Why Did You Choose to Go to College? - A Technology-Focused Retention Campaign

It has been an INTENSE summer and I am excited about the fall semester. We have such an amazing group of students. In fact, over 90% of them submitted their first college assignment to the Provost...on-time! This is a very positive sign for our retention numbers.

My numbers are possibly skewed as well, because I utilized the Education Advisory Board's Student Success Collaborative to send the Provost's email to all of the first-time in college students (FTIC) students who experience our university during Transition Week. Here's her email:

Subject: Here's Your First Assignment (Due Thursday at 5pm) - Dr. Murray

Tarleton Student,

Here's your first assignment. Answer the following questions in an email and send to [specialemailaddress]@tarleton.edu by 5:00 pm on Thursday, August 24.

- Why did you choose to go to college?
- Why did you choose Tarleton State University?
- What are the five main things (goals) you want to accomplish here over the next four years during your journey at Tarleton?

Sincerely,

[The Provost]

I forgot to add...
I also sent a text message from my account the next morning from EAB and I received over 100 responses within a 1-2 hour time period. Most of those responses were from parents who wanted to make sure that their students had the information as well. So, I utilized the next three hours to update...each...cell phone number...for each student. Yup, I am dedicated to student success.

So, this was my week:
Monday (email was sent)
Tuesday (text reminder) at 9:00 am
Wednesday (walking around to random students to ask if they received the email)
Thursday (reminder text was sent to students)...more cell phone number updates from parents...

The results?
All week = a SUPER successful campaign! The impact of the email was amazing! We had a WEALTH of responses and I would definitely do it again!

Any questions about how our campus utilizes the Education Advisory Board's Student Success Collaborative to make our dreams work? Email me! - jennifertedwards@gmail.com

Sincerely,

Dr. Jennifer T. Edwards

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First-Year Convocation Ceremonies for Incoming Students at Universities Across the United States

The beginning of the academic year always sparks a sense of renewal in my mind and also in the minds of many higher education faculty across the country (and beyond). I always look forward to our university's convocation ceremony, because this first-year ceremony marks the beginning of the students's academic journey at our university.

Here is this year's video focused on our first-year convocation ceremony. This video was uploaded from my Periscope video (where slightly under 70 people viewed the ceremony. Although my arm was shaky, and my mind was focused on the next steps for these students, this video captured the essence of this important moment in the lives of the almost 2,000 first-year students on campus.

While you are enjoying this video (which features some of my most favorite speakers), take a look at these first-year convocation videos as well:

Missouri State University's New Student Convocation Ceremony

Kansas State University's - New Student Convocation Ceremony

Does your college or university offer a similar experience for incoming students? The new student (or freshmen) convocation ceremony enables the students to experience a special event before they have the REAL experience in a four-year time frame. Also, please let me know if you have a video to add to the list. :)

Sincerely,

Dr. Jennifer T. Edwards
- Twitter/Instagram - @drjtedwards
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- drjtedwards at gmail.com

Vote for Our #SXSWEdu Session - Higher Education Hack Tech Tools for Completion - #55HigherEd

I am very excited to announce that we submitted a proposal to SXSWEdu for a third year! You can vote for our session here! and I am looking forward to (possibly) presenting at the South By Southwest Edu conference in Austin, TX! Here's are several tweets and audience member notes from last year's session:

This was an incredible experience last year and I connected with amazing people from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and also individuals from various educational organizations in Texas as beyond! I left the conference with a wealth of ideas for implementing best practices at our institution of higher education AND also neat research (and social media engagement ideas).

I am especially passionate about this year's #SXSWEdu proposal because it connects several of my professional interests in one proposal: technology, retention ideas, scalable solutions for higher education, and social media. Also, I like the continue the conversation after the conference and this year will definitely enable us to continue the conversation.

Here's our proposal video:

Here are the Learning Objectives for the session!

1 - To identify the MOST COMMON problems encountered by higher education administrators, faculty, staff, and students.

2 - To explore low-cost and higher-cost technological, programmatic, and service-based solutions for addressing the MOST common higher education problems.

3 - To connect with other participants to form two higher education learning communities: 1) teaching and learning and 2) higher education solutions.

***See more at: http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/vote/55465#sthash.tNtwU37y.dpuf

Dr. Jennifer Edwards - Taking a selfie in the green room before the #55HigherEd Session

Description:

Higher education administrators, faculty, and staff encounter common problems that negatively impact student success at their early college high school, community college, or university. These common problems usually include: recruitment, developmental education, retention, on-time graduation rates (completion), increasing costs, changing demographics, workplace readiness (marketable skills), and budget constraints.

A picture of our name placards!

Through this session, participants will identify higher education problems, explore low-cost and higher-cost solutions, and connect with others through social media-based, higher education learning communities (on Facebook and Twitter). - 

***See more at: http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/vote/55465#sthash.tNtwU37y.dpuf***

When you have a chance, vote for our session on #SXSWEdu's panel picker. If you attended last year's conference, you know that we have a great time presenting and we LOVE engaging with our audience! :)

Thank you!

- Dr. Jennifer Edwards
@drjtedwards

Student Success Seminars for Student Success and Retention

I am always on the lookout for new student success programs and services that would benefit universities in Texas. Each week, I receive a notification when a new program or service is featured in the press and this one really caught my eye!

The article "Student Success Seminars Aim to Motivate Students" is focused on student success seminars (not just workshops) focusing on different interventions to help students succeed in their coursework and in their life at the university. This is a neat approach focused on the "total student" both in their academic life and in their extra curricular life.

These are some of the topics featured in their series: App Academy, Chill Out, and my favorite "Finish in Four: 640 Days". This is absolutely a neat, informational approach for universities that I look forward to replicating!

Sincerely,

@drjtedwards