We, as educators, expect students to connect the dots and experience our institutions through a variety of lenses; we must organize ourselves in a way that places synergy, collaboration, and data-driven decisions at the center of our operations. Over the past three years, Ramapo College has worked diligently to ensure that strategy drives the structure of a student's experience by placing student success at its core. This work has been successful only because of the collaboration and connections that exist between the divisions of Enrollment Management, Academic Affairs, and the faculty. In those three years, the college has implemented a mandatory advisement system involving faculty and staff, expanded student-academic affairs partnerships in a first-year seminar course, instituted a new early alert program with 77% faculty participation and ultimately maintained and grown slightly its enrollment outcomes while increasing the diversity of its incoming class. This article will describe the partnerships and processes that facilitated these changes and offer suggestions to inform other institutions moving toward a more institutional approach to student success.
