The Buffalo State Impact
This week I was reviewing the list of undergraduate retention initiatives that have been implemented by Buffalo State since 2016. The list is long and touches many aspects that are generally related to the success of our students. Here success means the retention and persistence of our students from the first day they join campus until they graduate and go on to their first postgraduate jobs or graduate school.
Retention and persistence are something I speak of often on campus. I have challenged us all to think about what we do and what we can add to enhance the success of our students. The long list of initiatives demonstrates how seriously we have been in defining best practices and bringing them to campus.
Rendering of the east lobby in E.H. Butler Library where the new Academic Commons space will be located.
From mandatory advisement, to creating a plan to centralize student support, to increasing high-impact practices, and much more, we have taken up the mandate to increase the retention and persistence of all students. This fall we are adding yet another weapon to our arsenal: we have been approved for a five-year federally funded Title 3 grant, “Insight to Impact.” This grant provides the resources to hire a data analyst to assist the campus in understanding the conditions of success for our students and thus replicate those success-enhancing elements as needed. This, along with the additional resources to add coaching, peer mentorship, and more, will assist us in making the important impact on students that will result in success.
The Buffalo State Impact will implement those aspects of support that allow all students to succeed. Our work will continue to be focused on our students. We will delve deeply into any issues that inhibit success and intervene. But remember, this is critical work, and we must stay focused and committed to improve student success. I am counting on us all to work together to make the Buffalo State Impact the means to lift all students to success.