ACE Learner Success Lab

About the Lab

The ACE Learner Success Lab (LSL) is an inclusive learning community that integrates evidence-based practices for persistence and completion, life design and career exploration, and workforce skills development to assist participating institutions in developing a comprehensive strategy for learner success.

Vision

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, pressures from new economic realities, disruptive technologies, changing student populations, and a broader educational paradigm shift were already mounting. The pandemic has exposed existing inequities and created new challenges that demand resilient institutions that can adapt and innovate.

Institutional Transformation

The Learner Success Lab is a comprehensive change management process that facilitates continuous improvement through intentional transformation of institutional systems, processes, programs, and culture around learner success. This process is illustrated in the ACE Model for Comprehensive Learner Success.

Process

Lab engagement lasts about 18 months, with the following milestones during that time:

Fall Year One: Cohort gathers for introductory and Milestone One meetings
Winter Year One: Participating institutions host site visits
Spring Year Two: Cohort gathers for Milestone Two meeting
Fall Year Two: Cohort gathers for Milestone Three meeting
Winter Year Two: Participating institutions host peer reviewers
Spring Year Three: Institution leadership receives final LSL report

Institutions form a campus-wide learner success committee to:

Facilitate a review of existing activities and capacities related to learner success
Analyze findings of the review through the lens of institutional mission
Draft a plan to integrate and focus activities and build capacity for learner success

ACE staff and expert ACE Lab advisers guide committee leaders through on-campus work, including:

Initial site visits to help prepare campuses for self-assessment and begin to outline key questions and issues
Peer review visit conducted toward the end of the process to allow for reflection and dialogue with senior administrators and other campus leaders
Regular contact throughout the Lab process, including monthly calls with committee leadership

Committee leaders attend informal Lab chat sessions (approximately monthly) and four synchronous cohort meetings

Committee leaders also have access to asynchronous LSL learning modules and other exclusive resources

Cohorts and Impact

The inaugural Learner Success Lab cohort launched in fall 2020, and new cohorts launch each fall. Expand the sections below to see our current and past LSL participants.

Cohort 1

Elon University (NC)

Iowa State University

Labouré College of Healthcare (MA)

Massasoit Community College (MA)

Richard Bland College of William & Mary (VA)

Southeast Missouri State University

Union Institute & University (OH)

University of Hawaii–West Oahu

Western Oregon University

Windward Community College (HI)

Cohort 2

Clarke University (IA)

Southern University at Shreveport (LA)

Rowan College at Burlington County (NJ)

CETYS University (Mexico)

New Jersey City University

Florida International University

Western Illinois University

Washington State University–Tri Cities

Lewis University (IL)

Impact Testimonials

Read more about the wide-ranging impact the Learner Success Laboratory continues to have on college and university campuses.

For Windward Community College, the LSL was an exercise in hope-building…it has been about instilling hope and focusing on mission at a time that is full of darkness and reactivity.

Ardis Eschenberg

Chancellor

Windward Community College

The LSL process allowed us to bring together the appropriate teams on and off campus to continue our focus not on getting students college-ready, but on getting the institution student-ready.

Deanna Yameen

Provost and Vice President of Academic and Student Affairs

Massasoit Community College

Participating in the ACE Learner Success Lab has been an invaluable opportunity for us to study mentoring relationships, lay the foundation for our 2030 strategic plan, and design a mentoring constellation framework in support of all students’ learning and development.

Maureen Vandermas-Peeler

Director, Center for Research on Global Engagement, and Professor of Psychology

Elon University

As we navigated a new process, built relationships, and had frank discussions on what we were doing well and areas to improve, ACE—and particularly our ACE adviser—helped us stay grounded in our mission, encouraged our desire to strengthen community through collaboration, and provided doable, concrete, recommendations to help take our institution forward.

Sarah Wallis

Director of Academic Grants and Projects

Union Institute & University

Our LSL journey enabled us to take a more systemic and equitable approach to career readiness and life design, hold conversations that normally would not occur, and put student success at the center of discussions. During an extremely challenging time, the LSL brought people together for a common purpose and reminded us why we're here.

Adry Clark

Director of Service Learning and Career Development

Western Oregon University

The ACE Learner Success Lab led us to quickly understand that the future of learner success at SEMO [Southeast Missouri State University] hinged upon a comprehensive university-wide strategic action plan that encompassed three major outcomes. As a result, we now have a living, breathing plan. We credit the LSL’s change management approach and the coaching and mentorship of our LSL adviser for our success in developing an action-oriented path forward.

