UNC system to study itself to improve student success

The Student Success Innovation Lab will fund and evaluate cost-effective ways to improve student success, Spellings said during a State of the University speech at SAS Institute in Cary.

"Higher education is built around the idea that evaluation, inquiry and data-driven debate advance society," she said. "We must apply that same level of rigor to our own operation, using data and research to guide how we teach and support our students from enrollment through graduation."

The lab will link initiatives developed and implemented by institutions with faculty who are experts in program evaluation, allowing the UNC system to determine which programs are most successful, increase collaboration and communication across campuses and use data to maximize the return on taxpayer dollars.

"We know it’s not enough to get students into school. This initiative will leverage our system platform for research and development on student success," Spellings said. "By supporting promising initiatives at our campuses and funding researchers across UNC system institutions to rigorously evaluate those projects, the Student Success Innovation Lab will help us identify what works to raise completion rates and take those ideas to scale."

Spellings also addressed UNC's efforts to increase access to education and ensure affordability.

"Together, we’re filling jobs in vital fields, producing nearly 21,000 graduates each year with degrees and certificates in health sciences, engineering and STEM," she said. "That's an increase of 29 percent since 2011."

She said she believes the UNC system has three issues to address going forward:

"Fulfilling our historic mission to advance the public good is in many ways, the most fundamental issue we face," said Spellings. "It’s the reason this university exists, the bedrock of everything we do."

Spellings said the college experience brings together people from different backgrounds to gather in the same place.

"Our students recognize the privilege of thinking and learning. They want to live up to that gift, to leave the world in better shape than they found it. Anyone who says that college students have lost their heads or their desire to be good citizens just isn’t paying attention," she said. "I promise you this, our students are paying attention to us. They’re watching how we lead and govern, how we engage in public debate, how we adapt to the needs of our time."

A big focus is on financial aid, including summer grants, micro-grants and incentive-based grants.

Following her speech, Spellings led a Q&A session with chancellors from UNC-Chapel Hill, North Carolina State University, North Carolina Central University and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics to discuss how each institution is working to increase economic mobility, promote accountability and advance the public good in their communities.