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Division of Undergraduate Education
Undergraduate Retention Initiatives and Success Engagement (U-RISE)
Undergraduate Retention Initiatives and Success EngagementSSTAR LabSSTAR Lab Insights

SSTAR Lab Insights

Research in Action

Edition #1 | September 2025

Welcome to our inaugural edition of SSTAR Lab Insights: Research in Action! This new publication provides highlights about interesting research and best practices in higher education, while including actionable steps you can take to apply research to your everyday work. We aim to appeal to a diverse audience and intend to cover a variety of topics with relevance across our different units, roles, and levels of expertise. You can expect topics to range from building foundational knowledge, reinforcing existing practices, or introducing novel ideas to bring innovation to our work. We invite you to explore this new resource with curiosity and see how SSTAR Lab can help you turn research into action!

 

Featured Study

Rust, M. M., & Willey, A. E. (2024). Defining and institutionalizing proactive advising: Insights from a national survey. NACADA Journal, 44(2), 83-109. https://doi.org/10.12930/NACADA-23-11

Quick Take: Proactive, advisor-initiated outreach is widely recognized as an effective advising technique to promote students' success, but it can be even more effective when adopted as an institutional strategy. This study recommends engaging in coordinated, multilevel efforts to define and embed proactive approaches to enhance services for students.

 

Deeper Dive

Why this matters for all higher ed professionals.

  • Defining the Work: Proactive outreach involves intentional and individualized communication with students. It aims to anticipate and respond to potential barriers to students' success. It also serves to establish meaningful connections between students and trusted campus professionals and can lead to improved outcomes. 
  • It Takes a Team: Broad implementation of proactive strategies requires collaboration and coordination across academic advisors, administrators, and campus leaders to define their proactive approaches and identify shared goals.
  • Making Data-Informed Decisions: Leveraging data is important to identify students in need of additional support, respond to early alerts with targeted outreach, evaluate our interventions, and guide resource allocation to support staff training and development.

 

Try This

How to apply this framework, no matter your role.

Proactive Strategies Inventory: A good researcher needs to gather evidence first! Use this quick inventory to reflect on how well you (or your department) proactively support students. Rate each item from 1 (Never) to 5 (Always).

Outreach & Communication

  • Do we reach out before students ask for help?
  • Are reminders sent ahead of key deadlines?
  • Do we follow up with unresponsive or higher need students?

Student Engagement

  • Are we building ongoing relationships, not just transactional ones?
  • Do we recognize and act on early alerts (e.g., missed classes, disengagement in advising meetings, no advising)?
  • Are we informing students of all their options? Are we working with them to establish and reevaluate their academic goals? 

Data & Research

  • Are we using data to identify and support students who may be in need of additional support?
  • Do we have systems in place to monitor student progress and engagement?
  • Are we staying informed and up to date with ongoing trends in higher education and using them to inform our practice? 

Continuous Improvement

  • Do we reflect on and improve our practices regularly?
  • Is proactive outreach a team and leadership priority?
  • Are we taking student feedback into consideration when reflecting on and improving our practices?

How did you score?

  • What are your top three strengths in proactive strategies?
  • What are your top three areas for growth?

 

Featured Research Partner

Marina Fandaros, PhD, Assistant Director for Research EngagementMarina Fandaros, PhD 

Assistant Director for Undergraduate Research Engagement
URECA (Undergraduate Research & Creative Activities)

Marina participated as the inaugural SSTAR Lab Innovation Fellow in Summer 2025. During this time, Marina focused on exploring the impact of undergraduate students' knowledge capital in obtaining research in the humanities and social sciences.

"This summer in SSTAR I explored potential factors underlying the success of our first-year humanities research assistantships which paired first-year students with faculty mentors on research projects. I proposed that the structure of the program could be related to the students' success by lowering traditional research capital barriers, key knowledge about the process, to engage first-year students who may not have experience through email outreach and a simple application process. 

As the central hub for undergraduate research on campus, we want to support and engage as wide a population as possible. Making informed and actionable decisions when structuring our programs is key to lowering barriers to engagement and having this high-impact experience continue to thrive. I want to thank SSTAR for this opportunity to zoom out and evaluate the program from this perspective."  - Marina Fandaros, PhD

 

Research Roundup

Want to learn more about this topic? Here's what we've been reading...

 

Have a research topic you'd like us to cover? Email Jennifer.S.Rodriguez@stonybrook.edu