Radical Reimagining for Student Success in Higher Education

Co-published with the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU), which sponsored the project from which the book emerged.This book answers the question “What would your institution look like if students really mattered?” The authors argue that really putting student success at the center of attention will require a radical reimagining of higher education. Much of what is presented here is grounded in the findings of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities’ (AASCU’s) Re-Imagining the First Year (RFY) initiative, which brought together 44 member institutions over a three-year period to identify and test programs, strategies, and tools aimed at improving retention rates for first-year students. The book makes a provocative set of arguments about what is possible if campuses radically reimagine their culture, practices, structures, and rules with the primary purpose of helping students succeed in college and beyond.

Jo Arney was an Associate Professor and the Director of Student Success at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. Prior to that she served four years as the Program Director for AASCU’s Re-Imagining the First Year project.

Timothy Dale is a Professor of Political Science at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. He is the director of the first-year seminar program and co-chaired the Re-Imagining the First Year project at UW-La Crosse.

Glenn Davis is Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Professor of English at Bowling Green State University. He was formerly a faculty member at St. Cloud State University, where he later served as Interim Dean of University College. He also served as a campus lead for the Re-Imagining the First Year project at SCSU.

Jillian Kinzie is Associate Director of the Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research and the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) Institute. She is also a senior scholar with the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA) project.