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Care Management Model

Since 2010, the university's laser focus on student success has lead to the adoption of innovative tools and practices, like predictive analytics and case management, to help fuel unprecedented gains in student retention and graduation rates, garnering national recognition. Read on to explore the evolution of our innovative care management model. 

Evolution of Care Management 

With the 2015 implementation of predictive analytics in to improve first-year student retention and graduation rates, leadership quickly realized that our internal structures needed to be altered to take action on the generated insights.

Formation of the Persistence Committee
Early in 2016, the university formed a cross-functional committee comprised of approximately two dozen functional unit leaders from across the institution鈥攊ncluding academic advisors, academic advocates, financial aid advisors, career counselors, housing staff, dean of students, librarians and other support personnel. The Persistence Committee was charged with developing and managing a process to put the predictive analytics insights into action.

Meeting weekly, the Persistence Committee reviewed the list of students pulled from the predictive analytics system, determined the appropriate means to intervene and assigned follow up to help individual students get back on track. They also addressed complex cases, trends, and policy and procedural issues uncovered by the data.


Adoption of Case Management
Intrigued by the case management model utilized in the healthcare industry to triage and assist patients, Student Success Vice President Paul Dosal recognized its potential to structure and streamline the work of the Persistence Committee and Care Team in the fall of 2016.

Case management would allow the team to identify and track the appropriate level of care for more than 40,000 students in each of these groups:

• Persisting students who only needed to utilize the traditional campus resources
• At-risk students needing more intensified monitoring and intentional resources
• High-risk students who needed a care team to provide immediate and urgent interventions to resolve issues quickly

USF adopted the case management model and expanded its team of academic advocates to serve as case managers for the at-risk and high-risk students. The Office of Academic Advocacy works with students in academic distress to advise them of their options, suggest assistance, and review progress towards graduation. The advocates coordinate with departments, colleges and other university personnel to provide services and support each student needs to eliminate the barriers to progression. 

This group, the Care Team, is a network of more than 200 mental health counselors, academic advisors, student employees, financial aid counselors, student involvement professionals, resident advisors, etc.  Members can assist with reach out to individual students, address assigned cases with their respective units to resolve issues, and provide specific resources to assist each student back to a successful path.

The Care Team closes the loop with information flowing back to the advocates about their interactions with a given student via our proprietary Archivum Insights case management platform. The proprietary platform provides case managers, the Persistence Committee, Care Team members and administrators with the ability to review identified at-risk students cases, coordinate their care and communicate with partners across campus. 

The Persistence Committee continues to meet weekly, assisting the academic advocates with additional information about students in their curricular and co-curricular environments, providing feedback regarding possible interventions and next steps, and affecting changes to problematic policies, procedures and systems.

Expansion of Model Post USF Consolidation
On July 1, 2020, USF's three separately accredited campuses were consolidated into one accredited university with three campuses. As a result, Student Success leadership has implemented the case management model founded on the Tampa campus across the university.