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Staff Spotlight: Olivia Polkuzio on Telling the Student Success Story Through Numbers

p3collaboratory
7 days ago
4 min read

Updated: 6 days ago

“Bridging research and practice to make sure the story the data tells shapes what we do for students…I try to stay grounded in asking not just ‘what does the data say?’ but ‘what does this mean for the student behind the data?’”
“Bridging research and practice to make sure the story the data tells shapes what we do for students…I try to stay grounded in asking not just ‘what does the data say?’ but ‘what does this mean for the student behind the data?’”

How does your position intersect with and/or support student success?

As Acting Director for Student Retention and Research Analyst for Institutional Effectiveness, my work sits at the intersection of data and people – understanding the patterns across thousands of students and turning those patterns into resources that help others do their jobs better.

 

I administer Navigate360/RU-N4Success –  a student success and advising platform that helps universities coordinate advising, connect students with campus resources, and support student engagement and academic progress – and provide training and support to advisors and staff across Newark’s campus. I am currently focusing on the Alerts/Cases feature, fine-tuning the process so that when a student is indicated as needing support, everyone involved is informed without the student having to repeat themselves. The goal is to strengthen processes and tools to improve the student experience and coordinate care.

 

Additionally, to support advisors, I am working towards building a central advising training repository where institutional knowledge will live in one shared place rather than scattered across offices. I am meeting with advising teams across the campus to better understand their current processes, tools, and training practices – what is working well and where there may be gaps or opportunities for shared resources and support.

 

I sit in a unique position working with the Rutgers-Newark Office of Student Retention and Office of Institutional Effectiveness, allowing me to bridge research and practice to make sure the story the data tells shapes what we do for students. I utilize data across areas like tutoring and special programs to analyze student success, additional needs for support, and interventions that make a difference. I am also interested in student engagement data – are students interacting with the university, their peers, and staff or faculty in meaningful ways, and how does that shape their tenure at RU-N? This kind of engagement is often a strong indicator of whether a student will retain and succeed at RU-N.

 

Ultimately, it all comes down to two questions: what does a student need and when do they need it to stay enrolled and finish their degree? My job is to help make sure the university knows the answer and that the people supporting students have what they need to act on it.


What is one innovation or unique idea related to teaching or professional development that you’d like to share?

In my work, I try to stay grounded in asking not just "what does the data say?" but "what does this mean for the student behind the data?" Every data point or number represents a student's actual experience, not just a metric on a dashboard. I try to connect the data to administrative actions to increase student support. 


For example, we partnered with DataKind, an outside organization, to analyze our First-Year, First-Time (FYFT) data and build a model that helps us proactively identify sophomores who could benefit from additional academic support to stay on track for four-year graduation. This model will be integrated into Navigate this year, and we shared strategies with advisors for how to support these students.


Similarly, in analyzing tutoring data alongside progress reports and final grades, we found a gap between students who were recommended for tutoring and those who actually received it. Rather than just reporting that gap, I am now working with the Academic Excellence Centers (AEC) to close it – helping them reach more of the students who were recommended tutoring but have not yet come in for services.


I believe data alone does not drive change – relationships do. Conversations with RU-N staff and advisors who work directly with students about what the data is showing can shift how we support students. As such, a lot of my work is not just analysis – it is building trust with the people who will act on that analysis, making sure they see the data as useful and relevant to what they are already trying to do, not as an added burden or a judgment on their work. When people trust the data and trust each other, that is when data analysis leads to better outcomes for students.


How have you participated in, or engaged with, the P3 Collaboratory’s professional development initiatives?

I recently attended the P3 Collaboratory's Anchoring Higher Education Conference session featuring keynote speaker Peter Felten, co-author of Relationship-Rich Education: How Human Connections Drive Success in College and Connections Are Everything: A College Student's Guide to Relationship-Rich Education. His talk reinforced something I already believe in my own work: meaningful relationships are often what determine whether a student persists and succeeds. It was a good reminder that even a role like mine, which does not directly interface with students on a daily basis, impacts student success. The numbers I analyze, the Navigate platform I administer, and the couple of student workers I supervise helps to facilitate students forming the kinds of connections that help them stay enrolled and thrive both while at RU-N and when they graduate.


Reader Bonus! Olivia Polkuzio’s Favorite Books:


Recent favorite fun reads + one free resource:

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