MAP-Works: An Early-Warning
Indicator of Student Success
Darlena Jones, Ph.D.
Director of Research and Development, Educational Benchmarking
Todd Pica
EBI Project Director, Educational Benchmarking
Comments from Institutions
“As I said to my staff during the initial training on
using MAP-Works, ‘We get into this field to work with
young people and to hopefully make a difference in
their lives.’ The information we get from this project
will allow us to do that in a very concrete and
measurable way. The potential is amazing.” Gary
Bice, Jr., Director of Residence Life, SUNY
Fredonia
“MAP-Works has allowed us to get an early and indepth read on our first-year students' transition, as
promised. We have been able to use this
information, in turn, to target early interventions
toward those students who are struggling. We have
been very pleased with the results of our use of
MAP-Works in this first year of use.” Ron
Chesbrough, Vice Pres for Student Affairs,
Who is EBI?
• Founded in 1994
• Participants in EBI Assessments
– Nearly 1300 Colleges and Universities worldwide
– Surveyed 12 million people
• Assessments to Date
– Currently offer 76 National/International assessments in
22 areas of study
– Over 500 custom assessments conducted for 78
institutions
• Reporting
– Produced over 15,500 customized reports
– Created a state-of-the-art online data collection, reporting
and distribution system
EBI’s Professional Partnerships
Housing/
Residence Life
Nursing
Education
Union
Student Center
Alcohol
Education
Fraternity/
Sorority
MAP-Works
Policy Center
on the First
Year of
College
Military
Housing
MAP-Works History
Original Developers of
MAP
• First-year students arrived
with unrealistic
expectations
• Retention rates were not
as high as desired
• Mid-terms was too late to
intervene
• Wanted better data about
incoming students
1988, Ball
State
developed
Fall 2008,
40 schools
used MAPWorks!
2005, Ball State
partnered with EBI
to create MAPWorks.
1989 to 2004,
Ball State
used MAP inhouse.
What is MAP-Works?
Who is Responsible?
• Who is responsible for student
success on your campus?
– Enrollment Management/
Retention?
– Student Affairs?
– Academic Affairs?
Enrollment
Management/R
etention
Academic
Affairs
Student
Affairs
• What information do you know
about this first-year student?
Student ID: YD252952
HS GPA: 3.93
SAT Verbal: 29
Location: In state
Gender: Female
Race: African American
Age: 18
Major: Undecided
Do you really know them?
Paradigm Shift
• What would happen
if…
– ALL faculty/staff were
responsible for student
success?
– YOU knew student was
struggling?
I’m really
homesick
•
Could you do something
about it before it was too
late?
I’m thinking
about
transferring
Enrollment
Management /
Retention
Academic
Affairs
First-Year
Seminar
Instructor
Financial
Aid
Minority
I don’t think I can Student
Affairs
afford college
I’m struggling
in my math
class
Student
Affairs
Residence
Hall Staff
Academic
Advisor
Academic
Department
Heads
My roommate
and I argue all
the time
What is MAP-Works?
• MAP-Works is the next generation
student success and retention program
that:
– Enables effective early intervention with at-risk students
– Addresses student academic success
– Educates students about issues
related to the transition to college
MAP-Works Focus
• Retention
– Minimize percentage of capable students who drop out
due to issues that could have been addressed by selfawareness or timely intervention by
professional staff.
• Academic & Socio-Emotional Success:
– Improve students' ability to succeed academically by
realigning behavior with grade expectations and focusing
on elements of academic success. Address socioemotional transition issues.
2008-2009 MAP-Works Participants
4-Year Colleges/Universities
• Angelo State University
• Ball State University*
• Brigham Young University
• Buffalo State College
• Colorado State University
• Georgia College & State University
• Hastings College
• Huntington University*
• Iowa State University
• Miami University (Ohio)
• Rutgers Univ - New Brunswick
• Saint Louis University
• Slippery Rock University
• Southern Illinois Univ -Carbondale
• Southern Illinois Univ -Edwardsville
• St. Mary's University-San Antonio
• SUNY Fredonia
• University of Arkansas
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
University of Central Arkansas
University of Evansville
University of Illinois at Chicago
University of Illinois at Springfield
University of Indianapolis
University of Iowa
Univ of North Carolina at Asheville
University of Northern Colorado
University of Southern Indiana
University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh
University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
Western Illinois University
Wright State University
2-Year Colleges
• Casper College
• Snead State Community College
• Pasco-Hernando Comm College
• Sheridan College
• Gillette College
*Also participating in the 2008-2009 Sophomore Transition pilot
Information Collected
Profile
Profile Information
Information
–– Gender
Genderand
andrace/ethnicity
race/ethnicity
–– Entrance
Entranceexam
examscores
scores
–– ##credit
credithours
hoursenrolled
enrolled
–– Cumulative
CumulativeGPA
GPA
–– Credit
CreditHours
HoursEarned
Earned
Self-Assessment
Self-Assessment
–– Communication
CommunicationSkills
Skills
–– Analytical
AnalyticalSkills
Skills
–– Self-Discipline
Self-Discipline
–– Time
TimeManagement
Management
–– Health
Healthand
andWellness
Wellness
–– Potential
PotentialIssues
Issues(stress,
(stress,
financial,
financial,etc.)
etc.)
