Student Success by Design: Orientation, Advising, and Data Working Together

I’m excited to share my recently published book chapter from Metrics, Mapping, and Modelling for Masterful Management in Higher Education (Emerald Press, 2025) entitled Improve Student Success – Increase Graduation Rates and Decrease Time to Graduation.

Chapter 18 tackles one of higher education’s most urgent challenges: improving student success by increasing graduation rates and reducing time to degree. It focuses on designing a coordinated, student-centered transition into college—especially for first-generation students—through clear learning goals, outcomes, and a comprehensive orientation sequence that begins at admission and extends through the first term, aligning academic and student affairs efforts. The chapter also zeroes in on a major driver of delayed graduation: major selection. When students choose a major with limited information or misconceptions, they often switch later, losing time and credits and pushing the four-year pathway out of reach. Readers learn how to better educate students about program options, how credentials are assembled from their component requirements, and how decision-support tools (including decision trees) and metrics can guide course and major choices. Finally, the chapter introduces the use of leading metrics and predictive analytics to identify students at risk early—so institutions can intervene proactively, support momentum, and help more students finish on time.

Many of the book’s chapters have a companion video which can be viewed for free on the Higher Education Leadership Learning Online Community web site. Visit the site to see the complete and evolving list.

If you’re involved in higher-ed leadership, strategy, assessment, or institutional research, I’d love for you to take a look at the chapter and add your comments below. If you would like assistance implementing any of the ideas addressed, please compete a consultation request form – the first hour is free for any institution.