More CU Boulder first-year students returned to the spring semester this academic year, thanks to a focused and widespread effort on student success built on a number of key initiatives.听
鈥淲e hit a more than three-decade-high retention rate of 95.7% of CU Boulder鈥檚 first-year students moving successfully from the fall to spring semester this year,鈥� said CU Boulder Provost Russell Moore. 鈥淚n a time when college and university students鈥攊ncluding ours鈥攁re still recovering from the pandemic, this number shows that our tight focus on student success is producing positive results.鈥澨�
Moore said that a fall-to-spring retention rate for first-year students is a good early indicator of student success and longer-term retention toward graduation.
鈥淭he first year requires a profound adjustment for many students, and to see this many returning to campus in the spring is one important indicator that their experience is off to a great start, giving us a better chance to keep them with us through to graduation,鈥� Moore said.
Moore noted the combined efforts of CU Boulder鈥檚 baby直播app and staff, who he said have risen to the challenge 鈥渙f serving and engaging with students in myriad and heroic ways during the last five or six years,鈥� were at the root of the retention numbers.听
He also credited the campus鈥檚 Buff Undergraduate Success (BUS) initiative, a team formed in fall 2021 and charged with improving undergraduate student success by collaborating with baby直播app, staff and units from across CU Boulder to implement programs and processes to help students continue their CU Boulder educations, earn timely degrees and feel like they belong.听
The BUS team is led by two leaders from CU Boulder鈥檚 academic affairs division and two from its division of strategic resources and support. The BUS team鈥檚 work has devised and deployed more than two dozen individual projects with direct touchpoints to the student experience, from launching a new student communication model that consolidates student support and resource information, to creating a proposal for an enhanced campuswide academic advising infrastructure.
鈥淭he end game of BUS is a transformed student experience, not only for first-year students but for all undergraduates,鈥� said Senior Vice Provost for Academic Planning and Assessment Katherine Eggert, BUS鈥檚 academic lead.听
鈥淭he fall-to-spring retention data for first-year students is a great indicator we鈥檙e moving in the right direction, and it鈥檚 incentive for us to stay on the course BUS has charted and keep seeking ways to improve our students鈥� CU Boulder experience,鈥� Eggert said.听
Alongside an academic emphasis, said Moore, experts and leaders in the student affairs division have played a vital role in 鈥渮eroing in on the student experience to help students find their CU Boulder community, reach their personal goals and get support when they need it.鈥澨�
Moore recognized the close collaboration between the academic and student affairs leadership. The First Year Experience Advisory Board鈥攁 partnership among the Office of Undergraduate Education, the Division of Student Affairs, and colleges, schools, and programs鈥攊naugurated and expanded living and learning communities in fall 2022 and will debut several more in fall 2023.
In addition, Strategic Resources and Support partners in the Office of Information Technology and Strategic Relations and Communications have added to their work by pinpointing the technologies and opportunities that connect students to the campus experience. Student input has also been key to many BUS projects.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a total team effort,鈥� Moore said.听
Moore said the next phase of the BUS initiative will see the continuation or launch of 12 individual projects anchored in improving the student experience.听
鈥淭hough a 95.7% is an 鈥楢鈥� in any class, we鈥檙e not resting on this retention record. We鈥檙e taking on the challenge of year-over-year retention rates and, of course, the four-year graduation rate,鈥� Moore said.
