students at commencement

Goal: Enhance Pathways to Timely Graduation

Ensuring a robust and vibrant education

The University of Oregon is a starting place for the dreams of our students and their families. Students arrive at our university with hopes for successful lives, for fulfilling careers, and for opportunities to contribute to our society at large. This gives us precious responsibility. Recognizing this, we pledge to support them during their time with us and to enhance pathways to timely graduation and degree completion.

Key Performance Indicators

  • Four-year and six-year graduation rates
  • Four-year and six-year graduation rate equity gaps
  • Retention to second year
 

Strategies

To enhance pathways to timely graduation, we will:

  • Establish a campus-wide student policy and practice action team that serves as the central coordinating body to focus on understanding and removing institutional barriers to timely graduation.
  • Require on-going, research informed curriculum analysis in the schools/colleges to identify and remove curricular barriers to timely graduation.
  • Mobilize a university-wide “finish in four” effort. (Note: “Finish in four” will be adapted to “finish in five” as program durations warrant.) Work together across academic and student support units to create unified principles for student success; and align academic advising practices across the university.
  • Direct effective targeted financial assistance to students.
 

Academic Year 2024–25 Milestones

Curricular Revision

  • Identify curricular bottlenecks
  • Develop data reports required to make data informed decision related to curricular bottlenecks
  • Integrate on-going curriculum analysis and improvement into departmental, school/college, and institutional processes
  • Identify supports needed for on-going curriculum analysis and improvement
  • Collect information from each school and college on what is already happening, share with each other, and celebrate our successes
  • Appoint the EVPAA and task them with developing and implementing a plan for core education reinvigoration and assessment

Advising

  • Assign and empower the VP of UESS to lead this academic advising alignment work
  • Create consistent advisor messaging that will:
    • Increase the number of students taking 15 units per term
    • Ensure advisor messaging to students is consistent with “finish in four”.
  • Identify resources required to enable every student to meet with their academic advisor in the first year and understand their pathway to graduation
  • Integrate an opportunity to meet with an advisor during IntroDUCKtion
  • Showcase advising best practices via a summit

Policies and Practices

  • Charge and empower a cross-functional team to identify barriers to retention and timely graduation and take action
  • Use data to identify top barriers to retention and on-time graduation, including equity gaps
  • Select initial areas/barriers of focus including low hanging fruit action items to take immediately
  • Take immediate action to eliminate barriers where possible
  • Develop an action plan and budget for AY 25-26 to eliminate additional barriers
 

Goal Owner

  • Christopher P. Long, Provost and Senior Vice President

The Goal Owner will work with appointed chairs to establish collaborative workgroups, representing diverse areas of the university, that will drive completion of the milestones assigned to each of the goals' multiple strategies for this academic year and beyond.

 

Workgroups

Student Success Action Team

The Student Success Action Team is a campus-wide policy and practice workgroup that will serve as the central coordinating body to focus on understanding and removing institutional barriers to timely graduation.

Student Success Action Team AY 2024–25 Members

  • Ron Bramhall (Co-Chair), Associate Vice Provost of Academic Affairs, Office of the Provost
  • Grant Schoonover (Co-Chair), Interim Vice Provost, Undergraduate Education and Student Success
  • Jamie Bufalino, Associate Dean of Undergraduate Education, College of Arts and Sciences - Office of the Dean & Advising
  • Rosa Chavez, Director of Center for Multicultural Academic Excellence, Division of Equity and Inclusion
  • Will Hamilton, Director of Data and Assessment, Undergraduate Education and Student Success
  • Erin Hays, Associate Vice President for Student Services and Enrollment Management and Director of Admissions, Student Success and Enrollment Management - Office of Admissions
  • Austin Hocker, Assistant Vice Provost of Data and Decision Support, Office of the Provost
  • Jimmy Howard, Interim Dean of Students, Student Life
  • Santiago Jaramillo, Associate Professor, Biology, Neuroscience, College of Arts and Sciences - Division of Natural Sciences
  • Judy Kanavle, Director of Project and Program Management, Office of the Provost
  • Claire Matese, Assistant Director of Institutional Research, Office of Institutional Research
  • Alison Schmitke, Senate President & Senior Lecturer II, Undergraduate Degree Program Director, Educational Foundations, in the Department of Education Studies, Senate & College of Education
  • Sarah Strickler, Senior Assistant Registrar, Student Success and Enrollment Management - Office of the Registrar
  • Michelle Stuckey, Director of Composition, Department of English
  • Chloe Webster, Student

Curricular Analysis Workgroup

The Curricular Analysis Workgroup will identify curricular barriers, strategies to enhance curricular pathways, and support needs to implement strategies.

