How Chicago State University Is Paving the Way for Student Success

Dr. Nayshon T. Mosley-Milford is the Dean of Student Success at Chicago State University and recently participated in an exclusive panel interview with Kaplan’s university partners. She shared the game-changing impact of opening up access to resources and opportunities for students, especially low income or first generation. The following excerpts are taken from the interview.

Tell us about Chicago State University and what makes your student community unique.

Dr. Nayshon T. Mosley-Milford: Chicago State University (CSU) is the oldest public four-year institution in Chicago and in the state of Illinois. We are also the only four-year, public, Predominantly Black Institution here in the state of Illinois and we pride ourselves on that.

We are located on the south side of Chicago, where 90 percent of the students we serve are students of color and 70 percent are either Pell eligible or first generation. We are among the top 4 percent of institutions in the country for economic mobility. So when students graduate with a degree from Chicago State University, it's not just a degree. It changes the trajectory of their lives and their families’ lives.

We have a large demographic of students that range from traditional college age all the way through to adults that decide they want to return to complete their degree. Our average student age is 29. So our students are navigating a lot of different challenges, including taking care of families, parents working full-time, part-time enrollment, transfer degrees, and all of the things as they are trying to persist for their degree completion. We offer a large array of wraparound supports to try to help our students navigate some of those challenges that they're up against as they're working to complete their degree.

Student success can have a lot of different definitions depending on your lens. How do you define what true student success looks like and how are you building that into your core priorities?

Dr. Nayshon T. Mosley-Milford: At Chicago State, we define student success holistically. Institutions have been doing the work of student success for years. But we're putting it under a hub and understanding that it's complete wraparound support for our students. Yes, student success is about persistence and retention and graduation rates. But it's also about well-being and a sense of belonging for our students. It's making sure that they have access to opportunities and resources. And it’s about being workforce ready.

Our priorities are very rooted in access and impact. For example, through our First-Year Initiative, we have an intensive first year success program called Rise Academy. We provide a full first-year scholarship for students. They receive laptops, Internet access, and year-round advising. It's really been a game-changer for our students. It's helped them combat some of those systemic barriers that they're up against trying to graduate specifically in Illinois where black student enrollment has declined at least 37 percent since 2013. And so now at Chicago State, we're very determined to try to reverse that trend. We're creating environments and strategies that help our students navigate that and working to support our most underrepresented students as best as we can.

You recently launched Kaplan’s All Access License^® at Chicago State University through the state’s Prepare for Illinois' Future program. What was your initial reaction to hearing these resources would be available to your students?

Brittany Wampler, Kaplan: For background context, Kaplan’s All Access License was created several years ago as a result of us wanting to work with their partners in new and profound ways to address student success and the barriers that they experience. Ultimately, one of the state legislators in the state of Illinois heard about the program and started learning more. This began conversations across the legislature about putting together the Prepare for Illinois’ Future program.

The program creates the opportunity for students to take industry-leading test preparation for admissions exams, licensure, credentials, and skills development programs to enhance a student's skills to complete their undergraduate education or be more confident once they enter the workforce. They get all of those resources and test prep opportunities for free. And this is available across 17 campus partners, including all 12 of the Illinois public four-year institutions as well as a pilot with 5 community colleges. This means 200,000+ students now get these resources free to them. Illinois is changing the game in how we give students access to what they need to be successful when they enter the workforce.

» Related News: Illinois Student Assistance Commission and Kaplan Announce Free Test Prep Courses

Dr. Nayshon T. Mosley-Milford: My first thought was, “Where was this when I was in college?” Because it’s about trying to understand what students are facing when they're figuring out the next step. Sometimes that's just anxiety as they're leaving the college campus to figure out what's next. And then, as a parent of a recent college graduate who went to a four-year public school here in Illinois, I said, “Where was this when she was graduating?” For our students, this has been a game-changer for them. It has really opened up their eyes.

We started thinking, how can we get all of our students access? Who do we target? Who are priority students? We just launched a few months ago and we’re working to figure out who our on-campus partners were to be our ambassadors and champions of this program on campus. I was in our provost council, a room full of deans and chairs and other directors, and we were trying to figure out how we can put our hands together and really make sure that our students not only have the access but take advantage of the access. Because sometimes that's a challenge too, of getting students to understand the value in this. The program was a game-changer immediately for us and it was really a no-brainer that we wanted to be a part of this.

Response from students after launching Kaplan’s All Access License program in Illinois has been remarkable. What kind of feedback have you received on the impact this makes in their lives?

Dr. Nayshon T. Mosley-Milford: Our students are incredibly grateful. They're incredibly motivated now. It's making our students re-believe in the value of a higher education degree, and not only believe in the value, but know that there are people, supports, and resources out there that will help them get to that next level. Specifically, I was talking to a student who’s really interested in going to law school and knowing now that she can practice for the LSAT^®, she can take that class to really prepare and make law school a reality for herself. Or thinking about students who are aspiring nurses taking the NCLEX.

So it's really been a game-changer for us. It has removed some of those barriers we've been talking about. But again, it's also just reinforced that higher education, or having a degree, can lead to better employment outcomes, and especially when you have supportive resources in place, despite what society is saying about higher education right now.

Again, you have college students who have graduated, and they struggle through that first year post-graduation of trying to find a job or trying to get into graduate school. And they have those barriers that limit their ability to be able to do either. Knowing that these resources are at our students' fingertips, and knowing that we’ve just got to put it before them to take advantage of it is incredible.

In thinking about the impact, for Chicago State in just the first three months since launch we have more than 45 students enrolled in 69 different courses. That's huge for us. That's saving our students more than $80,000 collectively. Imagine a rent payment or imagine having to pay tuition for a semester. That is saving our students a ton of money and our students are incredibly grateful and they are motivated to take advantage of these resources.

When we think about implementing new initiatives such as this, do you have advice on how to get key departments on campus on board? How do you approach building collaboration?

Dr. Nayshon T. Mosley-Milford: When we were first introduced, it was all of these department leaders who learned about it in real time together. And so our initial reactions were very similar to one another. But when you start working and having these individual conversations, because I'm hearing and talking to students all the time, I’m sharing the student story around how something like this can impact the different departments or impact student outcomes. It's also about being intentional about who we're meeting with, including faculty members, our athletics team, advising, career services, our marketing department. Collaborating and working together, while it's still a work in progress, it has come naturally, because all of us want the same things for our students.

In addition to the test prep courses offered in this program, Kaplan also offers other skills-based courses. So we targeted not only our students who were graduating, but students who were academically vulnerable. We were really encouraging those students to take advantage of some of those skills-based courses that can support them with their academic success. It wasn't just the test prep, it was also making sure that our students who might be struggling a bit also can recover with the support of this resource, and then also find themselves at the finish line in a couple years.

» Related News: Fast Company Names Kaplan’s All Access License as a Winner in Its 2024 World Changing Ideas Awards

Career readiness is a central conversation in higher education right now. Beyond offering Kaplan’s All Access License to your students, preparing them to be work ready, what other innovative programs are you implementing in the student experience at CSU?

Dr. Nayshon T. Mosley-Milford: At Chicago State we have, as I previously mentioned, our First Year Initiative, Rise Academy. Our students come in the summer before their first school term and they take a five-week general education course. In those five weeks, they're learning about career readiness. Even if they don't have a resume, we're introducing it to them. And we carry that with them throughout their four years. Our students engage in mentoring, paid internships, ultimate career opportunities, so it's career readiness at every turn for us at CSU.

Empower your students for their next step with Kaplan’s All Access License.