A.S.P.I.R.E. Task Force Interim Executive Report

Introduction

The A.S.P.I.R.E. (Advisement, Support, Persistence, Innovation, Retention, and Employment) Taskforce at Touro University was established to advance student success, by promoting high-impact practices in advisement, support, persistence, innovation, retention, and employment. With membership from across the Touro University System and built on the foundation of the 2017 Project Strive and the 2023-2025 Student Success Taskforce, this two-year initiative reflects the university’s commitment to empowering students to aspire, achieve, and advance within a culture of innovation and excellence. Membership of the taskforce was selected to be broadly representative of the whole University with the intention that the impact on student success would be university-wide, and address issues related to Undergraduate, Graduate, and Professional Divisions. The members of the Task Force are listed in Appendix A.

The President's Charge

The A.S.P.I.R.E. Taskforce is charged with advancing student success across the Touro University system by identifying, evaluating, and promoting high-impact practices in advisement, support, and career readiness. The taskforce will build on the university’s positive trajectory in student outcomes by fostering a culture of community engagement, innovation, and excellence.

In response to the charge, The A.S.P.I.R.E. Taskforce defined its commitment to advancing student success by fostering a culture of excellence in these areas of focus as described:

• Advisement: Enhancing academic counseling systems and satisfaction tracking.
• Support: Improving non-academic and personal counseling through better documentation and communication systems.
• Persistence: Identifying barriers and implementing targeted initiatives to help students navigate academic, social, and financial challenges.
• Innovation: Leveraging technology to create integrated student success platforms and solutions.
• Retention: Standardizing definitions, metrics, and dashboards to monitor and improve student retention.
• Employment: Strengthening career outcomes by analyzing internship feedback and developing students’ soft skills.

Year 1 Summary

The operational process of the A.S.P.I.R.E. Taskforce is a structured, cadence-based governance model designed to fulfill the President’s Charge of identifying, evaluating, and scaling high-impact practices. To translate strategic goals into actionable workstreams, each distinct subcommittee convenes monthly to tackle targeted focus areas, operating alongside a monthly full-taskforce assembly. Subcommittee chairs maintain operational momentum, ensuring meetings remain productive while regularly reporting progress to the broader taskforce.

Through this collaborative framework, the taskforce focuses on institutional standardization and targeted interventions across its six subcommittees. Key operational initiatives include standardizing retention definitions and metrics, deploying comprehensive dashboards to monitor student trajectories, and removing academic, social, and financial barriers to persistence. Concurrently, the taskforce strengthens employment pathways by analyzing internship feedback and refining soft-skill development programs. By combining structured monthly governance with metric-driven implementation, the A.S.P.I.R.E. Taskforce advances Touro University's mission of empowering students to achieve, persist, and transition successfully into professional careers.

Governance Structure

During year 1, members were asked to review and develop best practices in each focus area, propose strategic frameworks/ best practice pilot projects, identify metrics and benchmarks to assess implementation. Towards these goals, cross-functional subcommittees were organized and, throughout the first year, they worked to develop strategic plans, according to a prescribed template. The template called upon subcommittees to provide, for their area of focus, Strategic Goal(s), Best Practices, a Proposed Strategic Framework, together with the Action Plan for the coming Year 2. The template also asked each committee to provide metrics and benchmarks to allow for assessment of success. The outcome of year 1 effort can be summarized as a list of strategic initiatives proposed for implementation in Year 2.

List of Strategic Initiatives Proposed for Year 2

Advisement

• Implement and analyze post-contact student satisfaction surveys.
• Develop and deliver advisory skills course for faculty development.

Location: PA program in NY and/or NV, NYSCAS Nursing program

Support

• Develop Leadership Coalitions for student activities/new student orientations.
• Establish repositories for staff to share what they’ve done for Orientation and Student Activities.
• Assess the options to streamline record management.

Location: System-wide

Persistence

• Identify key barriers to student success across academic, social, and financial domains.
• Design and deploy surveys to determine common persistence challenges.
• Develop targeted initiatives that address identified barriers and strengthen student resilience.

Location: NYSCAS, Dental School

Innovation

• Identify essential components of an integrated student chatbot interface.
• Evaluate technology platforms that could provide greater integration of student data.
• Foster collaboration across the university system to ensure unified solutions.
• Explore the development of a comprehensive RFP for the chatbot aligned with institutional needs and consistent with budget planning timelines.

Tentative location: Proof of Concept at TUNCOM

Retention

• Create a shared glossary of retention-related terminology.
• Clarify key retention metrics and components for comparative benchmarking and for leadership decision-making.
• Build upon the Dean’s dashboards and analytics tools to monitor attrition trends.
• Design training resources to support leaders in using retention data effectively.
• Identify strategies to reduce undergraduate attrition further improve retention.

Location: System-wide with special emphasis on Undergraduate division

Employment

• Analyze internship feedback from key academic programs.
• Identify themes related to student strengths and skill gaps.
• Develop interventions focused on improving soft skills.
• Align training with workforce expectations to enhance graduate employment outcomes.

Location: UG Computer Science Department internships, GSE student-teacher assessments

Strategic Initiatives for Year 2

These Year 2 strategic plans operationalize data-informed decision-making, continuous improvement feedback loops, cross-functional collaboration, and system-wide knowledge sharing, representing a coordinated, evidence-based approach to advancing student success across the Touro University system. Through these coordinated strategic plans, the A.S.P.I.R.E. Taskforce converts Year 1’s findings into high-impact, actionable plans that advance institutional excellence across the entire Touro University system.

Across all focus areas, several unifying priorities emerged:

• Data-Informed Decision Making: Leveraging surveys, dashboards, analytics, and outcome assessments to identify opportunities, monitor progress, and guide strategic action.
• Continuous Quality Improvement: Establishing feedback mechanisms and assessment processes that support ongoing evaluation, refinement, and scaling of effective practices.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Fostering partnerships among academic programs, student affairs, enrollment management, institutional research, and administrative units to address student success from a comprehensive institutional perspective.
• System-Wide Knowledge Sharing: Building leadership coalitions, communities of practice, and shared resource networks that capitalize on the expertise, innovation, and collective strengths of the Touro University system.
• Strategic Innovation: Identifying and evaluating emerging technologies, integrated systems, and scalable solutions that enhance student support services, strengthen institutional capacity, and improve operational efficiency.

As the A.S.P.I.R.E. Taskforce enters its second year, these initiatives provide a strategic roadmap for transforming Year 1 planning into targeted implementation and measurable outcomes. Through deliberate action, robust assessment, and collaborative leadership, the task force seeks to advance a culture of student-centered excellence while supporting Touro University's mission to empower students to achieve their academic goals and successfully transition into meaningful professional careers.