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Benefits of Participation
• Define and build a capacity for collecting, analyzing and
using data and other information to identify student
persistence and completion patterns.
• Address interrelationships among student persistence
and completion, assessment of student learning and
program review efforts.
Each year, the Higher Learning Commission accepts
applications from member institutions for two new
cohorts of the Persistence & Completion Academy.
Below is the process timeline for the initial events
associated with the Academy experience.
Spring Cohort
Application Period
August to November
Acceptance Notices
Late December
• Enhance faculty and staff expertise in achieving student
learning and success goals.
Info & Planning
Early March
Data Discoveries
April to May
• Use information on student persistence and completion
to evaluate current strategies for improvement
as warranted.
Roundtable
Late June
• Research and compare current and emerging practice
in evaluating and improving student persistence
and retention.
Application Period
January to April
Acceptance Notices
Late May
Info & Planning
Early July
Data Discoveries
August to September
Roundtable
Early November
• Define student persistence and completion strategies
that are suited to the institution, its programs and its
student populations.
• May serve as the Quality Initiative for institutions in the
Open Pathway or as an Action Project for institutions in
the AQIP Pathway.
“An outside perspective helped us to question our
assumptions about data, policy, and practice.”
Fall Cohort
Specific deadlines relevant to the current application
year and more information about the various
components of the Academy experience are available
on the Academy webpage:
hlcommission.org/academies
- Academy participant on the value of the Roundtable
“There is an emphasis on using data to answer ‘why?’
rather than just the ‘what?’ and ‘how?’ ”
- Academy participant on the Academy experience
Persistence &
Completion Academy
Questions?
Email [email protected]
Call 800.621.7440
building
Capacity
for
Improvement
Academy Events
HLC’s Persistence and Completion Academy provides
participating institutions a structured, mentor
facilitated, program aimed at improving the persistence
and completion rates of their students. The four-year
commitment includes:
Results Forum
This culminating event is designed to facilitate the sharing of
accomplishments and findings amongst Academy teams and
provide comparisons of promising practices and benchmarks.
The Results Forum is also used as a catalyst for the development
of a sustainability plan to continue student persistence
and completion efforts beyond Academy participation.
Two Tracks, One Goal
Information and Planning Workshop
This two-day workshop begins discussions on relevant data sets
for addressing an institution’s persistence and completion rates.
Academy institutions are also provided mentor guidance on
constructing an official Academy team and what to expect from
their Academy experience.
The Persistence and Completion Academy offers two tracks,
accommodating for the various stages institutions may be
in regarding collecting, analyzing and using data to improve
persistence and completion.
Data Discovery
For institutions that have an urgent need to focus on the
development of more meaningful data sets and integrated
structures to support subsequent persistence and completion
project development.
A mentor-facilitated “discovery” of relevant data sets from
across the institution and gaps or flaws in available data sets and
structures. Recommendations are made regarding what data
sets should be developed and compiled in the institution’s Data
Summary Book and which Academy track is best suited for the
institution’s goals.
Academy Roundtable
A three-day event held in Year 1 to facilitate the development
of appropriate, data-driven questions about persistence and
completion for an Academy team. Academy teams learn about best
practices related to persistence and completion, and how to sketch
out their Academy project plans.
Midpoint Roundtable
A three-day event held at the end of Year 2, at which teams share
their progress and challenges as they prepare for the next phase of
their Academy project.
Third-Year Consultation
An on-campus or virtual consultation hosted during Year 3 with
the team’s Primary Mentor offering candid commentary on the
team’s progress. Plans to implement the data-driven strategies the
institution has developed are also discussed.
Data Development Track
Project Development Track
For institutions that have the data sets needed to begin a
granular analysis, strategy design and implementation of a
persistence and completion project for a specific student group.
Collaborative Approach to
Addressing Persistence &
Completion
All Academy teams are given access to the Collaboration
Network, an online resource designed to support an ongoing,
shared learning experience for Academy Teams. Twice annually,
teams are asked to report on the progress of their Academy
work in the network, receiving a response to each update
report from their Primary Mentor and one of HLC’s Senior
Scholars. Additionally, Academy teams have the ability to
search the network to learn about strategies being used by
other teams on their Academy Projects.
Academy Membership Fees
Year One
$9,000
• Information & Planning Workshop
• Data Discovery
• Academy Roundtable
• Collaboration Network Access & Mentor Responses
Year Two
$6,000
• Collaboration Network Access & Mentor Responses
• Midpoint Roundtable
Year Three
$6,000
• Collaboration Network Access & Mentor Responses
• Third-Year Consultation
Year Four
$6,000
• Collaboration Network Access & Mentor Responses
• Results Forum
Membership fees include attendance at specified events for
institutional teams. Other events and programs available at an
additional cost include:
• Annual Conference programming for
Academy institutions
• Additional Consultations or Presentations on campus
• Continued access to the Collaboration Network
post-Academy