Carlos Vargas

President

Southeast Missouri State University

Experts

Lab Advisers

Gerardo L. Blanco

Associate Professor, Higher Education, and Academic Director, Center for International Higher Education, Boston College

Gerardo L. Blanco

Associate Professor, Higher Education, and Academic Director, Center for International Higher Education, Boston College

Adam Bush

Provost, College Unbound

Adam Bush

Provost, College Unbound

Mary Churchill

Associate Dean for Strategic Initiatives and Community Engagement and Adjunct Professor, Wheelock College of Education and Human Development, Boston University, and Northeast Regional Liaison Coordinator, ACE Women’s Network Executive Council

Mary Churchill

Susan Lane

President Emerita, The New England Institute of Art

Susan Lane

President Emerita, The New England Institute of Art

Kim Lee

Director of Community Engagement

ACE Connect

Kimberly “Kim” Lee is the director of community engagement at the American Council on Education (ACE). Additionally, Lee serves as an adviser for the ACE Learner Success Lab. Lee brings to ACE over 20 years of experience in leadership roles that empha...

Kim Lee

Director of Community Engagement

ACE Connect

Elaine Maimon

Former President, Governors State University

Elaine Maimon

Former President, Governors State University

Lyssa Palu-ay

Dean, Office of Justice, Equity and Transformation, Massachusetts College of Art and Design

Lyssa Palu-ay

Dean, Office of Justice, Equity and Transformation, Massachusetts College of Art and Design

Annette Parker

President, South Central College

Annette Parker

President, South Central College

Additional Experts

LSL Steering Committee

In December 2019, ACE convened the Learner Success Lab Steering Committee—a diverse group of higher education leaders—to assist in developing and refining the ACE Model for Comprehensive Learner Success and related program materials. The LSL Steering Committee concluded its work with the successful launch of the LSL’s pilot cohort in October 2020.

Committee Members:

Gardner Carrick
Chief Program Officer, The Manufacturing Institute

John Fink
Senior Research Associate, Community College Research Center

Dallas Kratzer
Regional Education Coordinator, University of Charleston

Kevin Kruger
President, NASPA – Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education

Dane Linn
Senior Vice President of Corporate Initiatives, Business Roundtable

Spencer Niles
Professor of Counselor Education and Co-director of the THRIVE Research and Intervention Center, William & Mary

Sophia Norcott
Student, Southern New Hampshire University

Lynn Pasquerella
President, Association of American Colleges and Universities

Anthony Pinder
Vice Provost, Internationalization and Equity, Emerson College

José Rodriguez
Assistant Director of Recruitment, College Unbound

Pete Rogan
Director of Product Development, Sophia Learning

Yves Salomon-Fernández
President, Urban College of Boston

Jason Tyszko
Vice President, Center for Education and Workforce, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation

Carlos Vargas
President, Southeast Missouri State University

LSL Expert Working Group

Following the launch of the LSL’s pilot cohort, ACE convened a group of subject matter experts to serve as thought partners in the ongoing development and evaluation of the LSL program. Members of the LSL Expert Working Group continue to provide valuable feedback, insights, and expertise.

Working Group Members:

Farouk Dey
Vice Provost for Integrative Learning and Life Design, Johns Hopkins University

Tim Hogan
Vice President for Strategic Partnerships, Roadtrip Nation

Jenifer Kautzman
Associate Director, Transcripts and Learner Services, American Council on Education

Kevin Kruger
President, NASPA – Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education

Penny MacCormack
Chief Academic Officer, Association of College and University Educators

Lynn Pasquerella
President, Association of American Colleges and Universities

Kathe Pelletier
Director, Teaching and Learning Program, EDUCAUSE

Ashley Safranski
Vice President of Marketing, uConnect

Melody Schopp
Director, Education Industry Consulting, SAS

Jason Tyszko
Vice President, Center for Education and Workforce, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation

Connect with Us

Lindsey Myers

Director and Principal Program Officer

Education Futures Lab

Lindsey P. Myers is a director and principal program officer and the founding director of the ACE Learner Success Lab at the American Council on Education (ACE). In this role, she leads the Council’s body of work related to student success. A thought l...

Lindsey Myers

Director and Principal Program Officer

Education Futures Lab

Erin Baldwin

Associate Director & Senior Program Officer

Education Futures Lab

Erin Baldwin is an associate director and senior program officer in the Education Futures Lab at the American Council on Education (ACE). Prior to joining ACE, she served as chief representative and strategic project manager at The University of Queens...

Erin Baldwin

Associate Director & Senior Program Officer

Education Futures Lab

LSL Lab Impact Profiles

Read how Learner Success Lab alumni institutions were transformed by their experience.

Massasoit Community College Focuses on Being Data-Informed and Student-Ready

Elon University Develops Holistic Mentoring Model

Union Institute & University Supports Post-Traditional and Distant Learner Success

Western Oregon University Targets Affordability and Adult Learners Through the ACE Learner Success Lab

Southeast Missouri State University Shapes a Forward-Looking Strategic Plan Through the ACE Learner Success Lab

ACE Transformation Labs

The Learner Success Laboratory is one of the ACE Transformation Labs. These labs guide colleges and universities through a structured strategic planning process to advance critical institutional priorities.

Learn More