Initiative Analysis Toolkit
Evaluating your student success practices on a regular basis gives you valuable insight to make informed decisions and improve student outcomes over time through your programs, measurably. These are the critical insights you can gain:
- How do your policies impact student persistence?
- Which student groups benefit the most from your initiatives?
Supported by quantified analysis, you can enhance student outcomes, allocate resources effectively, and maximize the return on your strategies.
This toolkit prepares you with comparative information about how other institutions are using Initiative Analysis and what results they are getting, to point you toward avenues of success.
Common SSIs and Programs to Evaluate
Student Success Initiatives (SSIs) can range from ongoing services and support programs to sporadic, one-off resources and events. Many Civitas Learning partners also evaluate the same program or initiative year-over-year to understand how changes are influencing the impact on student persistence.
Examples — Here are some of the wide range of programs you might analyze:
| Scholarships Tutoring Student Leadership Student Involvement Academic Planning Support Faculty Development | First-Year Courses Learning Commons Library Resources Wellness Center Student Employment Artificial Intelligence | Emergency Funding Food Banks Childcare Services Technology Access Athletic Event Attendance Withdrawal Policies |
Reported Impacts from Civitas Learning Partner SSIs
Here is the impact, as the average percentage lift in persistence, of Student Success Initiatives (SSIs), both overall and on specific student groups. These results are based on the analysis of more than 1,500 student success initiatives from across the Civitas Learning community.
“Lift” refers to the average increase in the group’s persistence, which means retention: students successfully re-enrolling and staying enrolled past the census date (add/drop deadline):
| Advising Meeting | Supplemental Instruction | Tutoring | Conflict-free Scheduling | Scholarship |
| 5.80% overall lift | 3.43% overall lift | 3.02% overall lift | 5.41% overall lift | 3.24% overall lift |
| 7.07% lift for FTIC* students | 6.06% lift for FTIC students | 5.20% lift for FTIC students | 7.39% lift for FTIC students | |
| 6.96% lift for Hispanic students | 3.79% lift for Black students | 4.50% lift for Hispanic students |
* FTIC refers to First Time in College, and is defined as students who have earned a standard high school diploma from a public or regionally accredited high school, or its equivalent, and who have earned fewer than twelve (12) semester hours of transferable college credit since receiving a standard high school diploma or its equivalent.
Getting Started: What is Initiative Analysis?
Initiative Analysis is an advanced tool, so build your mental framework with these foundational materials. These are available on demand on the Civitas Learning Hub (sign in required):
- Guide: Getting Started with Initiatives
- How to Assess Student Success Initiative Efficacy
- Initiative Analysis FAQ
This course is accessible for institutions that are authorized for on-demand training:
- Course: How to use Initiative Analysis
Next Steps: Informing Strategic Decisions
Before you dive into designing an initiative analysis, conduct an audit of your SSI programs, to identify the full range of opportunities to quantify impact at your institution.
Tip: Refer to the table of example programs above to help you surface more of the SSI activity across your institution.
Audit Your Programs
Download an example framework to help you identify and audit all of your student success initiatives:
▶ Audit Form: Student Success Initiative Inventory (PDF)
Review Your Programs
As you attempt your first analysis, have the Framework for Analysis at hand to walk you through the process. You can use the Print button and choose the Save as PDF printer option to download your own copy.
- On the Hub (sign in required): Initiatives Framework for Analysis
Walkthrough — Watch the on-demand recording of a walkthrough of a Fall program review. This covers reviewing initiatives after the end of a term and using that to inform strategic resource allocation efforts.
▶ Strategic Training: Initiative Analysis – Reviewing Programs (video)
Next, follow the slides from the strategic training as a model for how to assess programs at the end of a term.
▶ Training Slides: Initiative Analysis – Reviewing Programs (PDF)
Calculate Your Savings
Numbers matter. Quantify the efficacy of your student success initiatives by calculating their impact on persistence and net tuition revenue.
▶ Online Calculator: Calculate the Impact of Your Student Success Initiatives
Advanced Strategies
This course is accessible for institutions that are authorized for on-demand training:
Need more?
Do you have a question that is specific to your institution or configurations?
Reach out to us directly at training@civitaslearning.com