High Impact Practices

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.

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

1. 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.

In freshman orientation classes each 1st-year student will be required to complete an assignment designed to encourage the use of stepping blocks data.  Based on an academic major of interest, students will research common jobs associated with the major as well as the job market and the salaries associated with these positions.

This initiative will expand the utilization of an academic chatbot in core courses.  The chatbot provides basic academic information, utilizes intelligent agents in the LMS to monitor student engagement and prompts as necessary, evaluates readiness for quizzes and reminds students about assignments and deadlines. GSU received a $7 million Post Secondary Student Success grant from the Department of Education to launch this technology in introductory English and Math courses in Fall 2024.  Chatbot technology is already used in American Government, Macroeconomics and Chemistry.

CETL facilitated and will continue to facilitate faculty book talks, workshops, and faculty learning communities to promote growth mindset and purpose. · CETL facilitated and will continue to facilitate the Relentless Welcome (Felton, 2023). · Workshops for faculty focused on teaching success that are formatted to be conducted without technology (Talking Teaching, Expert Panels) · HIP attribute

The EXACT Plan consolidates GGC’s existing experiential learning resources and practices, expands upon that campuswide inventory by fostering a culture of curricular practice, strengthens practices through focused faculty training that integrates ePortfolio and critical thinking pedagogies into GGC’s expanding experiential learning profile, and operationalizes strategies for ensuring access to all students. 

Experiential learning and critical thinking are the topics of GGC’s current QEP.

At Georgia College, Community-based Engaged Learning (CbEL) courses require student participation in service projects or community engagement (either on campus or through institutional partnerships with off-campus organizations) and integrate the service experience into course content.

The Office of Leadership Programs maintains institution-wide responsibility for management, coordination, and development of all Georgia College leadership programs and initiatives. Beyond Georgia College’s core leadership programs, which are directed and administered by the Office of Leadership Programs, the staff works collaboratively with members of GC's faculty and staff to develop affiliate programs.

Students are required to sign up and complete an approved internship experience for academic credit at GCSU. These may be supported by the academic department or may be secured with assistance from GC’s Career Center. The Career Center advises students to begin their internship search at least 4 – 6 months before their desired start date.  The Career Center uses Handshake software to promote local, regional, and national internship opportunities to students.

GCSU aspires to graduate students with creative and problem-solving dispositions that prepare them to be the next leaders of the free world. Georgia College connects teaching excellence with learning beyond the classroom to provide unique undergraduate research experiences for students. Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) defines undergraduate research as, "an inquiry or investigation conducted by an undergraduate student that makes an original, intellectual, or creative contribution to the discipline(s)."