Getting decision makers from “cost” to “return on investment”
Reframing the retention conversation to gain support for near-peer coaching partnerships
Nationwide, more colleges and universities are setting ambitious student outcome goals for their first-generation and Pell-recipient students. Yet staff shortages, rising student caseloads and underutilized campus resources limit the student outcome gains campuses can achieve on their own. And, while partnerships with evidence-based programs like College Possible Catalyze can help universities cost-effectively expand the capacity of their student success teams, making the case for this investment — and the returns it can yield — can be a tough sell.
In this interactive webinar, we’ll help you make the internal case for third-party partnerships by shifting the conversation from “cost” to “return on investment.”
We’ll profile two colleges, unpacking their initial retention challenge, why the results from their existing retention investments had plateaued, and the key metrics they’re tracking to demonstrate the Catalyze program return on investment. Leave with a new framework to shift your decision-maker conversation from cost to meaningful return on investment — with metrics measurable value spanning first-to-second year persistence, year-over-year retention, more credits earned, optimization of campus resources and existing student support investments, more student referrals to faculty experts, and more student milestones achieved.
PRESENTERS:
Gilberto Becerra, Jr., Alamo Colleges District, Associate Vice Chancellor – Advocacy, Retention & Completion
Gilberto currently serves as the Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Advocacy, Retention and Completion at the Alamo Colleges District in San Antonio, Texas. During his tenure with ACD and while serving as a Vice President of Student Success his institution was a recipient of the Ruffalo Noel-Levitz Retention Excellence Award and named as a top ten finalist for the 2019 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, the nation’s signature recognition of high achievement and performance among America’s community colleges. He has also been recognized as a recipient of the HOPE Education Award for service to the San Antonio community.
Gilberto has over 23 years of experience in higher education and has served at public, private, two-year, and four-year institutions. He has previously served in the roles of Vice President of Student Success, Dean for Enrollment Services as well as Assistant Vice President for Enrollment Management. His portfolio includes an expansive background in strategic enrollment management, student success and student affairs as well as strategic planning expertise. He has served as a faculty member for the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) as well as the Admission and College Counseling Institute (ACCI). He has also presented at the state and national level for the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO), The College Board, Texas Association of Black Personnel in Higher Education (TABPHE), Texas Association for College Admission Counseling (TACAC), Texas Association of Community College Student Affairs Administrators (TACCSAA), Texas Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (TACRAO), Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board Leadership Conference, and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). In addition to private consulting, Mr. Becerra also serves as a guest lecturer in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies with the College of Education and Human Services at The University of Texas at San Antonio. Most recently Mr. Becerra was invited by the US Treasury Department to speak on a White House Panel regarding the financial wellness of undergraduate students as part of his student advocacy work.
Mr. Becerra holds a Bachelor of Arts from The University of Texas at Austin and a Master of Business Administration from Our Lady of the Lake University. He is currently a doctoral student in the Higher Education Leadership Program at the University of Texas at Austin and his research has been published by the Council for the Study of Community Colleges.
Dani Barker, UC Santa Cruz, Special Adviser to the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Success
Dani has over 10 years of experience in the field of social justice training and leadership education. Dani earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she majored in Afro-American Studies with minors in Womens’ Studies and LGBTQ Studies and a master’s degree in Higher Education-College Student Personnel from the University of Arizona.
Since completing her graduate studies, she has worked at a number of institutions across the country in various functional areas in student affairs. Dani brings deep experience with many aspects of student affairs including college transition and enrollment, student success, inclusive excellence, curriculum development, leadership development, student engagement, social justice, equity and program assessment. She has taught and coordinated courses on leadership, ethics and the foundations of liberal education. In addition to her service to individual institutions, she has contributed to the field of higher education in many ways, including serving as the Presidential Intern with ACPA, College Student Educators International and presenting at several national and international conferences.
She serves as the Special Adviser to the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Success at the University of California, Santa Cruz where she is responsible for advancing key priorities and strategic initiatives for the division and campus.
Catherine Marciano, Vice President, Partnerships, College Possible
For more than twenty years Catherine Marciano has devoted her professional career to equity through education as a teacher, evidence-based program innovator, data collector and analyst, and dynamic senior leader of New York City-based educational nonprofits for social good. As an ally and competent strategist, Catherine has a proven track record of developing best-in-class programs that support individuals from traditionally underserved groups, particularly Black, Latino, low-income and first-generation students, in achieving postsecondary success. Most recently, as Managing Director of College Services for KIPP NYC Through College (KTC NYC), Catherine led the design and implementation of internal strategies and external partnerships that boosted college completion rates for KIPP NYC alums from 38% to a historically high 54% — all while the program scaled from serving 400 students to more than 2,200. A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Catherine has lived in New York City for 22 years. Catherine holds a BS in Mathematics from Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Indiana.
