Student-Centeredness: Completion Imperative
UNO's role as the premier metropolitan university in Nebraska, throughout the United States and across the world is to provide access to exceptional education and opportunities, making sure that each and every student who enrolls can achieve their higher education goals.
The UNO Completion Imperative builds on recent successes that has seen rising retention rates and six-year graduation rates and has the ultimate goal of making sure each and every student enrolled at UNO earns their degree.
Key Initiatives within the UNO Completion Imperative include:
Three-week January Session ('J-Term')
The 2021/2022 academic year will be the first pilot of an intercession term (“January term” or “J term”). The J-term will increase availability and flexibility of course offerings by adding a new grouping of accelerated courses during the month of January.
Questions? Contact Sarah Edwards.
INDS-Exploratory Studies
This new program involves changing the practice of how formerly labeled ‘Undeclared Students,’ new to UNO, are served. It is well underway.
It involves the creation of Exploratory Studies for those students who have yet to identify a program and pathway to completion. Those students are now to be assigned to Exploratory Studies (EXPL) in the College of Arts and Sciences and will be supported for up to 45 credit hours or until they declare a major.
Questions? Contact Tammie Kennedy.
Academic Advising Enhancements
Academic Advisors play a critical role in supporting student success and academic planning. Early in the Completion Imperative discussions, a need to strengthen timely access to academic advisors was identified along with a need to enhance collaboration for academic advisors across the Colleges. A campus-wide coordinating senior director for advising position was created to begin the strategic work of growing and strengthening UNO’s academic advising practices. Additionally, several new advising positions were funded including six new Advising positions for the INDS/Exploratory Studies Program.
Questions? Contact Sammi Kaiser.
Momentum Year
Best practices research suggested that helping students get off to a great start with their collegiate career was an important step in their long term success. A UNO Momentum Year model was articulated and moved forward.
The model includes the strategies of completing 30 credit hours in the first academic year, including 9 credit hours in an area of interest; and completing the Fundamental Academic Skills courses within the first 45 hours. Additionally, the idea for Academic Focus Areas was developed early on as a part of the Momentum Year planning.
Questions? Contact Matt Tracy.
Early Intervention Texting Program
In an effort to be more responsive to changes in how students communicate, text messaging presented a strong option to meet students where they are with important information. In 2018-19, a texting program pilot involving all undergraduate degree-seeking students was launched focused on supporting student retention and wellness. Academic Advisors in the colleges have also been added to the program in an effort to improve communication and support for undergraduate students.
Questions? Contact Kristina Cammarano.
Quantitative Literacy
Another project that had been in the early stages of development when the Completion Imperative was first being explored, is now fully operational. New math literacy Gen Ed courses have been created or approved for fulfilling Gen Ed requirements (previously there had been only one option). Those courses have been and will continue to be offered. In addition, three new instructor positions were approved for the Math Department and a Director of Quantitative Literacy position was created.
Questions? Contact Sarah Edwards.
Math Placement Testing
Related to the Quantitative Literacy Project, this initiative involves use of the ALEKS Mathematics Placement Assessment as a part of the Math General Education requirement. Designed to accurately identify strengths and weaknesses to facilitate appropriate placement in math classes upon arrival to UNO, it also supports computer-based instruction and learning in specified areas. The ALEKS test is being piloted this summer.
Questions? Contact Sarah Edwards.
Summer Online Offerings
Online offerings were in the process of being expanded for Summer 2020, when the COVID-19 virus hit during Spring Semester 2020, accelerating that effort even further. Work continues, and significant progress has been made with over 10% growth in credit hours in Summer 2020 compared to 2019.
Questions? Contact Jaci Lindburg.
Course Availability
A process for assuring that a sufficient number of seats are available to meet demand, has been developed and implemented for critical Gen Ed and other bottleneck classes. Significant progress has been made on this effort.
Too few seats had been a barrier to completion in past semesters in that the difficulty in enrolling had slowed some students’ timely progress toward their degrees. Analysis indicates that for every 10 seats added to courses that were over-subscribed in prior terms, UNO added 10 enrollments.
Questions? Contact: Hank Robinson.
Early Alert
Research has shown a majority of students who received early alerts and nudges found them to be very or extremely useful, and nearly all (92%) thought they were at least moderately so (Educause, 2020). In the work of the 2019-20 Probation and Suspension Committee, UNO faculty and staff identified opportunities to help students who were early in their academic careers and not in an identified learning community as potentially benefiting from Early Alert.
By focusing on General Education Fundamental Skills, there may be an opportunity to augment existing department and faculty processes to help catch several students who may be falling through the cracks. This would support faculty and provide a conduit to additional campus supports, such as tutoring or non-academic assistance for students who may be in need of an intervention.
Questions? Contact Sarah Edwards.