Provost's Task Force on the Academic Progress of Undergraduates

Working Group Assignments

For each of your respective groups, please come prepared to our first meeting with a designated spokesperson and written materials (with copies for other Task Force members) on the following questions/issues:

Institutional Policies group

What are the University's policies on satisfactory progress?
How are they implemented (and by whom)?
Please consult with academic advisers in OMA, the Gateway Center and departments on this set of issues.

Data group

Within each cohort:

Number of students beyond 105 and 210 credits
The grades of students beyond 105 and 210 credits
Number of native and transfer students in each of these groups
Students' majors (210+ group)
Number of students with more than one major and/or more than one

Characteristics of Students group

Design a plan for conducting focus groups of students on the challenges they face progressing through the UW's system of academic requirements (to be implemented in the Fall):

Diversity
Financial situation
Goals
Problems
Personal challenges
Use of advisers

Barriers to Academic Progress group

Identify known barriers to academic progress in either the declaration of majors and/or completion of degree requirements. These should include specific problems of:

Access to courses (specify problematic courses)
Access to majors (specify problematic majors and access issues)
Course and major requirements (specify the requirements that create barriers)
Course time and/or location (specify attributes of the timing or location courses that make completing the courses difficult).

Strategies group

What do peer institutions do to ensure academic progress?
What problems have peer institutions encountered in achieving high levels of progress?
What solutions to progress problems have these institutions developed?