13th ANNUAL

An idealist is a person who

helps other people to be
prosperous.
-Henry Ford
Guiding a System along a
Pathways' Journey
Dr. Tristan Denley
Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
Tennessee Board of Regents
Tristan.Denley@tbr.edu
Twitter: @TDenley
Since 2013…

Community College University

3yr Graduation Rate 4yr Graduation Rate

42% 26%
Since 2013…

Community College University

3yr Graduation Rate 4yr Graduation Rate

88% 51%

Under-represented Minority Students

TBR Momentum Year: The “Recipe”

Making a purposeful program choice

Creating a productive Academic Mindset

Attempting 9 hours in Academic Focus

Completing initial English and M⍺𝜏h

Attempting 30 hours
 Ingredient #1:
Making a Purposeful Program Choice
Selected Ingredients of “Purposeful Program Choice”
Require all incoming students to declare a
01 major or a meta-major. 1

Build Guided Pathways and Degree Maps for

02 every major. 2

03 Institute Math Pathways.

04 Create an equitable Math Placement system.

Build a co-requisite instruction program,

05 especially in Math.

06 Enlist and train academic advisors in the above.

Purposeful Program Choice
=
Meta Major Declaration
Academic Foci:
Health
Meta Majors
Professions

Applied STEM
Technology
Humanities

Business General
Education
Social Arts
Sciences Education
How did the existence of
academic foci affect student
program choice?
Why did you pick your program or academic focus?
1%
I Had to Pick Something
6%
I have not selected a final major yet 7% 3%

The salary potential is attractive to me 5%

I know someone who majored or works in this

field
My parents or an advisor suggested this choice
78%
My interests lie in ths area
Purposeful Program Choice
=
Math Pathways
The Components for Building Math Pathways

Math
part of Pathways requires

Co-requisite Math Placement

Instruction ( +Math in 1st 30 hours)

requires requires

Meta Major
Declaration
( +Proactive Advising )
 Ingredient #2:
Creating a Productive Academic Mindset
Productive Academic Mindset: Selected Ingredients

+15%
GPA Perceived purpose of coursework

+12pp Feel connected to their institution

URM
Retention and that they belong…
+19pp
Earned SCHr Believe they are capable of learning the material…
%

+6pp
Earned SCHr Confidence interacting with Faculty and Staff
%

+9pp
MathCoReqS GRIT and Perseverance
Success
 Ingredient #3:
Attempting 9 hours in Academic Focus
Incoming Freshmen who successfully completed at least 9 hours
in their focus during their 1st Academic Year

Community College Freshmen University Freshmen

50% 70%

60%
40%
50%

30%
40%

30%
20%

20%
10%
10%
Attempted 9 Focus Hours Earned 9 Focus Hours Attempted 9 Focus Hours Earned 9 Focus Hours
0% 0%
 Ingredient #4:
Complete Initial English and Math
Top 30 most enrolled classes comprise 50% of TBR enrollment
50000
ENGL1010

37500
ENGL1020

HIST2010
25000 MATH1530

HIST2020
12500

0
Graduate Rates for Community College English and M⍺𝜏h

6 yr Graduation Rates

1st yr - Did not pass English or Math 6%

1st yr - Passed both English and Math 41%

0% 13% 25% 38% 50%

 Ingredient #5:
Attempting 30 hours
Additional Slides
Productive Academic Mindset: Perceived Purpose of Coursework

Low Perception High Perception Difference Effect size

•Natural order
Math
•
Co- RequisiteGlobal centrality
60.2% 66.5% 6.3pp 2.08
Success Rate
• Major centrality

Writing • Grade prediction

Co- requisite 61.3% 70.8% 9.5pp 3.73
Success Rate

Earned Hour% 65.1% 72.5% 7.4pp 4.85

Fall to Spring
Retention Rate 72.4% 77% 4.6pp 2.62
The Graduate Transcript Graph:
The Importance of Completing
Math and English Composition

MATH1530

ENGL1010