Temple University marked its first anniversary as a member of the University Innovation Alliance (UIA) in March, highlighting progress in efforts to improve student success and career readiness. The university joined the UIA, a coalition of public research universities focused on enhancing student outcomes through collaborative innovation, as its 18th member last year.
The alliance aims to address challenges such as retention, degree completion, and equity in outcomes by sharing tested solutions among its now 19 member institutions. Temple’s membership is selective, with each institution representing its state.
John Fry, president of Temple University, said, “Being part of the UIA is helping Temple advance our mission as a major public research university committed to access, academic excellence and social mobility. In our first year, this partnership is already informing new ways to support students—which is at the heart of what we do—and will continue to drive data-driven strategic improvements across the university as we implement our strategic plan, Forward with Purpose, with student success as one of the plan’s three priorities.”
Bridget Burns, CEO of the UIA, said that designing an effective first-year experience is crucial for long-term student achievement. “The first year sets the trajectory for a student’s college experience, and career readiness is strongest when it is woven throughout that journey. Temple University plans to intentionally integrate predictive analytics, proactive advising and career readiness into the academic experience in order to strengthen pathways for students to build confidence and momentum from the start,” Burns said. “This kind of coordinated, evidence-informed approach ensures that more students graduate not only with a degree but with the skills, networks and sense of purpose that position them for long-term life and career success.”
Since joining the alliance last March, Temple has participated in several UIA initiatives aligned with its strategic priorities. The Division of Student Affairs created a “listening lab” to collect feedback from students about their first-year experiences. This information will help shape orientation programs and seminars designed to foster belonging and support academic success.
Jodi Bailey Accavallo, vice president for student affairs and Temple’s UIA liaison said: “Student success is a central part of our new strategic plan. Data shows a strong first-year experience influences retention. Through the UIA we’ve trained our team to gather and analyze student feedback so we can determine what should be centralized as a university and what each school can do to shape the overall first-year experience.”
In addition to evaluating first-year programs, Kristen Gallo—executive director for career services—is leading efforts to embed career readiness within academic programs. Gallo said: “The UIA includes universities that are doing truly innovative work in experiential learning and career planning for students. The UIA’s strong focus on measurable outcomes aligns closely with our strategic plan which includes student outcomes as a key performance indicator. I’m eager to engage with upcoming UIA initiatives to explore how we can embed best practices here at Temple to empower our students to succeed in their future career paths.”
Faculty and staff now have free access to resources through the UIA University Innovation Lab including professional development courses and case studies.
Accavallo added: “Our involvement in the UIA gives Temple access to tested models, implementation playbooks, and a national network of institutions willing to share success stories and lessons learned. We have also used the UIA for consultation and benchmarking on organizational structure, staffing models, first-year student experience design and other mechanisms that allow us to track progress against national best practices.”
In February this year Temple launched a partnership with Georgia State University’s National Institute for Student Success (NISS), another member institution within the alliance. NISS will conduct an operational diagnostic phase at Temple aimed at identifying barriers affecting college completion rates; findings will be compiled into actionable recommendations tailored specifically for Temple.
Once research concludes later this year faculty staff—and students—will convene campuswide discussions about results from NISS’ diagnostic process led by Tim Renick’s team.
