Kennesaw State University 2024

At Kennesaw State University (KSU), we serve as a powerful example of the impact a student-centered, research-driven university education can deliver. We prioritize student success and help students succeed through exploration, collaboration and rigor. As an R2-designated research-driven university, we embrace exploration that delivers real-world impact. We believe that doing is the key to learning, which is why we are focused on increasing the number of engaged learning opportunities and giving more students the chance to learn by doing. We developed our Quality Enhancement Plan, It's About Engagement, to advance KSU’s mission of student success by focusing on the dynamic nature of engaged learning in each of the academic colleges and the university, overall.

KSU is a comprehensive university located on two suburban campuses in Kennesaw and Marietta, northwest of metro Atlanta. Last year, KSU experienced the second-largest enrollment increase among all University System of Georgia (USG) institutions, making it the fifth consecutive year the University enjoyed substantial growth. As the third largest university in Georgia, KSU had 47,845 students enrolled in the fall in over 190 undergraduate, master’s, doctoral degree and certificate programs. Our student body is 55% minority, 39% Pell grant-awarded, 38% first-generation college students, and 6.4% of the undergraduate population are adult learners. These diverse backgrounds and experiences produce a collaborative spirit that opens the doors to new ideas and innovations. Our graduates are more than career ready – they’re ready to make an impact in our communities, our nation and around the world. At KSU, students become the individuals that others want as colleagues and as leaders.

Peer and Aspirant

Boise State University
California State University-Fullerton
California State University-Long Beach
Florida Atlantic University
George Mason University
Georgia State University
San Diego State University
San Francisco State University
Texas State University
University of Massachusetts - Boston
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
University of Texas at Arlington
University of Texas at San Antonio
University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Conference USA

Florida International University
Jacksonville State University
Liberty University
Louisiana Tech University
Middle Tennessee State University
Missouri State University-Springfield
New Mexico State University
Sam Houston State University
Stephen F Austin State University
University of Texas at El Paso
Western Kentucky University

Success Inventory

Starting Blocks (Kennesaw State University-2024)

Strategy/Project Name:

Starting Blocks

Momentum Area:

Pathways

Category:

Credit Intensity

First Year Experience

Learning Communities

Program Maps

Strategy/Project Description:

KSU’s “Starting Blocks” project launched in Fall 2024. Block scheduling serves multiple purposes, all designed to enhance the academic experience and support student success. It streamlines the registration process for easier enrollment, ensuring students make appropriate selections of courses, including introductory English and math, during their first semester. It helps minimize potential credit loss if students change majors, and it provides students with the optimal opportunity to register for a full-time (15 credit hour) schedule. Additionally, block scheduling is meant to enhance social integration, facilitate the formation of study groups, and foster community building. Additional information is available at https://advising.kennesaw.edu/orientation/starting_blocks.php.

This project is aligned with two of our “Top 5 Strategies,” namely increasing the number of freshmen taking 15 hours or more, and increasing the number of students who have completed 30 hours or more by the start of their second fall.

Activity Status:

Scaling

Evaluation/Assessment plan:

Assessing the impact of block scheduling will involve various methods to measure its effectiveness in achieving its intended goals and benefits. Academic performance metrics, course enrollment data, and student feedback around belonging will all be considered.

KPIs:

First-year full-time retention rate (assessed yearly)
Percentage of first-time, full-time cohort enroll in 15+ credit hours (assessed yearly)
NSSE Survey Results (assessed every 3 years)

Baseline measure (for each KPI):

Fall 2023 cohort: 76.7%
Fall 2023: 53.1%
2023 NSSE Survey Results

Goal or targets (for each KPI):

Fall 2024 cohort: 82%
Fall 2024: 71%

Next survey: No statistical difference when compared to our R2 peers when first-year students are asked whether they feel like part of the community at KSU.

Progress and Adjustments:

Block scheduling was successfully launched for the first time in fall 2024. Students enrolled in over 350 major blocks and over 200 English/Math blocks. In total, 83% of first-time freshmen enrolled in one or both blocks. Enrollment growth was larger than anticipated and not all new freshmen were given the opportunity to enroll in blocks. Lessons learned over the past year were carefully tracked. Feedback from the colleges, advisors, and students has been gathered and is being incorporated as we plan for fall 2025.

