In 2017, when I first started as University Innovation Alliance (UIA) fellow at MSU, I was tasked with implementation of the UIA Completion Grants project. This project gave us funds to start to provide grants to seniors with unpaid balances of $1,000 or less. It was a fantastic way to start my work at MSU, and I got to meet amazing colleagues who were passionate about student success. Plus, we got to play a part in supporting students in their continued success and graduation at MSU. This work would not have been possible without the small but mighty team tasked with the implementation of the project, including: Keith Williams, Wendy Booth, Deb Dotterer, Aaron Tucker, Christy Stehouwer, Debra Thornton, Kris Renn, Cheryl Whitman, Laurie Schlenke, and Bethan Cantwell.
We learned a lot from this work and the financial needs of our students. When the UIA grant funding ran out, we worked to create our own retention grants open to students of any level (as opposed to completion grants only available to seniors) recognizing that for our students, they needed the support earlier in their academic careers. We partnered with colleges and units who had their own retention grant support to understand the needs on campus and how a centralized fund could support and create more equity for students.
After a few years of this collaborative work, it was clear retention grants were only a small part of the work needed to support the increased retention of students at MSU. We were able to create a Strategic Retention team (led by Christina Bridges and Justin St. Charles) which included a campus wide Operational Retention Group to coordinate the work, identify opportunities for improvement, and facilitate process and policy improvements related to retention. Many thanks are owed to all the members of that group (who are too many to name) who have brought great ideas, initiatives, and a collaborative student-centered spirit to the group. The success we have had in campus wide retention work is largely due to the great work this group has been engaged in.
We again learned a lot and recognized the need to enhance our retention grant opportunities. This summer a small group, including Christina Bridges, Justin St. Charles, Kay Stevens, Julia Barnes, Veda Hawkins, Kanchan Pavangadkar, Allyn Shaw, Kim Steed-Page, and Cheryl Whitman, came together to write a grant to the state to increase our retention grant opportunities.
I am excited to announce that we were successful in these endeavors and have received $572,000 in funding to go directly to students to support their continued retention and success at MSU. As we move into the implementation phase of this work, our Strategic Retention team is leading four workgroups to create a collaborative retention grant structure on campus. This includes:
- a comprehensive Landscape Analysis to understand the current opportunities and needs on campus,
- creating a centralized application process (yet maintaining individual review and decision making),
- creating a student-centered workflow process to support ease of use for students and staff, and
- creating a communication plan.
Beyond the workgroups, we have created an advisory council made up of all stakeholders who have retention grants on campus to provide ideas and feedback as we develop this process. The hope is to have this ready for implementation in the spring. If you have a retention grant and are not yet connected to the workgroup or advisory council, please reach out to Christina Bridges at bridgec3@msu.edu.
I am excited to see the difference this grant may have in supporting all students to learn, thrive, and graduate, and I am deeply appreciative of all the individuals over the years who have helped us get to this point.
