Throughout his career working in Higher Education, Joe LeCluyse’s driving principle has been that services in Higher Education should not just be record keeping and logistical operations, but should be part of the larger process of helping students complete their goals at the institution to the best of their ability. Assisting schools to enhance their efforts toward student success has been, and continues to be his passion.
Below is an excerpt from a discussion with Joe about how schools can take a new approach to addressing student success challenges.
What is changing for higher education?
We believe that schools are experiencing a “new normal”. What I mean by that is 10-15 years ago, if you look at public institutions, they were funded on headcount primarily. Today, many states have moved to performance-based funding. And so schools have to produce retention rates and completion rates.
Performance based funding is causing schools to have to take a whole new approach, a whole new focus, on student success. In order for schools to be successful, they need to do a better job of making sure their students are successful. And that’s what it’s all about: accountability. And we believe we have an approach, that is a new approach, that is a much broader and proactive approach, to helping schools address student success.
What is different about this new approach?
Our approach is to look at institutions from a holistic viewpoint – the environment, the culture – across all aspects of the institution.
What are the 4 dimensions of holistic student success?
This holistic approach that were talking about consists of four dimensions, with a number of factors within each dimension. The four dimensions are: institutional leadership, institutional culture, student learning, and student engagement.
How can schools incorporate a holistic approach into student success efforts?
First, institutions need to develop a strategic plan for student success. Developing a strategic plan starts with assessing the institution’s environment – examining the four dimensions of holistic student success (institutional leadership, institutional culture, student learning and student engagement). An outcome of that assessment should be an actionable roadmap that will provide a strategic plan for an institution to move forward in their efforts towards student success.
Hear from Joe directly in the brief video below.
Like this post? Join our mailing list for updates to the blog.
