Student Success Initiative

Chair/Lead: James DeVita, Gina King, and Ronita Walker

The New Student Experience Coordinating Team is charged with developing a set of recommendations
for aligning the new student experience to create a SCHOLARS FOR ALL experience with a focus on, but not limited to:

• Orientation and On-boarding
• Advising practices that support student success and transition
• Alignment of UNIV and first-year seminars, scholars programs, LLCs and other initiatives
  targeted at supporting new students with orientation and welcome programming
• Welcome, Retrievers (including graduate and international student welcome events)

This work must be guided by our core value of inclusive excellence and thoughtfully consider the experience of new student parents and families as partners. We encourage bold thinking not limited by current structures or practices, but supported by research and best practice. This work should consider, but is not limited to ensuring seamless, coordinated, and timely communication with students and families; coordination of hiring for student leaders who support and mentor new students; fostering new and exciting traditions; and ensuring that key values and experiences are threaded throughout the first year.

Chair/Lead: Carlos Jensen, Monique Ransom

The AAC will serve as the central body for strengthening, coordinating, and aligning academic advising across campus. Its charge includes:

• Ensuring consistent, equitable, and proactive advising for all undergraduate students;
• Recommending and standardizing advising policies, training, protocols, and technologies;
• Strengthening coordination and communication among advising units;
• Removing structural barriers to student progression; and
• Advancing continuous improvement through the use of data, analytics, and assessment.

This work will be foundational to realizing UMBC’s broader commitments to student success and will help ensure that advising excellence is delivered consistently – regardless of a student’s entry point, major, or academic pathway.

Chair/Lead: TBA

In accordance with the National Institute of Student Success recommendations, the Student Facing Communications Workgroup will lead the effort to:

• Inventory current student communications to better understand the manner and cadence of student-facing communications from various units
• Prioritize communications from offices key to student progression, and standardize college communications in critical areas related to enrollment and success
• Use data to target and personalize communications, including text messages, with focused content sent in a proactive manner.

Chair/Lead: Delana Gregg

The Course Outcomes Data Committee is charged with advising the Vice Provost for Student Success in improving student outcomes by, among other priorities:

• Identifying course-related factors across departments, colleges, and the university that impede student progression, including high DFW rates, course bottlenecks, barriers in program structure, and inequities in outcomes across student populations.
• Ensuring that course outcomes analyses and resulting interventions are aligned with scheduled assessment cycles and integrated into ongoing academic program review.
• Promoting the use of available analytics tools (e.g., REX reports) and supporting data education so that faculty, staff, and departments can effectively interpret and apply course outcomes data to drive improvements.

Reviewing results of implemented interventions, assessing their impact on student progression, and advising when further action is needed.

Chair/Lead: Steve Freeland

The Course Demand Committee is charged with supporting and facilitating student success by:

• Monitoring and analyzing course demand and course availability—including modality, time of day, and bottlenecks that impede progression.
• Using timely data to support real-time adjustments to course offerings and to inform strategic scheduling for future terms.
• Coordinating closely with the Course Outcomes Committee to address related factors such as course repeats and capacity barriers.
• Collaborating with colleges and departments to ensure that course access supports timely progression across programs.

Chair/Lead: Andrea Cipolla

The Financial Literacy, Education, and Wellness Committee is charged with supporting and facilitating student success by:

• Provide insight and expertise to strengthen the design, development, implementation, and evaluation of high-impact financial literacy programming for UMBC students.
• Review assessment data and participant feedback to identify opportunities for enhancement, alignment with best practices, and innovation across educational activities.
• Serve as an ambassador for financial literacy and wellness within your unit and across relevant campus networks, helping to increase participation, awareness, and institutional support.
• Serve as a thought partner to the institution by providing feedback and recommendations on student financial aid policies, billing practices, communication strategies, and financial processes that influence student success, persistence, and financial wellness—helping ensure they are transparent, equitable, and student-centered.

