Case Study - UWM TRIO SSS
How Class Tracker’s Ultimate Student Planner helps improve student accountability, time management, planning and prioritization skills for the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee’s TRIO Support Services students.
OVERVIEW
The University of Wisconsin Milwaukee (UWM) TRIO Student Support Services (SSS) program provides support services to low-income students, first-generation college students, and disabled students enrolled at UWM who are pursuing associate's or bachelor's degrees. They are part of the federal grant funded TRIO program whose mission is to increase the number of first-generation college students from low-income backgrounds, and/or are differently abled to complete a postsecondary program of study. UWM received its first round of funding in 1968 and has maintained the program by regularly applying for and receiving federal grants to fund it. The program serves between 250-300 students annually. UWM is an urban R1 (Research 1) institution with very high research activity and an access program for underserved students.
CHALLENGES
The students served by UWM TRIO SSS arrive at college with several challenges that impact a student’s ability to persist to graduation.
1. Most arrive unfamiliar with the standards and expectations of college life and often lack the study, time management, self-advocacy and self-awareness skills needed to support their success.
2. First-generation students will often have impostor syndrome, which may contribute to doubting their skills, talents, and accomplishments for fear of being exposed as a fraud.
3. Students may struggle with finances and often are not prepared to manage with the influx of financial assistance they receive with grants, college work-study awards, and scholarships.
SOLUTIONS
UWM TRIO SSS encourages its students to use university’s academic tutoring, and supplemental instruction, with reading, writing, study skills, mathematics, science, and other subjects as needed. The program provides academic coaching and assistance in postsecondary course selections. Additionally, the program supplies its students with three tools to support their growth and development.
Class Tracker Planners: Paper planner product designed specifically for the college experience that is distributed to all students. Students meet with their advisors and use the contents they record in their planners to discuss their pathways to success including time management, academic challenges, school-life balance, and setting priorities. In these meetings, students discuss and reflect on the successes and challenges of previous weeks and work with their advisor to come up with a plan for the following week.
Conover SEL: Research-based, comprehensive, web-based assessment and training system that addresses social emotional learning (SEL), focusing on soft skills, goal achievement, and emotional intelligence. Students can move through this platform including video-based lessons at their own pace, to set goals and track progress towards achieving them. Students earn credential recognition certificates as they achieve competencies.
Money Path: Online, web-based financial education program to empower students to manage their money by learning essential financial literacy concepts and practices. The program assists students with information on student financial aid programs, benefits, and resources for locating public and private scholarships as well as assistance in completing financial aid applications. Money Path encourages personal reflection, critical thinking, and the development of the financial mindset.
RESULTS
The combination of the academic advising and coaching programs with the intervention tools show promising initial results. Advisors report that students take a more active role in facilitating the discussions about their successes and challenges as a result of having the Class Tracker planners as part of each of their meetings. It’s become a key tool for accountability that students use to track their progress and record areas where plans fell short. Combined with the curriculum from the Conover SEL program, students bring greater self-awareness to their advising meetings.
While still early, UWM TRIO SSS is starting to see improved graduation rates over the past three years.
|
2018/19 |
2019/20 |
2020/21 |
|
|
STUDENTS SERVED |
287 |
274 |
255 |
|
FIRST-GENERATION & LOW INCOME |
72% |
70% |
71% |
|
DISABILITY |
3% |
3% |
2% |
|
PERSISTENCE RATE (1st to 2nd year) |
93% |
100% |
99% |
|
GOOD ACADEMIC STANDING (=/>2.0 GPA) |
93% |
93% |
90% |
|
GRADUATION (WITHIN 6-YRS) |
26% |
31% |
48% |
Overall, the multi-pronged approach that UWM TRIO SSS utilizes to support student success is meeting students where they are and delivering content and support when and where they need it. We hope these combined efforts will continue to support more students in completing their postsecondary education.
Published December 22, 2022