Facilitating change utilizing Starfish for an Institutional Approach to Student Success Ramapo College of New Jersey Presented by Joseph Connell and Christopher Romano Hobsons University 2015

2. Facilitating change utilizing Starfish for an
Institutional Approach to Student Success
Ramapo College of New Jersey
Joseph Connell, Director of Student Success
Christopher Romano, Vice President of
Enrollment Management and Student Affairs

3. Ramapo College of New Jersey
Founded in 1969
Approximately 6000 students
 ~5800 undergraduate students
 ~ 200 graduate students
51% of students live on campus
Designated by the State as “New Jersey’s Public
Liberal Arts College”
Fall 2014 First-Year Class:
 978 students
 Average SAT of 1162
 31% of class meet institutionally approved diversity metrics

4. Group Exercise
Where do you see student success?

5. Leading Change Management

6. The Imperative to Change
“The capacity of an academic institution to change
is becoming a strategic value and organizational
asset; this capacity will confer advantages on those
that learn how to do it and commensurate
disadvantages on those that persist in operating in
the 20th century.”
(Holland, 2012)

7. Group Exercise 2 – Your Campus
Name the champion (s) of Student Success on your
campus. How does everyone know who they
are?______________________.
The connection between Recruitment, New Student
Experience and Retention programming is
__________ and reports to _____________.
Our senior leadership places a ________________
priority on student success as evidenced by
___________________.

8. Ramapo 2010
Name the champion (s) of Student Success on your
campus. How does everyone know who they are?
Director of Center for Academic Advisement and First-
Year Experience
The connection between Recruitment, First-Year
Experience and Retention programming is fragmented
and reports through Enrollment Management, Student
Affairs, Adjunct Faculty, Provost Office.
Our senior leadership places a lower priority on student
success as evidenced by our budget, our staffing levels
and absence from the strategic plan.

9. Ramapo 2015
Name the champion (s) of Student Success on your
campus. How does everyone know who they are?
Director of Student Success.
The connection between Recruitment, First-Year
Experience and Retention programming is
integrated and reports to Enrollment Management
Student Affairs.
Our senior leadership places an increasing priority
on student success as evidenced by inclusion in the
Strategic Plan, SPIF Funding (Software) and staffing
increase.

10. How did we get here?
5 Key Strategies for Facilitating Institutional Change
1. Adopt SEM as an overarching framework for the
work your institution does.
2. Ask Fundamental Questions
3. Utilize an Inside Out Approach
4. Create a Guiding Coalition (Team)
5. Celebrate Small Victories

11. ADOPT A SEM PHILOSOPHY AND
FRAMEWORK

12. The Adoption of Strategic Enrollment Management Philosophy
“a comprehensive process designed to help an
institution achieve and maintain optimum
recruitment, retention and graduation rates of
students where 'optimum' is defined within the
academic context of the institution”
(Dolence, 1993)

13. The SEM Perspective
Recruitment/
Marketing
Admission
Orientation
Co-
curricular
Support
Academic
Support
RetentionFinancial
Support
Classroom
Experience
Student’s College Career
Graduation
Alumni
Support

14. ASK TWO FUNDAMENTAL
QUESTIONS

15. The Fundamental Questions
Question 1: What is the promise that we make to
students when we recruit them? (Brand Promise)
Question 2: Are we delivering on our promise?
(Institutional Congruence)

16. Market Analysis and Brand Promise Development
The outstanding and devoted faculty of Ramapo College
of New Jersey excel at teaching, mentoring and preparing
students to succeed personally and professionally, all
within the small, picturesque campus environment usually
associated with an elite college.