Plan for the Year Ahead:

Blocks for fall 2025 will be created. Modifications will be made to allow for additional students to participate in block scheduling. For example, more blocks will be built this year than last. Also, additional courses will be included in the blocks to provide more options for students with prior credit. Students will register for the blocks over the summer at orientation. Enrollment will be closely monitored. Pre-orientation advising materials will be updated throughout the summer. Lessons learned will be carefully tracked.

Challenges and Support:

A potential challenge could arise if enrollment patterns differ significantly from projections, resulting in too few blocks being available.

We plan to reach out to other universities to explore if they have automated any processes in block scheduling. Specifically, we’re interested in understanding if they have systems in place to automatically transfer open seats to all students when a block doesn’t reach full capacity.

Contact email:

mlowder2@kennesaw.edu

Primary Contact:

Lori Lowder, Associate Vice Provost

Lis Hames, Director of Academic Course Scheduling

New Student Initiatives (Kennesaw State University-2024)

Strategy/Project Name:

New Student Initiatives

Momentum Area:

Pathways

Category:

Advising

Early Alerts

First Year Experience

High Impact Practices

Math Pathways

Peer and Supplemental Instruction

Tutoring

Strategy/Project Description:

To combat lower graduation rates, KSU will focus on four initiatives aimed at supporting new students.

The President’s Focused Learner Program

The President’s Focused Learner Program (PFL) is a KSU initiative seeking to assist incoming students at risk of “Murky Middle” GPAs with their ability to navigate the academic and personal well-being factors often necessary for a student’s academic success. The PFL Program spans all majors at KSU.

The FLIGHT Program

FLIGHT is a class-year connections initiative focused on providing support to students as they progress through their collegiate journey and learn to make meaning of their experience during their time at Kennesaw State University. FLIGHT utilizes a four-year framework built to assist each class-year in developing a unique identity aiming to increase students’ sense of community, belonging, and school spirit. Each year in the framework is designed to provide students with targeted information and developmental markers necessary to ensure their successful and timely degree completion.

The Four-Year Framework:

First-Year Experience: Foster a sense of belonging and connection with KSU and with FLIGHT class.

Second-Year Experience: Focus on leadership and career opportunities to prepare you for success.

Third-Year Experience: Flourish in your academic achievement, campus involvement, and career preparation.

Fourth-Year Experience: Finalize your journey at KSU by leaving your mark and becoming an alumnus/alumna.

Evaluation of Transfer Credit

Students transferring between institutions tend to have unused courses in their new programs. This results in additional time and costs spent at the new institution. There is an articulation agreement for courses in the core curriculum between the University System of Georgia (USG) institutions, but no such agreement exists for private or out of state institutions. The goal of this project is to allow students to transfer to KSU more easily by accepting more relevant coursework into their programs.KSU is re-evaluating all the general education courses from our top feeder universities/colleges. Rather than evaluating for course equivalency, we will review each course for a match in learning outcomes in each of our general education areas. Additionally, new and renewed articulation agreements focus on how to maximize credits being transferred between institutions.

Improving outcomes in first-year critical courses

KSU has identified courses that are high enrollment courses with significant DFW rates and will continue to ensure that sufficient sections are offered to meet student demand, offer targeted academic supports to achieve greater impacts, and engage faculty in learning communities focused on course redevelopment.

This project is aligned with one of our “Top 5 Strategies,” which is to expand faculty knowledge and practices that support student success.

Activity Status:

Scaling

Evaluation/Assessment plan:

All initiatives have identified outcomes, timelines, and measures. The KPIs listed below will be measured annually at a minimum.

The President’s Focused Learner Program

Engagement in program
Participation or completion of tasks assigned within the PFL
Enrollment based on engagement
RPG over long term

FLIGHT

Engagement in program
RPG over long term
Sense of belonging surveys
Focus groups

Evaluation of Transfer Credit

List of feeder schools
Number of courses being added to student records
Number of course transfer credits awarded
Number of unique students impacted

Improving outcomes in first-year critical courses

DFWI rates
Course enrollment and fill rates
Early Alert engagement
Midterm Grade reporting engagement
Supplemental Instruction/Tutoring engagement
Faculty engagement in learning communities around first year courses

Goal or targets (for each KPI):

We wish to see the long-term improvements in RPG rates for our new student population. We are also seeking continual improvement of program measures.

Current Status:

The President’s Focused Learner Program

As of spring 2024, there were 2,219 enrolled students involved with the PFL program:

FA20 cohort enrolled in SP24: 410 students
FA21 cohort enrolled in SP24: 520 students
FA22 cohort enrolled in SP24: 593 students
FA23 cohort enrolled in SP24: 683 students
Opt-In cohort enrolled in SP24: 13 students

1,920 (86.5%) of PFL students from Spring 2024 reenrolled in Fall 2024.

A number of events were hosted in spring 2024, designed to connect students to resources on campus, such as tutoring, advising, writing center, career and professional development, and campus wellbeing.A registration assistance event (“Registration Triage”) was also held to coincide with time tickets opening for spring 2024 registration.

Total PFL coaching appointments in Spring 2024: 63 appointments
Total programmatic offerings in Spring 2024: 16 events and workshops
Total event attendance for Spring 2024: 260 check-ins

FLIGHT

In our third year with the FLIGHT program, we have increased our collaborations with the campus partners to encourage FLIGHT students to get involved across the three classes and added smaller events to enhance connections early. As of this date we have a total of 13,410 interactions of FLIGHT students this fall 2024. In AY23-24, we reported 636 for FLIGHT26 and 6,582 for FLIGHT27 students. These are not unique users

We are working with Institutional Research to capture progression data for FLIGHT27 students and expect to see positive results that are comparable to the FLIGHT26 first-time full-time retention rate after 1 year of 78.7%. Additionally, we are working to align the participation of FLIGHT students and their progression for FLIGHT26 and 27, now that we have had two classes running simultaneously. After one year of tracking the FLIGHT 26 students, our data indicated that participation in FLIGHT events contributes positively to academic progression. Students who participated in FLIGHT events had a higher average GPA of 3.09 and a progression rate of 70%. In contrast, students who did not participate had a lower average GPA of 2.88 and a progression rate of 63%.

Our post-event survey after the Football Runout event did not yield a good response rate and we will be working with Institutional Research to send an email at the end of fall 2024 to learn whether their engagement positively impacted their affect towards the KSU community.Our expectation is that the responses will indicate positive results comparable to the FLIGHT 27 results last year where 92% of students who did participate reported feeling a sense of community at KSU. Some highlights from last year’s report about the Football Runout event include the following responses from FLIGHT 27:

79% made at least one new connection with another FLIGHT27 student.
96% are proud to be a FLIGHT27 student.
94% are likely to attend future KSU events.
95% are proud to be a KSU student.
96% feel like they are part of FLIGHT27.

Evaluation of Transfer Credit

Evaluation for the year is still underway. We do expect to see a lower rate of credits awarded because this year ‘s review will only include new incoming students; whereas last year the analysis and credit awards were reviewed for all students at the time. Last year’s baseline demonstrated a significant increase. Given those changes were successful, we should expect to establish an expected rate for one year by which future years will be compared.

Improving outcomes in first-year critical courses

In Fall 2024, Full Term courses maintained a high fill rate of 90% and experienced a 6.32% increase in enrollment. Seven Week Session I saw a slight decrease in capacity utilization, from 79% filled in Fall 2023 to 72% in Fall 2024. Seven Week Session II enrollment rose marginally, with the fill rate going up from 74% in Fall 2023 to 76% in Fall 2024. Learning Support Full Term courses saw a sharp increase in the fill rate, from 1042% in Fall 2023 (likely indicating high demand relative to seat availability) to 167% in Fall 2024, suggesting efforts to address the demand. These trends suggest strong, steady demand for Full Term courses, while shorter or support-oriented sessions may need adjustments to better match student needs.

There were small improvements in the DFWI rates in MATH 1190 Calculus I, in Fall 2023 and Spring 2024 which could be the result of several initiatives including more access to support services and the creation of a new course (MATH 1179 Calculus for Life Sciences). Unfortunately, DFWI rates for Math 1111 College Algebra and 1113 Precalculus were not as positive. MATH 1111 remained steady in Fall 2023 compared to Fall 2022, but increased in Spring 2024 compared to Spring 2023. For MATH 1113, DFWI rates for Fall and Spring increased by 5% over Fall 2022 and 2% points over Spring 2023.

Interventions like Supplemental Instruction (SI) and tutoring through the SMART Center continue to show benefits in general. Students who engage with SI and tutoring typically have higher mean grades, higher pass rates, and lower DFWI rates than the students who do not by significant margins.

