Baltimore, MD | NASH |
| TS3 | TS3 Network Meeting | April 23 – 24 | Baltimore, MD | NASH |
| System Heads | NASH Board & System Heads Meeting | July 16 | Little Rock, AZ | SHEEO |
| CAO | NASH CAO Network Meeting | Aug 7 | Boston, MA | SHEEO |
| System Heads | NASH Board & System Heads Meeting | Nov 10* | San Diego, CA | APLU |
*Date is tentative and subject to change
SYSTEM ROUNDUP
- Cal State graduation rates reach record highs and equity gaps narrow
- Capacity-building initiatives will spur innovation and improve state’s talent pipeline, student success
- Utah’s commissioner of higher education announces retirement at end of year
- A college access advisor for every high school in Utah: A national first
- Texas A&M System Creates Collaborative Learning Center
- UT Interim President Announces “Transparent UT”
- Educators struggle to reduce need for remedial classes in SD colleges
- PASSHE pledges to transform
- Student success conference promotes innovative teaching strategies
- Be bold. Shape the future. Arvizu’s plan for taking the NMSU system to the next level
- Students could apply for all Montana colleges with 1 application under regents proposal
- USM, MGCCC Introduce New Teacher Education Pathway Program to Address Teacher Shortage in Mississippi
- University of Illinois system extends in-state tuition freeze for fifth-straight year
- Board of Regents eager to raise higher education attainment in southwest Kansas
- Southern University and the Pursuit of Black Excellence
- Why more than a third of college students are changing schools
- UMaine announces system-wide initiative to look at academic programs
- ASU System approves plan to add school
- University of California Paving a path to college
- California State University graduation rates show uneven progress
- CSCU seeks partners to expand training for highly sought manufacturing workers in Connecticut
- University System of Georgia enrollment increases to all-time high