17. Connect (i.e., Starfish) – Qualitative Feedback
Working with Connect has made the advisement
process more interactive between the students and
myself. It really is a great central system that has even
more capabilities than we are currently doing. I think the
biggest relationship it has improved has been between
student and faculty member. Students get flagged and
once I have been able to get in touch with them, a lot of
them have already spoken to their faculty member. It has
given the students a better sense of ownership in
terms of their progress.
- EOF Advisor
I believe I am better informed about how my
students are doing in the classroom. Connect has
often prompted me to reach out to a student that I might
have otherwise overlooked. When students receive a
Connect report from a professor they respond more
proactively than an email just from me.
- OSS Advisor
Connect identifies students who are
struggling or are having academic
difficulty, which is a benefit to the student
and me. We are able to determine the
support mechanisms needed.
- Student Success Advisor
As an adjunct last semester, Connect managed to
scare some of my students into doing their missing
assignments. It was effective too because the
athletics department intervened in response to my
referral and told a student he could not come to
practice until I said his work was turned in.
- Adjunct Faculty Member

18. Student Survey Data on Academic Advisement
• 2008 Upper-class/Transfer Student Survey
showed that continuing students primarily
advised themselves
• 2009 First-Semester Survey demonstrated first-
year students were primarily advised by upper-
class Peer Facilitators

19. Using Data to Answer Fundamental Questions
2008 Upper-class/Transfer Survey: How did you receive
your primary academic advising at Ramapo?

20. Using Data to Answer Fundamental Questions
2009 First-Semester Survey : How did you receive your
primary academic advising at Ramapo?

21. INSIDE OUT APPROACH- CHANGE
FROM WITHIN FIRST
“We administrators identify an issue and want you
faculty to change what you are doing to address that
issues and we’ll celebrate the results.”

22. Inside Out
Year 1: Move professional advisement staff from walk-in
advisors within a center to assigned caseloads;
• 900 first-year students across 4 academic advisors
Structure assigned all first-year students to a professional
advisor in the advisement center and required that advisors
assist those students at least twice in their first-year through
two processes:
1. Present to all First-Year Seminar courses;
2. Implement Registration Holds until students see the
advisor that presented in their FYS course

23. ESTABLISH A GUIDING COALITION

24. 4 CORE COMPETENCIES OF COALITION
Position power: Are the main individuals and key members
who are going to have to implement the changes on the
committee?
Expertise: Are the multiple perspectives represented on the
committee relevant to its charge so that informed decisions
can be made?
Credibility: Does the committee have people on it who are
well respected and have influence by their attendance and
participation?
Leadership: Are there leaders who can translate the
discussions of the committee into tangible actions that will
lead the change

25. ACADEMIC ADVISEMENT COUNCIL (AAC)
• The AAC is a coalition of faculty from each of
Ramapo’s five academic schools and
professional staff from key areas (e.g., athletics,
specialized services, opportunity programs, and
the advisement center) where students seek
mentoring, advising and support
• The AAC is co-chaired by a faculty representative
and the College’s Associate Director of Academic
Advisement.

26. CELEBRATE SMALL VICTORIES
CHANGE WORK NEEDS TO BE SMALL ENOUGH TO BE
MANAGEABLE, BUT BIG ENOUGH TO BE
MEANINGFUL.

27. 2010: Assign CAAFYE advisors by FYS and in course presentations
2012: Mandatory Advisement in Spring semester
Data-driven Results from First-Semester Survey

28. Student Success’s Web of Connection

29. Starfish for Case Management and
Early Alert
The Strategies for Facilitating Change will be referenced as
we look at the successful implementation of Starfish
Technology at Ramapo College.

30. Implementation of Starfish (i.e., Connect at Ramapo)
Charged SEM Retention Early Alert Task Force:
January 2013
 Task force objectives:
1. Improve campus-wide student case management by
replacing AdvisorTrac, a software solution used in CAAFYE
and EOF for caseload management, and other local office
systems.
2. Add Early Alert to increase academic engagement and
student persistence as aligned with the Strategic Plan.
Selection of Starfish for EARLY ALERT and
CONNECT: June 2013

