ASCEND Podcast

In our quest to increase persistence and retention, we often spend all our efforts on the “murky middle” (Venit, 2015) or those that we know have a higher propensity to leave. Consequently, we neglect our “high fliers.” This can bite us if we are not careful. Make sure that with everything you do, you take time to praise the positive and recognize those students who do not require a lot of attention or consume many of your resources. Simple messages from Student Success Advisors or administrators recognizing increases in GPA, making the dean’s list, or getting a 4.0 GPA can go a long way. Moreover, by holistically getting to know your students, you can praise the other positive things that are occurring in their lives, like making the ballroom dance team, giving their first oral presentation, passing a difficult math test, or finally having the courage to ask that certain someone on a date. Praising the positive can serve as powerful nudges to help retain the high fliers.

Dr. Melinda Karp, Founder of Phase Two Advisory, 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!

Melinda Karp is the founder of Phase Two Advisory, a small consultancy that works with broad access colleges and universities to apply the research on what works for student success to their individual contexts. Prior to founding Phase Two, she was the Assistant Director of the Community College Research Center, at Teachers College, Columbia University. There, she studied a variety of student success efforts, including advising redesign and holistic student support, developmental education reform, dual enrollment, and first year experience courses. 

The proud granddaughter of refugees, Melinda’s work emphasizes scaling what works while keeping equitable outcomes at the center of reform. She’s been thinking, studying, and writing about equity-forward success strategies for 25 years and in that time, has visited colleges in at least 25 states (honestly, she’s lost count)--learning from practitioners and students. 

Melinda holds a Phd in the Sociology of Education from Columbia University, and an MA in the same field from Teachers College, Columbia University. She’s currently an Aspen institute Rising Presidential Fellow, as well as a member of the inaugural editorial board of the Journal of Postsecondary Success. 

Generally speaking, campus events cater to extroverted students. They are activities that often revolve around large crowds, high intensity activities, loud music, and/or require a lot of interaction. Knowing that it is important for our introverted students to also engage,  we implemented smaller, more intimate and quiet events to make sure they also feel connected to campus and develop a sense of belonging.

Dr. Bernie Savarese, Acting Vice President for Academic Affairs, Research, and Student Success at the University of Tennessee System, 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. Bernie Savarese joined the University of Tennessee System in 2021 as the associate vice president for student success and currently serves as the acting vice president for academic affairs, research, and student success. In this role, he works closely with the university’s chief academic, research, and student affairs officers, various state agencies and department, and serves as the staff liaison to the Education, Research and Service Committee of the Board of Trustees.

From 2017 to 2021, Dr. Savarese served as the Assistant Vice President for Student Success and the Student Experience at New York University (NYU). There, he oversaw the creation of the Division of Student Success, led the university’s Student Success Steering Committee, and served as a subject matter expert to university leaders on the New York, Abu Dhabi, and Shanghai campuses. Prior to joining NYU, Dr. Savarese worked at the Ohio State University for almost two decades, most recently directing the campus’ nationally recognized First Year Experience (FYE) efforts and serving on the leadership team in the Division of Enrollment Management. Before his time in FYE, he held various leadership roles across the Division of Student Affairs.

Born in Wheeling, West Virginia, Dr. Savarese was raised in Belmont County, Ohio. He received a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and an MBA from The Ohio State University, a master’s degree in Higher Education Administration from Bowling Green State University, and his Doctor of Education in Leadership and Innovation from New York University. He currently lives in Knoxville, Tennessee with his wife, Krystyne, their two teenage sons, Anthony and Ben, and their spunky Boston Terrier, Rocky.

One of the cultural aspects we believe has had a large impact on increasing the retention and completion rates of our students is getting to know them individually, and ideally by name. We know that students are much more likely to persist and retain when they feel a sense of connection to campus, and one of the easiest ways to help them feel connected is getting to know them.

Dr. Karen McGregor, Executive Director of Student Success at Purdue Global, 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!

