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White Earth Tribal and Community College credits new data dashboard, mentoring and micro-credentials with spikes in enrollment and retention
Summary
White Earth Tribal and Community College officials described an interactive data dashboard, peer-mentoring and micro-credential programs they say helped increase enrollment and term-to-term retention; leaders asked the legislature to continue predictable operational funding to sustain staffing and technology investments.
Anna Shepherd, president of White Earth Tribal and Community College, and Dr. Tracy Diefenbach, dean and data lead, told the House Higher Education Finance and Policy Committee that a state-funded push to stabilize operations enabled the college to build a live student-success dashboard and student supports that quickly affected outcomes.
Diefenbach said the college used state funds to hire staff and develop a Power BI-based dashboard that connects the student information system and learning-management system to provide near-real-time indicators. "I can pull any student at any time in any class. I can see if they've communicated with their faculty, if the faculty have communicated back," Diefenbach said. She told the committee the dashboard and targeted outreach produced a roughly 16 percent increase in enrollment from fall to spring and a 78 percent jump in student retention over a short period; the college projects further growth by fall 2025.
White Earth officials described other uses of the state funds: hiring student-success coaches, launching peer-mentor networks, integrating micro-credentials (including cybersecurity and workforce certificates) into two-year degrees and expanding community-oriented family learning. Dean Diefenbach said the dashboard has a heat map showing where applicants live and tools to identify students at risk so staff can intervene.
Student testimony described the supports. Deidra Berg, a White Earth student and student senate president, said staff outreach and tutoring helped her enroll and persist despite a history of trauma and substance-use challenges. Finance advisor Jean Ohstrom told the committee that state funding reduced the college's reliance on federal grant contracts and provided flexibility to staff new initiatives; she asked legislators to consider improving the timing of fund releases and easing administrative requirements tied to risk designations.
Members praised the dashboard's potential and encouraged broader sharing of the tool. The college said costs for the dashboard platform and associated services were modest relative to expected benefits and said it is negotiating grant support to make the dashboard available to other tribal colleges.
Ending: White Earth officials invited legislators to visit and said they would continue developing student-centered programs that align credentials with local workforce needs.
