Today’s guest is Patti Neuhold-Ravikumar, former University of Central Oklahoma President and CEO and Principal Consultant of Arc C-Suite Advisory. To kick off Season 2 of Next Practices, Patti digs deep into the strategies behind building a student success model that also supports the financial health of an institution.

Patti shares what leaders should think about when building a financially healthy institution, new and alternative approaches you should consider when developing financially sustainable student success approaches, and what pieces you need to have in place to establish a student success model that supports the financial well-being of your institution.

We’ve also written a downloadable resource on this topic for you, which you can CLICK HERE to download now.

[2:28] - Patti shares her background, current role in consulting, and experience in higher education.

[3:41] - There are several challenges higher education is seeing right now, including demographic changes and the aftermath of the pandemic.

[4:27] - Prioritize what you have and how to utilize it.

[5:24] - It is easier and less expensive to retain a current student than to recruit a new one.

[7:35] - Retention is a common problem for all regional universities.

[9:21] - We have to be strategic about financial aid distribution and spending to make the most impact.

[10:37] - Faculty members are the first line of defense. There needs to be a cohesive relationship with student success initiatives.

[12:35] - Data and communication are the keys to making decisions about student success.

[14:54] - Early alerts are only the first step. Initiate communication with what the data is telling you.

[17:21] - It is important to take a holistic approach.

[18:18] - Patti shares an example of how your strategies can change, adjust, and flow. A strategy is a living process.

[20:11] - It’s not everyone’s responsibility to take action on things. 

[21:24] - A strategy is very rarely done. It’s something repeatable.

[23:12] - We all get stuck sometimes. There’s a natural friction point when it comes to student success. Patti explains how to manage this.

[25:51] - Create an atmosphere of trust and productive conflict.

[28:33] - Having a unified understanding and vision is crucial but it is easier said than done but should be at the top of the priority list.

[30:31] - The meetings that Patti describes need to be filled with people who have the authority to make decisions.

[32:33] - There can be issues that arise with data trust.

[33:53] - A single source of data is the gold standard.

[35:45] - Allow people to interact with the data to better understand it.

[37:35] - We don’t have the time to waste. The information needs to be ready and you have to act.

[39:17] - The health of one department relies on the others.

[40:21] - Contact Patti through email at Patti@arc.consulting

Download Leadership Brief: Achieving Financial Stability with Student Success

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