Chair/Lead: Sarah Jewett and Sarah Chard

The Transfer Student Success Committee is charged with supporting and advancing transfer student success by:

• Monitoring transfer student outcomes, including enrollment, retention, credit mobility, academic performance, degree completion, and post-graduation success, to identify opportunities for improvement.
• Identifying and addressing institutional, academic, and administrative barriers that affect transfer student access, transition, persistence, and degree attainment, while recommending strategies to strengthen the transfer student experience.
• Promoting alignment and collaboration among academic and administrative units – and with transfer partners – to improve pathway design, advising, credit applicability, student support services, and student engagement.
• Reviewing policies, practices, and procedures affecting transfer students and recommending improvements that support student success, equitable outcomes, and timely degree completion.
• Serving as a key implementation and advisory body for UMBC’s Strategic Transfer Excellence Plan (STEP), advancing the plan’s reform priorities, monitoring progress, fostering accountability, and supporting continuous improvement through the use of data and assessment.

Chair/Lead: Dale Bittinger

The Baltimore City Student Success Committee is charged with:

• Advising the university on strategies to strengthen the recruitment, enrollment, retention, degree completion, and post-graduate success of Baltimore City students.
• Monitoring student success outcomes for Baltimore City students and identifying opportunities to address barriers, close equity gaps, and improve educational outcomes.
• Strengthening partnerships with Baltimore City schools, community-based organizations, and other community stakeholders to support student access, transition, persistence, and career readiness.
• Recommending policies, programs, and practices that enhance the sense of belonging, engagement, well-being, and overall student experience of Baltimore City students.
• Promoting collaboration among enrollment management, academic affairs, student affairs, and community partners to ensure a coordinated and student-centered approach to success.
• Supporting a culture of continuous improvement through the use of data, assessment, and evidence-based practices to advance outcomes for Baltimore City students.

Chair/Lead: Jasmine Lee

Among other priorities, the Equity and Inclusive Excellence Workgroup is charged with:

• Identifying institutional policies, practices, and structural factors that may contribute to differences in student outcomes, including progression, retention, and degree completion across student populations.
• Reviewing institutional data on student success outcomes to identify equity gaps and areas where targeted institutional action may improve student achievement.
• Advising on strategies that promote inclusive learning environments and equitable access to academic and co-curricular opportunities that support student success.
• Ensuring that new and existing student success initiatives are designed and implemented in ways that consider the needs and experiences of UMBC’s diverse student population.
• Encouraging the use of data, assessment, and continuous improvement practices to monitor progress and inform institution-wide efforts to advance equitable student outcomes.

Chair/Lead: David Di Maria

Among other priorities, the International Student Success Workgroup is charged with:

• Identifying institutional, academic, and administrative factors that may affect international student persistence and success, including policies, processes, and structural barriers that impact their academic progression and campus engagement.
• Examining available data related to international student enrollment, retention, academic outcomes, and student engagement in order to identify trends and opportunities for improvement.
• Recommending strategies to strengthen the academic, advising, and co-curricular support structures that serve international students, including approaches that facilitate successful academic transition and integration into campus life.
• Promoting improved coordination among campus units that support international students, including academic departments, International Student and Scholar Services, student success units, and student life offices.
• Encouraging the use of data, assessment, and evidence-based practices to inform institutional efforts that enhance international student success and belonging.

Chair/Lead: Christa Porter

Among other priorities, the Graduate Student Success Workgroup is charged with:

• Identifying institutional and programmatic factors that affect graduate student progression and completion, including barriers related to program structure, milestone requirements, mentoring models, financial support, and academic policies.
• Examining patterns in graduate student retention, attrition, time-to-degree, and milestone completion across programs and student populations in order to identify areas where coordinated institutional support may improve outcomes.
• Recommending strategies to strengthen mentoring and advising structures for graduate students, including approaches that promote clarity of expectations, timely feedback, and effective faculty–student engagement.
• Identifying opportunities to improve coordination among campus units that support graduate students, including academic departments, the Graduate School, student support services, and career development resources.
• Promoting the use of data, assessment, and continuous improvement practices to help programs monitor graduate student outcomes and implement evidence-based interventions.
• Advising on policies and practices that support equitable access to resources and opportunities that contribute to graduate student success and well-being.

Partnerships: