This initiative centered on training advisors to help students create fuller schedules (15 or more hours) and complete Area A requirements within 30 hours, aided by the use of scheduling tools and success markers in Navigate.
Evaluation Plan and measures:
-
Review number/percentage of students enrolled in 15 or more credit hours; track number/percentage of first-time full-time students completing area A courses within 30 hours.
KPIs:
- Rate of enrollment in 15 or more credit hours; rate of completion of area A requirements
Baseline measure (for each KPI):
- Fall 2020 percentage of students enrolled in 15 or more credit hours was 17.01%; percentage of students completing area A courses within 30 hours was 57.04%.
Current/most recent data (for each KPI):
- Fall 2023 rate of enrollment in 15 or more credit hours was 19.53% of total enrollment, significantly up from the Fall 2022 rate of 17.39% and close to the last pre-pandemic rate of 20.12% in Fall 2019; the Fall 2023 rate for area A completion within 30 hours for FTFT students has not yet been calculated; in Fall 2022, it was 69.25%., significantly up from the Fall 2021 rate of 57.66% but significantly down from the last pre-pandemic rate of 76.13% in Fall 2019. All data can be found in Appendix Tables F, G, and H.
Goal or targets (for each KPI):
- Percentage of students enrolled in 15 or more credit hours, 25% of total enrollment; percentage of students completing area A courses within 30 hours, 80%.
Time period/duration:
- Measured each Fall
A number of factors, not the least of which was budget cuts that led to a loss of advisor positions and cancellation of the contract for the Navigate platform, necessitated a complete overhaul of not only academic advising but also course scheduling practices, all of which we are currently undertaking. The USG’s revision of the core curriculum structure contributed to the need for a new approach to advising that incorporates much more than creating fuller schedules and promoting area A completion. A Course Analysis Committee was formed to study course scheduling practices in an effort to insure that students have the ability to enroll in 15+ hours each semester, that course sequences are appropriately offered, and that students have enough information to make purposeful choices along their academic pathways. A new approach to advising with the collaboration of faculty and student success staff in a centrally located Advising Center is being piloted on the Waycross Campus; if successful, it will be extended to the Douglas Campus. Tools in the Banner 9 platform are being used to replace those lost when Navigate was discontinued. New program maps are in development. All of this constitutes a culture change for students, staff, and faculty.
Our Course Analysis Committee will persist in analyzing data, surveying students and faculty, and making informed recommendations on course scheduling. Faculty will be required to spend a minimum of one hour per week in the Advising Center to provide academic advising to students. Student success staff will provide referrals to services, offer skills workshops, and support students’ specific needs. We will reexamine our currently paused strategy of concierge coaching to determine if it should or could be improved and resurrected.
Major challenges include convincing mid-level administrators, some faculty members, and some students that recommended schedule changes are in the students’ best interests. Faculty buy-in is essential for the Advising Center model to be successful.
Scheduling software would be a great help to increase the effectiveness of our course scheduling practices.