31. Connect Screenshot of a Student’s Success Network

32. Connect Screenshot of an Academic Progress Survey

33. Implementation of Starfish (Contd.)
Implementation of Starfish: 2013-2014 Academic Year
 Creation of Faculty Advisory Board
 1 faculty member per School
 Student Populations Targeted: special populations and first-year students
 Offices Using Starfish: Academic Advisement, Tutoring & those serving the special
populations
 Predictive Indicators: academic progress survey flags and demographic data from
Admissions
Implementation of Starfish: 2014-2015 AY
 Student Populations Targeted: all of the above + sophomores and those on
academic warning
 Offices Using Starfish: all of the above + Career Development, Financial Aid,
Residence Life and International Office
 Predictive Indicators: all of the above + student actions captured within Banner
Implementation of Starfish: 2015-2016 AY
 Student Populations Targeted: all of the above + juniors and transfers
 Offices Using Starfish: all of the above + student affairs offices
 Predictive Indicators: all of the above + implementation of predictive model

34. Connect Screenshot of Filtering an Advisee List

35. Connect Goals and Outcomes
2013 – 2014
• Reduce the number of units sending academic progress reports to faculty
• Finding: Number of units sending surveys was reduced from 3 to 1.
• Increase percentage of academic progress reports submitted by faculty
• Finding: 77% of faculty submitted academic progress reports during the 2013-2014 Academic Year and
over 56% of courses had surveys completed. (No unit had previously achieved a 50% survey completion
rate.)
• Provide earlier outreach to academically at risk students as identified by academic
progress reports, grades and other early alerts
• Finding: Percent of Academic Warning first-year students who met with their advisor twice on or before
4/2/14 course registration date was 30.9%. (In 2012-2013, CAAFYE met with less than 20% of first-year
students on academic warning two times in the spring semester)
2014 – 2015
• Expand student’s success network.
• Finding: Number of professional staff in student’s success network by 50%
• Increase percentage of academic progress reports submitted by faculty
• Finding: Percentage of academic progress reports submitted by faculty stabilized at 56%; goal will shift for
2015-2016 to expand faculty usage in other areas of Starfish
• Provide earlier outreach to academically at risk students as identified by academic
progress reports, grades and other early alerts
• Finding: Number of first-year students on academic warning meeting with their academic advisor twice
prior to course registration in the Spring 2015 Semester increased by 60 percent from the Spring 2014
Semester

36. Connect Screenshot of a Center Waiting Room

37. Connect Screenshot of a Student Success Plan

38. Connect – Quantitative Feedback
Question: As a result of the messages from connect@ramapo.edu that indicated
opportunities for improvement in your courses, please specify if you followed up with
any of the following campus resources; check all that apply:
55%
22%
28%
16%
21%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Professor/Course Instructor
Tutor (Center for Reading and
Writing, Math or other)
Advisor (Athletics, CAAFYE, EOF,
OSS, Scholarship)
Service (CAAFYE, Center for
Reading and Writing)
I received messages and chose not to
act on them.

39. Connect – Quantitative Feedback
48%
34%
32%
14%
18%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
They motivate me.
They gave me timely feedback.
They made a positive difference in
the amount of effort that I put in to
the class.
They were not necessary.
I did not receive any of these
messages from
connect@ramapo.edu.
Question: You may have received messages rom connect@ramapo.edu that indicated
positive performance in your courses. Check all that apply about these messages.

40. Questions?

41. APPENDICES

42. ACADEMIC ADVISEMENT COUNCIL CHARGE
• Oversee the implementation of the Academic
Advisement Plan, influences its future direction,
and serves as a critical link to update faculty and
administration on the data, expectation and
experience of creating a culture of advisement;
establish shared definition of Academic
Advisement at Ramapo and key points in a
student’s career when it is most needed; create a
forum where professional and faculty advisors
determine the learning outcomes expected from
each mandatory advisement milestone and
collaborate to improve the advisement
experience.

