Tippets appointed to oversee Purdue student access, success programs
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Jared Tippets, an assistant dean of students at the University of Kentucky, has been named director of Purdue University's Student Access, Transition and Success programs (SATS).
Tippets, who is scheduled to begin at Purdue on Aug. 29, has been director of new student and parent programs at the University of Kentucky since 2006. In that position, he led a reorganization of the university's welcome week as well as the parent association, and also helped launch a summer reading program.
"Jared brings practical knowledge, skills and tools for retention strategies, programming and policies that he has gained from hands-on experience," said A. Dale Whittaker, vice provost for undergraduate affairs at Purdue. "His background and enthusiasm for student transition and success will help Purdue to continue to excel in this critical area."
SATS programs include Boiler Gold Rush, Summer Transition, Advising and Registration and Learning Communities.
Before becoming director of new student and parent programs at the University of Kentucky, where he received his doctorate this spring, Tippets was assistant director of the office of student involvement from 2004-06. In that position, he led their leadership development office, student volunteer center, and registered student clubs and organizations.
Before that, he worked as director of the Leadership Residential College at the University of Missouri-Columbia, where he was responsible for the leadership development of 120 students who lived there. He also worked in the office of community involvement at the University of Missouri, where he earned his master's degree. He received his bachelor's degree from Utah State University.
SATS, which strives to help new students acclimate and adjust to college so they are likely to succeed and graduate on time, has received national recognition for its first-year student programs. In 2010 it received the Outstanding Collaborative Initiative Award from the American College Personnel Association's Commission on Admission, Orientation and the First-Year Experience. The award recognizes universities that establish clear linkages among student success programs and that display adaptability, creativity, cost efficiency and an assessment component while doing so.
In August 2010 U.S.News & World Report, in its "America's Best Colleges" report, included Purdue in its list of 24 public universities that offer the most outstanding first-year experience programming in the nation. The same month, Princeton Review quoted a student as saying: "Purdue boasts an 'absolutely amazing' freshman orientation program."
Thanks, in part, to these first-year programs, Purdue in 2010 reported two all-time highs for student retention. The university's one-year retention rate increased to 89 percent, a 1.7 percentage point gain from the previous year, according to the university's enrollment management office. This measure shows how many first-year students who entered in the fall of 2009 returned for the fall 2010 semester. The university also reported a record with its second-year retention rate, which measures retention from the first to third years. It increased 3.4 percentage points to 80.6 percent.
Tippets was selected following a national search.
Dan Carpenter has been interim director of SATS since September 2010.
Writer: Greg McClure, 765-496-9711, gmcclure@purdue.edu
Sources: A. Dale Whittaker, 765-494-6970, dwhittak@purdue.edu
Jared Tippets, 859-537-7301, jaredtippets@uky.edu