Baylor University Receives National Recognition for Achievement in Student Success

Technology Pioneer Award from EAB recognizes Baylor for leading the way in using technology to advance student success

Media Contact: Lori Fogleman, Baylor University Media and Public Relations, 254-710-6275
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WACO, Texas (Nov. 7, 2019) – Education research and technology company EAB has honored Baylor University as a co-winner of the 2019 Student Success Collaborative-Technology Pioneer Award, which recognizes Baylor as an institution that consistently is on the leading edge when it comes to technology by testing new solutions to advance student success.

Representatives from Baylor University and the Paul L. Foster Success Center were in Washington, D.C., this week to accept the Technology Pioneer Award at the Student Success Collaborative’s summit, CONNECTED, a three-day gathering of nearly 900 leaders from community colleges and four-year colleges and universities across the country.

“I am very proud of this recognition of the tremendous work that takes place each day on our campus to support students,” said J. Wesley Null, Ph.D., vice provost for undergraduate education at Baylor. “The creative use of technology – including the data analytics provided by our partnership with EAB – is part of what has led to a record four-year graduation rate six years in a row. I congratulate everyone in the Success Center and all who partner with them each day for a job well done. Continued focus on the second Pillar (Transformational Undergraduate Education) of the University’s Illuminate strategic plan will result in even greater success for our students.”

This is the sixth year in a row that EAB has awarded standout achievements in student success. Awardees are chosen from among the colleges, universities and individuals that use EAB’s student success management system. Along with Baylor, Trident Technical College, a public community college with its main campus in Charleston, South Carolina, was a recipient of the Technology Pioneer Award.

“The 2019 awardees, like their predecessors, excel in using technology to amplify the efforts of advisors, faculty, administrators and students and work collaboratively across campus to help more students stay in school and graduate,” said EAB’s executive vice president Scott Schirmeier. “The winners exemplify what schools can achieve with a campus-wide approach to student success, strong leadership and an unrelenting commitment to helping more students reach their potential.”

Baylor’s Student Success Collaborative (SSC) combines technology, research and predictive analytics to improve how faculty and staff support students in reaching their academic goals. SSC has allowed Baylor to build out a coordinated care network where staff in student life, academic advisors, faculty mentors and administrators all have information on students to help each student navigate a path to timely graduation. The system combines academic behaviors, faculty reports and advising information alongside 10 years of Baylor-specific historical student analytics to inform those in the coordinated care network and impact the success of Baylor students.

VIDEO: Before presenting its Technology Pioneer Award, EAB played this introductory video, sharing the reasons why Baylor University received the award celebrating the use of technology to help achieve student success.

“We were so honored to learn of this recognition from EAB,” said Sinda K. Vanderpool, Ph.D., associate vice provost for academic enrollment management at Baylor. “The gains that we have seen in four-year and six-year graduation rates speak to the creative energy that so many on our campus have put into seeing after our students’ needs and walking alongside them to help them achieve success. I also am humbled when I think about how incredibly hard staff and faculty from all across campus work to rally around our undergraduate students so that more can benefit from the transformational education Baylor offers.”

Statistics on retention and graduation from the Office of Institutional Research and Testing show that:

• The retention rate among all Baylor undergraduates from fall 2018 to fall 2019 held steady at 91.6%, which remains the highest ever at the University.
• The four-year graduation rate among the fall 2015 cohort rose nearly 5 percentage points to a record 68.2%.
• The six-year graduation rate for the fall 2013 cohort was 78.1%.

Another Baylor student success initiative is the New2BU Survey, taken this fall by 97% of new students. Using the EAB/Navigate system, Baylor faculty, staff and student leaders were able to reach out to new students to ensure they had connections to resources and opportunities, which help them to thrive at Baylor.

“Our academic leaders in each of the colleges and schools reviewed New2BU data to honor the experiences and voices of our students and are connecting individually with students to provide support and opportunities,” said Michelle Cohenour, director of Student Success Initiatives at Baylor. “This survey would not be possible without the collaboration of EAB/Navigate.”

ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 17,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 90 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions.

ABOUT EAB

At EAB, our mission is to make education smarter and our communities stronger. We harness the collective power of more than 1,500 schools, colleges, and universities to uncover and apply proven practices and transformative insights. And since complex problems require multifaceted solutions, we work with each school differently to apply these insights through a customized blend of research, technology, and services. From kindergarten to college and beyond, EAB partners with education leaders, practitioners, and staff to accelerate progress and drive results across three key areas: enrollment management, student success, and institutional operations and strategy.