South Georgia State College Campus Plan Update 2018

Institutional Mission and Student Body Profile: 
Who We Are

Academic Year 2017-2018

South Georgia State College, a state college of the University System of Georgia, is a multi-campus, student-centered institution offering high-quality associate and select baccalaureate degree programs.  The institution provides innovative teaching and learning experiences, a rich array of student activities and athletic programs, access to unique ecological sites, and residential options to create a diverse, globally-focused, and supportive learning environment.
(SGSC Mission Statement, approved 2012)

SGSC offers three associate degree programs (AA, AS, and AS in Nursing) with a total of twenty academic pathways, as well as four bachelor’s degree programs (BS in Nursing, BS in Biological Sciences, BS in Management, and BS in Long-Term Healthcare Management).  The college’s completion priorities focus primarily on attainment of the associate’s degree, at which level 96% of students were enrolled in fall 2017.

SGSC’s mission, completion priorities, and student body demographics clearly align.  SGSC consistently enrolls primarily “traditional” students (86% fall 2017).  However, a variety of student-support services for all students is extremely important at SGSC, where almost two-thirds of all students have been Pell grant recipients (64% average, fall 2013-fall 2017), over half of entering freshmen have remedial mathematics requirements (51% fall 2017), and almost one-third (31% average, fall 2013-fall 2017) have been first-generation college students.  Such student demographic data has led SGSC to select four college completion strategies focusing on helping students to succeed and earn a degree. 

The “Enrollment and Demographic Trends” and “Underserved Enrollment Trends” tables (Appendix Tables A and B, respectively) provide a good look at the SGSC student body’s characteristics. 

 In addition to the data in the tables, it is noteworthy that in the fall of 2017 SGSC enrolled students from 101 of the 159 Georgia counties, from 20 other states and 5 other countries, and from 368 high schools.  The students represented in these enrollment figures help “to create a diverse, globally-focused learning environment” (SGSC mission statement). 

Institutional Completion Goals, High-Impact Strategies & Activities

(All tables and graphs referenced are in the Appendix.)

High-Impact Strategy #1:  Increase dual enrollment offerings at high school and SGSC campuses

Related Goal:

 Shorten time to degree completion through programs allowing students to earn college credit while still in high school

Demonstration of Priority and/or Impact: 

This strategy aims to provide opportunities for academically-qualified high school students to earn college credits while still enrolled in high school, thereby shortening their time to a college degree.  The strategy also positively impacts enrollment at SGSC, both while students are still in high school and as a recruitment strategy/incentive to maintain SGSC enrollment after high school graduation.  Significantly, dual enrollment also facilitates and encourages transfer to senior USG institutions.

Primary Point of Contact for This Activity: 

Ms. Walida Swaggard, Dual Enrollment Specialist, Walida.swaggard@sgsc.edu

Summary of Activities: 

(1) Dual enrollment (DE) is promoted to high school students and their parents through mail, recruiters at college fairs, high school counselors, and direct contact from the SGSC Dual Enrollment Specialist.  (2) DE students and percentages were enrolled at the following locations fall 2017:  an SGSC campus only—52%, at a high school campus only—37%, at both a college and high school campus—11%.  (3) Students are supported by the SGSC Academic Success office, tutors, Enrollment Services office, and high school counselors.  Tutoring is available onsite at the Academic Support and STEM Centers on both campuses, as well as online.  However, DE students constituted only 6.61% of all students utilizing these resources (29 of 439 students) fall semester 2017.   (4)  DE students are offered free use of loaned textbooks and receive information on the textbook process at least one month prior to the beginning of classes.  (5) Students are provided information on continuing enrollment at SGSC after high school graduation, as well as on transferring to other USG institutions (see measure #5 below).  (6) DE students matriculating both on campus and at high schools are offered personalized campus tours.

Measures of Progress and Success:

Baseline Measures:

(1) The enrollment baseline is 96 students enrolled in fall 2013 (Table C).  (2) The credits awarded baseline is 2535 in FY 2014 (Table D & Graph E).  (3) The course success rate baseline is 94.03% percent success for fall 2013 (Table F & Graph G).  (4) The DE course success rates compared to non-DE success rates is 94% (DE) versus 73% (non-DE) for fall 2013 (Graph G & Table H).  (5) The college enrollment post-high school graduation baseline is 90% (Table I).

Interim Measures of Progress: 

(1) The fall 2017 dual enrollment of 385 is a 301% increase over the baseline enrollment of 96 in fall 2013 (Table C).  (2) In FY2018 SGSC awarded 6,762 dual enrollment credits, a 167% increase over the baseline credits awarded of 2535 in FY2014 (Table D & Graph E).  (3)  The fall 2017 DE course success rate of 97.13% is an increase of 3.1% over the baseline rate of 94.03% for fall 2013 (Table F & Graph G).  (4) The fall 2017 DE/non-DE course success rate ratio of 97%:69% is close to the ratio for the fall 2013 baseline semester, as expected at SGSC (Graph G & Table H).  The data for all four measures demonstrates that the DE strategy at SGSC has been quite successful.  (5) SGSC tracks continuing college enrollment of DE students after high school graduation.  Table I demonstrates that for all four academic years shown, over 90% of SGSC’s former DE students continued their college careers after graduating from high school (a figure that could be higher if all students could be tracked).  Also, on average 80% of those continuing college chose to do so at either SGSC or another USG institution.

Measures of Success: 

(1) Maintain or exceed a DE enrollment of 350 through fall 2020.  (2) 5000 DE credits awarded for FY2020.  (3) A DE course success rate of at least 92% each semester through fall 2020.  (4) A DE/non-DE course success rate ratio of approximately 92:75 is expected through fall 2020.  (5) We continue tracking data on continuing college.  While SGSC has no control over this data point to establish a measure of success, we are using 90% of DE students continuing in college as a target.  Every measure of success was already met for fall 2017.

Lessons Learned: 

(1) Area high schools are eager to have their better students participate in dual enrollment.  (2) In order to meet accreditation standards, we must ensure that DE students on high school campuses have available the same types and quality of support services available to students on the College campuses.  (3) Availability of tutoring online and in Academic Support and STEM Centers on both campuses has been promoted more vigorously beginning fall semester 2017.  (4) Freeing up full-time faculty and recruiting part-time faculty to teach DE courses on high school campuses continues to be a challenge to continued growth in DE enrollment. 

High-Impact Strategy #2: 

Increase student academic success by providing Student Support mechanisms for academic achievement.

Related Goals: 

Increase the number of undergraduate degrees awarded; shorten time to degree.

Demonstration of Priority and/or Impact:  (

A) “Strategies to Emerge, Progress, and Succeed” (STEPS) is an effort to increase the persistence and retention of residential students.  The profile of those students is as follows: First-year residential students enrolled in at least one Learning Support course at SGSC and/or who had a high school GPA of ˂ 2.5.  These “at risk” students who reside on campus are targeted because of underperformance among SGSC’s residential student population, proximity, ease of staff contact, and high percentage of Pell-grant recipients and learning support requirements.  Of the first-time freshman residential students enrolled fall 2017, over a third (37%) were STEPS-eligible.  Significantly, for fall 2018 the percentage STEPS-eligible has increased to 56.4% (N=110).  While about half of those eligible had a HSGPA of 2.5 or greater, the number required to enroll in Learning Support courses increased—probably due to new LS criteria.  (B) Learning Center tutoring, included in the CCG report for the first time, is available on both the Douglas and Waycross campuses.  Each campus has an Academic Support Center and a STEM Center, as well as the availability of 24/7 online tutoring. 

Primary Point of Contact for This Activity: 

Ms. Amber Wheeler, Academic Success Director, amber.wheeler@sgsc.edu

Summary of Activities: 

(A) Strategies to Emerge, Progress, and Succeed (STEPS): (1) STEPS involves student success workshops, Academic Support Center tutoring, STEM Center tutoring, academic coaching provided by faculty and staff members, course grade monitoring throughout the academic year, a STEPS-student-specific SGSC 1000 orientation/first-year experience course, and other intervention practices.  (2 In fall 2016 and 2017 there were two sections of the SGSC 1000 first-year experience course for STEPS students, and there will be three STEPS sections in fall 2018.  Designed collaboratively by the Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs, the Academic Success Director, and an Academic Support counselor, the STEPS FYE/orientation class differs from other sections of the course in that it is a skills-driven class for at-risk students focused on student resources, goal setting, studying, note taking, testing, time management, financial literacy, student policies and procedures, academic planning, career planning, and “soft skills.” It also focuses on academic advising, academic standards, grade point average calculation, and other topics related to student success.  Resources used in developing and delivering the course include “Open Forum for Learning Assistance Professionals” (https://lists.ufl.edu/archives/lrnasst-l.html),  a listserv developed for those who teach this type course, as well as a variety of other online sources and publications.  In addition, the Academic Success Director researched Open Educational Resource texts to utilize for the fall 2017 cohort.  (3) STEPS cohort student achievement for each fall semester is compared to the non-STEPS but STEPS-eligible fall 2013 baseline cohort achievement for data reporting purposes. STEPS students are not “visible” as such to faculty other than their orientation class instructor.

Measures of Progress and Success, STEPS:

Baseline Measures, STEPS: 

Baseline measures for all eight metric/data elements come from the performance of the fall 2013 entering cohort of non-STEPS residential students—those students whose academic performance was not affected by the STEPS strategies initiated with the fall 2014 entering cohort.  All baseline data can be found in Table J. The baseline measures are as follows:  (1) fall 2013 to spring 2014 baseline persistence rate:  87.50% persisted; (2) fall 2013 to fall 2014 baseline retention rate: 48.96% were retained; (3) the fall 2013 baseline grade point average is 1.85; (4) a baseline of 78.13% of students were in good standing at the end of fall term 2013; (5) the baseline course success rate for fall term 2013 is 67%; (6) the spring term 2014 baseline grade point average is 1.51; (7) a baseline of 46.43% of students were in good standing at the end of spring term 2014; (8) the baseline course success rate for spring term 2014 is 50.13%.

Interim Measures of Progress, STEPS: 

All progress data can be found in Table J.  

1. The fall to spring persistence rates for the STEPS cohorts are 92.72% (fall 2016) and 89.47% (fall 2017), the latter indicating a slight decrease, which is being reviewed.
2. The fall 2016 to fall 2017 retention rate for the STEPS cohort is 60.00%, 11.04% percent higher than that of the non-STEPS baseline cohort but 5% below the target.
3. The grade point averages for the STEPS cohorts are 1.96 (fall 2016) and 1.64 (fall 2017), the most recent of which is lower than the 1.85 average for the non-STEPS baseline group and needing improvement.
4. STEPS students remained in good standing at rates of 63.64% (fall 2016) and 65.79% (fall 2017), both below the rates for the non-STEPS cohort (78.13%); however, as is demonstrated in the data for #7 below, by the end of a full academic year the STEPS cohort far out-performed the non-STEPS baseline cohort in terms of remaining in good standing. 
5. The course success rates for the STEPS cohorts are 68.20% (fall 2016) and 55.93% (fall 2017), rates comparable in 2016 to those for the non-STEPS baseline cohort (67%) but below the baseline in 2017; however, as is the case with end-of-academic-year good standing rates, #8 below demonstrates that by the end of a full academic year the STEPS cohort far out-performed the non-STEPS baseline cohort in terms of course success rates. 
6. The spring term grade point averages of STEPS students are 1.89 (spring 2016) and 1.83 (spring 2016), well above those of the non-STEPS baseline cohort (1.51). 
7. The percent of STEPS students in good standing at the end of a full academic year is 62.75% for the fall 2016 cohort and 55.88% for the fall 2017 cohort, well above the 46.43% for the non-STEPS baseline cohort. The decrease for the fall 2017 cohort is being reviewed. 
8. The course success rates for STEPS students at the end of a full academic year are 64.68% for the fall 2016 cohort and 62.37% for the fall 2017 cohort, well above 50.13% for the non-STEPS baseline cohort. 

Measures of Success, STEPS:  “

Success” for each of the eight measures of progress above is defined as follows:  (1) a fall to spring persistence rate of 85% for the fall 2020 STEPS cohort; (2) a fall to fall retention rate of 65% for the fall 2020 STEPS cohort; (3) a fall term grade point average of 2.00 for the fall 2020 STEPS cohort; (4) 65% of the fall 2020 STEPS cohort in good standing at the end of the fall 2020 term; (5) a fall 2020 course success rate of 60% for the fall 2020 STEPS cohort; (6) a spring term 2020 grade point average of 2.00 for the fall 2019 STEPS cohort.  (7) 65% of the fall 2019 STEPS cohort in good standing at the end of spring term 2020; (8) a spring term 2019 course success rate of 65% for the fall 2020 STEPS cohort.  Some targets are currently not yet being met; however, student achievement for 2017-2018 was well above the 2013-2014 baseline achievement for all measures.

Lessons Learned, STEPS: 

(1) The SGSC Office of Institutional Effectiveness has analyzed data to identify potential causes of the current trend in STEPS cohort course success, retention, and fall grade point average rates, as well as poor performance in academic standing, in order to develop an action plan in fall 2017 that is being implemented in the 2018-2019 (current) academic year.  (2) Rubrics are needed to assess STEPS FYE/orientation course assignments with more clarity and accuracy.  (3) The STEPS FYE/orientation course is definitely scalable to other communities/institutions.  In fact, portions of the course have been used in academic success workshops offered campus-wide, and components of the course have been inserted into the FYE/orientation course for the general student population.

Summary of Activities: 

(B) Learning Centers Tutoring:  (1) Tutoring takes place in the four SGSC Learning Centers—a STEM Center on each of the two campuses and an Academic Support Center (ASC) on each campus—as well as through the 24/7 online tutoring services of tutor.com.  Ongoing activities include the day-to-day operations of the tutoring centers and online tutoring.  In addition, SGSC has extended tutoring from our Academic Support and STEM Centers into the residence hall in spring 2018. Day-to-day operations include the following: (a) Providing peer tutors for tutoring, (b) inventorying and tracking resource utilization, (c) managing center facilities, (d) tracking center utilization, (e) facilitating group study, (f) marketing support services, (g) and generally supporting students and faculty.  At the beginning of every semester Academic Success provides classroom presentations for faculty and participates in any presentations requested.  (2) During academic year 2017-2018, Academic Success was also asked to join the collaborative programming team hosted by Campus Life. (3) Academic Success is on the STEM Grant committee housed within the School of Sciences and the Housing Task Force. (4) Throughout the academic year, Academic Success proctors exams in the testing centers located within the Academic Support Centers. From August 1, 2017, through July 31, 2018, professional tutoring staff proctored 795 exams on-site and several exams off-site. (5) During convocation week of fall semesters, Student Success trains residential assistant (RA) staff on tutoring services available to the SGSC student body.  (6)  Programming activities of the SGSC tutoring centers for the past academic year include the following: 

• On August 17, 2017, we held the first annual STEM Fest. It was a huge success drawing in over 1,000 people.
• On August 21, 2017, our centers opened their doors for tutoring for the academic year.
• On August 22, 2017, the STEM Centers hosted Dr. Weiping Yu from NASA who presented to the Waycross Campus student body.
• On August 22 & 23, the STEM Centers in partnership with the School of Sciences held their BOOST workshops on the Douglas and Waycross Campuses respectively. The BOOST workshops are geared toward incoming STEM majors and equip them with student success strategies as they relate to STEM courses.
• On August 23 through October 4, 2017, the ASCs launched the SMART Cookie workshop series for the fall semester. This workshop series provides one workshop per week and is open to all students and promotes general success strategies. Topics include study skills, successful student activities, time management, note taking, critical thinking, and how to calculate your grade (GPA calculation and weighted syllabus grade scales for courses).
• On September 1 through September 22, 2017, Academic Support Centers processed early alert referrals and outreach to students.
• On October 5, 2017, the STEM Centers hosted the Birds-in-Flight show from Georgia Southern University.
• On October 16, 2017, the centers hosted South University.
• On November 8, 2017, STEM Centers hosted N-ov-8 (STEM Day) at Satilla Elementary School.
• On January 12, 2018, the Waycross campus held the tutor training day.
• On January 17, 2018, a BOOST Workshop was held by the STEM Coordinators on the Waycross campus.
• January 22 through February 2, 2018, Academic Success staff processed early alert referrals and outreach to students.
• On January 23, 2018, a BOOST Workshop was held on the Douglas campus.
• January 26, 2018, Academic Success hosted STEM Day for Waresboro Elementary School on the Waycross Campus.
• February 2, 2018, Academic Success staff served the Science Fair on the Douglas campus.
• February 9, 2018, STEM Day was hosted for Coffee High School and Citizens Christian Academy in Douglas.
• March 1, 2018, the ASC hosted the annual Graduation Workshop.
• On March 7, 2018, all staff of Academic Success participated in assessment training.
• March 23, 2018, Academic Success staff served the Science Olympiad for the Waycross Campus.
• July 20, 2018, Academic Success staff supported the Hawk Connect re-enrollment event.
• Academic Success provided support throughout the academic year during peak student advising and open registration periods by offering peer advising and Learning Center locations for student advising.

Measures of Progress and Success, Tutoring:

Baseline Measures, Tutoring: 

Baseline measures for all seven metric/data elements come from the performance of the fall 2013 students—those students whose academic performance was not affected by the strategies initiated with the fall 2014 entering cohort.  All baseline data can be found in Tables K-Q. The baseline measures are as follows: (1) fall 2013 residential status: 76.89% non-tutee commuter, 5.78% non-tutee residential, 10.39% tutee commuter, and 6.94% tutee residential; (2) fall 2013 mid-term grade baseline course success rates: 75.49% for non-tutees vs. 73.32% for tutees; (3) fall 2013 final grade baseline course success rates: 74.34% for non-tutees vs. 76.79% for tutees; (4) fall 2013 to spring 2014 baseline persistence rate: 73.36% for non-tutees vs. 82.55% for tutees; (5) fall 2013 to fall 2014 baseline retention rate: 46.76% for non-tutees vs. 58.17% for tutees; (6) fall 2013 average institutional cumulative GPA: 2.60 for non-tutees vs. 2.62 for tutees; (7) a baseline of 80.63% of non-tutees vs. 83.89% of tutees were in good standing at the end of fall 2013 term.

Interim Measures of Progress, Tutoring

(All Interim Measures of Progress Data can be found in Tables K-Q):  (1) fall 2017 residential status: 75.84% non-tutee commuter, 6.83% non-tutee residential, 14.92% tutee commuter, and 2.41% tutee residential; (2) fall 2017 mid-term grade course success rates: 73.22% for non-tutees vs. 75.59% for tutees; (3) fall 2017 final grade course success rates: 74.83% non-tutees vs. 78.91% for tutees; (4) fall 2017 to spring 2018 persistence rate: 73.45% for non-tutees vs. 86.33% for tutees; (5) fall 2017 to fall 2018 retention rate: 40.74% for non-tutees vs. 62.41% for tutees; (6) fall 2017 average institutional cumulative GPA: 2.7 for non-tutees vs. 2.9 for tutees; (7) good standing at the end of fall semester 2017: 79.85% for non-tutees vs. 88.15% for tutees.  For all measures, those students engaging in tutoring achieved significantly greater success than those not receiving tutoring.

Measures of Success, Tutoring: 

(1) Maintain at least 15% of student population receiving tutoring each fall through fall 2020.  (2) Mid-term course success rates for tutees will exceed non-tutees each fall through fall 2020.  (3) Final course success rates for tutees will exceed non-tutees each fall through fall 2020.  (4) Fall to spring persistence rate for tutees will exceed non-tutees each fall through fall 2020.  (5) Fall to fall retention rate for tutees will exceed non-tutees each fall through fall 2020.  (6) Average institutional cumulative GPA for tutees will exceed non-tutees each fall through fall 2020. (7) The percentage of tutees in good standing will exceed that of non-tutees each fall term through fall 2020.

Lessons Learned, Tutoring: 

(1) There was a delay fall semester 2017 in hiring peer tutors for the Academic Support Centers due to financial aid processing delays.  The situation was reviewed, and corrective actions were implemented to prevent future delays.  (2) The Academic Support specialists on both of SGSC’s campus Academic Support Centers are part-time positions.  While much has been accomplished in these centers, full-time specialists would have an even greater impact.  (3) Douglas Campus building renovation required moving that campus’s Academic Support Center to another building.  Advance planning minimized the negative aspects of moving by allowing for the move during the summer term; however, the move took longer than anticipated, a situation from which the college has learned.

High-Impact Strategy #3

Use academic advising as a means of increasing student progression, retention, and graduation

Related Goal

Keep students on track to graduate; encourage shortening of time to degree by emphasizing “15 to Finish”; decrease excess credits on the path to completing a degree.

Demonstration of Priority and/or Impact

SGSC’s significant at-risk and Pell grant student population needs a solid grasp of the advising process as a learning tool for success.

Primary Point of Contact for This Activity

Dr. Charles Johnson, Dean, School of Sciences, Charles.johnson@sgsc.edu 

Summary of Activities

(1) An academic advisement session is a feature of the college’s first-year experience course, SGSC 1000, a course in which all first-time, full-time students enroll each semester.  The session uses academic program maps from senior institutions to match with SGSC academic pathway maps to help students complete an assignment to plan their entire course of study at SGSC while also emphasizing “15 to Finish” as the best means to achieve academic goals.  Another focus of the advisement session is to help students understand their own roles and responsibilities in degree completion.  (2) All academic program maps, available on the SGSC website, have been revised so that students have a ready guide for program completion. Maps are now aligned with Momentum Year recommendations, including information on career opportunities for each academic pathway.  Academic deans are responsible for maintaining and updating program maps.  (3) Advising “tip sheets” for advisors have been created for academic programs in specialized areas, such as pre-nursing, STEM pathways, and education, as well as on learning support policies and rules.  Tip sheets include points to remember, comments on program maps, potential impediments to graduation, and FAQ.  (4) Training and mentoring opportunities in advising for faculty members have been established, including opportunities prior to orientation and registration sessions, as well as throughout the academic year.  (5) During academic year 2017-2018, SGSC had in place two professional academic advisors to assist students, train and collaborate with faculty advisors, assist with advising assessment, and maintain student records and reports.  One of these advisors is assigned to each campus.  (6)  During academic year 2017-2018 professional advisors engaged in the following activities:

• hosted focus groups for the development of a campus-wide assessment plan of advising
• used resources from NACADA, to create a survey for advising assessment for faculty
•  submitted a proposal approved by the President’s Cabinet to launch the “Phoenix Program” to address the needs of high-risk students returning from academic suspension
•  created and implemented a Student Advising Workshop series in spring 2018
•  revised academic standing letters for academic probation and suspension to align with Momentum Year
•  launched the USG Stop-Out Campaign
•  launched Hawk Express and Hawk Connect—both recruitment events—with Hawk Express for new students and Hawk Connect for returning students (these events tailor to the needs of quick enrollment by providing advisors, financial aid, and registrar in a one-stop-shop format)
• began degree audits for Required High School Curriculum (CPC) and Area A completion
•  designed and implemented the Entry Program contract to communicate expectations and policies for entry program students, because data reflected that students were staying the EP’s longer than the MOU allowed—thus changing the advising culture at the entry programs and ensuring that SGSC is abiding by Momentum Year recommendations
•  aided in SGSC’s Early Alert program pilot
•  developed The Hawk Advisor, a newsletter publication to offer training including tech tips useful to advising, article reviews, campus event information, program updates, USG initiative updates, and trends in the advising arena
•  hosted DegreeWorks training for both students and faculty (different events)
•  hosted a lunch & learn with Financial Aid and faculty for financial aid training during Financial Aid Awareness Month
• conducted hands-on advising training for new faculty. 

(7) With Momentum Year in mind, the Student Orientation, Advisement, and Registration process (SOAR) was completely redesigned for the Waycross Campus. This was a complete overhaul of the SOAR format that incorporated academic mindset, early intervention for all students, and initiated the education process before classes began. 

Measures of Progress and Success

Baseline Measures

(1) The baseline one-year retention rate for FTFT freshmen is 48.63% for fall 2013 (Table R).  (2) The baseline percentage of students enrolling in 15 or more credit hours is 21.33% in fall 2013 (Table S).  (3) The baseline percentage of students successfully completing 15 or more credit hours is 46.99% for fall 2013 (Table T).  (4) The three-year graduation rate baseline is 9.99% for the fall 2011 cohort (Table U).  (5) The baseline for degrees conferred by degrees offered is 266 for FY2014 (Table V). 

Interim Measures of Progress

(1) The one-year retention rate for FTFT freshmen for fall 2016 is 49.63%, a 1% increase from the fall 2013 baseline (Table R) and a 4.68% increase from the previous fall (2015).  (2) The percentage of students enrolling in 15 or more credit hours for fall 2017 is 26.22%, a 4.89% increase over the fall 2013 baseline and 2% higher than for fall 2016 (Table S).  (3) The percentage of students successfully completing 15 or more credit hours for fall 2017 is 50.91%, a 3.92% increase from the fall 2013 baseline and a 4.17% increase from the previous fall (2016) (Table T).  (4) The three-year graduation rate for the fall 2014 cohort is 14.43%, a 4.44% increase over the fall 2011 cohort baseline (Table U).  (5) The number of degrees conferred by degrees offered is 364 for FY 2018, a 36.8% increase over the FY 2014 baseline and an 11% increase over the FY 2017 number of 329 (Table V). 

Measures of Success

(1) a one-year retention rate for FTFT freshmen of 55% for fall 2020; (2) 30% of students enrolling in 15 or more credit hours for fall 2020; (3) 60% of students successfully completing 15 or more credit hours for fall 2020; (4) a three-year graduation rate for the fall 2018 cohort of 18%; (5) a number of degrees conferred by degrees offered of 360 for FY 2020.

Lessons Learned

(1) From the baseline semester of fall 2013 to the present approximately half of all students enrolled in 15 hours successfully completed 15 hours (Table T).  Academic advisor and early alert intervention is indicated, and the addition of two fulltime academic advisors has helped.  (2) Average excess credit hours per fiscal year for each SGSC degree program can be determined using data in Table W to assist SGSC in addressing that issue by degree program.    (3) Effective academic advising and grade monitoring are essential to high-risk students’ success.  (4) Study of FTFT freshmen one-year retention rate has led to further planning for change.

High-Impact Strategy #4: Gateway to Completion

Implementation of Gardner Institute/USG Gateway to Completion (G2C) Collaborative to improve student performance in foundational high-enrollment, high-risk courses through course redesign, use of predictive analytics, and improved teaching and learning pedagogy.

Related Goals

Increase number of degrees awarded; shorten time to degree; use predictive analytics; restructure instructional delivery to support educational excellence and student success.

Demonstration of Priority and/or Impact

G2C provides faculty with processes, instructional and curricular guidance, and analytics tools to redesign teaching, learning, and success in high-risk gateway courses.  The USG is invested in G2C through commitment to and application of the G2C process at ten USG institutions, among them SGSC.