Supplemental Instruction Fall 23 & Spring 24

SMART Center Fall 23 & Spring 24

In Early Alerts, final overall participation rate for Fall 2024 was 75%. This is up from 71% in Fall 2023 and 74% in Spring 2024. The participation rate for faculty teaching in our “Critical Courses” was 77%. In Midterm Grades, in Fall 2023 the midterm grade participation rate was 42% and the Fall 2024 midterm grade participation rate was 65%. The participation rate for midterm grades in Critical Courses went from 45% to 70%.

Progress and Adjustments:

The President’s Focused Learner Program

Beginning Fall 2024, we have transitioned the services and events formerly provided by the President’s Focused Learners program into a larger student support office: Student Success Programs. Franklin Ard, former director of the PFL program, was hired as Executive Director of Student Success Programs. The former program coordinator, Ellie Thomson, recently moved into an Associate Director role in the SSP office as well.

While the PFL program is retired in name, the successful programmatic and student support elements of this program, which were designed for “murky middle” students, are now being deployed by Student Success Programs, which allows us the opportunity to provide a broader level of support for this population. These elements include academic coaching, academic success workshops, guided study sessions, registration support, academic enrichment events, online resources, and priority academic outreach efforts.

Importantly, academic coaching has also been expanded, as PFL students (and any student in the “murky middle” GPA range at KSU) are now able to take advantage of coaching from four (soon to be six) coaches, rather than the single coach/coordinator assigned to the former PFL program. “Murky middle” students also receive targeted outreach from the SSP coaching team, in order to drive coaching and workshop/event attendance.

FLIGHT

Data from the Flight 27 cohort is pending institutional official census reporting.

An adjustment made in AY24-25 will be to focus more intentionally on fewer, more high-impact social and educational programs. As of the date of this report, we have done 7 small programs with 224 attendance (this is not unique users). Overall, we have done 22 events specifically for FLIGHT class students or as sponsored events with 8,877 interactions with students (not unique users). We have begun work on a collaboration with Strategic Planning, Assessment, and Analysis to conduct the surveys and focus groups as part of the evaluation and assessment plan. Additional conversations related to the program, include using the university’s definition for first-time, full-time students for our FLIGHT students to help us more efficiently and effectively track their progress to degree completion, and working with Strategic Planning, Assessment and Analysis on a definition for “student engagement” to make sure we are appropriately applying it to the FLIGHT students interactions in campus activities.

Evaluation of Transfer Credit

Prior to our transfer credit hour project in fiscal year 2022, 9871 of 38,973 enrolled undergrads had been awarded transfer credit with 5,537 enrollees holding transfer credit within the Core curriculum areas. In fiscal year 2023 when we started the project, KSU re-reviewed transfer credit requests and awarded additional credits resulting in 7,169 of 39,973 enrolled students holding credit that counted for the Core curriculum areas. This past year (FY24) as the project becomes a mature and sustained practice, 6,487 of 40,591 enrolled undergrads hold transfer credits in the Core curriculum areas.

Improving outcomes in first-year critical courses

We have made strong strides in student support through peer education (SMART Center, Supplemental Instruction and Learning Assistants) and raising awareness of the importance of early alerts and midterm grades among administrators. The additional changes needed seem to be in engaging more directly with chairs and faculty in taking a more micro-level look at the courses. In Fall 2024 we provided bi-weekly and then daily updates on early alert and midterm grade submission, seeing significant improvements in the rates of participation in these initiatives.

In summer 2024, we also held the inaugural training for Faculty “Block Champions”, these are faculty who are associated with first year courses in the block scheduling initiative. As many of these are critical courses, we hope that identifying faculty who are closer to the courses, aware of some of their colleagues concerns, and have additional credibility will positively influence pedagogical practices and participation in university level initiatives.

Plan for the Year Ahead:

The President’s Focused Learner Program

PFL initiatives that proved beneficial to our “murky middle’ student population will continue to be integrated into the service offerings and events now offered through the Student Success Programs academic support office. Academic coaching will remain a strong priority for PFL students—and any student with a “murky middle” GPA range at KSU. Intentional connection and frequent collaboration with other campus student support offices will be emphasized.

Through Student Success Programs, we will collect more robust data to determine which activities are most impactful for “murky middle” students. SSP will also engage in priority interventions for “murky middle” students, which will include information about SSP’s academic coaching and student success workshop and event offerings. We will endeavor to continue to grow academic coaching availabilities with an emphasis on “murky middle” students and those students with academic challenges.

