University of North Georgia Campus Plan Update 2022

Section 1: Your Institutional Mission & Student Body Profile

The University of North Georgia, a regional multi-campus institution and premier senior military college, provides a culture of academic excellence in a student-focused environment that includes quality education, service, research and creativity. This is accomplished through broad access to comprehensive academic and co-curricular programs that develop students into leaders for a diverse and global society. The University of North Georgia is a University System of Georgia leadership institution and is The Military College of Georgia.

UNG Student Body Profile

Source: Census data Fall 2022 Census +Asian-American students not included.

Enrollment Trends

UNG’s total fall 2022 enrollment as of fall census was 18,046; undergraduate enrollment was 17,256. The decline in undergraduate enrollment began in the spring of 2021 and has persisted as COVID disruptions to K-16 continue. Preliminary USG data showed 21 of the 26 system institutions with an overall decline in enrollment. Driving enrollment decline is the loss of Associate-degree-seeking students, which has fallen by more than 50%. The initial drop in fall 2020 was directly related to COVID as students struggled to enroll or remain enrolled as the pandemic roiled daily life priorities. As the economy reopened after lockdowns, tremendous demand for workers and the stress on households to find adequate childcare disproportionately impacted these students. Combined with significantly higher entry level wages, 2-year students had a clear opportunity-cost decision choosing work instead of college.

August 2022 Georgia Unemployment statistics also shows a vibrant labor market in UNG’s service area, with unemployment below statewide and national rates. Until it becomes difficult for high school graduates to find employment, it is uncertain if 2-year sector enrollment will rebound, continue to decline, or plateau. Bachelor’s level gains offset the decline in associate enrollment in 2020; however, that replacement ratio did not persist into either 2021 or 2022. Competition for students from other TCSG institutions also factors into the decline in associate students. Lanier Technical College has campuses in three of the communities UNG serves. LTC enrollment has continued to grow during the last three years, which decreases the pool of students UNG might have drawn from at that level. Current student retention also dipped during this past year as the academic and mental health challenges students faced during the pandemic weighed heavily upon their ability to persist. Fall 2022 enrollment saw declines among junior and senior students for the second consecutive year, further demonstrating the negative impact of COVID on all student groups. Fall 2022 enrollment fell across all student types.

There are no reliable enrollment models to adequately predict post-pandemic student behaviors. National trends show enrollment growth among selective colleges and universities and flat or declining enrollment at institutions of good reputation without waitlists to draw from as needed to meet enrollment goals. National attitudes toward higher education and overall student preparedness post-pandemic are also variables that will influence overall enrollment in the future. Projections suggest a slowing and stabilization of 2-year enrollment losses, with a robust recovery in graduate enrollment. Bachelor enrollment, by contrast, is projected to grow by only .75 and 1.5% respectively in 2023 and 2024.

Benchmarks & Goals

As a regional, public institution of higher education, UNG strives to deliver quality educational opportunities to the region it serves. The dual role of providing access (Associates) and selectivity (Bachelors), the institution endeavors to graduate students “on time.” While enrollment has declined, UNG outperforms its sector consistently in most retention and graduation metrics (see Table 2).

Institutional Peers

*USG Qlik Dashboards: CCG Retention Comparison & CCG Graduation Comparison

FTF Graduation Rates

Along with the enrollment decline summarized above, on-time graduation rates decreased slightly. In contrast to the on-time graduation rate, the number of baccalaureate graduates at 150% of time (fall 2016) increased by 5 percent over the fall 2015 cohort. The slight changes in the data for on-time and 150 percent of time for both associate and bachelors-seeking students was most certainly attributable to the effects of the pandemic. This trend, noted above, held true for most categories in Table 3.

Credits Earned vs. Attempted

An important success metric UNG monitors is credits attempted versus those earned in a term. This metric is important in assessing program progression as well as Financial Aid eligibility, specifically Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP). The consequences of the pandemic are evident in Table 4 with students attempting noticeably fewer credit hours in fall 2021. While enrollment remained near its highpoint, attempted credit hours declined 2.2 percent; this trend merged with declining headcount starting in spring 2022.

Data reflects enrollment in undergraduate level courses as of End of Term of each indicated semester. Grades included as “Credits Earned” include A,B,C, Withdraw Passing, and Satisfactory. Grades not included as “Credits Earned” include D, F, Withdraw Failure, and Unsatisfactory. Grades not included in either “Grades” Attempted” or “Credits Earned” include Not Reported, Incomplete, In Progress, Audit, and Military Withdrawal.
*Fall 2021 and spring 2022 Headcount are as of end-of-term and include all registered students.

