Initiating

Successfully completing a Math course in the first year of college is a key indicator of future academic success. A provost-level task force—comprising representatives from the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, the Academic Enhancement Center, and Academic Advising—will develop strategies for improving student success in gateway math courses. These strategies include revising course curricula and teaching practices to better engage students, increasing access to academic support services, and ensuring appropriate first-year math placement through advising. 

The Holistic First-Year Experience program aims to support growth mindset and increase college knowledge among incoming first-year students. Specific interventions include summer on-boarding activities, First-Year Seminar GGC 1000 course with discipline-specific content, learning communities, ITEC 1001 EXACT (experiential learning and critical thinking) course, and Grizzly Peers for Success. 

Students enrolled in MATH 1113 (precalculus) have been identified as a high-priority population as the course is a gateway to successfully completing a STEM degree, especially if a student’s high school math program is under resourced. In addition, MATH 1113 enrollment is steadily rising (161.4% increase from Fall 2018 to Fall 2022).

Integrate the IBM SkillsBuild Getting Started with AI module into all First-Year Experience (FYE) courses.

The LIGHT Your Path initiative aims to integrate student support services at MGA to provide a guided structured pathway for incoming freshmen towards successful academic and career outcomes.  

This initiative is built around MGA’s existing student support resources to include advising, student success coaching, academic engagement, career and leadership opportunities, and freshman year experience. This initiative addresses Strategy I under MGA’s 2023-28 Strategic Plan to ‘Champion Student Success.”

GSU recently secured two grants totaling over $1 million to develop a one-stop student success portal integrated with the learning management system. In pursuit of this ASPIRE goal, we have launched initial modules focused on career exploration and planning.

The portal will continue to expand with additional resources, including mental health support, academic assistance, FAQs, and guides for student resources such as VMock, our AI-powered career readiness platform.

The Continuing Student Communication Strategy priority is designed to establish a streamlined, cohesive approach to communicating with our continuing student population. We have already made progress with two key units—Registration and Financial Aid—by partnering with a third-party vendor to create personalized communication journeys for these processes.

All incoming first-year students were connected post-NSO with online information and communication from their top 5 engagement choices via the Panther Involvement Network - PIN. During their in-person NSO event, each student attended a 'Panther Connect' session to dive deeper in their top desired involvement opportunity, where they were able to connect and share contact information with students that possess similar interests as them.

As part of the consolidation with Georgia Southern University (GS), a full-time Career & Internship Advisor position has been created for the Swainsboro campus. The position has been posted with the goal of starting later this fall, but not later than by January 1, 2026.

As part of the consolidation with Georgia Southern University (GS), an Assistant Director of Student Wellbeing/Deputy Title IX Coordinator focuses on promoting healthy student conduct for the East Georgia Campus in Swainsboro.