STUDENT SUCCESS SYMPOSIUM • OCTOBER 16

ABOUT

The Student Success Symposium is a one day, invitation-only workshop at our annual ASPIRE conference. The Symposium gathers state and system leaders, academic leaders and thought leaders to collaborate and share academic planning and scheduling strategies and practices. Symposium attendees will gain access to conference keynotes in addition to experts presenting on topics such as integrated strategies across systems and states, course sharing consortiums, academic program health and review and the financial impact and opportunity in planning and scheduling.

FEATURED SPEAKERS

DR. TIMOTHY RENICK

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STUDENT SUCCESS

Timothy Renick is the founding Executive Director of the National Institute for Student Success and Professor of Religious Studies at Georgia State University. Between 2008-2020, he directed the student success efforts of the university, overseeing a 62% improvement in graduation rates and the elimination of all equity gaps based on students' race, ethnicity, or income level. For six consecutive years, Georgia State has graduated more African American students with bachelor’s degrees than any other not-for-profit college or university in the nation. Dr. Renick has testified on strategies for helping university students succeed before the U.S. Senate and has twice been invited to speak at the White House. His work has been covered by the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Time, and CNN and cited by former President Barack Obama. His work was also the subject of the book, Won’t Lose this Dream (New Press, 2020) by Andrew Gumbel. Dr. Renick was named one of the Most Innovative People in Higher Education by Washington Monthly and one of the World’s 50 Greatest Leaders by Fortune magazine.  He was the recipient of the Award for National Leadership in Student Success Innovation and was awarded the McGraw Prize in Higher Education. He has been principal investigator for more than $50 million in research grants focused on promoting better and more equitable outcomes for college students. At Georgia State, he has served as Chair of the Department of Religious Studies, Director of the Honors Program and Senior Vice President. A summa cum laude graduate of Dartmouth College, Dr. Renick holds his M.A. and Ph.D. in Religion from Princeton University.  

DR. TERRY BROWN

VICE PRESIDENT OF ACADEMIC INNOVATION & TRANSFORMATION, AASCU

As Vice President for Academic Innovation and Transformation at the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, Dr. Terry Brown oversees the division that provides programming and services to assist members fulfill their academic mission primarily in the areas of civic engagement, international education, student success, and teacher education. She served for nearly 25 years in the University of Wisconsin System as tenured faculty in the field of English, academic leader at the University of Wisconsin River Falls, and provost at the University of Wisconsin Parkside. Most recently, she served as the Provost and VP for Academic Affairs at the State University of New York at Fredonia. She is an advocate for accessible, affordable public higher education. In nearly 20 years of academic leadership, Terry has led colleges and universities in integrated and strategic academic and enrollment planning, aligning budget and space resources to academic priorities. As a first-generation college student, she is committed to equitable student success and spearheaded several efforts to increase college completion. Terry holds a doctorate in English from the University of Florida and a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in English from Virginia Tech.

CHARLES ANSELL

VICE PRESIDENT FOR RESEARCH, POLICY, AND ADVOCACY, COMPLETE COLLEGE AMERICA

A native Chicagoan, Charles got his professional start in freelance writing and computer repair before pivoting hard to higher ed. Higher ed, like most US public sectors, is a microcosm of halting, wholly inadequate progress, each advancement subsequently undercut by lack of public funding. Charles’ life is in the service of moving that progress along, faster, in the conviction we all should do our infinitesimal part in bending the arc of justice towards progress. He is humble enough to know the walls of our social system are often invisible and works to combat any politics that would make anyone feel isolated or demonized, or that wouldn’t provide for minimal standards of living and basic human rights. ​​

As you read this, Charles is likely off somewhere working in whatever ways he can to improve grad rates for students with the fewest advantages in life. If he’s not busy doing this, he’s got family obligations, or he’s feeling anxiety-guilt about not doing either, and so is meditating or caffeinating that madness away.