ASCEND Podcast

When dealing with today’s generation of students, we cannot expect them to approach us when they have questions. Instead, we believe that we need to get in the habit of going to them. During the first few weeks of each semester, our peer mentors and key staff members will be seen carrying signs around campus. At any given time during these weeks, we will have a dozen or more student leaders wandering campus, making themselves available to help students. We go to the students. We engage with them in their space and on their turf. We let the students know we are here to help. The results have been amazing.

We also do similar things throughout the semester to learn about the things that are going right and wrong with our students’ education. As Bill Gates said, “your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning” (Anderson, 2013). Give it a try. Grab a sign. Start wandering. Discover all the meaningful conversations that are waiting to happen.

Dr. KayDee Perry from The University of Olivet joins co-hosts Jared Tippets and Eric Kirby to share her deep knowledge, wisdom, and insights on how campuses can increase their retention and student success efforts!

Dr. KayDee Perry currently serves as the Associate Provost for Student Development at The University of Olivet. Olivet is a small, private, primarily residential institution located in south central Michigan, serving one of the most diverse student populations in the State of Michigan. Over her 11 years at Olivet, KayDee has served in a variety of roles including Chair of the Health and Human Performance Department, Associate Professor, founding Director of the Teacher Pathway, and President of the Faculty Senate. Regardless of her designated title, KayDee has always focused on student success. In 2021, KayDee earned her doctorate in Educational Leadership from Grand Canyon University with her research exploring the relationship between student engagement as predictors of retention among Gen Z, Undergraduate Students. Most recently, The University of Olivet was selected for funding for a Title III Strengthening Institutions Program Grant from the U.S. Department of Education and a King-Chavez-Parks 4S grant from the State of Michigan’s LEO Department, and KayDee will be serving as the Project Director. Both of these grants support the launch of research-based programs to improve student success measures at The University of Olivet.

Every campus handles the course registration of new students very differently. The most common practices are either that campuses allow students to register themselves without much guidance or require students to attend a summer orientation and meet with an academic advisor. We have tried both, and from these experiences, we know that this generation of students needs significantly more support as they go through the process of registering for their first term of classes.

In this episode, Jared Tippets and Eric Kirby sit down with the Southern Utah University Student Success Team to talk about the ASCEND model.

Featured in this episode are:

• Kelly Lid Stephens - Executive Director of Completion and Student Success
• Ashleigh Zimmerman - Executive Director of Belonging and Engagement
• Heather Garcia - Director of Student Involvement & Leadership
• Brandon Street - Director of Career & Professional Development
• Katie Murray - Parent and Family Services Coordinator
• Anu Tufuga - College Transition Specialist at Kamehameha Schools in Honolulu, HI
• Ryan Bailey - Director of First-Year Experience and Student Retention, now at Utah Valley University

Too often we wish students would reach out to us for help. However, we know that this is rarely the case, especially during their first year. So we have two options: wait in vain for them to come to us or take key and timely information to them. More importantly, when dealing with Generation Z students, it is crucial to understand that we need to “go to them [and] don’t beg them to come to you” (Hundrieser, 2015). Gen Z’ers prefer interactive communication (Hundrieser, 2015) and the majority of Gen Z say they prefer in-person communications (51%) as opposed to emailing (16%) (Schawbel, 2014). By simply running an institutional report to find out which classes have the highest number of first-year students or which classes have the highest DFW rates, you know which classes you can visit to provide information on key resources (i.e. tutoring, etc.) and/or key deadlines (i.e. registration, FAFSA, scholarship deadlines, etc.).

To implement this initiative, we simply contacted the faculty who taught these courses and asked if we might take the first two minutes of class to share some important information with their students. The faculty all readily agreed and welcomed our visit. Our peer mentors then began working their way through the list of classes, stopping by, and making quick announcements. We found that going to the students is a great way to provide the support they need to be successful and retain.

Dr. Bridget Burns joins co-hosts Jared Tippets and Eric Kirby to share her deep knowledge, wisdom, and insights on how campuses can increase their retention and student success efforts!

