ISU Staff Participate in "No Holding Back"

A cross-departmental team at Idaho State University was recently selected through an RFP process to be one of 12 institutions in the Western Region to participate in a Community of Practice called “No Holding Back.” 

This work is funded by the Ascendium Education Group and Lumina Foundation, which awarded a total of $452,500 in grants to WICHE, the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education and AACRAO, the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, to “better understand the impact that the practice and policies of administrative and/or student success holds can have on student success” (No Holding Back - WICHE). 

The Community of Practice is comprised of 12 institutions representing 10 states or territories, seven institutions that have 30% or more Pell recipients, five institutions with MSI status, 3 institutions serving community college students, institutions serving as few as 1,500 and as many as 40,000 degree-seeking undergraduates each year, ranging in location from rural campuses to urban locations, and those using Banner, Peoplesoft, colleague, and CAMS Enterprise SIS. The team will share their findings and recommendations in a technical guide slated for publication in 2023.  In the next 15 months, the Community will collaborate on the development of best practices related to student administrative holds. 

The six members of the Idaho State University committee contributing to this endeavor are Vince Miller, Institutional Research, Staci Phelan, Enrollment Management, Lindsey Peterson, Enrollment Management, Craig Chatriand, Student Affairs, Weston Whitworth, Finance, and Hala Abou Arraj, Office of the Registrar. This team is working collaboratively with students in Dr. Neil Tochers’ capstone course to do statistical analysis on student holds at ISU. Findings will be shared in quarterly meetings with other institutions. 

Our Idaho State University Enrollment Management team is committed to identifying registration barriers to student success and retention and reducing those impediments. This objective has already been guiding the scrutiny of administrative holds, which prevent students from registering until they have satisfied the requirements of the holds. Ideally, these holds should work in students’ favor, alerting them to financial or academic issues that should be addressed, but may also prevent them from registering in a timely manner or moving successfully toward a degree. Recognizing the impact that such holds may have upon student retention and graduation, our Enrollment Management team and their No Holding Back ISU committee partners eagerly engage in this important student retention endeavor.