Moon Shot for Equity Fall 2023 Status Update
We are excited to share more about our efforts to close equity gaps on our campus. As Kean began its Moon Shot for Equity journey, the steering committee focused on three areas; Advising, Hold Reform, and Navigate (technology advances). We also identified two other areas for us to begin conversations; microgrants and transfer pathways.
As of May 2023, we have successfully completed the discovery phase and identified various initiatives across campus that live within our Moon Shot for Equity Universe. Please see below for progress updates.
Hold Reform Status Update
Why is this important?
Hold reform ensures that students can navigate administrative processes more smoothly, reducing the likelihood of them dropping out or transferring to other institutions. Removing unnecessary holds allows students to stay on track with their coursework, graduate on time, and achieve their educational goals without undue delays.
What are we going to do?
Our main objective is to assess and improve the existing student hold policies and procedures. We will work collaboratively to identify areas of improvement, gather feedback from students, faculty, and staff, and then implement changes to streamline the hold system and enhance the overall student experience. By focusing on transparency, communication, and efficiency, we aim to create a more supportive and accessible environment for all students.
Updates from the team:
The hold reform team has been making progress in improving student hold policies and procedures. As a start, we have collaborated with other hold reform teams from different institutions participating in the EAB Moonshot initiative to learn from their experiences and gather valuable ideas.
We will be focusing on student-centric policies, such as assessing balance thresholds, creating a hold creation policy, and implementing a required hold clean-up process.
Additionally, we are actively exploring the best reporting data points and data storage methods to assess retention and the impact on students year over year. Communication is also a top priority, and we have learned that creating a uniform hold communication template might be beneficial for better clarity and consistency.
Our next action is to analyze our data to establish a baseline, which will help us track the impact of policy changes more effectively. We remain committed to enhancing the overall student experience and creating a supportive environment that fosters academic success and personal growth.
Academic Advisement Status Update
Why is it important?
The President’s Task Force on Advising worked for over a year to examine Kean's advising model and structure and recently released a set of recommendations to streamline and improve advising for students as well as faculty.
What are we going to do?
Adopt a new model and structure for advising.
Updates from the Team:
The President's Task Force on Advising shared its confidential report with Dr. Repollet in Summer 2023. The task force's recommendations were released to the public on October 16, 2023. Please feel free to visit the webpage for The President’s Task Force on Advising to review the recommendations and provide feedback. After reviewing feedback, the Advising Best Practice team will work on implementation.
Why is this important?
Proactive advising plays a crucial role in supporting college students throughout their academic journey. It promotes academic success, offers early intervention, provides personalized guidance, facilitates resource utilization, and encourages long-term planning. By proactively engaging with advisors, students can optimize their college experience and increase their chances of achieving their academic and career goals.
Navigate Status Update Information
Why is this important?
Collaboration and clear communication are pillars in our recipe for supporting student success at Kean University. Navigate, a system of capabilities, will provide Kean advisors, faculty, and administrators with a wide range of tools that will make communicating and collaborating that much easier, resulting in streamlined and timely support for our students on their pathway towards graduation.
EAB Navigate is an integrated technology platform designed to support student success and streamline academic advising processes in higher education institutions. It offers a range of tools and features that help advisors, faculty, and administrators enhance student engagement, improve communication, and facilitate proactive advising.
What are we going to do?
As a team, we will intentionally work together to design and implement our Navigate environment. During the Fall 2023 term, we are piloting the Navigate platform with the College of Business and Public Management (CBPM), supporting CBPM students and courses. Our goal is to solicit feedback early and often as we strive to deliver a system that is user friendly and student focused.
Updates from the team:
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Inquiry: Navigate Program Owner met with academic and administrative units to gain a thorough understanding of business processes and services available to support students. Departments also had the opportunity to explore and further discuss opportunities to improve their day-to-day operations by maximizing capabilities available through Navigate.
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Data Validation: Data Validation is an important and ongoing part of the implementation process. Collaboratively, EAB, and Kean work together to ensure that the data is flowing nicely into Navigate and more importantly, is accurate!
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Discovery: Starting in June, the EAB Tech Team began meeting with functional and technical consultants from EAB. During these sessions, we have gained a better understanding of system functionalities we will be introducing as part of Phase I including Appointment Scheduling, Progress Reports, Hand Rises, and the Student Profile, to name a few.
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Phase I Design: As a follow-up to Discovery, faculty, staff, administrators, and students have been reviewing and making decisions in our system design workbook. Once our Decision Workbook is complete, our Program solutions will be shared with administrative departments and the College of Business and Public Management for feedback.
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What’s Next: Other Colleges will be invited to pilot the platform before a full campus rollout scheduled for Fall 2024.