2006

  • Student Success Team created 
  • RISE (Research on Iowa Student Experiences) study conducted 

2007

  • Dr. Elizabeth Whitt, faculty member and national expert in student success, hired to direct initiatives via the Provost’s office
  • Shared definition of “Student Success at Iowa” created
  • Draft of “The Message” – a set of expectations for student success at Iowa – created, based on feedback from campus 
  • Action Committees: FYE, Peers, Traditions, Pick One, Importance of Student Success, Communicating the Message, LLC, Early Intervention, Barriers

2008

  • The Message completed and named: The IOWA Challenge
  • Historic flood hits campus
  • Pick One launched
  • First Year Experience recommends immersion program
  • 47 Things to Do at Iowa created
  • 25 First-Year Seminars offered

2009

  • Dr. George Kuh, national expert on student success, visits campus
  • Convocation revived
  • The IOWA Challenge integrated into Admissions, Orientation, and beyond
  • Institution-wide learning outcomes created
  • New institutional assessment coordinator hired
  • IOWA GROW® student employment intervention created
  • 93 First-Year Seminars offered
  • UI reaches 10-year high in retention
  • UI high-risk drinking rate: 70%
  • Retention rate 86.6% 

2010

  • Immersion program committee charged
  • Early intervention director hired
  • Harm Reduction plan launched
  • SWAT (Studying, Workshops, Tutoring) program begins
  • New Campus Wellness Center opens
  • First TILE classroom opened

2011

  • On Iowa! Immersion program launched
  • Harm Reduction Coordinator hired
  • SST Newsletter created
  • Late night activity funding increased
  • Meet the Challenge awards created
  • Every Student, Every Encounter project begins with weekly conversation starters by Vice President Tom Rocklin
  • 117 First-Year Seminars offered
  • Greek arrest and citation policy enacted 
  • UI high-risk drinking rate: 64.5%
  • Retention rate: 85.5% 

2012

  • IOWA GROW® intervention taken Division of Student Life wide
  • UI becomes NCBI (National Coalition Building Institute) affiliate
  • 118 First-Year Seminars offered
  • UI high-risk drinking rate: 64.1%
  • Retention: 85.8% 

2013

  • Move toward universal LLC’s begins
  • TEDxIowa conference debut
  • Alternative Spring Break (ASB) program begins
  • Capture Iowa first-year photo project launched
  • 124 First-Year Seminars offered
  • UI high-risk drinking rate: 58.7%
  • Retention: 86.1% 

2014

  • Alternative Spring Break expands to 4 trips
  • 120 First-Year Seminars offered
  • Construction on new residence hall begins
  • UI Greeks less likely to be cited for alcohol than general student population
  • 8 TILE classrooms available
  • UI high-risk drinking rate: 54.1%

2015

  • 132 First-Year seminars offered
  • New residence hall opened on west side (Peterson Hall)
  • Construction begins on new east side residence hall
  • 11 TILE classrooms available
  • Alternative Spring Break expands to 8 trips
  • Academic Resource Center relocates to newly reopened ground floor IMU
  • Be Better @ Iowa project planning
  • Black Student Success project begins
  • BARS (Black Art|Real Stories) literary magazine launched
  • Yard Show, Poetry Slam added to On Iowa!
  • High risk drinking rate 54.2%

2016

  • UI Strategic Planning process concludes; Student success is one of three key areas
  • Be Better@Iowa initiative launched; All incoming students take the StrengthsFinder assessment
  • Alternative Spring Break expands to 12 trips
  • Cultural House upgrades begin
  • 131 First-Year seminars offered
  • Academic Resource Center reaches 10,000 students during 1st semester
  • High-risk drinking rate 50.9%
  • HRA screen and intervene offered for sophomore students
  • Young, Black, and Gifted LLC begins 

2017

2018

  • Student Experience in the Research University (SERU)
  • Alternative Spring Break expands to 16 trips 
  • 119 First-year seminars offered 
  • New resident hall opened on east side (Catlett) 
  • High-risk drinking rate 49.6% 

2019