We are halfway through the fall semester, and our student success community is actively and collectively improving the student experience. This month’s update focuses on the people and approaches that are making progress on efforts designed to increase retention and graduation, ensuring all students learn, thrive, and graduate. This includes a comprehensive research and assessment plan for each of the five opportunity areas of student success and ways that you can get involved with the work.
Student Success Launch 2026 and Student Success Initiatives
Student Success Initiatives gathered input from 265 members of the community at the 2026 Student Success Launch and then translated that work into action during the October monthly Student Success Initiatives meeting and SUES Executive Committee meeting. Project leads are discovering the relationships and synergies between their efforts and coordinating to support each other’s work. For example, the Undergraduate Digital Experience project has clear connections with the Academic Standing Project’s early intervention work. Career Connected Spartans also has shared outcomes with the Learning Goals Project to ensure undergraduate students can track and make meaning around their curricular and co-curricular experiences. And UGS 201 students are supporting the Academic Standing Project this semester with pop-up surveys designed to provide input into proposed action plans for 2026-2027.
In addition to the links above, we now have this briefing sheet of project status that is shared with the SUES Executive Committee on a quarterly basis, building our collective knowledge and support of the change work we are engaged in on behalf of our students.
Join us for the MSU Learning Community!
Centered on advancing undergraduate student success through the five opportunity areas as outlined in the Spartan Undergraduate Experience Strategy Guide, we will come together monthly to share strategies through engagement with researchers and practitioners, learn from one another, and offer mutual support. This is a collaborative space to build community, contribute ideas, and move our collective work into action. If you are interested in participating, please sign up here.
Oct. 28
- Theme: Self-Discovery of Purpose with Dr. Marianna Savoca, Associate Vice President for Career Readiness and Experiential Education, Stony Brook University, who will lead us in discussion about high impact practices for student success.
- Hybrid, 8:30-9:30 a.m., N124 Business College Complex
- Breakfast at 8 a.m.
Nov. 10
- Theme: Educational Success with Cassandra Paul and David Webb discussing their research using a Course Deficit Model to improve classroom instruction.
- Virtual , noon-1 p.m.
Help us plan the One MSU for Student Success Week
One MSU for Student Success Week will be held the week of May 10, 2026, and on May 17, 2026. This year MSU IT, the Center for Teaching and Learning Innovation, and the Office of Undergraduate Education will continue our partnership for the Student Success Summit and CTLI Spring TALKS, and next spring will collaborate with the Academic Advisor Resources and Engagement team to address the needs and interests of academic advisors.
If you are interested in helping to plan the events this year, sign up here! The planning committee will meet two times for an hour beginning in November and will be asked to provide support the day of events.
New Approach to Five Opportunity Areas Research, Assessment and Metrics - Undergraduate Advice and Deliberation (UGAAD)
At the Nov. 10 UGAAD meeting, Rebecca Dean, who leads our efforts for Student Success Research, Assessment and Metrics, will introduce the five opportunity areas of success research and assessment plan created in partnership with Institutional Research (Laleah Fernandez) and the Five Areas Learning Community led by Maria O’Connell in 2025-2026. If you are interested in joining the meeting that day and are not a member of UGAAD, please email Amy Martin at mart1742@msu.edu.
Campus Student Success Group (CSSG)
This Fall CSSG has worked with University Advising’s Maame Adomako, providing input on the Short-Term Leave project. We engaged in two rounds of workshops provided by Susan Richter, data scientist with Institutional Research on Student Success Data Access and Navigation, and we have finalized our ideas for how to address students’ struggle to navigate their involvement on campus in meaningful ways. In the last meeting the group provided input into where and how we might address these recommended solutions that come out of our root cause analysis:
- Create a Unified Student Engagement Ecosystem
- Implement Personalized Involvement Pathways
- Build a Peer Navigation Network
- Expand Co-Curricular Planning and Success Support
- Reduce Financial Barriers to Involvement