Enhancing the Educational Life of Students
 President Bruininks has articulated four interrelated goals for student life and student learning: improving access to the University and affordability for students, enhancing teaching and learning, promoting better progress and improved graduation rates, and maintaining and improving student satisfaction levels.
Believing there is no greater obligation than delivering the best possible education to students at all level, President Bruininks is deepening the University’s commitment to the development, support, and learning of students. Under the leadership of former Presidents Hasselmo and Yudof, the University of Minnesota made great strides in improving the undergraduate experience. Some of those gains have affected the quality of students’ lives outside the classroom, through new residence halls and vastly improved services, including online class registration.
Other improvements have affected student learning more directly, including the growth of freshman seminars; the creation of the Academy of Distinguished Teachers, and expanded faculty development and award programs designed to build excellence in teaching; the reinstatement of freshman convocation; and upgrades of classrooms. Opportunities to study abroad and to perform research have also been expanded. In addition, the University has implemented policies and incentives that are gradually improving undergraduate graduation rates.
The University will continue and strengthen its commitment to all students, “trickling up” improvements in student life from the undergraduate to the professional and graduate levels.
Access and Affordability
Students today pay an increasingly greater share of the cost of their education, and the University has refused to sacrifice educational quality in the face of a long-term trend of reduced state investment. To help ensure that rising tuition and fees do not become barriers to a University education, funding for scholarships remains a top priority in the post-campaign period through a newly inaugurated matching incentive for private gifts. Restructuring of tuition (to make credits above 13 free) provides an important incentive for timely graduation. A student who takes 15 credits a term and graduates in four years will save 20 percent in tuition as compared with a student who takes 12 credits a term and graduates in five years.
University fundraising is primarily done through the University of Minnesota Foundation and the Minnesota Medical Foundation. Click here to see the impact of scholarships on our students.
Teaching and Learning
President Bruininks has called on the University community to “dedicate more of our attention to the science of learning and apply it to our central obligation of education.” The enhancement of teaching and learning is clustered in six areas: Learning Outcomes; The Learning Environment; Expanded Learning Communities; and the Undergraduate Library Initiatives.
Better Progress and Improved Graduation Rates
President Bruininks wants the University to build on recent improvements in undergraduate graduation rates at all of its campuses through enhanced advising and other interventions, including increased faculty development and recognition. In general, timely graduation (four or five years) serves individual students better by providing a more intense, focused academic experience; it serves the overall student population by freeing up valuable class openings for other students.
The University has also made significant improvements in course availability for students as well as major investments in student advising. The next step is to expand those investments to insure that career development information is closely integrated with advising throughout a student’s time at the University. Helping students see the connection between their academic work and career opportunities can make an important contribution to retention and timely graduation.
Student Satisfaction Levels
Undergraduate satisfaction indicators rose during the last decade and remain at high rates. Students are most satisfied when they are engaged with the learning experience and connected to the University in meaningful ways. To help improve student satisfaction and timely graduation, the University seeks to engage students more fully in their education. Keys to this involvement are student engagement and civic leadership. The University is using electronic portfolios or activities transcripts to capture student progress toward these outcomes. The University is committed to making as many student services such as financial aid and registration as easy and seamless for students as it can. In fall 2003 we introduced e-pay and e-bill, allowing the elimination of mailed paper bills and the payment of bills online. |
