Join the SMU in Four team as we share year-three progress on SMU’s Quality Enhancement Plan.
Updates will be provided on early-alert mechanisms, undergraduate academic advising, technology enhancements, and gateway & introductory courses. Plus, informal student retention and graduation numbers will be shared along with goals for year four of the five-year initiative.
Thursday | October 17, 2024
3 – 4:30 p.m.
Moody Hall Auditorium
Walk-ins welcome, RSVPs encouraged
The SMU in Four team releases the year-two progress report on SMU’s Quality Enhancement Plan.
Updates are provided on early-alert mechanisms, undergraduate academic advising, technology enhancements, and gateway & introductory courses. Plus, student retention, graduation rates, and goals for year three of the five-year initiative are shared.
Download a copy of the SMU in Four Year 2 Progress Report.
In October, a copy of the year-two progress presentation was shared with the SMU community and is also available online. Questions regarding the report or presentation may be directed to smuinfour@smu.edu.
On Thursday, October 12, the SMU in Four team presented their second annual presentation to discuss and showcase SMU’s progress toward completing our Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP). A total of 141 members of the campus community were in attendance.
This five-year QEP, a key component of SMU’s SACSCOC accreditation process, is constructed to undergird SMU’s goals to increase first-year retention and four- and six-year graduation rates for our undergraduate students.
Sheri Kunovich, Associate Provost for Student Academic Engagement and Success; Paige Ware, Associate Provost for Faculty Success; Dustin Grabsch, Assistant Provost for Undergraduate Education and Academic Success; Curt Herridge, Associate Chief Information Officer in the Office of Information Technology (OIT); Molly Ellis, Director of Strategic Initiatives in the Office of Faculty Success; and Josh Beatty, Associate Director for the University Advising Center each spoke about the SMU in Four initiatives currently underway, shared data analyses and reflections on this year’s activities, and previewed plans for next year’s initiatives.
The written SMU in Four Year-Two Progress Report will be made available later this fall, but in the interim, click here for a copy of this week’s presentation.
What can you do to support student success and retention on campus? We invite faculty and staff to support this work by submitting progress reports, Advising Notes, and Retention Alerts.
Learn more about these efforts on the Office of Student Success and Retention website.
September 9, 2022
Dear Campus Community –
Welcome back for the fall semester! We’ve completed the first year of SMU’s Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), SMU in Four, our comprehensive initiative to improve four-year graduation rates and retention. Thank you all for your contributions to important aspects of the QEP. We could not do it without you, after all, retention is a collective effort. We write with updates on the initiative as we look ahead to year two.
Leadership & Membership: First, the initiative is now co-directed by Dr. Molly Ellis, Director of Strategic Initiatives, Office of Faculty Success, and Dr. Dustin Grabsch, Assistant Provost for Undergraduate Education & Academic Success.
Next, in preparation for the new year, we would like to share the year-two membership rosters for all SMU in Four pillars/teams. For the 2022-2023 Academic Year, the chairs of each SMU in Four Pillars and Teams are:
Join Us for a Progress Presentation: We will all gather at key moments throughout this five-year initiative. Our first will be the SMU in Four Year-One Progress Presentation for the SMU campus community on September 28, 2022 from 3:30 – 5:00 pm. Please RSVP and join us in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center Auditorium. We will update the campus on our progress and goals for year two.
Undergraduate Degree Planner is Coming: To aid undergraduate Common Curriculum students in their progress toward degree, the SMU in Four Technology Team is developing a new tool called HighPoint Degree Planner within my.SMU. This tool will help students and advisors develop and sequence a personalized path to on-time graduation. HighPoint Degree Planner will not only benefit students and advisors but will aid academic departments in data-driven course scheduling and seat capacity planning. The new tool will launch to students on the Common Curriculum in November 2022.
In preparation, SMU in Four School Implementation Teams will be asked to work with academic departments to verify their degree plans within the HighPoint system. Instructions will be sent to department chairs (or a designee) to verify in September/October. Training and support sessions will be provided to the campus community and by request. Read more about the Common Curriculum HighPoint Degree Planner.
If you would like to stay abreast of updates related to SMU in Four, we invite you to subscribe to our blog or check out our updated website.
Sincerely,
Molly Ellis
Director of Strategic Initiatives
Office of Faculty Success, Office of the Provost
Dustin Grabsch
Assistant Provost for Undergraduate Education & Academic Success
Student Academic Engagement & Success, Office of the Provost
