Colleagues,
Happy 2020! I'm excited to begin this new year with so much powerful work going on across PSU.
I want to take this chance to update you on our most important work - our commitment to the success of our students. I'm excited to share that the student success project I announced in the fall is well underway and now has a new name - Students First! I am grateful to everyone who provided feedback in December at the open poster session on the definitions, goals, and organization of this project. Based on this and other campus-wide input, we have completed setting up the committees that will lead this work, organized around the pillars of: Persistence, Academic Success, Affordability, and the Student Experience, all of which are grounded in a foundation of using data to insure impact and equity across all of our work.Thanks to all of you who agreed to serve on these committees. I'm very grateful for your commitment to this important and exciting work.
We have a number of activities coming up that further our commitment to Students First. You'll see below information about the upcoming Winter Symposium, which will feature the nationally-recognized scholar of student mindset, Dr. Omid Fotuhi. I hope you will be able to join us for this opportunity to learn about national research on mindset and to hear about PSU colleagues who are implementing this work.
In addition, we are scaling up the Early Alert program that was piloted by faculty and advisors in CUPA last fall. Through Early Alerts, we can reach out to and offer support to students who are struggling with a class before they drop or fail it. The results of the pilot are very strong, and I'm looking forward to providing this support to students across campus. Thanks to all of the faculty who provided information that enabled students get this added support. It's making a difference.
Please stay tuned for additional opportunities to learn from, contribute to, and continue to shape Students First as we work collaboratively campus wide to improve learning opportunities and outcomes for all of our students.
Sincerely,
Susan Jeffords Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs
Portland State University