United Tribes Technical College - Strategic Enrollment Management and Student Success Plan

Strategic Enrollment Management and Student Success Plan

Priority 1: Traditional and Transfer Student Enrollment

Priority 2: Increase Online and Dual Credit Enrollment

Priority 3: Institutionalize Student Success

Priority 4: Retention, Progression and Graduation

Project Team:

Dr. Leander "Russ" McDonald, President

Dr. Lisa Azure, VP Academic Affairs – CNSS Contact Lead

Paige Jensen, Student Activities and Retention Coordinator

Jamie Merrick, Transfer and Career Services Coordinator

Jessie Talley, Dean of Instruction

Monte Schaff, Dean of Enrollment Management

Introduction

The United Tribes Technical College (UTTC) Strategic Enrollment Management and Student Success Plan identifies four priority areas of targeted growth and strategies needed to achieve the performance targets for each priority area. The Plan was developed from fall of 2019 through spring of 2020. The establishment of performance targets were based on historical enrollment, retention, persistence, and completion numbers. The identified targets were determined to be reasonable and attainable, and the implementation of processes and communication improvements has resulted in the achievement of the established benchmarks. The plan will be regularly reviewed to determine if new priorities need to be added or if the performance targets need to be adjusted.

The SEM Planning Process

Monitor and revise goals, benchmarks and strategies

Analysis of enrollment data

Implementation of strategies

Establishment of Plan goals and benchmarks and strategies

Glossary

Continuing Education Unit (CEU): a credit awarded to participants who complete non-college

Degree seeking student: A full-time or part-time student enrolled in a certificate, diploma, associate, or bachelor’s degree program

Dual credit student: a high school student enrolled in a postsecondary course for both college and high school credit

Dual enrolled: a student taking a college-level course at a high school, taught by college-approved instructors, for both high school and college credit

First-time attending: Any student who is attending UTTC for the first time

FTEIC: First time ever in college student

Full-time student: A student enrolled in 12 or more credits during the fall or spring semester, or 6 or more credits during the summer semester

Non-degree seeking student: A student taking one of more college classes for credit, but not enrolled in a degree program, or a student taking a non-college credit (CEU) class

Part-time student: A student enrolled in less than 12 credits during the fall or spring semester, or 5 or less credits during the summer semester

Persistence: First-time student who enrolls in the fall and either graduates in the fall or continues their enrollment in the spring

Retention: First-time student who enrolls in the fall and either graduates in the fall, spring, or summer or continues their enrollment in the following fall

Transfer student: A student who attended a postsecondary institution prior to enrolling at UTTC

Enrollment Trends

Enrollment Priority One: Traditional and Transfer Student Enrollment

UTTC’s fall enrollment has been trending positive since 2016. However, prior to the development of the SEM Plan in 2019, there were no institutional goals identified for enrollment with respect to increasing applications and overall enrollment numbers.

To promote an increase in traditional and transfer student enrollments, UTTC has outlined two objectives associated with the number of applications being received as well as focusing on converting applicants to enrollments.

2016 - 2023 Unduplicated Fall Enrollment

Objective One: Increase applications by 15% over three years from 670 applications to 770 applications

Objective Two: Increase student enrollment by 15% over three years from 435 students to 496 students

i. Increase traditional and transfer student enrollment

Strategic Area 2: Student Recruitment and Innovative Programming

Strategy: 2a: Increase student enrollment through recruitment strategies

• Strengthen and expand recruitment strategies geared toward freshman and transfer students.

• Evaluate, enhance, and streamline the transfer enrollment process.

• Increase partnership agreements with other TCUs and state colleges, focusing on feeder institutions.

• Increase the access rate by developing strategies that remove financial barriers for students eligible for the Pell Grant.

• Application targets established.

• Enrollment targets established.

Strengthen and expand recruitment strategies geared toward freshman and transfer students

Historical Recruitment Data

A review of applicant data from 2019 to the current year highlights how applicants hear about UTTC. The overwhelming majority of students indicated they were referred to UTTC by a family member or friends. The college website is the second major source of referrals, while all other channels, such as social media, campus visits, Powwows, and media represent 8% of all referral sources. Increasing the effectiveness of additional recruitment channels while continuing the success of family and friend referrals will support the growth of UTTC student enrollment.

Regularly Scheduled Recruitment Activities

Recruitment Channels

Family/Friends Referrals UTTC Website Word of Mouth Campus Visit to UTTC

The Admissions Office conducts regularly scheduled recruitment activities, as well as participating in events and activities not included on the Recruitment Activities Calendar. Typical activities and communications that originate in the Admissions office are:

• Emailing “Apply Today”, and “Missing Requirements” postcards to current applicants, prior applicants, and students who attend college tours

• Annual visit to Standing Rock High School

• Social media postings, including postcards to be distributed across all social media channels

• Contacting Higher Education Program Offices for tribes in Arizona, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming

• Communicating with local high school counselors

• Sending “swag packages” to regional high schools

Non-scheduled Recruitment Activities

Non-scheduled recruitment activities occur based on external requests from high schools for information, visits, and campus tours. The Admissions Office responds to these requests as received, and follow-up communications are sent to visiting high school students or individuals who have requested additional information.