Primary Points of Contact for This Activity

Dr. Robert Page, Vice-President for Academic & Student Affairs, Robert.Page@sgsc.edu

Ms. Dani Sutliff, Director of Institutional Effectiveness, Dani.Sutliff@sgsc.edu

Summary of Activities

SGSC is one of 10 USG institutions partnering with the John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate education to improve teaching and learning in gateway courses.  The work of 2016-2017 Year 1 (Analyze and Plan) of the 3-year G2C process, involved the following actions:  (1) creation of a steering committee, (2) completion of Gateway Course Analytics Inventory and identification of a gateway course, “Principles of Biology I” (BIOL 2107), based on the Analytics Inventory evidence, (3) administering of the Student Assessment of Learning Gains survey (3 times), (4) completion of Review of Principles & Key Performance Indicators, (5) creation of an Initial Action Plan (Phase II Plan) and an Implementation Team, (6) participation in Analytics Process Collaborative and faculty workshops at G2C conference, (7) participation in G2C Teaching and Learning Academy and Community of Practice Meeting, (8) administering Learning Analytics Readiness Instrument to selected faculty and staff, and (9) Implementing redesign of new  BIOL 2107 classroom pedagogy summer semester 2016.  Year 2 actions saw SGSC engaged in continuing BIOL 2107 course redesign in the summer and fall of 2017, including action items such as design and implementation timeline, costs analysis, assessment and evaluation, and development of a status report.  (10) The redesigned course was launched spring semester 2018 as a pilot to be replicated with four new gateway courses in Cohort II to be developed in AY 2018-2019 (ENGL 1101, MATH 1111, HIST 2112, POLS 1101).  (11) Training materials were developed for the August 30, 2018, kickoff meeting, at which the following topics were discussed:  course team leader responsibilities, course committee guidelines, steering committee introduction, timeline for AY 2018-2019, introduction of the G2C platform, and the initial assignment for course committees.  (12) The work of Year 2 also involved administering the Student Assessment of Learning Gains Survey (twice), participation in the G2C Teaching and Learning Academy and Community of Practice meeting, participation in the Analytics Process Collaborative and the faculty Academic Success and Institutional Research workshops at the G2C annual conference.  (13) The G2C Steering Committee is currently completing the spring 2018 course redesign report and analyzing data.

Measures of Progress and Success (all baseline data is for FY2015 and is in Table X):

Baseline Measures:

(1) The baseline overall DFWI rate for BIOL 2107K is 44.2%.  (2) The baseline DFWI rates by gender for BIOL 2107K are 54.3% (male) and 38.2% (female).  (3) The baseline DFWI rates by full-time and part-time status are 46.8% and 36.1%, respectively.  (4) The baseline DFWI rates for the most at-risk race/ethnic groups are 50% (Hispanic or Latino) and 64.4% (Black or African-American).  (5) The baseline DFWI rate for Pell-eligible students is 49.4%.  (6) The baseline DFWI rate for first-generation students is 41.7%.  (7) The baseline DFWI rate for non-first generation students is 44.8%.  NOTE: All G2C measures are selected by the Gardner Institute. 

Interim Measures of Progress (all measures refer to BIOL 2107K)

(1) The FY17 DFWI rate is 34.7%, an improvement of 9.5% below the baseline percentage.  (2) The FY17 DFWI rates by gender are 44.4% (male) and 28.1% (female), approximately a 10% improvement for each gender compared to the baseline rate.  (3) The FY17 DFWI rate by full-time and part-time status are 36.3% and 28.3%, respectively—approximately 10% and 8% improvements over the baseline.  (4)  The FY17 DFWI rate for at-risk ethnic groups are 35.3% (Hispanic or Latino) and 36.7% (Black or African-American), improvements of approximately 15% and 28%, respectively.  (5) The FY17 DFWI rate for Pell-eligible students is 34.6%, a 15% decrease from the baseline rate. (6)  The FY17 DFWI rate for first-generation students is 27.3%, an improvement of approximately 14%.  (7)  The FY17 DFWI rate for non-first-generation is 35.9%, an improvement of approximately 9%.

The graph in Table Y depicts the dramatic drop in the DFWI rates for BIOL 2107K students beginning spring 2017 and continuing through spring 2018 as new pedagogy derived from G2C efforts took effect.

Measures of Success

(1) Reduce overall DFWI rate by 10 percent by FY19 compared to the FY15 baseline.  (2) Reduce DFWI rates for males and females by 10 percent FY19 compared to the FY15 baseline.  (3) Reduce DFWI rates for full-time and part-time students by 10 percent FY19 compared to the FY15 baseline.  (4) Reduce DFWI rates for Hispanic or Latino and Black or African American students by 10 percent FY19 compared to the FY15 baseline.  (5) Reduce DFWI rates for Pell-eligible students by 10 percent FY19 compared to the FY15 baseline.  (6) Reduce DFWI rates for first generation students by 10 percent by FY19 compared to the FY15 baseline.  (7) Reduce DFWI rates for non-first generation students by FY19 compared to the FY15 baseline.