FLIGHT

As of AY24-25, the program is part of a larger unit led by an Executive Director, and at the program level we have a Director, Program Manager, and Coordinator of Student Engagement and Belonging. This change provides extended staffing support and opportunities for specialized communities from within the department. Additionally, the program concurrently works with Enrollment Services to support efforts to recruit, admit, and welcome FLIGHT 29. The department collaborates with campus partners in various units to provide holistic student support: Student Leadership, Career Planning and Development, Housing and Residence Life, Student Success, Student Volunteerism and Service, and Athletics. In addition to programs, the department is expanding the Student Advisory Board to provide feedback on student support programs/initiatives and serve as program ambassadors for the FLIGHT program. Strategic monthly communications from the Class Deans to each FLIGHT cohort will highlight information that students need to know specific to their class year or generally.

Evaluation of Transfer Credit

We will re-evaluate credits from a collection of institutions outside of Georgia that have not been re-evaluated yet. We will also ensure transfer credits are mapped to the Core IMPACTS outcomes.

Improving outcomes in first-year critical courses

In summer 2024, we also held the inaugural training for Faculty “Block Champions”, these are faculty who are associated with first year courses in the block scheduling initiative. As many of these are critical courses, we hope that identifying faculty who are closer to the courses, aware of some of their colleagues’ concerns, and have additional credibility will positively influence pedagogical practices and participation in university level initiatives.

Challenges and Support:

The President’s Focused Learner Program

The challenge that the PFL program faced, and now also Student Success Programs will continue to face, is that academic coaching and workshops/events are voluntary for students. Our challenge is to reach the students at the point of need and persuade them to attend a coaching appointment or a workshop/academic event.

FLIGHT

The main challenge is still to identify a sustainable funding model for FLIGHT. The Director has spent significant time with University Advancement staff and has identified a few opportunities for donations and sponsorships. Divisional leadership is also working to secure permanent funding for programming. Efforts in this area are ongoing.

Evaluation of Transfer Credit

We have designated resources for this work. We should not have significant challenges.

Improving outcomes in first-year critical courses

Maintaining enthusiasm and momentum in faculty support for these initiatives may be a challenge.

The President’s Focused Learner Program

Student Success Programs is a new office at KSU and the opportunity to connect with other institutions that offer academic coaching within the system would be beneficial.

FLIGHT

Support that could be provided by the System Office is a community of practice (not an official RAC) for departments that support first-year experience and student transitions with the goal of retention and progression, made available to academic and/or student affairs units.

Evaluation of Transfer Credit

No additional support is needed at this time.

Improving outcomes in first-year critical courses

Additional benchmarking in terms of both policies and data from other USG institutions on similar initiatives would be helpful.

Project Leads and Points of Contact

The President’s Focused Learner Program

Franklin Ard, Director of Academic Student Support Services (fard1@kennesaw.edu); Sherrill Hayes, Interim Assistant Vice Provost (shayes32@kennesaw.edu); Lori Lowder, Associate Vice Provost (mlowder@kennesaw.edu)

FLIGHT

James Stinchcomb, Interim Director of Student Engagement & Belonging (jstinch2@kennesaw.edu); Sierra Turner, Executive Director of Student Engagement and Belonging (sturn173@kennesaw.edu); and Gloria Laureano Fuentes, Senior Associate Vice President for Student Affairs (glaurean@kennesaw.edu)

Evaluation of Transfer Credit

Chris Dockery, Faculty Director of General Education (cdockery@kennesaw.edu)

Improving outcomes in first-year critical courses

Sherrill Hayes, Interim Assistant Vice Provost (shayes32@kennesaw.edu); Lori Lowder, Associate Vice Provost (mlowder@kennesaw.edu)

QEP: It’s About Engagement (Kennesaw State University-2024)

Strategy/Project Name:

QEP: It’s About Engagement

Momentum Area:

Purpose

Category:

High Impact Practices

Strategy/Project Description:

Success is more about what you do while you are in college and less about which college you attend. A recent study showed that the most successful students are those who participate in undergraduate experiences, such as internships, undergraduate research, and service-learning. These engaged learning opportunities allow students to take what they learn in the classroom and apply it to the real world. Through internships, undergraduate research, and service-learning, students also gain unparalleled opportunities to hone their critical thinking and communication skills. More importantly, these opportunities pay dividends for students well beyond graduation.