A second non-scheduled activity involves leveraging the National Student Clearinghouse data to identify applicants who did not enroll at UTTC or another institution. A list of applicants who did not enroll at UTTC is submitted to the clearinghouse, either in the middle of the fall or middle of the spring semesters. A report is provided by the Clearinghouse that indicates if that applicant has enrolled at another institution. The applicants who did not enroll at UTTC or at another institution will be contacted by the Admissions Office and encouraged to reapply at UTTC.

Non-traditional Recruitment Opportunities

UTTC has a variety of strategic and collaborative partnerships that have not been fully leveraged with respect to recruitment of students. Incorporating these opportunities into the Strategic Enrollment Management Plan will result in intentional engagement with UTTC partners to increase enrollment. Examples of partnerships that may support increasing transfer students include:

• CEU Outreach. UTTC awards continuing education units (CEUs) for completion of formalized training conducted by tribal organizations. Partnerships with tribal organizations can serve as another communications channel to share information about UTTC’s programs.

• Community Outreach. Institutional data has demonstrated the importance of “word-of-mouth” with respect to how applicants hear about United Tribes. The College can take advantage of this word-ofmouth recruitment through participation in community events that increase exposure to the college and programs available at UTTC. Increasing UTTC’s presence at community events, including offcampus career fairs, mascot nights and sponsorships at sporting events, and other community activities can help promote an awareness of the college. Increasing communications between College Relations and Enrollment Services will help keep the Admissions staff aware of potential community engagement opportunities.

Recruitment Activities Calendar

The Admissions Office is currently working on a calendar of recruitment events, including when the activities take place, message, and channel of communication used for each activity. This will assist the Admissions staff with keeping up with scheduled activities as well as allow the Admissions department to better understand the effectiveness of the recruitment processes. When complete, the calendar will be added to this section of the Strategic Enrollment Management Plan.

CALENDAR WILL GO HERE

Evaluate, enhance, and streamline the transfer enrollment process

To streamline the application process and address roadblocks or “bottlenecks” within the application to admission pathway, UTTC conducted an analysis of the enrollment process from the moment an application is filled out to when the student is registered. The result of that analysis allowed the college to visualize how a student’s application moved throughout the application process and identified and removed barriers to completing an application.

Increase partnership agreements with other TCUs and state colleges, focusing on feeder institutions.

Continued expansion of articulation agreements and 2 + 2 programs. UTTC currently has 14 articulation agreements and two 2 + 2 transfer agreements. Effective promotion of these agreements will provide prospective students with greater awareness of their transfer options should they decide to continue their education at another institution after completing a two year degree at UTTC.

Increase the access rate by developing strategies that remove financial barriers for students eligible for the Pell Grant.

UTTC serves a high number of Pell-eligible students, with over 70% of students being eligible for Pell grants. To support these students, the college provides a variety of supports, including assisting with completion of the FAFSA, and ensuring all verification paperwork required for FAFSA to be considered “complete” is received from the students The Financial Aid staff are also addressing the unique concerns associated with the release of a new FAFSA form To support applicants with filing their new FAFSA applications, Financial Aid will be working with College Relations to create an informational video that will provide prospective students with guidance on how to complete the new form, as well as address the new requirements associated with parent/guardian signatures.

Institutional, Tribal, and Third Party Funding

Average Pell Eligibility (2019 Fall - 2023 Fall)

Pell Eligible Not Pell Eligible

The Financial Aid staff provide regular communication through email and making classroom visits to help students with understanding available funding options. Students are actively encouraged to apply for scholarships, grants, and Federal Work Study and Leadership Through Experience opportunities that will provide additional funding students may apply to their unmet need. UTTC provides the Native American Tuition Waiver (NATW), which waives the tuition cost for eligible students. Initially, students needed to apply by a deadline to receive the Waiver, however, this deadline has been removed allowing more students access to this funding. The following represent the fall distributions for the NATW and Pell funding.

NATW Disbursements

$633,375 $704,519

Pell Award Distribution

The Financial Aid Office is working to increase the collaboration with College Relations and the Finance Office to ensure that when new gifts or endowments are received, that any eligibility criteria are communicated and the timeframe for the distribution of funds is understood and that the funds are distributed according to these criteria. The Financial Aid Office has also worked with stakeholders across campus to develop the following award distribution calendar.

Fund

NATW

Athletic

Non-Ben

Johnson

WIOA

Hamann

Horror on Harmon

Student of the Year

Employee Giving Scholarship

Events Week

Employee Tuition Waiver

Beginning of Semester Middle

September/January

September/January

September/February

September/February

Jan/Feb of next spring

February

Enrollment Priority One, Objective One

Status

September/March

October

November/April

October/March

End of Semester

December/May

The first objective of Enrollment Priority One was two increase the number of applications received by 15% based an a historical baseline of 670 applications. The following represents the substantial progress that has been made toward achieving and exceeding the goal of 770 applications by 2023.

