2020-2025 Student Success Plan

What is the Student Success Strategic Plan (SSSP)?

Student success is the first pillar of our Falcon Future 2030: Strategic Framework. Student success matters to everyone at UTPB. If our mission is to serve a diverse community of students through excellence in student-centered teaching, learning, research, and public service, we must be intentional in how our University helps students successfully get to that point. Each member of the Falcon team has a key role in student success as they interact with students daily to advance education, engage in research, gain economic competiveness, and develop cultural enrichment during a student’s time at UTPB. By understanding and valuing the work being documented in the Student Success Plan, the entire University Community will have a greater knowledge of the resources available to them and students along with being able to better connect with others on campus to help students succeed.

What can faculty do to help?

UTPB Faculty are currently doing amazing things in and outside the classroom to educate students. The intent of the SSSP is to provide a sustainable institutional-level framework around student success which sets university-wide goals and provides an intentional and collaborative plan for achieving them. By working through a strategic plan, faculty become more connected to each other and campus stakeholders in working together to help students be successful.

There is no doubt that effective teaching provides students with the knowledge that is essential to accomplishing their personal and professional goals. For example, learning the core disciplinary content along with the methodological skills and approaches in University courses, prepares students for life-long success. As a result, students who start the next stage of their academic career (going from first-year to second year, etc.) are better prepared to succeed.

There are various programs and initiatives on the campus that faculty can engage in which are designed around best-practice research in the area of student success. These programs and initiatives are part of the SSSP and are intended to help students achieve their academic goals.

For just a few examples, faculty can:

  • stay active in The Center for Engaged Teaching, Learning, and Leadership supports faculty at UT Permian Basin for support in developing and implementing high-impact, learning-centered pedagogies that promote student success.
  • design class or program assessments that inform curricular or pedagogical improvements.
  • work with the Office of Graduate Studies and research to promote research education and information literacy.
  • engage students to participate in undergraduate and graduate research.
  • learn how to take action on institutional and program level data.

What can staff do to help?

UTPB Staff are positive, helpful, and focused on student success. This plays a critical role in ensuring that students are retained on campus and that we uphold the values of extra mile service, kindheartedness, integrity, collaboration, and innovation as part of our learning community. By engaging in the strategic plan, staff are able to lead the university’s efforts in ensuring that students have positive experiences that further their desire to remain at school and complete their degree programs.

Students interact frequently with staff members at UTPB to obtain critical information about financial aid, housing, library services, student organizations, dining services, records and registration, advising, and many other areas. Students may also need support for emotional or physical concerns. Therefore, it is important that staff have the support they need to provide the type of interactions and participate in work as part of the SSSP in order to help students remain engaged in their own success.

There are various programs and initiatives on the campus that staff can engage in which are designed around best-practice research in the area of student success. These programs and initiatives are part of the SSSP and are intended to help students achieve their academic goals.

For just a few examples, staff can:

  • stay knowledgeable in UTPB program the Falcon Maps which provides undergraduate students with a high-quality, differentiated advising model based on meta-majors that is responsive to different student populations (residential, online, transfers, athletes, etc.) and disciplines.
  • ensure that each student who request support from the university has a positive experience.
  • educate students on university support services that can help them remove barriers to student success (i.e., advising, career planning, housing, tutoring, library services).
  • leverage technology to promote a more effective support of students at UTPB.
  • continuously assess the work that we undertake we students in order to continuously improve the UTPB student experience.
  • serve as a mentor to students to help them address their academic and non-academic needs.

The Implementation Framework

The Provost Office Student Success Strategic Plan sets an ambitious, but achievable, set of goals for the next five years. The implementation framework includes:

  • Strategic goals: the broad-based objectives that provide a foundation for achieving student success on campus.
  • Initiatives: the focused plans and actions that will be used to achieve all or parts of the strategic goal.
  • Metrics: the specific measureable elements that detail how the goals will be achieved, typically through performance indicators or other measures that provide a definable target for achievement.
  • Assessment: An indicator, based on periodic evaluations, which will provide a general assessment of the status of the plans and actions taken to achieve the overall strategic goals.

To sustain our commitments to academic excellence and student engagement, the University of Texas Permian Basin has identified student success goals to:

Pillar 1: Enhance High-quality, Engaged Teaching and Learning Experiences

Pillar 2: Enhance Supportive Paths to Graduation and Post-Graduation Success

Pillar 3: Enhance Graduate Student Success

Pillar 4: Enhance Campus Culture of Awareness and Responsibility for Student Success

These strategic goals will guide the work of the Provost Office for the next five years.