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The UC Davis Vision: The Campus’s Strategic Plan

Strategy: Enrolling and Graduating Academically Talented and Diverse Undergraduate, Graduate and Professional Students.

Point People: Judy Sakaki and Winston Ko

Narrative Summary of First Year Implementation Efforts:

A 2004 UC Eligibility and Admission Study Group reaffirmed the goal of the admissions process, as expressed in the 1988 Regents Policy and 2001 Regents Resolution, to “seek out and enroll…a student body that demonstrates high academic achievement or exceptional personal talent, and that encompasses the broad diversity of backgrounds that is characteristic of California.” Our campus strategic vision to “enroll and graduate academically talented and diverse undergraduate, graduate and professional students” parallels the UC goal and in addition, addresses the retention and graduation of the student population.

During the 2003-04 year, we have:

  • Engaged many campus groups in discussions about achieving campus enrollment goals. In the upcoming year, academic deans and faculty should continue, and expand, their engagement in academic preparation, recruitment and admissions efforts.
  • Increased by 50% the yield of Regents Scholars anticipated to enroll due to additional financial support from the Provost for Regents Scholarships and an expanded campus visit program for prospective scholars and their parents.
  • Hosted admitted students (over 6,000) and their parents during UC Davis Welcome Week and Decision Days.
  • Hosted the bi-annual UC Counselors Conference, with approximately 1,300 counselors in attendance, to highlight UC Davis academic programs, campus facilities and student services.
  • Implemented “phone projects” in which faculty, staff and students personally contacted prospective students who applied to UC Davis to encourage their enrollment on this campus.
  • Opened the Segundo North Student Residence Halls, the Activities and Recreation Center, and the Schaal Aquatic Center. These facilities are very attractive to prospective students.
  • Hired a Development Director in Student Affairs to assist in raising scholarship funds and improve our ability to attract academically talented students.
  • Created a new Director of Outreach, Recruitment and Retention position, in the Office of Graduate Studies, responsible for recruiting and retaining academically talented and diverse graduate students.
  • Analyzed time-to-degree statistics, factors affecting time-to-degree rates and comparisons among campuses and issued a report entitled Graduation Rates (Office of Resource Management & Planning, March 2004).
  • Implemented technological enhancements to the e-Recruitment program including a new Electronic Admit Packet (MyAdmissions), with electronic notification.
  • Initiated a meeting with the Emeriti Association to explore opportunities for emeriti involvement in student recruitment.

Advances and Ongoing Programs Consistent with Strategy:

Many of the programs and services within Student Affairs, Graduate Studies, the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies and the various colleges and professional schools are dedicated to recruiting, retaining and graduating high achieving students and diverse student populations. Program descriptions can be found at the websites of these units. In addition, some tools created that advance the strategy include:

Short Statement of Plans for 2004-05:

  • Discuss with the appropriate campus committees, time-to-degree issues, including goals as a campus or by discipline, course structure (course sequencing, summer availability, minimum workload, etc.), practices regarding students repeating classes, student contracts, counseling/monitoring of student progress, financial incentives vs. disincentives to graduate in four years and other factors.
  • Implement the UC Eligibility and Admissions Study Group recommendations related to freshmen admissions and selection.
  • Commission SARI to survey students who were offered Regents and other prestigious UC Davis Scholarships but who declined to enroll. Investigate their reasons for deciding not to choose UC Davis. Also, survey students from first-generation attending college, low-income students, students from low-performing schools and other diverse communities.
  • Address the Emeriti Association on engagement of emeriti faculty in student recruitment efforts (the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs has been invited by the Association to make a presentation in Fall 2004).
  • Work with faculty and deans to enhance the “Why UCDavis” website by providing the most current information on majors, faculty, internships and post-graduate opportunities.
  • Continue and expand faculty involvement in recruiting high caliber graduate students, such as the faculty-staffed graduate recruitment committee in Math and Physical Sciences.
  • Increase postings and usage of the two campus websites (undergraduate and graduate) for scholarships and fellowships.
  • Explore ways to increase participation of volunteers (staff, students, faculty, emeriti faculty, alumni) in student recruitment.
  • Identify ways to increase campus support for mentoring and preparing students to successfully compete for prestigious awards.

Evaluation of Metrics:

  • Alignment of demographics of campus undergraduate student population to better reflect the population of California

Using the demographics of the California population as a benchmark may not be the best choice if we want to be able to see the impact of our programs and policies. A more relevant measure may be the “UC-eligible population” for underrepresented populations, as reported on periodically by the California Postsecondary Education Commission. Another useful metric to track trends in a variety of categories and to compare results between campuses is UC systemwide admissions data on the number of applications and enrollments of First-Generation College, Low Family Income students, Students from Low-Performing Schools, California Rural/Urban/Suburban Students, Underrepresented Minorities, Eligibility in the Local Context and academic preparation participants.

  • Increase in the number of high-achieving students enrolling at UC Davis

All of our undergraduate students are high-achieving since they represent the top 12.5% of California high school graduates, but to attract the best of the best, we purchase a list from the College Board that enables us to identify and recruit high achieving prospects (those meeting Academic Scholarship Index criteria set by the Academic Senate). To measure success in enrolling high-achieving students, an Academic Profile report (produced by Undergraduate Admissions) is a good source.

  • Improvement in competitiveness of financial support packages with other peer institutions, with special emphasis on scholarships and fellowships

A starting point for monitoring the competitiveness of our financial support packages is the report prepared by the Office of the President on Undergraduate and Graduate Financial Aid. The report indicates the type and sources of funds, the average award amount and the per capita amount by UC campus. The campus may need to modify the results to reflect the varying cost of attendance per campus to have a more accurate analysis. This metric is an area that needs further assessment. An additional benchmark that compares UC Davis to other top institutions outside the UC system should be developed.

  • Increase in rate of growth in overall recruitment of graduate students in keeping with systemwide efforts.

The Office of Graduate Studies internally tracks information on the number of applications received (by program, gender and ethnicity) and the number admitted. The Office can periodically report on progress made in attracting graduate student applications and progress in increasing the rate of acceptance from those offered admission.

  • Increase in the number of prestigious national and international awards and fellowships received by UC Davis students

Last year, a UC Davis student received a Marshall Scholarship, only one of three students who have received it in the history of our campus. We would like more UC Davis students to compete for such prestigious awards. We can measure our progress in this goal by tracking the number of students who apply for and who receive one of 15 select merit-based scholarships and fellowships, including the Rhodes, Truman and Strauss scholarships. A complete listing of appropriate awards can be found at the Davis Honors Challenge website (http://honors.ucdavis.edu/scholarships.html). In addition, prestigious awards for graduate students, such as the Fulbright, National Science Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation and others should be measured and monitored.

  • Reduction in time-to-degree for all student populations

Statistics compiled by the Consortium for Student Retention Data Exchange (CSRDE) and the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) are useful for measuring and comparing undergraduate time-to-degree rates. For graduate students, the Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED) is a good measure.