ASCEND Podcast

Students are always looking for discounts and deals to save money. Additionally, community businesses are always looking for ways to attract more customers. Given these two realities, creating a community coupons, deals, and discount packet (or website) and giving it to all incoming and returning students can be a great way to help students save money and drive more customers to local businesses....

Most institutions explore why students have left the institution, which is indeed extremely important data to have. But how often do we explore why students return to the institution? What is it that makes them come back semester after semester? We found that this data can be just as valuable as why students leave.

Aaron Basko from the University of Lynchburg joins co-hosts Jared Tippets and Eric Kirby to share his deep knowledge, wisdom, and insights on how campuses can increase their retention and student success efforts! Aaron Basko is currently the Vice President of Enrollment and University Outreach at the University of Lynchburg in Lynchburg, VA. He has more than 25 years of experience serving as an en...

Another nudge we have utilized, primarily to help get students registered for the next semester, is to have the university president send an email to all students who haven’t registered past a certain date to see what can be done to get the student back. An email from the university president can be a powerful tool for encouraging students to register for classes. The university president holds a...

We have found in many instances that many students often struggle to go to an event, activity, or program on their own. If they have to go on their own, they often will choose not to go at all. Struggling with attending big events or going somewhere on one's own can be attributed to a variety of factors, including social anxiety, fear of the unknown, lack of confidence, introversion, or previ...

Dr. Glenn Davis from Bowling Green State University joins co-hosts Jared Tippets and Eric Kirby to share his deep knowledge, wisdom, and insights on how campuses can increase their retention and student success efforts! Glenn Davis is Vice President for Student Engagement and Success at Bowling Green State University. In this role, Glenn collaborates with staff and faculty from across the universi...

There are often two competing realities we face when dealing with Generation Z and their view of the workforce. First, they often complain about not having enough money; and second, there are many jobs on our campus that we can’t fill, often in the custodial or food service fields. As we further investigated this issue, we found that some students felt these jobs were beneath them or wondered why...

While peer mentoring programs have become all the rage in higher education, not many peer mentoring programs focus on second-year students. At our institution, the second-year peer mentors (Leads) serve as personal friends, guides, and coaches to each second-year student. Each returning student (or incoming transfer student) is assigned a Lead the summer before they return or start at SUU (usually...

Nii Abrahams from Butler University joins co-hosts Jared Tippets and Eric Kirby to share his deep knowledge, wisdom, and insights on how campuses can increase their retention and student success efforts! Since Fall 2022, Nii Abrahams has served as the inaugural Director of the First Year Experience at Butler University in Indianapolis, where he partners across the 4 campus divisions to ensure all...

Completing a FAFSA has many financial benefits.  So, our Financial Wellness Office created regular and ongoing ‘FAFSA Nights’. During our FAFSA Nights, our Financial Wellness Office reserves a computer lab on campus for the evening to help students apply for FAFSA and answer all questions regarding what FAFSA is and why they should apply. The student turnout to these events is not huge, but every...

At our institution we began to see higher levels of withdrawals after certain messages from the institution went out to students. While it is true that Institutions of higher education typically aim to retain students rather than encourage them to withdraw, we found that there may be instances where a message or communication from the institution inadvertently triggers a student to consider withdr...

Dr. Gill Hunter from Eastern Kentucky University joins co-hosts Jared Tippets and Eric Kirby to share his deep knowledge, wisdom, and insights on how campuses can increase their retention and student success efforts! Dr. Gill Hunter is Assistant Vice President of Retention and Graduation at Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond, Kentucky. Located just east of the Bluegrass of central Kentucky an...

One way to help nudge students is to have a banner (or several banners) hung across campus that has interchangeable signs for particular events (i.e. course registration days, career fairs, etc.) and removable numbers that can create a countdown (days left until the event).

We have found that some Gen Z students may lack essential life skills such as cooking, cleaning, basic home maintenance, and financial literacy due to growing up in a digital age where such skills are less emphasized or learned from traditional sources like parents or home economics classes. With this as a backdrop, we have found that institutions of higher education can play a crucial role in hel...

In season one of the ASCEN D Podcast we outlined strategies for how leaders, managers, and supervisors might go about shifting the organizational culture on a campus. Because this effort is at the core of improving student success we spent more time on this topic in volume 2 of our book and wanted to reshare these strategies in season 2 of our podcast.  Enjoy!

The first few weeks of each semester can be hard for many students. During these first few weeks, new students may feel homesick after they leave their family and home for the first time. Given these realities, and to show our students we are here to support them every step of the way, during the third week of each semester we do apartment walks where we visit the apartments (both on and off campu...

At our institution, our Financial Wellness Office hosts a wide array of events and initiatives throughout the year, but during February, there is a concerted effort to get students financially ready for the next school year.  Tune in to learn more about Financial February!

In this episode we discuss the different aspects of the ASCEND Model -- Affordability, Support, Culture, Engagement, Nudges, and Data. As a result of the implementation of this new model, we saw immediate improvements in retention and completion rates. Tune in to learn more!

In this episode we discuss the following 8 reasons why colleges and universities should focus on retention and student success: a declining national pool of high school graduates;  increased pressures to grow revenues;  a growing call from the public for increased accountability;  the need to close the equity and achievement gaps; the ever-changing generational landscape; an increased desire for f...

It's great to be back for season 2 of the ASCEND Podcast!  Thanks for listening!

In this episode, ASCEND Podcast co-hosts Eric Kirby and Jared Tippets wrap up Season 1 and talk about themes and takeaways from the first season.

For years we have lost students after a semester or two because they said that our campus, or living in our community, was not what they expected. It was either too large for them and they felt overwhelmed, or it was too small and they would rather live in a bigger city. We found this issue to be particularly prevalent among our international and out-of-state students who may not have been able to...

In addition to helping shift the culture on campus in the eyes of our staff and faculty, we also found it important to shift the campus culture in the eyes of the students. Students need to know we care about them and their success. Students need to feel needed, appreciated, and wanted. Students need to feel at home on our campuses. One of the things we have done on our campus to improve student p...

In this episode, Dr. Jared Tippets and Dr. Eric Kirby talk about the importance of creating a culture of accountability.

Happy holidays from Jared and Eric.  Thanks for your support of the ASCEND Podcast.  We're going to take a break for a few weeks and then we'll be back with another episode on January 14.