Designing Effective and Measurable Student Learning Outcomes
KayBanksThriventProject
1. Engage ~ Involve ~ Lead
Presented by H. Kay Banks, Ed.D.
Thrivent Fellows Closing Retreat, June 2012
2. Learning Beyond the Classroom
• Purpose of project was to develop a co-curricular program that would increase
Newberry College's freshman retention rate.
• This project would connect the offices of Academic and Student Affairs by building
a collaborative programming relationship.
• Project Goals:
1. Increase opportunities for student invovlement through programs, activities
and student organizations.
2. Provide a blueprint for the development of a 5 year strategic plan for the
Office of Student Affairs that focuses on enhancing the student experience.
3. Implement a plan to engage new students, specifically freshman, into the
campus life in order to increase the freshman retention rate from freshman to
sophomore year.
3. Office of Student Affairs
• Encourage student life and engagement through a variety of programs, services and
departments focused on student learning and development.
• Support students who may experience personal or academic issues at Newberry
College by serving as their advoate or guiding them to the approopriate person and/or
office.
Departments and Programs:
Campus Security
Health Services
Residence Life
Student Activities
Mail Center
4. Campus Environment
Administrative Transitions
• The president's future left uncertainty about the college's strategic plan.
• Several critical administrative positions remain open which stalls the process to begin and/
or enhance new programs and activities.
Student Body
• Approximately 80% of our student body is from South Carolina
• Current freshman retention rate is 64% with a 6-year graduation rate of 34%
• Students dissatisfied with lack of college-related activities available in the city
• No emphasis on student engagement and integrating new students into campus life.
5. Project Timeline
Summer 2011
• Reviewed literature and researched schools that successfully created a co-curricular program or developed
strategies for student engagement.
• Identified 2 local ELCA affliated institutions that revised their core curriculum and created co-curricula
programs (Lenoir-Rhyne & Roanoke)
• Student Success in College (2nd Edition) by George Kuh
• Reworking the Student Departure Puzzle edited by John Braxton
• Conducted 2 workshops with my staff on assessement and the purpose of co-curricular programs.
• Five Initiatives:
1. Multicultural competence
2. Leadership development
3. Health and Wellness
4. Civic Engagement
5. Effective Communication and Social Interaction
• On Campus Partners:
1. Center for Student Success
2. Director of First Year Experience
3. Office of Diversity
September 2011 - March 2012
• Created programs on a smaller scale through Residence Hall Association that focused on 4 out of the 5
inititiatives
6. Trials & Tribulations
Friends Give Friends A Hand
• Budget cuts lead to a collaboration with Academic Affairs on the First Year
Experience program
Here We Go
• A focus on diversity to address racial concerns raised by our African
American students and establish training for faculty and staff
• The NASCAR experience
Bananas
• President's resignation
• Critical staff member departure
• Diversity....???
A Friend Like You
• Lenoir-Rhyne site visit in February
7. Professional Development
•Focused & Strategic
• Time and task management skills were tested throughout the project
• Developed a 5 year strategic plan for the Office of Student Affairs
• Significance
• Team member - not a leader
• Building relationships
The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in
moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of
challenge and controversy.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
8. Future of the Project
“I wanted a perfect ending. Now I've learned, the hard way, that
some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear
beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to
change, taking the moment and making the best of it,
without knowing what's going to happen next."
Gilda Radner