15 to Finish

Students have been taking lighter course loads since spring 2020 with no evidence of a rebound as of fall 2022 census date. The one positive note is that while students are taking fewer hours, they are earning a higher percentage of credits attempted (Table 4). Tables 5 and 6 also highlight this behavior. Statistically, the percentage of students enrolled in 15 or more hours has not changed much, hovering at approximately 25%. What has changed since the pandemic is the percentage of First Time Freshmen enrolled in 15 or more hours (Table 5). In 2018, for example, 29% of FTF students enrolled in 15 or more hours; in fall 2020 that number dropped to 21%, a clear reflection of the effect of the pandemic. In fall 2021, that percentage rebounded to 26.6%. The drop in the number of FTF taking fifteen or more hours coincided with the same trend in the overall undergraduate student body (Table 6). However, as Table 6 shows, the number of continuing students enrolled in fifteen or more hours has not rebounded to pre-pandemic levels.

            *Fall 2021 Census file.

*Fall 2021 Census file.

Alternative Credits Earned

A key strategy for on-time completion is providing opportunities for students to earn credit for prior learning. In 2022, both the number of students and the total of credits earned through exams was equal to or above pre-pandemic levels.

*Source: Banner database script

Co-Requisite Success Rates*

Co-requisite success rates mirror other institutional data, with declines in AY2021 followed by a small improvement in success rates post-pandemic. Again, it is too early to determine if this is a trend or not.

Dual-Enrolled Students

Dual Enrollment took a significant step back in fall 2022 across the system; UNG experienced this change as well. Students were unprepared to submit standardized test scores and changes to the admissions criteria to accept the PSAT came too late in the cycle to make a significant difference where admissions to bachelor’s programs is selective. The -20% decline in applications was followed by declines in acceptance rates, confirmation rates, and enrollment, which was down -219. Table 9 shows the consequences of an unstable admissions environment as fall 2021 matriculation to UNG dropped to 25% (Table 10), down from an average above 30%. UNG DE advisers are working to reset the yield rate through more individualized outreach to current DE students.

                  * Files Used: Fall 2021 EOT Enrollment; Fall 2022 Add/Drop Enrollment

                  * updated fall 2022 add/drop enrollment (student type: DE)

Online Courses & Adult Learners

Data related to online learning shows more clearly than perhaps any other source the continuing effect of the pandemic. The number of students enrolled in one or more online courses fell in fall 2021 relative to fall 2020, but remained well above pre-pandemic levels. Preliminary data for fall 2022 shows the continuation of demand for online options, with a small increase of 0.6% in the headcount enrolled in online classes.

*Source: Banner database script

Similarly, the number and percent of degrees awarded in which students took at least one online course showed a small increase. The importance of online options preceded the pandemic and continues to be, post-pandemic, an intentional method of serving the educational needs of North Georgia. UNG will continued to strategically expand its online offerings in order to ensure access to education for all student types, and plans to add online modality to select programs in order to better serve adult learners. As tables 12 and 13 illustrate, online delivery is an effective means to serve adult learners as well as traditional students.

*Source: Banner database script

*Source: Banner database script  

Section 2: Your Student Success Inventory

Optional Updates

2.2    Your Big Idea

For the 2021 Summit, you developed and implemented a Big Idea. What have you learned from your Big Idea? What evidence or indicators do you have? What are your plans to continue or adjust it?

Big idea was “communicating the goals of the plan and in coordinating the implementation of plan elements. By focusing on the number of positive elements aligned with momentum approach goals, UNG should become a more student-ready institution positioned to serve the needs of an increasingly diverse student body.”

One purpose in communicating the goals of momentum planning is to effect a cultural shift in serving students. Given the overall environment, change management efforts have been slow, though there is some notable progress. The institution launched its Pathway+ program on the Oconee campus with 207 students in the first cohort; an institution-wide academic alert and intervention program began with the fall term as well. To date, faculty have submitted more than 500 academic alerts. Arguably one of the most challenging issues in making progress to be more student focused is the constant distractions caused by turnover, budget constraints, and initiative fatigue.

2.3    Global Momentum Work

In reflecting on your work above, what units on campus would have the opportunity to be more engaged in your Momentum Work? If so, in what ways and in what areas?

Increasing the integration of academic departments’ participation in Momentum work is the largest opportunity for the institution to pursue. As referenced above, primarily through the integration and implementation of HiPs, and the inclusion of competencies shown to be effective in developing students’ career readiness are the greatest opportunities. Academic Affairs is going through a strategic planning process this fall with reports from Academic departments due to college deans at the beginning of November; deans will synthesize the department plans and present to the provost in December. From a global perspective, this approach will improve Academic Affairs’ collaboration other divisions.

Section 2: Reflecting on your Momentum Work & Minding the Gaps

Looking at your student success inventory, campus context and institutional data…

2.1        What are your strengths with respect to student success? Where are you having the greatest success and making the most progress?

