Disability slides – gives the strategy for disabilities-focused interventions

• narrow down depending on audience.

Melt

• Melt happens, but not equitably across groups

• More amongst diverse backgrounds and First-Gen

• There are a lot of initiatives happening, especially for students from diverse backgrounds

• Focus on first gen students

• Increase mentorship from current first-gen students

• Third-party vendor

• Scale First-Gen Hawks to more students (already going on)

• How can we get it going prior to them starting classes, not after they have started (like Iowa Edge)

• 20% of the incoming class is First Gen and how can we accommodate

• Ask the advisory team if all First Gen/Edge should be together or different groups of them?

• Should it just be diverse students?  Should it be everyone? First Gen?

• Do we have tracks in the Iowa Edge.  The data that shows that Iowa Edge make the difference.  It increases retention. If only we could expand to 4 years. 

• Look at all swipe data to see how it can break out.  How can we operationalize looking at this data and the patterns we are seeing.  

• Are there patterns of disproportionate high school prep and financial aid that could impact melt?

• There is work being done on this.  University initiative to meet students’ needs better.  

• Everything goes back to economic development.  People need people.  If corporations want a more diverseworkforce, how do we get corporations and others buy in to support these students who are struggling?  How can we develop the messages to show this to get more corporations around us.

• How does Melt connect to Economic Impact?

Melt

• Improving communication

• Readability/navigability of applications, financial aid, etc.

• Application events – help to fill this out.

• This is constantly being worked on and it is easier.

• More CDE staff going out to churches and diversecommunities to bring more students from diverse backgrounds to campus, at an earlier stage.

• We don’t know they are first gen until they fill out an application

• What can the institution do (not just 10 staff from Admissions) trying to do this

• We need to start this process at seventh grade, and this is a challenge.

• To improve readability/navigability is as much an awareness of what is involved in it.

• The challenge is how do you educate and communicate earlier and in mass.  Connect to middle to early high school.

• Also, staff as well.  ISU has a staff member to work with middle schools in target areas in Iowa.  There is a model for this idea. 

• What are doing with our K-12 partners

Next Steps:

• At the meeting, we are going to present strategies based on data.  Going to be solidifying strategies and methods.  Concise and compelling and aligned with the strategic plan.

• Notes to Slides.  Individuals assigned to present data-supported slides that best know the data/strategies

• We need to do the DEI inventory

• Slides that summarize the problem with data support.  Data driven strategies that we think are feasible and actionable.  Pick a set to showcase that we consider dedicating resources to.

• Have another meeting after Oct. 15.  We have the outline and make decisions.