Dear Center for Academic Innovation Community,
As the familiar patterns of teaching and learning return to campus and beyond, it is inspiring to be part of a great university community dedicated to helping students and learners become leaders and citizens who will challenge the present and enrich the future.
That outcome is not guaranteed, however, and ensuring that all students are given every opportunity to access a Michigan education and achieve success is a priority to which the Center for Academic Innovation has long been dedicated.
In this spirit, I am thrilled to be among the key partners in the U-M Student Success Network, which Angela Dillard, vice provost for undergraduate education, convened for its inaugural meeting on Sept. 30, bringing together key partners in the provost office, student life, athletics, academic advising, and schools and colleges throughout U-M.
The center has worked with the office of the vice provost for undergraduate education (OVPUE) and other key campus partners on four initial key projects as part of the Student Success Initiative, which launched in January. Each of these projects helps students build early momentum through their academic careers and have a positive first-year experience by achieving success in the classroom and feeling like a member of the campus community.
The center was a natural partner for OVPUE’s work because we have worked hard to build a sustainable model of innovation with faculty, staff, and student innovators that can support first-year students at scale. In that spirit, we have worked with OVPUE to see how our educational technology tools, with a decade of creating a connected, informed, and supported student experience, could be utilized in the targeted goals of the Student Success Initiative.
Those tools are now being deployed to help students achieve a targeted goal of 30 credits during their first year, provide support so students can maintain that momentum by creating early warning systems for students and academic advisers, and enhance orientation and support resources via targeted learning opportunities and online courses to help incoming students thrive at college.
Already, we are working with a campus community of academic advisers to train them on Academic Advising ECoach, which offers advisers a way to more proactively engage with students and provide tailored support. We have also used ECoach to send tailored messages to a pilot group of incoming students to inform them about the benefits of having a 30-credit course load in their first year, with many choosing to adjust their schedules to meet this target.
In time for Fall backpacking, we will be highlighting the benefits of early momentum in our course exploration tool Atlas and launching new features that empower students to explore course opportunities and maintain progress toward their degree.
We will also be launching new customized learning opportunities on Michigan Online created to support incoming and first-year students through three online courses covering common challenges, five course tours to help them understand various course types, and resources that extend orientation support into on-demand video resources.
While these initial projects focus on early momentum, as we look forward, we will explore more ways to deliver life-changing education, engaging and supporting students at U-M and as lifelong learners.
I look forward to the opportunity to share continued progress on each of these four projects in the coming months and sharing the other inspiring work happening on campus that is being driven by members of the Student Success Network.
I am proud to be part of a community so deeply committed to helping students and learners succeed on campus and around the world. I invite you to get in touch if you have further ideas for supporting student success through academic innovation.
Go blue!
James DeVaney
Associate Vice Provost for Academic Innovation
Founding Executive Director of the Center for Academic Innovation