• Prior learning credits awarded;
• Increased access through course modalities;
• Programs supporting equitable outcomes—RISE, CAMP, and Student Success Equity Intensive;
• Academic alerts & intervention program.

2.2        What are your priority areas for continued improvement and why? Where do you have gaps in performance among student subgroups? What are your plans for understanding and closing these gaps?

• Retention; creation of an Office for Student Retention and Success that collaborates with multiple units in Academic Affairs to implement an academic alert system and process for academic interventions with students;
• Increasing attention on equitable outcomes is needed as is the creation of support systems (Early Alert/Intervention) and revisions to institutional practices supporting student success;
• UNG was accepted into AASCU’s Student Success Equity Intensive (formerly the Transformation Accelerator program) in partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; as of October, the institution is participating in the Institutional Transformation Assessment to collect data for use in designing equity strategies in 2023;
• Academic Program analyses using USG process; results will inform academic strategic planning for implementation in AY23-24.

2.3        What supports from the System Office would be most helpful in advancing your work?

• Continuing to build out system-level data (like Qlik) and analytics dashboards for more broad use by institutional stakeholders; Qlik is useful but is limited because of licensing.
• Expanding data literacy to avoid misinterpretation.

2.4        Goal Setting

 Reviewing your recent data, what are your overall goals/targets for:

• Continue to revise and refine academic alert & intervention program;
• Design and implement an equitable outcomes plan through participation in SSEI program;
• Scale integration of HiPs in core curriculum and academic programs;
• Implement Academic Affairs strategic plan.
• Align strategies with the strategic plan and KPIs to hold ourselves accountable to the work.

Section 3: Optional Supplemental Updates

If there are elements of your critical CCG/student success work that is not detailed above that you wish to provide an update on, please use this section to indicate this.

Optional Section 4: Lessons from the Pandemic

The Pandemic has changed both the context in which students learn and our institutions operate and the students that we serve, in some ways that we can recognize, and others that we still are struggling to understand. We want to understand a bit more about what you have learned from the Pandemic, what the unanticipated consequences of the many changes and adjustments you have made have been, and what we can carry forward from this experimentation and adaptation into common practice. 

4.1        What changes that you have made in your practices/programs/operations because of the Pandemic improved your effectiveness and you plan to maintain or build upon?

Holistically, the institution has developed new support systems to maximize support of students with limited resources. To do this, collaboration and cross-unit teams have been created and gelled around specific efforts to intervene and support students. Specifically, Student Affairs has implemented a Stepped Care model (https://ung.edu/student-counseling/stepped-care-model.php) to support students in distress more quickly. In Academic Affairs the noteworthy new process centers on academic alerts and interventions. While the focus of this effort is academic intervention earlier in the semester, it is another example of collaboration between multiple divisions and offices, as well as a new unit, the Office of Student Retention and Success. These efforts have also generated review and analysis of institutional practices related to other processes—academic warning, probation, returning from suspension, and students on warning for not meeting satisfactory academic progress for financial aid. The approach of both programs has helped the institution focus on the most urgent needs of students in and outside the classroom in a resource constrained environment. These new practices will continue to be evaluated and improved as UNG turns the flywheel.

4.2        How has your communications with students shifted since the Pandemic? How did that go? What did you learn?

A significant change in communications has focused on messaging to student supporters (family, for example) to help keep them in the loop about what is happening on campuses, along with important dates, etc., that students need to know. Communicating with students has also shifted, from relying primarily on email to other systems that allow texting, which tends to get a better response from students. Finally, student success teams have been systematically reviewing communications students receive in an effort to provide more timely and pertinent information around specific processes.

4.3        In what ways, if any, are the students you serve today different from the students you were serving before the Pandemic? What are the implications for your success work and for campus functions in general?

The number of challenges resulting from the pandemic have severely strained institutional resources. Certain types of challenges have seen a threefold increase in the Office of the Dean of Students. Students have demonstrated a sustained decline in engagement, resilience, ability to adapt, and self-efficacy. Given the overwhelming demand for support and services, the institution has evolved new systems and practices, and while it has helped, the resource demands remain too great. This reality is compounded further by enrollment driven budget cuts.

4.4        What are the questions you are still working on about supporting students in the Pandemic?

• How to raise/improve student engagement with the campus community.
• How to get students the information and resources more quickly while there is still time to correct issues or challenges they are struggling with.
• There are so many needs that some things cannot be addressed adequately to support students in a timely manner.
• Effective communication methods to reach students.

Who is the student we are serving post-pandemic? What differences do they have versus the qualities of Generation Z students? How are they engaging inside and outside of the classroom? How can faculty reach them in the classroom? How to get them to engage with learning, experiences, and self-advocacy outside of the classroom?