This fall, Illinois embarked on a university-wide Student Success Initiative. This effort, arising from Goal 2 of “The Next 150,” the university’s strategic plan, aims to better understand the factors that lead to undergraduate student success, which include retention, graduation rates, placement, degree-completion time and other outcomes and experiences.
On September 16, the university officially launched the initiative with a kick-off event attended by over 270 students, faculty, staff, and administrators. Participants heard from Chancellor Robert Jones, Provost Andreas Cangellaris, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Danita Brown Young, and Vice Provost Kevin Pitts. They engaged in an activity in which they were asked to identify what activities, practices, and policies are integral to a successful undergraduate experience. View this video that includes a snapshot of their perspectives here.
Activities continued throughout the fall semester with four lunch sessions in which a total of 264 faculty, staff, and students further explored themes identified at the kick-off. In addition to these lunch sessions, 75 students participated in eight meetings, where they refined and built on the ideas and themes that emerged from a student-specific perspective.
Participants generated over 2,000 unique ideas that have been collected and analyzed to identify strengths, gaps, and priorities for our campus. Emergent themes from the kick-off and these student sessions are displayed on the Student Success website.
“We are thrilled so many members of our campus community have participated in these Student Success Initiative events," said Chancellor Robert Jones. "We are counting on continued participation as we move toward specific recommendations and actions."
Four task groups will be submitting updates in January and a final report in May. If you were unable to attend an event, it is not too late to share your thoughts. You can provide feedback using this form.
