PLU awarded 2025 NWCCU Beacon Award for Excellence in Student Achievement and Success

Pacific Lutheran University was honored with the Beacon Award during the annual Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) Awards Luncheon last month, recognizing the transformative work of the university’s Retention and Progression Advisory Group (RPAG). Along with the recognition, PLU will receive $2,500 to further advance retention and progression initiatives across the university.

The Beacon Award is an annual recognition given to NWCCU member institutions which demonstrate “exceptional programmatic accomplishments and advancements” in student achievement. Award winners must show clear evidence of innovations that have resulted in measurable improvements in retention, completion and graduation rates.

What sets RPAG apart is its multi-faceted and complex approach to retention. Traditionally, approaches toward retention have been deficit-focused, but RPAG centers its work in equity. The heart of RPAG’s work stems from acknowledging that groups of students have varied experiences of privilege and oppression, and therefore experience significant barriers from admission to degree completion.

“RPAG’s core objective is to recommend strategies that can close equity gaps for Black and Latinx students,” explains Bridget Yaden, PLU’s Associate Provost for Undergraduate Programs and a member of RPAG. “The group, which we pronounce ‘rampage,’ meets weekly as a kind of think-tank, where we look at retention data and brainstorm strategies to improve retention. No idea is too big or too small.”

RPAG has implemented several data-driven interventions that have demonstrably improved student outcomes. When PLU faced high course-failure rates combined with declining usage of existing academic resources, particularly for Black and Latinx students, RPAG implemented Knack, a platform which overhauled PLU’s tutoring program. Knack hires, trains, and manages peer tutoring that expands coverage to all PLU courses in both in-person and online formats.

“Knack, which RPAG recommended in fall of 2023 and implemented in spring of 2024, has significantly increased access to peer tutors to support academic success,” says Yaden.

Another RPAG innovation is Sage the Squirrel, a text chatbot introduced after data revealed an underrepresentation of psychosocial care forms for Black and Latinx students. Sage’s knowledgebase was built by PLU staff and offers a high level of human involvement to maintain human touch. Since Sage’s implementation, Black and Latinx students have engaged with Sage at a higher rate than the average student population.

RPAG’s work has contributed to a “wellbeing ecology” at PLU, including implementing a summer math bridge course (Math Leap), priority registration for first-year students in J-Term programs, and a pilot co-requisite course to accompany math courses with high dropout and failure rates.

As PLU enters the new calendar year, RPAG continues to update and expand PLU’s academic and co-curricular programs in order to better meet the needs of students and society.

“We are excited to continue to move the needle on retention for all students,” Yaden says. “Each student matters, so if any RPAG initiative, big or small, helps one student persist, then our work matters. Knowing that our work has a direct impact on student success is one of the best parts of my job at PLU.”