Curricular Analysis Workgroup AY 2024–25 Members

  • Austin Hocker (Co-Chair), Assistant Vice Provost of Data and Decision Support, Office of the Provost
  • Celena Simpson (Co-Chair), Director of PathwayOregon, Undergraduate Education and Student Success
  • Heather Bottorff, Senior Director, Advising, Undergraduate Programs, Lundquist College of Business
  • Ron Bramhall, Associate Vice Provost of Academic Affairs, Office of the Provost
  • Jamie Bufalino, Associate Dean of Undergraduate Education, College of Arts and Sciences - Office of the Dean
  • Amy Connolly, Senior Instructor I – Department of Biology, College of Arts and Sciences - Division of Natural Sciences
  • Uli Dangel, Director & Professor, School of Architecture and Environment, College of Design
  • Angela Davis, Senior Associate Dean for Academic Programs, Lundquist College of Business
  • Daphne Gallagher, Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies, Clark Honors College
  • Will Hamilton (Data Support), Director of Data and Assessment, Undergraduate Education and Student Success
  • Judy Kanavle (PM Support), Director of Project and Program Management, Office of the Provost
  • Claire Matese (Data Support), Assistant Director of Institutional Research, Office of Institutional Research
  • Deb Morrison, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Affairs, School of Journalism and Communication
  • Drew Nobile, Associate Professor of Music Theory, School of Music and Dance
  • Ali Söken, Faculty Consultant Office of the Provost - Teaching Engagement Program
  • Craig Parsons, Professor & Program Head, Political Science, College of Arts and Sciences - Division of Social Sciences
  • Mike Price, Senior Instructor II, Distinguished Teaching Professor, Assistant Department Head, Mathematics, College of Arts and Sciences - Division of Natural Sciences
  • Hollie Smith, Associate Professor of Science and Environmental Communication, School of Journalism and Communication
  • Alison Schmitke, Senior Lecturer II, Undergraduate Degree Program Director, Educational Foundations in the Department of Education Studies, College of Education
  • Corbett Upton, Senior Instructor, Associate Director of Undergraduate Studies, English, College of Arts and Sciences - Division of Humanities
  • Dasa Zeithamova, Associate Professor, Chair of the Undergraduate Education Committee, Co-Director of Undergraduate Studies, Neuroscience, Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences - Division of Natural Sciences

Financial Assistance Workgroup

The Financial Assistance Workgroup will be responsible for deliverables related to targeting financial assistance to students.

Financial Assistance Workgroup AY 2024–25 Members

  • Grant Schoonover (Chair), Interim Vice Provost, Undergraduate Education and Student Success
  • Mark Diestler, Interim Director of Student Financial Aid and Scholarships, Student Success and Enrollment Management - Financial Aid & Scholarships
  • Renee Dorjahn, Associate Dean of Administration, Clark Honors College
  • Jonathan Jacobs (Data Support), Director of Student Services and Enrollment Management Research, Student Success and Enrollment Management - Research & Assessment
  • Judy Kanavle (PM Support), Director of Project and Program Management, Office of the Provost
  • Wesley Stewart, Senior Associate Vice President for Development, University Advancement

Strategy Development Team (Winter 2024)

The strategy development team established strategies, key performance indicators (KPIs), and actionable tactics to achieve the overarching goal of Enhancing Pathways to Timely Graduation.

  • Ron Bramhall (Chair), Associate Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, Office of the Provost
  • Kyna Burgett, Senior Assistant Director, Financial Aid and Scholarships   
  • Eric Garcia, Assistant Director and Training Director for Counseling Services, University Health Services 
  • Sally Garner, Senior Director for Student Success, School of Journalism and Communication 
  • Jimmy Howard, Associate Dean of Students, Office of the Dean of Students 
  • Will Hamilton (Data Team), Director of Data and Assessment, Undergraduate Education and Student Success
  • Jonathan Jacobs (Data Team), Director of SSEM Research, Student Services and Enrollment Management  
  • Jina Kim, Associate Professor, East Asian Languages 
  • Jen Parker, Executive Director, Scholar and Academic Services, University Advancement 
  • Lee Rumbarger, Associate Vice Provost, Director of the Teaching Engagement Program, Office of the Provost 
  • Grant Schoonover, Assistant Vice Provost for Academic Success, PathwayOregon Program, Undergraduate Education and Student Success 
  • Sarah Stricker, Senior Assistant Registrar for Classroom Scheduling, Curriculum, and Catalog, Office of the Registrar  

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