SGSC ASPIRE Top Five Strategies for Success, AY 2024-2025
As we have moved from AY 2023-2024 to the current academic year, we are incorporating three new ASPIRE strategies to complement our BOOST Mindset and course scheduling/Area A completion emphases. Data gathering and analysis begins in the current academic year. The top five SGSC strategies for student success identified in the spring 2024 USG ASPIRE initiative and now an integral part of our CCG/Momentum work beginning in AY 2024-2025, as well as related USG strategic plan goals, are identified in the tables below:
|
Strategy |
Description |
Outcome Measure |
Measure Cycle |
Point of Contact |
USG Strategic Plan Areas |
|
1. Provide students more choices in course scheduling |
Course Analysis Committee will annually survey students, consult with faculty, and study enrollment trends to recommend course scheduling adjustments that create more choices of modality, time, place, and variety in course offerings. |
% students enrolled in >=15 hours |
Each fall |
1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.5 |
|
|
2. Establish advising centers on both campuses |
Faculty are required to spend a minimum of one hour per week in the advising Center to provide academic advising on an ongoing basis, and student support staff are assigned case loads of students for whom they provide referrals, conduct skills workshops, and address non-academic needs. |
% FTFT AA/AS students retained after 1 year |
Each fall |
1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.5 |
|
|
3. Provide Mindset training and activities for students & intervention strategies for faculty |
All students are directly enrolled in a course in D2L where they can earn certificates for completing virtual workshops on such topics as motivation, note-taking, study skills, the neuroscience of learning, etc., for which some faculty offer incentives. FLCs are offered to faculty who wish to explore various pedagogical strategies to encourage a growth mindset. |
% student participants each year |
Each spring |
1.2, 1.3, 2.5 |
|
|
4. Adopt no-cost and low-cost textbooks and course materials |
Faculty are strongly encouraged to use OER and to support the Affordable Learning Georgia initiative to increase affordability for students. |
% no-cost & low-cost course sections offered each year |
Each spring |
1.2, 1.3, 2.1, 2.2, 2.5 |
|
|
5. Establish articulations with other institutions, inside and outside the USG |
Articulations with TCSG institutions beyond those approved by USG increase transfer opportunities. Articulations with sister/senior institutions provide clearer pathways for AA/AS graduates to continue their studies. Articulations with graduate programs provide advanced study opportunities for baccalaureate graduates. |
% retained in USG |
Each spring |
1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 2.1, 2.2, 2.5, 3.1, 4.1 |
|
Strat. Plan # |
Strategic Plan Area |
Strategic Plan Item |
|
1.1 |
Student Success |
SS: Enrollment of Georgia students |
|
1.2 |
Student Success |
SS: 1-year retention rates |
|
1.3 |
Student Success |
SS: Graduation rates |
|
1.4 |
Student Success |
SS: Degrees awarded |
|
1.5 |
Student Success |
SS: Earnings of graduates |
|
1.6 |
Student Success |
SS: Other (describe) |
|
2.1 |
Responsible Stewardship |
RS: Average loan amount |
|
2.2 |
Responsible Stewardship |
RS: Cost of attendance |
|
2.3 |
Responsible Stewardship |
RS: Donations |
|
2.4 |
Responsible Stewardship |
RS: Operating expenditures per FTE |
|
2.5 |
Responsible Stewardship |
RS: Time to degree |
|
2.6 |
Responsible Stewardship |
RS: Other (describe) |
|
3.1 |
Economic Competitiveness |
EC: Collaborative programs |
|
3.2 |
Economic Competitiveness |
EC: Undergraduate research |
|
3.3 |
Economic Competitiveness |
EC: Research expenditures |
|
3.4 |
Economic Competitiveness |
EC: Research expenditures from federal funds |
|
3.5 |
Economic Competitiveness |
EC: Patents and plant certificates issued |
|
3.6 |
Economic Competitiveness |
EC: Business startups supported |
|
3.7 |
Economic Competitiveness |
EC: Other (describe) |
|
4.1 |
Community Impact |
CI: Retention of USG graduates in state |
|
4.2 |
Community Impact |
CI: Lifetime earnings premium of graduates |
|
4.3 |
Community Impact |
CI: Employee turnover |
|
4.4 |
Community Impact |
CI: Degrees awarded in key employment sectors |
|
4.5 |
Community Impact |
CI: Enrollments in experiential learning |
|
4.6 |
Community Impact |
CI: Other (describe) |
Observations and Next Steps
The past year has taught us that if a strategy isn’t working, we need to admit that it isn’t working and decide whether it’s worth saving or if we should let it go. If it is worth saving, we must devise a strategy to do so, and we need the resources to make it successful. We believe that the strategies we are currently working on are particularly aligned with our institutional goal #3 of “improv[ing] student success rates as measured by course completion, retention, graduation and transfer to other post- secondary institutions after preferably attaining a degree from SGSC.”
In the year ahead, we want to refocus so that the successful strategies that we have initiated are expanded or maintained, and those that are unsuccessful are either abandoned or revised. We need to focus on fewer strategies to maximize effective use of our limited resources and workforce. Our priority areas for continued improvement are:
- at-risk students, because if we can identify their needs earlyenough to intervene and provide support, we can retain them and help them become successful;
- collaborative advising, because faculty and student success staff need to work together to provide the most effective holistic advising to ensure degree progression and timely graduation; and, as a new priority area,
- student engagement, because achieving learning outcomes requires active learning, and high-impact practices can relate to career-ready competencies.