Named one of the “Most Innovative People in Higher Education” by Washington Monthly magazine, Dr. Bridget Burns is the founding CEO of the award winning University Innovation Alliance (UIA), an national multi-campus national laboratory for student success innovation working to increase the number and diversity of college graduates across the country. Dr. Burns is a frequent keynote speaker, and her work has been highlighted in national outlets like The New York Times, Fast Company, 60 Minutes, and she was featured in the documentary “Unlikely”.

In recent years there seems to be an increase in food insecurity among college students.  And even if students do have access to an adequate amount of food, on the whole they still seem to always be hungry.  To address this need, your institution might consider creating a ‘Free Food’ app.

In many instances, campus activity boards, clubs, and organizations are always looking for increased attendance at their events.  So why not merge a student’s need for food and an organization's desire for more attendance?  It is as simple as collecting and sharing one piece of data -- will there be free food?

On your campus calendar, add the ability for those submitting their event to check a box if there will be free food.  Then, display these events on the Free Food app or website in a filtered manner so that students can easily find events each day on campus where they can go get free feed.  In doing so, attendance at events will increase, sense of belonging and connection among the student deepens, and students save money, which helps with the financial concerns.  It is a win-win situation all the way around.

Another variation of this concept is to partner with your campus food service department.  On average, catering offices are providing multiple lunches and dinners each day for a variety of meetings and banquets on campus.  Rarely is all the food at these events eaten, and therefore goes to waste.  Rather than letting all this food be disposed of, a campus might consider creating a service whereby they send out a text alert or app notification to interested students to let them know that there is leftover food in a particular location on campus.  Students who are able, can swing by the function and fill up reusable containers with the leftover food.  Another win-win situation; hungry students get access to food and less food goes to waste. 

Dr. James Winfield joins co-hosts Jared Tippets and Eric Kirby to share his knowledge, wisdom, and insights on how campuses can increase their retention and student success efforts!

Dr. James K. Winfield serves as the associate dean for first-year experience, general education, and retention strategies at Southern New Hampshire University’s Global Campus. Winfield is a proud first-gen graduate with extensive experience in first-year programs, specifically facilitating first-year seminars, teaching, designing curriculum, and leading faculty development. His dissertation and research interests are focused on the career self-efficacy and academic major decisions of low-income, first-generation college students in a TRIO SSS program.

James enjoys examining pop culture to unpack narratives on first-gen characters and college themes in film and television. He is a Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) fan and enjoys spending time with his family. 

It is important for college campuses to study their students, collect data on them so they better understand their unique qualities, and then determine how to best serve them. A common challenge that many campuses face is making sure that campus practices, policies, approach, and culture match the students that they serve. The students on our campuses change over time and it is important that we adjust along with them.

Gen Z’ers began showing up on college campuses around 2015. These students are very different from those students who came before them. And, from our experience and consulting, it is clear that most colleges and universities have not adjusted to appropriately serve this new population. Campus practices and culture are still best suited to serve a group of students who are millennials or Generation X’ers.  There are many unique characteristics with Generation Z and it is important that we understand these nuances in order to appropriately serve them. 

In order for campuses to successfully retain students from Generation Z, it will be important for them to understand this population and adjust their practices accordingly. 

Dr. Christine Salvesen joins co-hosts Jared Tippets and Eric Kirby to share her knowledge, wisdom, and insights on how campuses can increase their retention and student success efforts!

Dr.  Christine Salvesen serves as the Chief Retention Officer and Associate Vice Provost for Student Success & Retention Innovation at the University of Arizona. She leads several retention leadership groups, coordinates many campus-wide persistence and retention initiatives, and oversees a unit that supports the success of all undergraduates at the University of Arizona through strengths-based programming, evidence-based practices, and robust assessment. Dr. Salvesen has worked at the University of Arizona for over 32 years in several capacities, primarily within Student Affairs. She has her B.S. in Psychology, M.A. in Educational Psychology, and a PhD in Higher Education, all from the University of Arizona.