New academic success goals center on helping students feel seen, supported and successful

After months spent speaking with hundreds of students, faculty, staff, community members and more through her series of Campus Conversations, Provost and Chief Academic Officer Patricia Prelock is turning that feedback into action. The conversations are shaping a formal set of Academic Success Goals, with multiple initiatives already underway.

Prelock outlined the goals last month during a presentation to the Arizona Board of Regents at the University of Arizona. 

"The Academic Success Goals really serve as that guiding framework for our faculty, students and staff involved in advancing the university's academic mission," Prelock said during the presentation.

The objectives were developed in collaboration with deans, department heads, students, the Faculty Senate and others, and refined through data analysis from University Analytics and Institutional Research.

Each priority aligns with one of the university's strategic imperatives and Prelock stressed the goals document is a living resource that will adapt as progress continues and needs evolve.

Some of the key focus areas include:

• Success for Every Student
  • Increase retention and graduation rates by creating clear pathways and ensuring students understand how prior credit applies to their degree. Targets include a 65% four-year graduation rate and 90% one-year retention for first-time, full-time students.
  • Become the number one transfer-friendly institution by developing five new pathways from Arizona community colleges next academic year.
  • Expand technological readiness by providing additional resources and training for faculty and staff in the responsible and innovative use of artificial intelligence and other tools.
• Research That Shapes the Future
  • Advance convergent research on the most pressing challenges facing Arizona and the world while strengthening academic foundations across major disciplines.
  • Create and support cluster hires for strategic initiatives.
  • Increase the percentage of faculty in the top Academic Analytics quartile for key academic performance indicators.
  • Strengthen and grow strategic research partnerships to enhance research capacity.
• Community Engagement
  • Strengthen statewide partnerships by connecting community organizations with faculty, staff and student expertise.
  • Deepen relationships in key communities, including tribal, Hispanic, border, Black, military and international partners, to improve student access and outcomes.
  • Expand lifelong learning opportunities through non-credit programs, alumni involvement and stronger partnerships with K-12 schools.

Initiatives already underway

Several efforts tied to these priorities are already in motion. Among them is the Provost Fellows for Academic Success Goals Program, allowing faculty and staff members the opportunity to work directly with the provost and campus leaders to advance high-priority areas while gaining high-level leadership experience. Prelock says nearly 60 applications were received, and six fellows will be selected and announced in January.

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An initiative already showing results is the Graduation Project, launched last spring to help remove bottlenecks for students with 70% of their credits completed.

"This Graduation Project initiative was really designed to identify what are some barriers that are preventing students from graduating in four years," Prelock said. "We pinpointed where students are getting stuck, like where courses that are required weren't being offered in the semester that they needed them so that they could actually graduate on time."

Prelock said adjustments made through the project contributed to meaningful increases in graduation rates for the 2024-25 academic year, including a 4.5% year-over-year rise in the four-year rate and a 3.4% increase in the six-year rate.

Other efforts underway include:

• A data-driven pilot transfer portal that imports community college curricula and generates optimized, term-by-term transfer plans
• The Bridge Funding Program for Student Success, which provides short-term institutional funding to sustain projects that directly advance student success, retention and graduation.
• The Provost's Scholarly Engagement Fund, which supports units in hosting conferences, speaker series, workshops and poster sessions to share research with the broader community.

'Creating a culture'

Prelock said the goals and initiatives aren't just about logistical or systematic changes – they're about how students feel during their time at the university.

"These efforts are not just about improving systems or processes," she said. "They're about creating a culture where every student feels seen, supported and capable of being successful at the U of A."