Colleges and universities across America have a powerful new tool to increase student retention rates with the launch of UAdvise, a unique new software program created by Los Angeles-based Urban Insight in partnership with the University of Southern California (USC). “Retention is one of the most significant performance factors for schools that want to move up the lists of higher education’s annual rankings, secure funding from public and private sources, and attract top students and faculty,” explained Chris Steins, CEO of software development firm Urban Insight (www.urbaninsight.com).
UAdvise offers a tracking and monitoring system that helps identify students at risk of not graduating in four to six years. “The drive to increase the number of students who graduate on time has accelerated recently as college costs have climbed and more parents, prospective students, donors and ranking agencies look at how effectively a school is helping students earn a degree,” Steins added.
More than 150 USC advisors are using the new UAdvise, an intuitive software program that allows them to choose from a list of 20 indicators that help identify students who are at risk for not getting their degrees within a reasonable time frame. The web-based software is based on Microsoft’s Application Platform.
“We have built a system that is arguably the most powerful academic tracking tool available at any large American university,” said Eugene Bickers, Ph.D., associate vice provost for undergraduate programs at USC. UAdvise provides one central online repository for the information needed for advising students that spans all majors and departments, allowing advisors to proactively assess each student’s current situation, plan future courses for getting at-risk students back on track, and communicate more effectively with their students throughout their undergraduate experience.
The software program helps advisors to map out the courses needed for graduating and alerts the student’s advisor if they are not taking their required classes on time. The program also identifies students whose grades have fallen or who face academic delinquencies, allowing advisors to reach out to students and resolve potential problems as effectively as possible. All counseling visits, emails and phone calls, as well as student leaves of absence, academic forms, and changes in major, are tracked by UAdvise. The program can generate student performance and academic history reports within seconds compared to a week or more required for the Registrar’s office to produce paper-based versions.
Bickers said USC has over 16,000 undergraduate students and since advisors can be responsible for hundreds of students, the UAdvise system is much more effective and efficient when compared to the paper-based system it is replacing. “Our advisors are quickly adapting to UAdvise,” said Bickers, “which we can measure by the dramatic growth in the number of students whose records are being tracked using the system.”
About Urban Insight
Urban Insight (www.urbaninsight.com) is an Internet consulting and Web development firm that creates technology solutions for private companies, public agencies, nonprofit organizations and universities. Headquartered in Los Angeles, the firm serves a wide range of industries in creating and maintaining websites, developing software applications and consulting in Internet marketing to help clients apply technology in achieving their business, educational and social goals.