Fredonia receives grant, chosen to lead SUNY course scheduling analysis

Fredonia has been granted $420,000 from SUNY to lead a five-campus consortium in Scheduling for Student Success, a project that seeks to improve course schedules so students have timely access to the courses they need to graduate.

Fredonia will work with Ad Astra Information Systems and four other SUNY partner institutions: the College at Oneonta, the College of Technology at Alfred, Dutchess Community College and Schenectady County Community College.Together, they will conduct a comprehensive analysis that addresses course offerings, course capacity and space utilization.

Ad Astra Information Systems develops data-informed software solutions to effectively allocate space and faculty resources, forecast student demand and accelerate student completions for higher education institutions and systems.

“Every campus knows that to ensure student success and be as efficient as possible, we need to approach building the course schedule in a different way,” said Fredonia President Virginia Horvath. “Using the tools and data provided by this project, Fredonia can do an even better job of providing the courses that students need to graduate on time, and using its classrooms and labs as efficiently as possible.”

The project will help Fredonia develop “student-centered course schedules” that will enable students to complete their degree in four years, according Fredonia Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Terry Brown, who is leading the project at the SUNY and Fredonia levels. Implementing balanced schedules will address over- and under-enrolled classes, thus enabling the university to run classes at optimum capacity.

“We have recognized that as our curriculum gets more complex, it gets more expensive for us to manage and it makes a degree more costly for students, so this is a part of our effort to manage costs for the institution and keep college affordable for students and their families,” Provost Brown explained. 

A thorough analysis identifying under- and over-enrolled classes at Fredonia during the last five years will be completed during the first few weeks of the project. That will be followed by the use of predictive analytics over a three-year period to compile detailed information on students – their majors, courses already taken and courses they will need to complete their degree on time.

“All that data will go into building course schedules based on student needs,” Brown said. Fredonia will also compare itself with its partner institutions and share scheduling information.

Brown indicated the study’s findings will be transferable to other SUNY institutions, thus resulting in a bigger impact on students’ success throughout SUNY.

Scheduling for Student Success is one of 32 proposals supported by SUNY’s Investment and Performance Fund, which is part of SUNY’s Completion Agenda that follows through on Chancellor Nancy Zimpher’s pledge to increase the total number of SUNY degrees awarded annually to 150,000. Grants totaling $18 million will fund proposals directly involving 22 SUNY campuses and nine community colleges.

Components of the Investment and Performance Fund include early alert software, enhanced advising, development of Student Success Centers, strong K-12 connections, math competency programs, degree and certificate programs in high-demand fields and new opportunities for applied learning, among others.

“These awards are a remarkable sample of what SUNY campuses are prepared to do in order to help more students complete their degree,” Chancellor Zimpher said. “Whether it’s working with area high schools to get students ready for college, supporting students at risk of falling behind or providing an applied learning opportunity to ensure career success, SUNY is committed to improving student outcomes at every stage.”

A panel of external reviewers comprised of leaders in higher education, finance, policy and research evaluated campus funding proposals.

“The awards are a validation of SUNY’s collective plans and capacity to meet Chancellor Zimpher’s ambitious completion goal,” added SUNY Board Chairman H. Carl McCall.