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The Institute for Evidence-Based Change

  • Nationally Renowned Keynote Speakers Announced for Inaugural Caring Campus Conference

    Dr. Vincent Tinto and Dr. Peter Felten, two of the nation’s foremost experts on student success, will be featured keynote speakers at the inaugural Caring Campus Conference 2025: Building a National Culture of Care, which will take place from Nov. 12-14, 2025, at the DoubleTree Hotel in San Diego. Dr. Tinto, a professor emeritus at Syracuse University and a leading authority on student retention, and Dr. Felten, executive director of the Center for Engaged Learning and assistant provost at Elon University, and co-author of “Relationship Rich Education,” will share decades of research and insights on how connection, belonging, and a culture of care can drive student persistence, retention, and success.

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  • Hinds Community College Fosters Student Success, Connection through Caring Campus

    Hinds Community College, the largest community college in Mississippi, has embraced Caring Campus as part of its commitment to fostering meaningful relationships between students, faculty, and staff, promoting personal connections, and reinforcing its core values. Caring Campus helps students get the support they need to overcome challenges by engaging staff and faculty with the tools and commitments needed to establish a culture of care, ensuring all students feel valued, seen, and supported from the moment they step on campus. Hinds College President Dr. Stephen Vacik introduced Caring Campus to the college after witnessing its success at his previous institution, Maysville Community and Technical College.

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  • Texas A&M University – Kingsville Student Flourishes with Support of Caring Campus

    At Texas A&M University – Kingsville (TAMUK), establishing a caring and welcoming culture is a cornerstone of the student experience. As a Caring Campus, TAMUK continues to foster an environment where students feel valued, supported, and empowered to achieve their educational goals. One such student is Amberly Zaragoza, a graduate student in plant and soil science, whose journey at TAMUK exemplifies the impact of this caring culture. Zaragoza transferred to TAMUK as an undergraduate student, where she began pursuing a degree in animal science, after attending a community college for two years. A class on soils for her major first ignited her passion for plant and soil sciences, and she decided to pursue a master’s degree with the encouragement of her dean.

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Porterville College Champions Student Success with Caring Campus

Porterville College President Dr. Claudia Lourido-Habib, inspired by her own pivotal experience with a compassionate staff member during college, brought Caring Campus to her school to foster a community where students feel recognized and valued, leading to increased success for all students. The Institute for Evidence-Based Change created Caring Campus to provide college and university staff and faculty with the tools and resources needed to create a welcoming environment for students. By establishing a culture of care on campus, students are empowered to persist and succeed in their educational goals.

Orange Coast College Focuses on Student Success Through Caring Campus

Orange Coast College is enhancing its commitment to student well-being and success by embracing the principles of Caring Campus, empowering staff to foster a student-centric environment grounded in intentionality and care. The Institute for Evidence-Based Change created Caring Campus as a way to increase college students’ sense of belonging and connectedness with their institution, resulting in greater retention, persistence, and success rates for students of all demographics.

Temple College Boosts Student Success Through Caring Campus

Temple College has seen a dramatic increase in student engagement in part by integrating tools and strategies that staff and faculty learned through Caring Campus, which helps educational institutions create welcoming and supportive campuses to promote success of all students. The Institute for Evidence-Based Change created Caring Campus to provide higher education institutions with the knowledge and tactics to increase students’ feelings of connectedness on campus, thereby improving overall persistence, retention, and graduation rates. Texas-based Temple College credits Caring Campus as a contributing force in their student population reaching a full-time majority, with 52% of students enrolled full-time in 2022, compared to 46% in 2020

IEBC Partnership Seeks to Sustain and Institutionalize Caring Campus

The Institute for Evidence-Based Change’s (IEBC) longtime partner, California Community College Classified Senate, is producing a guide outlining strategies for community colleges to sustain and institutionalize Caring Campus beyond its initial implementation, integrating the program's principles and strategies into the college's culture for long-term effectiveness. IEBC created Caring Campus to provide staff and faculty with tools and resources to help students feel more connected to their college, thereby improving student retention, persistence, and success.

L.A. Pierce College Strengthens Campus Culture Through Caring Campus

Los Angeles Pierce College is strengthening its culture of belonging for both students and staff by successfully implementing Caring Campus, a program that teaches principles, tactics, and habits to create a more welcoming, connected environment, thereby improving student retention and success. Data from the Institute for Evidence-Based Change shows that students who feel more connected to their college are more likely to be retained, persist from semester to semester, and complete their academic goals. Caring Campus’ work to increase connectedness aims to help ensure students achieve all that they can from their college experience.

Institute for Evidence-Based Change Partnership Seeks to Sustain and Institutionalize Caring Campus

The Institute for Evidence-Based Change’s (IEBC) longtime partner, California Community Colleges Classified Senate (4CS), is producing a guide outlining strategies for community colleges to sustain and institutionalize the Caring Campus initiative beyond its initial implementation, integrating the program's principles and strategies into the college's culture for long-term effectiveness. IEBC created Caring Campus to provide staff and faculty with tools and resources to help students feel more connected to their college, thereby improving student retention, persistence, and success. 4CS is a nonprofit organization made up of volunteers from across the California Community College system who advocate for shared governance for all classified professionals. IEBC and 4CS have partnered together since 2019, when IEBC President and Founder Dr. Brad Phillips delivered the keynote speech at a 4CS Classified Leadership Conference.

Los Angeles Pierce College Staff and Faculty Establish a Supportive Campus Culture Through the Caring Campus Program

Los Angeles Pierce College is strengthening its culture of belonging for both students and staff by successfully implementing Caring Campus, a program that teaches principles, tactics, and habits to create a more welcoming, connected environment, thereby improving student retention and success. Data from the Institute for Evidence-Based Change shows that students who feel more connected to their college are more likely to be retained, persist from semester to semester, and complete their academic goals. Caring Campus’s work to increase connectedness aims to help ensure students achieve all that they can from their college experience.

Nexus Between Caring Campus and Guided Pathways Creates Impactful Student Experience for Diverse Learners

Colleges and universities are seeing an increasing number of learners from diverse backgrounds on their campuses, making it crucial for the institutions to establish cultures that welcome these students and set them up for success.One recognized and respected way to achieve this is Guided Pathways, a framework of structural and policy changes that help higher education institutions redesign the college experience, giving all students the support they need to feel welcomed and thrive on campus. The Institute for Evidence-Based Change’s (IEBC) Caring Campus builds on Guided Pathways by introducing cultural and behavioral practices, providing a holistic framework aimed to propel higher education toward a future where students seamlessly achieve their academic and career goals.

Caring Campus Comes to Texas A&M University – Kingsville, Building a Culture of Care for Students

The Institute for Evidence-Based Change (IEBC) is bringing Caring Campus to Texas A&M University – Kingsville (TAMUK), the first university to adopt the program as IEBC expands its reach to establish a culture of care on campuses nationwide. TAMUK joins the more than one hundred community colleges across the country who have implemented Caring Campus at their institutions, thereby improving student connectedness and boosting their determination to succeed. Data shows that if students do not feel connected to the institution they attend, they are far less likely to persist and graduate. With that in mind, IEBC has developed its Caring Campus program to increase students’ sense of belonging and increase student success for all students.