The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded UE $284,000 to administer projects on campus related to the University Innovations Alliance (UIA). UIA is a collaboration of 11 large public universities to improve graduation rates, particularly among low-income students. UIA has chosen predictive analytics as the first scale project. Scale projects involve learning from institutions that have adopted an effective innovation to improve graduation rates and then using their experience to implement the innovation in a cost-efficient and effective way. Predictive analytics are tools that provide information to advisors that help them to predict a student's likely trajectory. They improve the advising process by providing information advisors need to work with students. Vice Provost Steven Brint is chairing a committee that is making recommendations to the provost about strengthening advising, including evaluation of and recommendations about predictive analytics systems.