Applications Recieved

Start of CNSS SEM Planning Grant

Enrollment Priority One, Objective Two Status

The second objective of Enrollment Priority One was two increase student enrollment by 15% based an a historical baseline of 435 students to 496 students. The following represents the enrollment growth experienced at the college, due in large part to the successful implementation of the Priority One strategies

Student Enrollments

Start of CNSS SEM Planning Grant

SEM

Target:

496 Students

Objective One: Develop a comprehensive outreach plan

To facilitate the growth of the College’s online and Dual Credit enrollment options, continuous and active recruitment and engagement with potential students will be required to continue to grow the online programs. The comprehensive outreach plan will provide guidance to what activities will take place and what departments are responsible for ensuring these activities are completed. One issue with the Dual Credit programs that will need to be addressed is funding for Dual Credit students.

• Engagement with local area high schools to promote UTTC Dual Credit and Early College programs

The Monarch Project continues to work with schools within the Bismarck and Mandan area through in-school Student Success Educators to assist students with enrolling in Monarchprovided services, including Dual Enrollment and Early College.

• Actively work with Native-serving high schools to promote Dual Credit programs

The Admissions Department will continually look for opportunities to develop MOUs with high schools that do not have an MOU with UTTC, as well as those high schools that do, but do not have Dual Credit students enrolled. Dual Credit information will also be provided to schools participating in campus tours. While the MOU process is straightforward, and a standard MOU exists, questions of funding will need to be addressed regarding how these high schools pay the Dual Credit tuition for their students.

Objective Two: Improve support resources for online and dual credit learners

Objective Three: Increase enrollment and degree completion in online programs

Objective Four: Improve operations, processes, and procedures that impact online and dual credit student enrollment

ii. Increase online and dual credit student enrollment

Strategic Area 2: Student Recruitment and Innovative Programming

Strategy: 2a: Increase student enrollment through recruitment strategies

Develop a comprehensive outreach plan

• Develop a comprehensive outreach and plan that complements existing recruitment efforts.

• Improve support resources for online and dual credit learners.

• Increase enrollment and degree completion in online programs.

• Improve operations, processes, and procedures that impact online and dual credit student enrollment.

• # of students in online programs over the last 3 years.

• hired early college coordinator.

• agreements established with all local high schools.

• new admission process for dual credit students.

Improve support resources for online and dual credit learners

Increase enrollment and degree completion in online programs

The college has seen a remarkable increase in online student enrollment. As noted online-only enrollments have increased over 500% since 2021. The number of First Time Full Time (new and transfer) students has also increased substantially since 2021. The incoming First Time Full Time numbers for Fall 2024 will help to determine if these increases were an outlier, or if the college will see continued growth with its online programs.

The degree completion, particularly with 150% degree completion levels is difficult to accurately measure due to limited enrollments of First Time Full Time students. Conducting a historical review of prior years yields the following:

While the online programs are showing a robust level of growth with respect to enrollment, the outcomes for online students lag behind those of their campus-based peers. One metric to look at for student success is the number of credits attempted versus credits completed, or credit completion rate. Online students complete fewer credits than students in face-to-face courses. In addition, midterm GPAs of online students are lower for online students across all student types, indicating a need for improved supports for online students.

Credit Completion Rates

Another useful measure of success for online students is term GPA. When looking at the GPAs for online students across multiple courses, it becomes clear that more supports are needed to ensure our online students are succesful.

Promoting Online Success

To better serve online students and foster student success the following activities will begin in the 2024-25 academic year:

Brainfuse online tutoring

Brainfuse will provide online students with access to live tutoring to assist with completing coursework.

Yellowdig social learning platform

Yellowdig will provide online faculty and students with a collaborative learning environment to promote student engagement online as well as promote a sense of belonging for online students.

Ongoing faculty professional development

Faculty are receiving training in using Microsoft Flip video discussions in their F2F and Online courses, and there are faculty using video lectures in their courses for student introductions and lectures. Faculty development is ongoing to ensure effective teaching and advising strategies are used to support students.

Online Program Data Engagement

Department Chairs and online faculty have been involved in numerous data discussions regarding online

student success patterns, looking at online student trends, and brainstorming potential strategies to address gaps in student performance.

Institutional Support for Online Programs

The college has expanded its online program offerings, and will continue monitor student progress in the online courses to determine what further institutional supports are needed to ensure our online students have access to the same or similar supports and services our campus-based students enjoy.

Improve operations, processes, and procedures that impact online and dual credit student enrollment

Enrollment Priority Four: Retention, Progression and Graduation

Increase applications by 15% over three years from 670 applications to 770 applications.

• Increase student enrollment by 15% over three years from 435 students to 496 students.