Cluster Timeline
Intensive collaborative activities supported by APLU will run for five years, with continued evaluation and opportunities for renewed engagement beyond the initial five-year period. APLU has divided the five-year period into five phases, some of which are overlapping and ongoing and often will not correspond with calendar years.
Phase I: Organizing Clusters (2018)
View the detailed Phase I Action Plan
- Work with main points of contact at interested institutions to begin forming the clusters.
- Get agreement and buy-in on the composition of the cluster from each participating university.
- Each cluster will hold virtual meetings during the summer/early fall of 2018. There will be two virtual meetings with main contacts from each campus as well as one conference call with presidents and chancellors.
- APLU continues to develop partnerships with national higher education stakeholders and technical assistance groups.
- APLU continues its work on a knowledge-management platform to collect, synthesize, and disseminate results of collaborative activities.
- Kick-off the initiative at the 2018 APLU Annual Meeting (half-day session)
Phase II: Assessment of Current Capacities and Initial Collaborative Work (2019)
- Clusters work collaboratively to drive agreed-upon degree completion and student success efforts on campus.
- APLU provides advice and data via a knowledge-management platform and cluster meetings/conference calls/campus visits.
- APLU works with clusters to procure financial support from national or regional funders to support cluster activities.
- Clusters and APLU begin to develop a “marketplace” for student success solutions and strengthen relationships with other higher education stakeholders nationally.
- Gates Foundation assessment tool is piloted with at least 20 campuses.
- Other self-assessment tools are administered as needed (e.g., Lumina Beyond Financial Aid assessment).
- Cluster members share and discuss results of self-assessments.
Phase III: Continued Collaborative Work, Innovation, and Action (2019-2022)
- Clusters continue to work collaboratively to drive agreed-upon degree completion and student success efforts on campus.
- New student success strategies that emerge from the clusters are piloted or tested more broadly.
- Existing best practices are adapted for use in various campus contexts.
- APLU continues to provide advice and data via a knowledge-management platform and cluster meetings/conference calls/campus visits.
- APLU continues to work with clusters to procure financial support from national or regional funders to support cluster activities.
- Clusters and APLU continue to develop a “marketplace” for student success solutions and strengthen relationships with other higher education stakeholders nationally.
Phase IV: Sharing Lessons Learned (2020-2022)
- Clusters continue to work collaboratively to drive agreed-upon degree completion and student success efforts on campus, with a focus on sharing and scaling.
- Shared standards and self-assessment tools are developed.
- Data is collected and synthesized to evaluate success.
- Cluster participants share key data and lessons learned.
- APLU conducts outreach to generate support for implementation of successful strategies among universities.
- APLU disseminates knowledge across the membership and strategic partners in the higher education sector; lessons learned are used in our congressional advocacy efforts as applicable. APLU may also provide guidance to universities to use in their own state/local advocacy activities.
Phase V: Overall Evaluation & Planning Next Steps for the Initiative (2022)
- Develop final learning products and sustainability plan.
- Re-evaluate and renew commitments, and identify new opportunities for collaboration.
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