JCSU student success initiative boosts retention rates

TROY HULL | THE CHARLOTTE POST

A student success coach initiative at Johnson C. Smith University showed modest gains in retention in its first year on campus.

A new student success program at Johnson C. Smith University showed improved retention rates in its first year on campus.

JCSU enrolls 1,100 students, 78% of which identify as Black or African American, today announced initial results from a new holistic student support initiative designed to boost the number of first-year students who continue to the next year. JCSU reported a 3% improvement in what it calls student persistence in the 2023-24 academic year compared to the previous year through a collaboration with national student success nonprofit InsideTrack and UNCF, which provides first-year students a dedicated success coach and assistance through the BullNav platform for academic, social and personal support.

“It basically offers coordinated care for our students,” said JCSU spokeswoman Gabrielle Allison. “They still have an academic advisor, but the success coach is kind of like a life advisor, for lack of better words. They meet with them and make sure that they’re meeting their goals. And if there is an issue, they … help them get to where they need to go, whether that’s tutoring or the medical center.”

Retention has fluctuated at JCSU since the Covid-19 pandemic. According to data provided by the school, in 2022-23, 34% of students graduated within six years compared to 49% four years earlier and 44% in 2019-20. In 2021-22, the rate was 43%.

Retention is often a challenge for Black students on four-year campuses. According to UNCF, 45.9% of Black students enrolled at four-year public colleges graduate in six years – the lowest rate of any race or ethnic group. Black men have the lowest rate at 40%. Nineteen percent of Black Americans age 25 and older have at least a bachelor’s degree, compared to 33% of their white peers.

The most difficult barrier to graduation is often financial. Seventy-two percent of Black students take out college loans, compared to 56% of white students.

Although historically Black colleges and universities like JCSU account for just 3% of all four-year nonprofit colleges and universities, they enroll 10% of all Black college students in the United States and produce nearly 20% of all Black graduates. The financial benefits can be found on payday: HBCU graduates earn an additional $927,000 over their lifetime – 56% more than they could expect without a degree.

“Despite the current challenging economic environment for higher education, HBCUs are experiencing a period of growth and renewal: a growing number of students are choosing HBCUs because of the rich educational experiences, lifelong bonds, and deep sense of community and belonging that they provide,” JCSU President Valerie Kinloch said in a statement. “This work is reflective of our commitment to ensuring that students not only have the opportunity to access higher education, but also the high-touch support needed to achieve their education and career goals.”

JCSU’s initiative is part of a multi-year program to improve student enrollment and retention rates from enrollment to career entry. The success coaches are JCSU employees whose salaries are supported by funding from the Mayor’s Racial Equity Initiative. Six were trained in the summer of 2023; four others were trained during the fall.

“Today’s HBCU leaders are proving that these engines of economic mobility are in many ways uniquely equipped to provide the kind of highly personalized support that their students are often seeking,” said Malika Clinkscales, InsideTrack’s senior associate vice president. “The program’s impressive success in just its first year is a testament to the comprehensive and forward-looking approach of the JCSU leadership team.”

JCSU was the first of 10 campuses to receive Coaching Development & Training from InsideTrack with the goal of developing an in-house coaching program. Since then, 95% of first-year students met with a success coach at least once, and 80% met at least twice. Forty-seven percent of freshman students who engaged with a coach earned a 3.0 grade point average or better, while 80% were at least 2.0.

“We have a lot of students who are first-generation college students, and they’re not really aware of what they need to do, or they might have very few family members who know what the collegiate experience is like,” Allison said. “So, this gives them kind of an intercessor that can be there for them if they have questions. Some students even say ‘oh, they make sure I eat breakfast because I was really bad about eating breakfast.’ It’s really a very close coordinated relationship that connects the students with what they need by also connecting them with what they want, with their goals.”

Through one-on-one meetings and outreach, the platform empowers students to clarify academic, career and personal goals and create a plan for reach them, as well as identify potential obstacles and options to overcome them.

Comments