2009 Public Agenda (continued)
Key Objectives (continued)
Improve student success and instructional quality
The State Regents continue to focus on student preparation to ensure a common message and expectation of how students must be academically prepared to succeed in college and compete in the workforce.
The Oklahoma Educational Planning and Assessment System provides assessments of college readiness and helps teachers, students and families identify the need for academic improvements. EPAS serves nearly 500 school districts, including 48 private schools. More than 83,000 students in the eighth and 10th grades took EPAS assessments during the 2007-08 school year.
GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) is a federally funded program designed to better prepare middle and high school students for college through academic preparation programs, professional development activities for educators and college access information for students and parents. Since its inception, this program has impacted thousands of students, parents and educators through professional development and information on college preparation, financial aid and course work advisement.
The Campus Access Challenge Grant Program is funded with more than $915,000 the State Regents received from the U.S. Department of Education to expand current initiatives aimed at increasing the number of students who complete their degrees. The CACGP is a two-year formula grant program based on poverty levels and provides grants to states to meet the needs of students and families from underrepresented populations.
ReachHigher, Oklahoma’s Degree Completion Program, is designed for adults who have attended at least two years of college but didn’t complete a bachelor’s degree. Since its inception in March 2007, enrollment in the program has grown 638 percent. The ReachHigher program celebrated its first graduating class in fall 2008 with 15 students receiving Bachelor of Science degrees in organizational leadership.
Increase access and quality of technologies to support agency programs and services
The State Regents embrace the use of new technologies to deliver our academic product more effectively and efficiently.
OneNet is Oklahoma’s telecommunications network for education, government and research and provides high-speed communications to approximately 70 percent of public K-12 schools as well as career technology centers; public colleges and universities; public libraries; local, tribal, state and federal governments; rural health care delivery systems; and programs engaged in research.
Unitized Data System (UDS) collects student, course and faculty data from all Oklahoma higher education institutions providing a rich source of information for reporting and decision making since the early 1980s.
Enhance enrollment management capacity
Enrollment management activities encompass student college choice, transition to college, student attrition and retention, and student outcomes. The State Regents effectively administer and track programs that will result in more students enrolling at the institutions and attaining their educational objectives.
OKcollegestart.org provides students, parents and high school counselors with a “one-stop shop” for college planning and preparation. Through this student information portal, students can create individual portfolios, access campus information, apply for federal and state financial aid, apply to many of our colleges and universities, and get their transcripts transferred to institutions. Approximately 54,000 user accounts have been created on OKcollegestart.org since its launch. There have been more than 9.6 million page views on the site since it launched in spring 2007, with an average of more than 14,000 per day. More than 20,000 college applications have been received through the site since launch, and approximately 14,000 students have applied online for Oklahoma’s Promise since the application became available in January 2006.
The annual Enrollment Management Conference mobilizes institutional and statewide initiatives to support enrollment management; provides tools and support for enrollment management and the Brain Gain initiative; promotes higher education visibility; showcases institutions; and encourages support and provides interaction among and within institutions.
