25-06-2013, 04:01 PM
Student Tracking Systems Can Be Used to Enhance Graduation and Retention Rates
Student Tracking Systems.pdf (Size: 187.64 KB / Downloads: 95)
Background
Florida’s state university system (SUS) consists of 11 public universities. 1 The Board of Governors is the chief implementing body of the state university system. Individual boards of trustees oversee each university.
Universities receive funding for their educational program primarily from legislative appropriations and tuition and fees students pay. For Fiscal Year 2005-06, the university system received $1.84 billion from general revenue and lottery funds. This funded approximately 69% of the costs for university students. The remaining 31%, or approximately $844.9 million, came from student tuition and fees.
How have Florida universities used automated systems to track student progress and manage enrollment?
Four universities are developing or using automated systems to track student progress and manage enrollment: the University of Florida, the Florida State University, the University of South Florida, and the University of Central Florida. The University of Florida’s system was the first to be developed and is the only one that has been in effect long enough to affect student retention and graduation rates and excess hours. The remaining systems are under development or have just been implemented.
These automated tracking systems are useful for large institutions that do not have sufficient faculty and professional advisors to frequently meet with all of their students. The systems are less useful for small institutions and will need modification to track the progress of part-time students.
Several options exist for expanding automated systems
Although most universities have developed policies to encourage students to select majors and develop academic plans, most do not have the capability to automatically track student progress and to prevent students who are off track from registering until they have seen an academic advisor. Universities have a number of options for implementing automated tracking systems, which include acquiring an upgrade to the SASS system, adopting the University of Florida system, or adopting other systems that are compatible with their registration systems.
We recommend that the Board of Governors adopt policies to encourage all large universities to acquire automated student tracking systems. Since no single system will work best for all universities, each university should be free to obtain the tracking system that best fits its needs. However, any system that universities acquire should be capable of meeting specifications to allow them to connect to FACTS.org. to provide a statewide student advisement function.