Frequently Asked Questions

What is Moving the Needle (MTN)?

MTN is a comprehensive student success strategic plan designed and delivered by the campus through a multi-year partnership with Credo.

MTN is designed to establish, guide, and achieve campus priorities for student success and retention through:

• A practical, phased implementation approach based on areas of need, urgency, and opportunities for immediate impact
• Mid-range and long-term strategic planning priorities for future student achievement
• Professional development opportunities for faculty, staff, and administrators to ensure the institution has the infrastructure needed to support and sustain student success initiatives on campus.

How does it work?

Through our journey with MTN we will:

• Define your current student experience
• Assess campus systems, processes, culture and practices that impact students
• Design improvements and/or launch new strategic, high-impact initiatives 
• Train and guide cross-functional talent across campus as they execute those strategies
• Provide accountability and measurement of each step of success along the way

MTN strategies are collaboratively designed and implemented with your team and adapted specifically for your campus needs and opportunities. Forty to fifty faculty and staff leaders serve as the backbone of the project, over the course of the first two years in particular. The success of Moving the Needle on your campus will depend on the work of this talent, who will serve as a group over the course of the project. These can be already defined leaders, rising stars, or untapped-but promising-faculty or staff. The Credo team will professionally develop these leaders throughout the project.

As a multiyear, customized partnership and deep learning experience, MTN can be undertaken in single or cohort format. Each cohort institution will be deeply and independently engaged with the Credo team to adapt and build what their institution needs. The cohort relationship levels up the power of networking, peer development, and accountability.

What are the key elements of MTN?

Define

What is the student experience on your campus?

• In collaboration with the campus, the Credo MTN Team analyzes institutional and student-specific data to define the current student experience and identify the 4-5 areas of most opportunity for improvement.
• Additional student and institutional assessments are embedded in the MTN project to complete the institutional picture and establish baselines and improvement targets. These assessments include admitted student research, student-thriving measures, and cultural readiness findings.

Assess

How do your culture, systems, policies, and practices impact the student success experience?

• In collaboration with a designated group of campus leaders, the Credo MTN Team assesses the effectiveness of campus policies, processes, and practices. Detailed reviews include process mapping the student experience from the start of the admission experience through graduation, examining closely the integration and seamlessness of campus practices.
• The MTN project engages the campus community, interacting with faculty, staff, administration, students, and board members to increase awareness and integrate campus progress and student success into the culture.

Design

Which 4-5 specific strategies, launched or enhanced and integrated into institutional operations, will result in the greatest impact for student success?

In collaboration with campus leaders, the Credo MTN Team will determine a select set of initiatives that in combination have the greatest impact on improving student success outcomes. Detailed measurable roadmaps are co-created, utilizing on-campus and Credo expertise.

Deliver

How do we ensure the campus is focused and making progress?

• The MTN project teams provide ongoing facilitation, support, and tracking toward goals.
• As selected strategies are completed and integrated into the operational work of the campus, next strategies are identified and launched.

Where can I learn more about the scope and nature of Moving the Needle?

1. Credo’s website shares a broad MTN project overview
2. This MTN Project collateral piece unpacks the specific steps of Years 1 - 2
3. Learn more about the MTN Cohort model

What are the major benefits of MTN to an institution?

Improvement In Retention

Partnering with Credo and engaging in the MTN project will impact retention on your campus. There is a substantial return on investment and benefits that range from increased revenue, leadership development, and improvements in student success. As of 2019, 15 of 19 institutions had completed the project and all realized first-time full-time fall-to-fall retention percentage increases over four years range from 12 to 24%.

Impact On Middle Talent

Forty to fifty middle talent faculty and staff leaders serve as the backbone of the project, over the course of the first two years in particular. The success of Moving the Needle on your campus will depend on the work of middle talent who will serve as a group of individuals from faculty and staff over the course of the project. These can be already defined leaders, rising stars, or untapped-but-promising faculty or staff. The Credo team will professionally develop these leaders throughout the project.

Hear Megan Childress, Director of Student Success, as she describes the impact of MTN on her growth, development, and leadership capacity.

New Net Revenue

Depending on the size of the institution, MTN partners are realizing new annual net revenue between $500,000 to $2M as a result of increased retention in first-to-second year, increased persistence rates through graduation, and maximized residential populations. In addition, many institutions recognize improved balances in accounts receivables because of improved student business processes, one of the key outcome areas of the MTN project. 

What high-level outcomes will our campus experience through MTN?

What is the anticipated cost for participating institutions?

• An initial $75,000 fee
• A 5-year partnership, sharing revenue from new net revenue as a result of improved retention of first-time full-time students
• The percentage shared by Credo is a sliding scale (ranging from 15% to 35%) based on the size of the incoming class of first-time full-time students
• Over the five years, travel expenses can be between $35-$45K; those will be heavier in the first two years of the partnership

Are there additional costs associated with supporting student success on my campus?

We ask each institution to commit its own investment back into student success work on the campus. Experience shows it is funded more easily by new revenue the school will realize in the first several years with Moving the Needle. 

Our collaboration on the project ensures that those investments are made in just the right places. In the first one to two years, reallocation of funds is the norm. By year two or three, we may identify together new solutions or systems needed to execute on milestones and goals. Investment level and timing will vary based on solutions and systems.

What data will I need to provide to receive an initial return on investment (ROI) model for review?

Once your team is in communication with Credo and we are working through MTN readiness, we will provide you with a link to our ROI Data Request. You will need to be prepared to share the following data:

• Institution name
• Tuition amount
• Room and board amount
• First-time full-time discount rate
• First-time full-time student cohorts 2017 - 2023
  • Number of first-time full-time students for each academic year
  • Number of students returning each consecutive year
  • Number of students in each cohort who lived on campus each year