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    • The University of Tennessee is hosting Student Success US 2024 in Knoxville
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    The University of Tennessee is hosting Student Success US 2024 in Knoxville

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    As the University of Tennessee at Knoxville continues to celebrate its record retention rate, Division of Student Success will put the state’s flagship campus in the national spotlight this week when it hosts more than 200 institutions at the Student Success US 2024 conference in partnership with two major trade publications.

    The nearly sold-out conference, which will run from October 28-30, comes on the heels of UT achieving record first-year student retention, reaching 91.9% in 2024. Inside Higher Ed and Times Higher Education, which selected For UT to host the conference, “historically, it will select campuses that are at the cutting edge of this work,” Amber Williams, vice provost for student success, told Knox News.

    “Being in a place where 97 percent of our students are thriving academically makes me smile,” she said. “It kind of excites me because these are dreams that are going to come true and that’s the best thing.”

    UT Chancellor Donde Plowman and Provost John Zomchick are among the speakers who will address the institutions, sharing insights about their approaches to ensuring students have the tools they need to succeed.

    How UT’s Division of Student Success came to national attention

    Before coming to UT, Williams worked at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for 17 years, overlapping with Plowman’s tenure at the university. During his time there, Williams supervised increasing the number of students as assistant vice chancellor for academic services and enrollment management.

    Williams started at UT in January 2020 in the newly established division. UT tried to achieve a 90% retention rate by 2020, but has stagnated at around 86%. Part of the problem, according to Williams, was that UT faculty operated in “individual silos” instead of collaborating to achieve the goal.

    “People said, ‘We can’t get there. It’s an unrealistic goal,” Williams said. “I remember early on I kept saying, ‘Yes, we can.’ All we have to do is share it among individual people.”

    Williams’ strategy to boost retention was based on reaching students where they are in life. The biggest step in this approach was training Vol. The Success Teamwhich assigns three professionals to each student to manage their experience at UT. There is a counselor, an academic coach, and a financial aid counselor for each student.

    The orientation process has been revamped to help students stay on track in their first year. Orientation now includes group academic sessions with Williams and “Welcome Six Weeks” at the beginning of the fall and spring semesters for freshmen.

    Through this process, students get to know the campus and prepare for classes while spending time with Vol Success team members. By building these relationships with advisors, Williams said, students who are reported for missing classes or assignments won’t ignore their academic coach because their coach is seen as a “cheerleader” for their success.

    Over the past four years, the Vol Success Team’s academic coaching appointments have grown from 3,277 to 12,352, and the team has made 54,000 advising appointments in 2023. But the division’s success is most evident in its record retention rate.

    “We moved the needle from 86% to… 91.9%. It’s a huge feat. And we did it while having bigger classes every year, and that actually makes it even more of a challenge,” Williams said. “That’s unheard of in some ways.”

    Amber Williams envisions a successful future for the Division of Student Success

    Increasing retention is a primary reason UT is hosting the Student Success US 2024 conference.

    “Even some of the best campuses out there, it usually takes seven to 10 years for something like this to happen,” Williams said. “So there’s a lot of excitement about us getting involved and trying to understand what we’re doing.”

    Another factor in UT’s success, and thus its selection for the conference, is the university’s focus on developing programs specific to demographic needs. The needs of first generation students are different from what student veterans need, Williams said, and accommodating these groups fosters success.

    In August, the division launched Expressing student successa pilot program offering support to students after regular business hours, 5-8 pm in Hodges Library. In January, the division will be launched Vol Edgea life and career preparation program that helps students “graduate with confidence” to enter the workforce or apply for higher education.

    In five years, Williams hopes to see 50 percent of UT students involved in Vol Edge.

    A $108 million, 108,000 square foot Building Student Success is expected to open in fall 2027, replacing Melrose Hall on Melrose Circle Drive. Williams described the building as the “academic living room of the campus” with five classrooms, a study center, lounges and academic support services.

    “It’s designed for students,” she said.

    As Williams prepares for higher education institutions across the country to descend on Knoxville, she continues to focus on what students need to succeed.

    “I am very proud of what I have done. We’re not doing it for the awards under any circumstances,” she said. “If the accolades come because of it, that’s all good. But those dreams are far more important than the accolades.

    “For me, praise is the icing on the cake.”

    Keenan Thomas is a senior reporter. E-mail [email protected]. X, formerly known as Twitter @specialk2real.

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