At Kennesaw State, we believe that doing is the key to learning, which is why we are focused on increasing the number of engaged learning opportunities and giving more students the chance to learn by doing. We developed our Quality Enhancement Plan, It's About Engagement, to advance KSU’s mission of student success by focusing on the dynamic nature of engaged learning in each of the academic colleges and the university overall.

Activity Status:

Refining/Maintaining

Evaluation/Assessment plan:

Evaluation Plan and measures:

Goal #1: Increase the number of opportunities for students to engage in internships, undergraduate research, and service-learning in undergraduate degree programs in each of the academic colleges and for the university as a whole.

Goal #2: Increase the number of students engaging in internships, undergraduate research, and service-learning opportunities in undergraduate degree programs in each of the academic colleges and for the university as a whole.

SLO #1: Students will cite meaningful and valuable connections of their HIP experiences to their overall educational preparation.

SLO #2: Students will gain new insights on the connectedness and integration of the academic preparation of their disciplines of study to the applied settings of their HIP experiences.

SLO #3: Students will build upon prior knowledge and experiences to respond effectively to the new and challenging demands of their HIP settings.

SLO #4: Students will demonstrate growth in professional and personal core values and sense of self as a result of their HIP experiences.

Current Status:

QEP ends Spring 2024 – The course coding is complete at the time of this report.

Academic Year	Service Learning	Work-Based Learning	Undergraduate Research	Total Students
2019-2020	1,986	4,290	3,456	9,732
2020-2021	1,849	4,021	4,242	10,112
2021-2022	1,853	5,477	6,176	13,506
2022-2023	2,525	5,016	8,040	15,581
2023-2024*	1,251	2,145	4,616	8012

QEP ends Spring 2024 – The course coding is complete at the time of this report.

SLO #1: Students will cite meaningful and valuable connections of their HIP experiences to their overall educational preparation.

QEP ends Spring 2024 – Student Reflections are not scored until May of each year so data for Year 5 is not available at the time of this report.

SLO #2: Students will gain new insights on the connectedness and integration of the academic preparation of their disciplines of study to the applied settings of their HIP experiences.

QEP ends Spring 2024 – Student Reflections are not scored until May of each year so data for Year 5 is not available at the time of this report.

SLO #3: Students will build upon prior knowledge and experiences to respond effectively to the new and challenging demands of their HIP settings.

QEP ends Spring 2024 – Student Reflections are not scored until May of each year so data for Year 5 is not available at the time of this report.

SLO #4: Students will demonstrate growth in professional and personal core values and sense of self as a result of their HIP experiences.

QEP ends Spring 2024 – Student Reflections are not scored until May of each year so data for Year 5 is not available at the time of this report.

Progress and Adjustments:

As the QEP enters the fifth and final year, the focus is to expand the number of participating courses and the number of students engaging in courses utilizing one of the three HIPs. Similarly, refinements have been made that will hopefully increase the quality of the student reflections evaluated in May of each year.

Plan for the Year Ahead:

Steps taken in 2023 will continue to focus on the use of the CAD (Course Attribute Dashboard) to accurately code courses using HIPs and to verify the course is utilizing the HIP according to the QEP definition and expectation. As the institution gets better at ensuring all courses coded with a HIP meet the definitions set forth, we will likely see a decrease in the data relating to the number of courses coded and the number of students engaging. However, this reduction shows an improvement in the implementation of the QEP with respect to accurately coding courses that are actually leveraging a HIP within the curriculum of the course. It is also believed that adhering to the course expectations for utilizing a HIP and how it is embedded within a course will lead to higher-quality student reflections.

Challenges and Support:

As stated last year, familiarizing new administrators with the QEP and its processes continues to be the biggest challenge. We continue to have a significant amount of turnover in leadership positions involved with QEP implementation. Likewise, training everyone on the new tools to improve coding and data collection has taken time and resources. However, we have developed increasingly effective resources and training for faculty and administrators, which help orient individuals to the QEP and the implementation expectations.

Through its development of CAD, the system office has already been deeply supportive of our efforts.

Contact email:

betheri4@kennesaw.edu

Primary Contact:

Brian Etheridge, Associate Dean for The Journey Honors College and QEP Administrator

Leigh Funk, Assistant Vice Provost and SACSCOC Liaison

Learning Analytics (Kennesaw State University-2024)

Strategy/Project Name:

Learning Analytics

Momentum Area:

Data & Communications

Category:

Data

Faculty Development

Strategy/Project Description:

KSU aims to take full advantage of data gathered through the LMS, D2L, for a faculty audience. Our online learning unit, Digital Learning Innovations, has revised their mission to support faculty in using the LMS to manage learning in all modalities and using the data to identify problems, diagnose root causes, and take targeted actions during the semester to impact student success within the semester. The learning analytics solution, uHoo Analytics, is available to all faculty. Additionally, faculty are provided professional development in tool use and data interpretation.

