Background

The Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities (APLU) Degree Completion Award honors public universities that are using innovative strategies and initiatives to increase retention and graduation rates. The President’s office at UCF asked me to write this application, and I worked with a team of leaders from across the university to author a competitive application, twice. The main challenge was presenting a myriad of data points from various initiatives as a cohesive and compelling narrative demonstrating how the university strategically increased the retention and graduation rates of underrepresented students, in ten pages, which was no small feat. I authored a highly competitive application that presented evidenced-based models to improve retention and graduation that other institutions may adapt. In 2019 the university application was selected as one of three finalists. 

Methods 

• Collaborate with program and team leads to gather sources (reports, press releases, websites, program assessment) and discuss key contributions of their programs or initiatives 

• Read through sources and use a deductive approach to synthesize data and support an overarching, data-driven narrative

• Draft and revise multiple versions of the application according to collaborator feedback

• Revise according to feedback and application requirements

Challenges

• Collaborating with multiple leaders and stakeholders (approximately 15) 

• Adhering to APLU documentation parameters (organization, formatting, length, etc.)

• Completing within a short timeline while collaborating with many colleagues 

• Being the only writing expert on the project and working with other experts to accurately conveying their data

• Understanding and conveying quantitative data 

Impact 

• In 2019 the university was selected as one of three finalists, highlighting the contributions of university initiatives 

• Good narrative and strong writing can demonstrate the tangible contributions of initiatives and how to implement them elsewhere 

• I personally learned how to meet people where they are when collaborating because I worked with people who had various visions, various abilities to articulate numbers as narratives, and various preferences for meeting and communicating.