Karen McGregor, Ph.D., serves as Purdue Global’s Executive Director of Student Success. With over 15 years of experience in higher education, McGregor has provided leadership in various areas of student support and the student experience, including academic advising, resident life, institutional effectiveness, and prior learning assessment.  Throughout her career, McGregor has collaborated with faculty, academic leaders, and student support staff to design, implement and assess initiatives and programming to help students achieve success academically and professionally.  McGregor earned her Doctor of Philosophy from Michigan State University’s Higher, Adult, and Lifelong Education (HALE) Program, where she studied the needs of adult learners. She earned a Master of Arts in student affairs from Eastern Michigan University.  From Midland, Michigan, McGregor enjoys spending time with her husband and daughter and her family’s feisty Boston terrier puppy. She is an avid runner and loves any activity that allows her to be outside.

Many campuses allow students to withdraw from their institution by simply filling out an online form. Historically this has been our institutional practice as well. We never talked to the withdrawing student or attempted to see what, if anything, we could do to help them stay. We immediately saw that this needed to change. 

The first thing we did to improve our process was to hire a staff member whose sole responsibility it is to meet with every student who expresses an interest in withdrawing from our institution. This individual, working hand-in-hand with our Registrar’s Office, completely overhauled the withdrawal process so as to prohibit any student from leaving our institution without first meeting with the withdrawal coordinator. This full-time staff member now meets (either in-person or virtually if needed) with each student who intends to withdraw from our institution to determine what might be done to help retain this student and/or ways we can improve our services in order to prevent similar students from withdrawing in the future. 

This position also reaches out to all students who previously withdrew from our institution, but who indicated they intend to return at a future time, to see what might be done to help these students return. As a student withdraws, the withdrawal coordinator works with our Coordinator of Parent and Family Services to communicate with the parent(s) of the student to better understand why the student left and what could have been done to retain this student. This staff member also tracks and compiles data from every student who withdraws from our institution and then develops programming and initiatives based on the findings to support current and future students and prevent other students from withdrawing. The withdrawal coordinate also uses this data to help educate various offices and departments across campus on trends so we can react and pivot with key initiatives and outreach as needed. 

Dr. Blake Nemelka, Vice President of Academic Affairs and Clinical Operations at HCA Healthcare's Mountain Division, 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!

Blake has not been able to get enough education in his life- attending Utah State, Vanderbilt, and Purdue universities, focusing on business and education administration. Blake was recently hired as the first Vice President of Academic Affairs and Clinical Operations at HCA Healthcare's Mountain Division. Before HCA, Blake worked in strategic enrollment management roles at Western Governors University, Utah State University, UC Santa Barbara, Purdue University, and Utah Tech University, working his way from campus tour guide to executive director and now VP. Blake's mission is to help others open doors to success through educational opportunities. Blake loves to invest in mission-driven startups, play tennis, attempt golf, and compete in triathlons. Blake, his spouse (Katie), and their “woven family” of seven combined children live in Sandy, UT.

It is very common for colleges and universities to place holds on students’ accounts as a way to ensure that a student complies with a particular requirement or pays a fee or fine. On our own campus, as well as those that we consult with, we are always perplexed by the large number of holds (financial, registration, etc.) that numerous departments and offices across campus place on students’ accounts preventing them from progressing to the next semester. We commonly encounter holds for late or lost library books, unpaid parking tickets, failure to show for appointments in the counseling center, not turning in final high school transcripts, failure to meet with a professor, and the list goes on and on. In this episode we talk about the importance of reviewing all the holds on campus and seeking to remove as many as possible so that students can continue on toward their degree.

Dr. Jennifer Latino, Senior Director on EAB’s Strategic Advisory Services team, 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. Jennifer Latino is a senior director on EAB’s Strategic Advisory Services team. She spent the first 17 years of her career in higher education in a variety of student success roles across a diverse array of colleges and universities before moving to advisory and consulting work in 2016. In her current role, Jennifer enjoys engaging with EAB partners around topics such as strategy and planning, enrollment opportunities, mental health and well-being support and DEIJ. 

Jennifer earned her doctorate in higher education administration from Florida State University where she focused her research on the experiences of low income, first generation students. Prior to her doctoral work, she earned a master's in higher education administration from North Carolina State University and an undergraduate degree in business administration from the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.