Collaboration and Relationship Building​

Many of the institutions in this project found success in collaborating and building relationships with various constituencies.  Collaboration occurred both inside and outside the institution. Leadership at the institution saw opportunities to partner with other institutions, particularly other MSIs, as ways to build stronger networks and programs.  This gathering of resources and knowledge proved beneficial. Administrators, faculty, and staff found it an asset to work together across the campus.  Instead of approaching student success in silos, faculty, staff, and administrators across disciplines and departments worked on projects together.  This enabled programs to be effective and strong cross-campus relationships to be established and thrive.  Programs that found success also built strong relationships with students and between students.  Through the process of collaboration and relationship building, community was built. A strong sense of community appears to be an important ingredient for the success of students at MSIs.

 

Innovation and Investment

Innovation was a strong component of the strategies of success.  Institutions found that though there may be practices and policies in place that work well. Yet, there are those that may need to be revisited.  Furthermore, there may be opportunities to introduce new policies and procedures to address concerns or issues on campus.  Innovation was not limited to policies and procedures but also involved curriculum and student support services.  Campuses that were not afraid to try new things and employ new thoughts and methods found success in programming and results.

 

Institutions that invested in their programs and initiatives found success. Investment manifested itself through time, money, and various resources.  Administration, faculty, students, and staff all played a part in finding various ways and avenues to either invest themselves, or to procure investment from stakeholders.  It is clear that strategies cannot reach their full potential and effectiveness if there is not proper investment.



Engaging Everyone & Everything (Holistic Approach)​

In the same vein as collaborating and relationship building, programs that were able to engage all community constituents proved to be successful by inspiring buy-in from all parts of the campus and, in cases, the surrounding community.  Student success is communicated as an issue that is everyone’s issue and not relegated to just one part of the institution (i.e.- student affairs, academic affairs).  Leadership approached student success as a campus wide effort.  For institutions that had strong ties with their surrounding communities, such as the Tribal Colleges. Students are viewed as an extension of their communities therefore the community should be involved in programs and initiatives that can facilitate student success.  This holistic approach communicates that student success is the responsibility of the entire institution.



Communication with Communities

Communication is key to effective and successful programs. Institutional leadership found that being able to identify the various communities that compose the overall campus community assists in being able to develop and implement effective communication strategies. Successful programs made it a priority to communicate with all parties that would be involved.  Disseminating information to students, faculty, and staff ensured that everyone was aware of initiatives, goals, and expectations. Successful programs also made sure that communication did not only occur solely in one direction.  There were continuous opportunities for multi-directional communication.  Students could provide feedback or input to faculty and staff and vice versa.  Faculty and staff felt free to approach administrators about their thoughts or observations.  This atmosphere also ensures there is clarity and minimal confusion in the implementation of the program. The constant feedback helps the programs to continue to adjust to become increasingly effective.  This atmosphere also allows for full community to feel they are a part of all parts of the program, from planning to success.



Developing Faculty & Curriculum

Curriculum was often an integral part of successful programs at our participating institutions.  Though creating culturally sensitive and relevant curriculum was important, creating curriculum with room for adjustment was just as vital. Curricula were constantly being evaluated and revised to ensure that the goals set would be accomplished.  Many of the programs made sure to align the curricula in their programs.  This allowed for students to build upon and connect what was being learned in one level, in one department, with another.  The same holistic approach that was taken with implementing programming was taken with curriculum development.  Cross departmental collaboration in curriculum development was welcomed and encouraged.

 

Constant opportunities for development in the faculty were also encouraged.  Faculty were given opportunities to receive training, to learn new techniques, and to share knowledge.  In line with the curriculum, faculty would collaborate across departments and in some instances find opportunities to write and research together.  Faculty were positively pushed to rethink and relearn approaches to teaching and learning.  They were also given opportunities to share with their colleagues and administrators successful techniques and approaches.  Programs that facilitated success were also programs that gave room for faculty to grow and thrive.



Collecting and Applying Data

Having accurate and accessible data played an important role in the success of our institutions’ programs.  Programs made collecting data a priority.  The data collected was both quantitative and qualitative.  The data also came from various stakeholders including faculty, staff, and students.  Instead of waiting for the end of a program to collect data, many programs made sure to collect data while the program was running.  By collecting data throughout the course of the program, changes or adjustments based on actual data could be applied at the moment.  Often programs found that little changes and tweaks made a difference, but early intervention proved vital. Program administrators saw the value in not only collecting data but applying data.  Being able to interpret and properly use the data aided in programs’ success.  Investments were made in training and acquiring staff in the area of data collection and analysis. Leadership found that reaching success was a path that included many lessons and application of those lessons along the way.  This was accomplished through a commitment to acquiring strong, credible data and employing said data.