Enhancing Student Success

We envision a future where every student thrives and has the support and resources to achieve their academic, career, and life goals.

Phase 2: Draft Proposals for Community Review

Our Goal to Enhance Student Success

Penn State will empower graduate, undergraduate, and professional students to achieve their fullest potential by preparing them to be highly employable for in-demand careers, and to be well-informed, engaged citizens after graduation.

Draft Objectives and Metrics

To help us to transform the educational experience for our students, we will concentrate our efforts and resources on these objectives to drive impactful change.

What we want to achieve:

  • Objective 1: Academic and research advising, mentoring, and class experiences that prepare students for graduation and their next steps.
  • Objective 2: Students’ co-curricular experiences align their passions, aptitudes, and ambitions to lead them to successful next steps.
  • Objective 3: Student, faculty, and staff health and wellness are cultivated in a caring community focused on flourishing.

Objective 1: Academic and research advising, mentoring, and class experiences that prepare students for graduation and their next steps

Examples of how we will measure success:

  • Student engagement with academic advising
  • Student post-graduation outcomes within twelve months, such as employment
  • Hours to degree completion
  • Junior graduation rate (time to degree and graduation rate for students after earning 60 credits)
  • Overall student debt at time of departure
  • Overall student debt as percentage of median salary in graduate’s discipline

Objective 2: Students’ co-curricular experiences align their passions, aptitudes, and ambitions to lead them to successful next steps

Examples of how we will measure success:

Objective 3: Student, staff, and faculty health and wellness are cultivated in a caring community focused on flourishing

Examples of how we will measure success:

  • Student access, wait times, and cost for University mental health and well-being services
  • Student stress and other factors affecting academic performance
  • Student experiences with University mental health and well-being services
  •  Faculty and staff perception of University mental health and well-being services to effectively bolster students’ success

Learn more:

Phase 1: Findings (Fall 2023)

In the summer of 2023, phase 1 began for the Enhancing Student Success goal. This included agile information gathering and landscape evaluations that provided preliminary strategy frameworks to inform the future phases of strategic planning.

The goal group analyzed data, consulted with peer institutions, and explored existing programs, units, and initiatives to outline these high-level key findings to guide future phases of the strategic planning process.

The subgroup found that strengths resided in the University’s distinctive academic structure and geographic scope. In efforts to prepare students for their careers, the vast alumni network and ability to connect students with internships were considered highlights. In addition, expansive curricular, co-curricular and research engagement opportunities for students were deemed a competitive advantage. The subgroup also identified robust student support services as a strength to build upon, while noting that future opportunities to consider include helping students navigate the complex, expansive University environment; examining how key student-facing offices and services are resourced; and closing achievement gaps for underrepresented students.

Among enablers to success are the ability of students to easily find and access the wide breadth of opportunities at Penn State; the potential to maximize and streamline the use of existing technology systems; a focus on high-impact educational practices; and the existing sense of belonging in the student population. While the subgroup found that University Park was performing comparably to its peer institutions, deriving direct comparisons to peer institutions varied due to Penn State’s unique Commonwealth Campus structure and a lack of comparable data.

Phase 2: Community Feedback (Fall 2024)

During phase two of the strategic planning process, small workgroups created draft objectives, measures, and strategies to propose ways to achieve the goals of the institutional plan. These draft proposals were shared with the University community in fall 2024 to garner feedback that will help shape the final draft of the institutional strategic plan.

Phase 3: Unit-Level Planning (Spring 2025)

Unit-level planning is expected to begin in the spring of 2025. There will be guidance and resources shared to aid this process and align unit-level plans with the institutional vision in the fall.

Supportive Initiatives

The presidential priority of transforming our internal operations will be embedded deeply into each strategic goal. To support enhancing student success, the University has initiated an Academic Portfolio and Program Review, to evaluate and align our academic offerings with student and market demands.