Why student success is hard to run today
1. One question can touch four offices
Each office works in its own system, and students bounce between them.
2. D, F, and W risk is visible before the term starts
Course load, preparation, and grade patterns show it, but nobody looks until midterms.
3. Students drift off their degree path
Plans and registrations drift apart, and it shows up as an extra term.
2 · The ontology we build
The student lifecycle model
We bring your systems, outside data, and policies together, model the domain, and compute what it runs on.
A slice of the full model: the labeled objects are the ones this work runs on most.
Advisor
A professional or faculty advisor with a caseload of students.
- caseload
- integer
- specialty
- enum
- advisesStudentmany
- leadsAdvising meetingmany
Advising meeting
One scheduled conversation between an advisor and a student, with its follow-ups.
- scheduled_on
- date
- purpose
- enum
- follow_ups
- integer
- is led byAdvisorone
- reviewsStudentone
Degree plan
The student's term-by-term path to the degree under their catalog year.
- catalog_year
- integer
- target_term
- term
- planned_credits
- decimal
- Æ’terms_to_finish
ceil(remaining_credits ÷ planned_credits)- ƒon_track
terms_to_finish ≤ terms_until(target_term)
- is followed byStudentone
- schedulesRequirementmany
Requirement
A rule the degree must satisfy: a course, a set of choices, or a credit total.
- kind
- enum
- credits_required
- decimal
- is scheduled inDegree planmany
- is satisfied byCoursemany
Student
An enrolled student, from first term to graduation.
- class_level
- enum
- cumulative_gpa
- decimal
- credits_earned
- decimal
- persistence_risk
- Chance the student does not return next term. From hold, service case, and degree progress, LMS activity, midterm grades, and balance.
- Æ’can_register
not any(holds where blocks_registration)
- is advised byAdvisorone
- is reviewed inAdvising meetingmany
- followsDegree planone
- buildsTerm schedulemany
- carriesHoldmany
- opensService casemany
Term schedule
The courses a student plans or registers for in one term.
- term
- term
- credit_load
- decimal
- status
- enum
- dfw_risk
- Expected D, F, and W grades in this schedule, before the term starts. From student and course.
- is built byStudentone
- includesCoursemany
Course
A catalog course, its prerequisites, and how students have done in it.
- subject
- string
- credits
- decimal
- level
- integer
- Æ’dfw_rate
count(grades in D, F, W) ÷ count(attempts) over the last six terms
- satisfiesRequirementmany
- is included inTerm schedulemany
- prerequisite forCoursemany
Hold
A block on the student's record from the bursar, registrar, or another office.
- kind
- enum
- placed_on
- date
- blocks_registration
- boolean
- placed onStudentone
Service case
One request a student makes of any office, from first message to resolution.
- topic
- enum
- opened_on
- date
- status
- enum
- root_cause
- Reads the request and names the form, policy, or office behind it. From office.
- is opened byStudentone
- routed toOfficeone
Office
A student-facing office, with the forms and policies it owns.
- division
- enum
- open_cases
- integer
- Æ’repeat_rate
cases on repeat topics ÷ all cases
- handlesService casemany
What it enables
3 · What we deploy on top
Applications, agents, and workflows on the model
Each one reads the model and changes it only through governed actions.
Student Success HQ
For advisors and student success leaders: persistence risk with reasons, DFW risk in next term’s schedules, students off track, and repeat service problems by office.
Approve schedule change: Advisor approves every change
Student services agent
Answers students across every office from policy and their own record. It opens and routes a case when it cannot resolve the request.
Offices own the policies it answers from
Advisor prep
Before each meeting, assembles notes, grades, holds, and plan progress, and proposes schedule changes for the advisor to approve.
Approve schedule change: Advisor approves every change
4 · Outcomes
What the student lifecycle model lets you do
1. Give every student a concierge
Questions get answered, and holds, forms, and registration issues are resolved end to end
Staff step in when neededWhat the model sees
Every policy and office, and the student’s own record
2. Spot DFW risk before the term starts
Tutoring, section changes, and advisor outreach start before week one
AdvisingWhat the model sees
Each student’s course load against their academic index, prerequisites, and each course’s grade patterns
3. Keep every student on a degree pathway
Registration nudges and plan fixes keep students on track to graduate
Runs within policyWhat the model sees
Each student’s plan against degree requirements and prerequisites
4. Prep every advising meeting
Student Success HQ prepares the briefing and drafts the follow-up
Advisor sends itWhat the model sees
Notes, grades, holds, and plan progress for each advisee
5. Fix recurring service problems at the source
The student services agent proposes the fix to the office that owns it
Office leadershipWhat the model sees
The forms, policies, and offices behind repeat tickets
Projected value when a change goes live, and realized value against a holdout, a matched group, or the prior cycle, reported separately.
Students retained, term over term
Holds cleared before registration opens
Net tuition kept from retained students
Start with Student Lifecycle
We scope the first domain with your team and agree on the outcomes to measure.