Lessons Learned

(1) Course teaching release time or a stipend for course team leaders is essential to the success of the G2C strategy because of the faculty teaching load at SGSC, a state college.  In addition, many faculty are teaching course overloads in addition to their already busy course commitments.  (2)  With the first G2C course (BIOL 2107) the strategy has produced remarkable results in student success progress, as the data indicates.  Consequently, SGSC looks forward to developing and implementing four additional new G2C course designs.

Reflections, Observations, and Plans for Next Year

Reflections:

(1) While there is need for improvement in some strategy areas, our data demonstrates that all of our ongoing college completion strategies continue to be effective, although portions of some of the activities are being reviewed as a result of data analysis.

(2) The SGSC Quality Enhancement Plan on undergraduate research included for the first time as a CCG strategy in last year’s report has been removed from the CCG strategies reported on here for academic year 2017-2018 for several reasons:  (a) The plan contains far too many student learning outcomes (approximately 30) for timely assessment, data analysis, and action resulting in changes to improve student learning.  Consequently, the outcomes are under review.  (b) In part because of the cumbersome SLOs, faculty reporting of data is behind by a full academic year; therefore, there is no current data from which to provide meaningful interim measures of progress.  (c) Simplification of QEP assessment, which is the focus of current review, will result in changes to the measures of success identified in last year’s CCG report.  After QEP assessment revision, SGSC plans to include the QEP among CCG strategies again.  Using the results of QEP assessment in the college’s CCG efforts has had the very positive effect of helping the institution identify the need for QEP revision to enhance student learning.

Observations:

One challenge to SGSC’s college completion efforts is the institution’s need for additional technology and research personnel to support the generation and analysis of data needed to assess and inform completion strategies, particularly as SGSC strives to develop a predictive analytics model.

Plans for Next Year: 

(1)  We have implemented the pilot year of an academic early alert system utilizing tools available internally (BanWeb Faculty Feedback Form, Discoverer reports, Tutor Track, and Excel). 

 (2) We will assess the orientation requirement for dual enrollment students and make necessary changes to improve student understanding of college policies and processes.

(3)  SGSC has committed to developing a new cluster advising model to enhance our retention efforts. There is currently a professional advisor assigned to the Douglas and Waycross campus respectively. Four additional professional advisors, one for each of SGSC’s academic schools (Nursing; Arts & Professional Studies; Sciences) and one for residential students (Residential Academic Advisor & Coach) are being hired fall semester 2018.

 (4)  For academic year 2018-2019 the G2C strategy will include four additional gateway high-risk courses—ENGL 1101, MATH 1111, HIST 2112, and POLS 1101.

90-Day Momentum Year Update

• The SGSC Momentum Year team has participated in each of the USG Momentum Year summits and has developed (while continuing to develop and revise, as appropriate) 30, 60, and 90-day Momentum Year plans.  Of the three elements of the Momentum Year plan (Purpose, Program of Study, and Engagement) SGSC has focused during the past academic year primarily on the first two, with most attention given to identification of academic focus areas; aligning student guidance into a focus area with student interests and aptitudes; initiating the USG “Pathway Pitch” initiative; training of faculty and staff on academic focus areas and pathways; student orientation redesign; and identification of milestone courses in each academic focus area and pathway.  Specific SGSC Momentum Year activities include the following:
• Participation in all USG Momentum Year summits
• Academic focus areas have been identified:
  
  • Applied Technology-Computer Science (AS), Physics (AS)
  • STEM-Mathematics (AS), Physics (AS), Biology (AS), Chemistry (AS), Computer Science (AS)
  • Health Professions-Biology (AS), Chemistry (AS), Health and Human Performance (AS), Allied Health (AS), Pre-Professional (AS), Nursing (ASN), Nursing (BS), Long-Term Healthcare Management (BS)
  • Arts-Communication (AA)
  • Humanities-English (AA), Foreign Language (AA)
  • Social Sciences-Economics (AA), History (AA), Political Science (AA), Psychology (AS), Sociology (AA), Criminal Justice (AS)
  • Business-Business Administration (AS), Logistics (AS), Management (BS)
  • Education-Education (AS)
• Development of focus area academic pathway curriculum maps for all academic pathways has been initiated.
• Updating of academic pathway maps
• Registrar-created audit report for Area A completion in 30  hours to facilitate advisor and student notifications
• Initiation of SGSC 1000 orientation/first-year experience course redesign to align with Momentum Year strategies
• Career Services initiation of identifying career aptitude inventory tools