43. Implementation of Starfish (i.e., Connect at Ramapo)
Charged SEM Retention Early Alert Task Force:
January 2013
 Task force included representatives from Advisement,
Athletics, Faculty, First-Year Seminar, Instructional Design
Center, IT, Registrar, Special Populations, Student
Government and Tutoring
 Task force objectives:
1. Improve campus-wide student case management by replacing
AdvisorTrac, a software solution used in CAAFYE and EOF for
caseload management, and other local office systems.
2. Add Early Alert to increase academic engagement and student
persistence as aligned with the Strategic Plan.
Selection of Starfish for Early Alert and Connect: June
2013
 Campus presentations by Committee’s recommended
vendors invited stakeholders in addition to the Task Force
members

44. Implementation of Starfish (Contd.)
Implementation of Starfish: 2013-2014 Academic Year
 Creation of Faculty Advisory Board
 1 faculty member per School
 Student Populations Targeted: special populations (adult degree completion, athletes, grant
program, scholarship recipients and students with disabilities) and first-year students
 Offices Using Starfish: Center for Academic Advisement & FYE, Center for Reading and Writing
and those serving the special populations
 Predictive Indicators: academic progress survey flags and demographic data from Admissions
application
Implementation of Starfish: 2014-2015 AY
 Student Populations Targeted: all of the above + sophomores and those on academic warning
 Offices Using Starfish: all of the above + Cahill Career Development Center Advisors, Financial
Aid Counselors, Residence Life Directors and Roukema Center (International student advisors)
 Predictive Indicators: all of the above + student actions captured within Banner (e.g., dropping a
course or not renewing FAFSA)
Implementation of Starfish: 2015-2016 AY
 Student Populations Targeted: all of the above + juniors and transfers
 Offices Using Starfish: all of the above + student affairs offices (e.g., Counseling, Student
Conduct)
 Predictive Indicators: all of the above + implementation of predictive model that identifies
students most at-risk of leaving and prioritizes outreach to them

45. Connect Goals
Goals for 2013 – 2014
• Reduce the number of units sending academic progress reports to faculty
• Increase percentage of academic progress reports submitted by faculty
• Provide earlier outreach to academically at risk students as identified by
academic progress reports, grades and other early alerts
• Increase retention rates
Goals for 2014 – 2015
• Expand student’s success network
• Increase percentage of academic progress reports submitted by faculty
• Provide earlier outreach to academically at risk students as identified by
academic progress reports, grades and other early alerts
Goals for 2015 – 2016
• Provide earlier outreach to academically at risk students as identified by
academic progress reports, grades and other early alerts
• Pilot use of predictive model
• Increase faculty and academic school users of Starfish’s Connect
capabilities for case management
• Incorporate transfer students into Early Alert academic progress surveys

46. Connect Goals and Outcomes
Outcomes for 2013 – 2014
• Reduce the number of units sending academic progress reports to faculty
• Finding: Number of units sending surveys was reduced from 3 to 1.
• Increase percentage of academic progress reports submitted by faculty
• Finding: 77% of faculty submitted academic progress reports during the 2013-2014 Academic Year and
over 56% of courses had surveys completed. (No unit had previously achieved a 50% survey completion
rate.)
• Provide earlier outreach to academically at risk students as identified by academic
progress reports, grades and other early alerts
• Finding: Percent of Academic Warning first-year students who met with their advisor twice on or before
4/2/14 course registration date was 30.9%. (In 2012-2013, CAAFYE met with less than 20% of first-year
students on academic warning two times in the spring semester)
Outcomes for 2014 – 2015
• Expand student’s success network.
• Finding: Number of professional staff in student’s success network by 50%
• Increase percentage of academic progress reports submitted by faculty
• Finding: Percentage of academic progress reports submitted by faculty stabilized at 56%; goal will shift for
2015-2016 to expand faculty usage in other areas of Starfish
• Provide earlier outreach to academically at risk students as identified by academic
progress reports, grades and other early alerts
• Finding: Number of first-year students on academic warning meeting with their academic advisor twice
prior to course registration in the Spring 2015 Semester increased by 60 percent from the Spring 2014
Semester