We support colleges as they bring their reforms to life.

Equity-forward institutional transformation is a long-term process, and Phase Two Advisory helps colleges at every stage. We partner with institutions to diagnose the root causes of their student success challenges; support collaborative development of contextual evidence-based reform strategies; support leaders as they engage in case-making and implementation planning; and design assessment plans that keep leaders on track to success. We are strong believers that reform needs to be grounded in what the research says works for students--but that those findings need to be adapted to each college's unique environment, not adopted whole-sale. We guide our work using evidence-based frameworks that focus practitioners' attention on all three dimensions of institutional transformation: shifting organizational structures, campus norms, and individual behaviors. We work with each partner in alignment with their needs, whether that's a one-time workshop or a multi-year suite of supports.

We help colleges engage in transformation by:

  • Conducting institutional assessments and "critical friends" research

  • Providing casemaking presentations to leadership or key campus groups

  • Developing reform strategies

  • Supporting implementation design, planning, and coaching

  • Providing middle leadership development

  • Delivering professional learning for campus constituencies

  • Facilitating problem-solving and consensus-building

  • Developing continuous improvement and outcomes assessment systems

Our Work

  • Wake Tech is the largest community college in North Carolina, enrolling approximately 30,000 students.

    As part of their ongoing institutional improvement efforts, Wake Tech knew that their advising systems were not working for many students. They weren’t sure, however, exactly what needed to change, nor how to design a new system of holistic support. They needed to understand the root causes of poor student support in order to address them. For an honest assessment of what was and wasn’t effective about their advising and student support systems and policies, Wake Tech initiated a multipart partnership with Phase Two to investigate, audit, and offer recommendations to remedy the identified issues.

  • Throughout the spring and summer of 2020, Phase Two conducted our standardized Holistic Student Support Ecosystem assessment, conducting virtual focus groups with students and institutional stakeholders to understand the strengths and challenges of their existing student support approach.

    Phase Two presented the Wake Tech team with an analysis of their system in alignment with two research-based frameworks: the SSIPP model of holistic student support and Guided Pathways. We identified what worked well and where pain points for students existed. We used this analysis to illustrate student flows through and access to various supports at the college.

    This analysis helped Wake Tech understand what needed to change to improve student supports, as well as the assets they could build on. In February 2021, Phase Two developed a draft version of a new holistic student support ecosystem for the college. Using our “Straw Design” methodology, we walked the campus community through a design and feedback process that led to a final model for a new approach to holistic student support. We also helped campus leadership use the report and straw design to casemake in favor of the new model and develop implementation plans to turn the model into reality.

  • As of Fall 2023, their new student support model is fully scaled, with each of Wake Tech’s degree-seeking students assigned to a “Care Team” that includes an assigned advisor and success coach. With this support model in action, student use of holistic student support has increased and enrollments have exceeded pre-pandemic levels. Their approach was named as an exemplary model as part of EDUCAUSE’s 2023 “Top Ten.”