Moving Forward, Striving for Success Improving student retention is priority

Dear Alumni & Friends,

Fall is always an exciting time of year at UND with students getting into the swing of their classes and activities, athletics ramping up and, of course, Homecoming Week in early October.

This year, Homecoming put us in an especially celebratory mood. We welcomed Werner and Colleen Nistler to campus to thank them for their extremely generous donation establishing the new Nistler College of Business & Public Administration. I also joined UND’s student leaders in breaking ground for a new Memorial Union. These two additions are among the many ongoing projects on campus that will keep us UND Proud for decades to come. They are solid indicators that your University is continuing to move forward while striving for excellence.

Homecoming Week is the time of year when UND traditionally honors its outstanding alumni. The 45th Annual Athletic Hall of Fame celebrated some of the University’s best athletes and teams. The annual Sioux Awards Banquet saw honors bestowed on four worthy alums who have led amazing careers and two young alumnae who are already making significant impacts with their UND educations.

This issue of UND Alumni Magazine pays tribute to North Dakota’s oldest citizen, Iris Westman of Northwood, North Dakota, who turned 114 in August. She also happens to be a UND graduate – class of 1928. Imagine all the changes Iris has witnessed at the University since graduating 91 years ago!

There’s another reason for optimism this fall, and that’s progress toward achieving a major goal of the One UND Strategic Plan. The focus on improving UND’s graduation rate has paid off with a 38 percent increase since 2011. However, the other part of this goal is improving student retention, and this is a challenge we must address.

For this reason, we’ve designated the 2019-20 academic year as “The Year of Retention.” There are steps the University has taken through its faculty and staff to improve retention and steps we plan to take. For example, UND has increased its number of core advisors to help students make good decisions while pursuing their education. We’ve implemented Starfish, a tool that enables the University to track and provide coordinated support to all students. We’re also giving students a Degree Planner – essentially a roadmap that helps them plot their course toward earning a degree.

While everyone at UND plays a part in retention, I want to emphasize the critical role of our faculty in this effort. Countless students have had the experience of working with a faculty member who gave them reason to stay in school and complete their degrees. Knowing the many responsibilities and time demands currently on UND’s faculty, they deserve our thanks and gratitude for establishing the important bonds and making the key interactions with students that contribute to achieving success at UND.

Upon reflection, perhaps the most rewarding aspect of Homecoming Week is that it serves as a reminder of what our graduates can accomplish and the impacts they have on the world as the result of their UND education. My thanks to all those who strive to make this possible.

Joshua Wynne, MD, MBA, MPH

President, University of North Dakota

Vice President for Health Affairs and Dean, UND School of Medicine & Health Sciences