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As one of the most dynamic public universities in the world's eighth largest economy, the University of North Texas has a responsibility to prepare career-ready graduates who will flourish in an ever-changing workforce. This requires strategic and coordinated support for every student — not just while they are enrolled at UNT, but long before they arrive and well after they cross the stage at commencement.

In Fall 2024, President Keller charged a team of faculty and staff with assessing the progress of UNT’s current student success efforts to identify key challenges, potential quick wins, and recommendations for transformational improvement.

The Student Success Committee will map the current student success landscape at UNT and across peers who are advancing innovative approaches, culminating in a high-level summary of observations and recommendations that will inform President Keller’s plan for a coordinated approach to improving UNT’s student success efforts.

At multiple stages in the assessment, the committee will provide updates on its findings and invite the university community to participate in the process by sharing experiences, feedback, and ideas.

Building a framework for student success

This project is organized around four strategic approaches to student success: academic design, career-connected learning, proactive and holistic care, and data and technology enablement.

Academic Design

Academic design focuses on efficient, student-centric curricular pathways regardless of a student’s entry point to the university. This strategy also includes enrollment processes that enable students’ timely progression and the design and delivery of learner-centric course offerings and postsecondary credentials.

Career-Connected Learning

The majority of UNT students are working learners who are highly motivated to pursue postsecondary education to increase their employment opportunities. Therefore, student success is achieved not only by increasing persistence and graduation rates but also by enhancing the value of a UNT education and expanding career opportunities through deeper connections between students’ work experiences, learning experiences, and career aspirations.

Proactive and Holistic Care 

Proactive care is an approach that leverages early alert data and analytic insights to identify students who are at risk of stopping out and providing the support they need before it is too late. Holistic care is an intentional institutional approach to meet the unique needs of each member of UNT’s diverse student body in ways that best serve them.

Data and Technology Enablement 

The committee’s quick assessment is particularly interested in the organization and operationalization of data and technologies as an enabler to the three prior strategies, so UNT students, faculty, and staff will have appropriate, timely, and actionable information to support informed decision-making and drive improvement.

Student Success Committee

  • Team Lead: Dr. Lee Hughes, Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies, College of Science
  • Project Manager: Chelsea Bradshaw, Director of Student Success
  • Project Owner: Dr. Lisa McIntyre, Vice Provost for Student Success
  • Dr. Brenda Kihl, Senior Associate Vice President for Enrollment Partnerships
  • Dr. Melissa McGuire, Associate Vice President for Student Affairs
  • Dr. Joseph Oppong, Academic Associate Dean, Toulouse Graduate School
  • Jennifer Palcich, Assistant Dean for Student Affairs, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
  • Elizabeth Vogt, Assistant Vice Provost for Accreditation and Institutional Effectiveness