Indicator 1: Qualitative data from the UAA Graduate Exit Survey and the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE)

• Graduate Exit Surveys

  The Graduate Exit Survey is administered in the Fall and Spring to graduating UAA students. It is designed to understand students self perceptions around core competency preparation, sense of engagement, usefulness of student support services, and post-graduation plans. 

  Fall 2023 Graduate Exit Survey (PDF)

• NSSE Summary Table

  UAA participates in the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) every third year. UAA has worked with faculty and staff to thematically align the open comments from NSSE participants to one of the UAA core competencies. The data are presented below in word-cloud format to help protect the anonymity of participants while demonstrating the types of feedback UAA received in the most recent results.

Indicator 1: Baccalaureate and Associate persistence, retention and graduation rates

Targets are represented by a gold line and adjust based on the selected metric, degree level and course load type.

• Persistence

  DEFINITION: The percentage of first-time associate and baccalaureate degree-seeking freshmen who enter in a given fall term and return the following spring term.

  RATIONALE: When a student persists from their 1st fall to their 1st spring, it can indicate that the student felt welcomed, supported, and connected inside and outside the classroom. This welcome and support has been shown to motivate students to remain enrolled in their studies at an institution. Laying a foundation in the first semester and seeing the student continue is a strong indication of ongoing retention and ultimately graduation.
• Retention

  DEFINITION: Traditional measure of the percentage of first-time associate and baccalaureate degree-seeking freshmen who enter in a given fall term and return the following fall. 

  RATIONALE: Following the student from the 1st fall to 2nd fall can indicate ongoing connections and support inside and outside of the classroom are motivating students to return to continue their studies at the institution. Continuing enrollment is a key factor in completion.
• Graduation

  Baccalaureate Graduation Rates

  DEFINITION: The percentage of first-time, full-time baccalaureate degree-seeking freshmen who enter in a given fall term and earn their degree within 6 years (150% of catalog time). UAA is also tracking 8- and 10-year completions. 

  RATIONALE: Measuring how long it takes for a defined group of entering students to complete their degree programs is a traditional measure of student success. Timely completions save students money and can indicate effectiveness of academic planning and student support. Because many UAA students transition from full-time to part-time enrollment from one semester to the next, extending the timeframe for tracking graduation provides a more complete picture of UAA student completions.

  Associate Graduation Rates

  DEFINITION: The percentage of first-time, full-time associate degree-seeking freshmen who enter the institution for the first time in a given fall semester and earn their degree within 4 years (200% of the normal time to complete), 6 years, and 8 years.

  RATIONALE: Measuring the graduation rates for students entering as 2-year associate degree-seekers recognizes this significant cohort of students. As with baccalaureate degrees, timely completions save students money and can indicate effectiveness of academic planning and student support. Because many UAA students transition from full-time to part-time enrollment from one semester to the next, extending the timeframe for tracking graduation provides a more complete picture of UAA student completions. Using 4, 6, and 8 years allows UAA to compare to its list of institutional peers.

Indicator 1: Disaggregated data for the student achievement metrics show improvement over time for the different demographic groups.

How to see the closing of achievement gaps: Convergence of lines demonstrates broad closing of achievement gaps between the two comparison groups.

For the analysis of closing achievement gaps, UAA utilizes BIPOC groups to examine the data. The two groups are BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and Persons of Color) and Non-BIPOC (for white students). Persistence, Retention, Graduation, Course Pass Rates and the rates for those groups are presented below. Groups can be filtered based on the options listed above the graphs.

• Persistence

  DEFINITION: The percentage of first-time associate and baccalaureate degree-seeking freshmen who enter in a given fall term and return the following spring term.
• Retention

  DEFINITION: Traditional measure of the percentage of first-time associate and baccalaureate degree-seeking freshmen who enter in a given fall term and return the following fall.
• Graduation

  Baccalaureate Graduation Rates

  DEFINITION: The percentage of first-time, full-time baccalaureate degree-seeking freshmen who enter in a given fall term and earn their degree within 6 years (150% of catalog time). UAA is also tracking 8- and 10-year completions.

  Associate Graduation Rates

  DEFINITION: The percentage of first-time, full-time associate degree-seeking freshmen who enter the institution for the first time in a given fall semester and earn their degree within 4 years (200% of the normal time to complete), 6 years, and 8 years.
• Leading Indicator: Course Pass Rates

  DEFINITION: The percentage of students who receive a passing grade (A, B, C, P) for all undergraduate students and (A, B, P) for graduate students in a course offered by a program compared to the same rate calculated for all courses at that level. Based on a 5-year trend. Included in the denominator for undergraduate courses are the grades D, F, W, I, NP, NB. Included in the denominator for graduate level are the grades C, D, F, W, I, NP, NB.