Fresh From The UIA

PORTLAND, Ore. – March 3, 2016 – The University Innovation Alliance (UIA) today announced an additional $3.85 million in new funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Ford Foundation, and USA Funds to support its work to improve college completion rates.

“This additional support highlights the philanthropic community’s enthusiasm for effective collaboration among colleges and universities to share and scale student success innovation,” said UIA Vice Chair and Georgia State University President Mark Becker.

For low income and first generation students, cost is often a barrier to college, but deeply entrenched cultural elements of the university experience can act as obstacles as well. How are innovative higher ed leaders shaking things up and which new values are they embracing?

Recently the venerable Washington Monthly took a look at "America's Ten Most Innovative College Presidents" and evaluated college presidents in a refreshing way. Instead of focusing on traditional success factors like selectivity, prestige, and the size of the university’s endowment, it featured presidents who have rolled out innovations in diversity, research, and affordability.

Georgia State University Vice President Dr. Tim Renick recognized for commitment to sharing university’s experience using predictive analytics to improve student success rates.

This year’s Hispanic Heritage Month marks the 25th anniversary of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics. To celebrate, the White House has recognized institutions that serve as benchmark programs of innovation and effectiveness for increasing college participation and completion rates for Latina and Latino students. Take a look at the innovative programs four UIA universities are being recognized for—these could end up on other UIA campuses soon!

PORTLAND, OR, September 21, 2015 – Today, the U.S. Department of Education announced that the University Innovation Alliance (UIA) and Georgia State University were selected as one of the winners in its First in the World competition to encourage innovation among institutions of higher education. The UIA has been awarded $8.9 million to conduct a four-year research study on its 11 member campuses to evaluate the effectiveness of advising in increasing retention, progression, and graduation rates for low-income and first-generation students.

The University Innovation Alliance launched one year ago this month, and the progress in our first year has surpassed our expectations. We’ve sparked a national conversation challenging the existing values system in higher education. We’ve advanced new ways to incentivize collaboration and reward institutions for innovation that demonstrably improves outcomes for all students. And we’ve educated the higher education community, policymakers, and the broader public about the hard work needed to uncover new solutions that advance student opportunity.

Buzz is building about the transformational changes taking place on University Innovation Alliance campuses. Last week, four UIA members were recognized as the most innovative universities in the country by U.S. News & World Report in its 2016 America’s Best Colleges guide. For the first time ever, U.S. News asked university presidents, provosts, and admissions deans around the nation to select the institutions they credit with trying new approaches to improving success for both students and faculty.

Arizona State University, Georgia State University, University of Central Florida, and Purdue University acknowledged for new approaches that support student success
PORTLAND, OR, September 9, 2015–U.S. News & World Report announced, today, that four University Innovation Alliance member institutions have been named among the nation’s most innovative institutions: Arizona State University (#1), Georgia State University (#5), University of Central Florida (#13), and Purdue University (#21).

Last week, Dr. Tim Renick, Georgia State University Vice Provost and Vice President of Enrollment Management and Student Success, testified before the U.S. Senate HELP committee, sharing about the success of Georgia State University in its work to eliminate race and income as a predictors of student outcomes.