This project is aligned with one of our “Top 5 Strategies,” which is to encourage faculty to utilize student course data to improve student performance.

Activity Status:

Scaling

Evaluation/Assessment plan:

Evaluation Plan and measures as of Fall 2024:

Micro-learning completion rates by badges awarded
Introduction to uHoo Analytics: 303 issued
Learning Analytics 101: 89 issued
Course Optimization: 65 issued
Student Support: 66 issued
Increase number of programs using D2L data for program assessment reporting (3 programs are piloting uHoo for program assessment)
Use of analytics for instructional optimization
1. Measure frequency of faculty access of learning analytics system.
2. Measure number of faculty engaged with learning analytics system.
  484 faculty have requested access to uHoo Analytics
  181 unique users in October 2024
  In October users opened reports 701 times and viewed 1,518 pages within the platform.

Progress and Adjustments:

uHoo access by faculty across campus continues to grow and frequency of engagement is rising rapidly; however, some original users have discontinued regular engagement. The reasons for this are unclear but could include faculty value perceptions, ease of use, or simply lack of an instructional assignment for the Fall 2024 semester. Users have submitted dozens of feature requests indicating interest in the tools. KSU has had excellent uptake of the introductory professional development course with 303 completers earning badges. Moving forward, an instructor survey may help provide guidance on system or professional development aligned to learning analytics.

Plan for the Year Ahead:

In the next year, the uHoo development team will take the list of faculty feature requests to the Digital Learning Advisory Council for prioritization. The development team will then aim to complete 3 new features within the year. The professional development delivery will continue including custom college-specific support events and training. Additional development on the program coordinator dashboards will also be advanced and the planning and feasibility of advisor dashboards will also be reviewed. Refinements to enhance reliability and accuracy will continue as new opportunities become apparent with the growing user base.

Challenges and Support:

Human resources in our Digital Learning Innovations team are limited. Ensuring we have the time and human resources to be successful is important. We are reviewing the team’s summer vacation schedules to be sure the resources will be available. Additionally, as instructor traffic continues to grow on the platform, stress on the system is beginning to show. The development team will need to advance the cloud platform employed to maintain reliability for such heavy use.

We have been able to work with the USG UIT team as well as the D2L developers. Their engagement continues to be valuable to troubleshoot and advance the uHoo Analytics. We do not require additional support beyond this continuance.

Contact email:

avega4@kennesaw.edu

Primary Contact:

Anissa Vega, Associate Vice Provost

Campus Plans Supplemental Sections

Observations and Next Steps

The strategies and activities that have been most successful this year have been those that were well-received by our campus community. Initiatives like Starting Blocks, Early Alert and Midterm Grade programs, and UHoo Analytics have had a positive impact. These successes were bolstered by comprehensive trainings and strong support from leadership, which helped foster campus-wide engagement and alignment around these initiatives.

With recent enrollment growth, we've encountered some additional demands on our support systems, but we see this as an opportunity to strengthen our services. To meet the needs of our expanding student population, we’ve made key adjustments, including hiring more faculty, advisors, success coaches, and peer educators. This expansion enables us to provide more personalized support, ensuring that each student has access to the resources they need to succeed.

As we move into the coming year, many aspects of our strategic plan are well-aligned with our Momentum-CCG Campus Plan. Our efforts will be dedicated to advancing these goals, which include:

Enhancing undergraduate first-year retention and success.
Improving success in critical courses with high enrollment and low pass rates.
Increasing opportunities and support for students to engage in high impact practices.
Developing an online student success infrastructure.
Expanding faculty programming to cultivate innovative and effective pedagogical practices.

The fifth and final of our “Top 5 Strategies” is to build the campus-wide infrastructure, including hiring personnel, implementing data governance, refining warehouse operations, and strengthening the data architecture/systems, to begin the development of outcomes-based analytic dashboards containing actionable data. We hope that KSU will be able to test machine learning and generative AI to support predictive analytics and data interpretation support. This area will be crucial in providing comprehensive data support across all initiatives, driving informed decision-making and continuous improvement.

Quick View - Success Inventory