High Impact Practices

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. 

The Mentored Undergraduate Research and Creative Endeavors (MURACE) program connects teaching excellence with learning beyond the classroom in providing unique undergraduate research experiences for students. The campus follows the best practices outlined in the newly released Characteristics of Excellence in Undergraduate Research (COEUR) 2.0 by the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) in providing support for highly effective undergraduate research contexts.  

The Capstone is the final embedded experience built into GC Journeys. To “Complete Your Journey” for Capstone, students must successfully complete the capstone course for their program/major. Experiences will be determined by the requirements of the department/major.

The Roadrunner Scholars is a residential and immersive summer bridge program designed for students requiring learning support math and English.  In this six-week program, students were enrolled in both learning support math and English as well as their credit course counterparts, and the Perspectives seminar. Roadrunner Scholars were provided tutoring assistance, peer education, development opportunities, as well as social activities.  All aspects of the program were provided at no cost to the student through scholarships offered by our Dalton State Foundation.  Students were invited to app

PACE is a first-year student program that provides intentional interventions through both curricular and co-curricular activities that support academic perseverance and enhance a sense of belonging. Beginning with First Chime, a fun convocation to “ring” in the beginning of the school year, students are connected to faculty members in their focus area and peer mentors to understand expectations for the first weeks of school. Interventions are planned and implemented in Perspectives (our first-year seminar course).

This activity is designed to enhance first-year student persistence, progression, and graduation by fostering a coordinated approach that integrates faculty mentoring, professional academic advising, and career services guidance. The focus is on holding students accountable for their academic choices, ensuring they remain on a graduation plan aligned with their career goals, and connecting them with key campus resources to support holistic development.

Student Accountability & Engagement:

This activity expands the work ASU currently conducts within its University College. 

Albany State University currently does not require students to have standardized test scores prior to admission.  As such, it has been difficult to identify incoming students’ specific strengths nor areas that need improvement.  Our student success supports are therefore often too general to directly address specific student-related deficiencies.  To overcome this barrier to success, we are piloting a First Year Student Assessment Protocol (FYAP).

We will increase the number of students experiencing High Impact Pedagogies as part of their curriculum across all five campuses and improve our ability to track these experiences for students.