Academic
Academic Integration
Integration
–– Academic
AcademicSelf-Efficacy
Self-Efficacy
–– Core
CoreAcademic
AcademicBehaviors
Behaviors
–– Advanced
AdvancedAcademic
AcademicBehaviors
Behaviors
–– Commitment
Commitmentto
toHigher
Higher
Education
Education
Social
Social Integration
Integration
–– Homesickness
Homesickness
–– Peer
PeerConnections
Connections
–– Living
LivingEnvironment
Environment(on/off
(on/off
campus)
campus)
–– Roommate
RoommateRelationships
Relationships
–– Campus
CampusInvolvement
Involvement
MAP-Works Process
•Expectatio
ns
•Behaviors
•Social
Norming
•Expectation
s
•Campus
Resources
•Student Profile
•Institution Profile
•Campus
Resources
•Student
Summary
•Sort Students
•Coordinate
Efforts
MAP-Works Organizational Structure
Campus Coordinator
Departmental/Unit
Level
Housing
First-Year
Experience
Advising
Athletics
Advisors
Coaches
Direct-Connect
Relationships
Hall
Directors
Instructor
s
Identify At-Risk
Students; Intervention;
Share Information
Transition Experiences
Understanding the Transition Experience
• First-Year / Freshman Students
– Adjusting to living on-campus and
homesickness issues
– Adjusting to new academic pressures
– Adjusting to a new “pool” of students
• Sophomores
–
–
–
–
Choosing a major / entering a college/dept
Increased academic competition
Independence from family
Planning for future internships / experiences
Change in Transition Experiences
Questions where First-Year Students Out Rate
Sophomores
6.85
6.66
Attends class
Satisfied with the
social activities in
your hall/building
5.75
5.14
Making friends with
others in the
hall/building
5.41
5.18
Reads the assigned
readings within a day
before class
4.00
First-year students
are more likely to
attend class, make
friends, read
assignments
Questions where Sophomores Out Rate First-Year
Students
4.97
4.74
4.50
5.00
5.50
2008 Sophomores
Sophomores are more
likely to stay at the
school, study in larger
blocks of time, and
interested in
leadership
Do you think it is likely that you'll transfer to
another institution?
6.00
6.50
7.00
5.69
6.26
Have you met someone who has become
2007 First-Year
your friend?
5.54
6.14
4.49
Studies in blocks of time greater than one
hour
Are you interested in holding a leadership
position in a college / university student
organization?
3.50
4.92
3.68
4.20
4.00
4.50
5.00
2008 Sophomores
5.50
6.00
2007 First-Year
6.50
Other Populations
• Special Populations
–
–
–
–
Minority Students
Transfer Students
Student Athletes
Nontraditional students
• Upperclassmen
– Junior Transition Survey
– Senior Transition Survey
Student Reporting
Take-Away Points
Take-Away Points – If
you continue to do
what you did in high
school you might not
get the grades you
want
Social Norming
Student self evaluations are
calibrated with their peers to
identify strengths and weaknesses.
Links to Campus Resources
Campus-specific resource links allow your
students to reach in and exploit all your
campus has to offer.
Faculty/Staff Reporting
Identify Non-Respondents
Did You Know? For most
campuses, non-response is one
of the first signs of disconnect
Filter by
“Responded” or
“Not
Responded”
Identify At-Risk Students
Did You Know? Some students
decide if they’re coming back in spring
term within a few days of beginning
their fall term
Students
sorted by
warning
indicators
Identify Students with Interests
Did You Know? Some students are
eager to begin exploring leadership
opportunities immediately
Choose a
survey or
profile question
Information for Meetings
Students are more
likely to be truthful on
surveys than face-toface
Identifying Common Issues
Being creative in programming may
help eliminate common issues
experienced by your students
Homesickness
is an issue for
a lot of
students
Keep Records – Contacts Made
Choose the type of
contact then leave a
short comment
regarding the contact
Providing your
faculty/staff ways
to keep notes on
their students will
improve their
efficiency
Organize Your Work with Students - Lists
Providing a way for faculty/staff to
group their students based on
common issues/interests makes
interventions easier to manage
Notifying Others of Issues – Notes/Alerts
Notifying other
faculty/staff in better
positions to aid the
student will likely help
that student transition
Group Work
• Look at the student report and discuss the
following..
– What interventions would you propose?
– What resources would you recommend?
Checking Up with the Students
Check-Up Survey
• Survey stats…
– Approximately 30 questions
– Unlimited launch times
– Items like
• Are you attending class?
• What grades do you think you’ll earn?
• Do you intend to return next term?
• Recommended Launch
– Recommend at 10th week of semester (after mid-terms but
before registration)
– Once or twice during spring semester
Identify Students
Drill down to
Erin’s report
Students
whose
situation has
deteriorated
Students whose
situation is
unchanged
Students whose
situation has
improved
Better Understand Student’s Issues
Erin’s “Warning
Indicators”
have sharply
declined since
the Transition
Survey.
Erin’s level of
homesickness,
peer
connections,
and increased
stress may be
the cause
Ending Thoughts…
“In our second year implementing MAP-Works on our
campus, we’ve been astounded by our enhanced
ability to connect with our students on deeper and
more meaningful levels. Our Resident Directors feel
empowered with the knowledge MAP-Works provides
them regarding each of their students. The intricate
snapshots of the residents living in our buildings
allow our live-in staff to reach more students in a
much more intentional way.”
Jenesha Penn, Resident Director for Academic
Programs, The University of Illinois at Chicago Questions and Discussion
Todd Pica, EBI Project Director
Educational Benchmarking
215-482-1664 or email [email protected]
www.MAP-Works.com