Georgia State University Campus Plan Update 2021

Student Body and Institutional Mission

“Georgia State has been reimagined, amid a moral awakening and a raft of data-driven experimentation, as one of the South’s most innovative engines of social mobility.”

-- THE NEW YORK TIMES, MAY 15, 2018

“It’s hard to exaggerate the magnitude—and the national implications—of what Georgia State University has accomplished….By dramatically boosting its graduation rate and wiping out its achievement gap, Georgia State has demolished the excuses that college have generated to rationalize their abysmal track records.”

-- DAVID KIRP, THE COLLEGE DROPOUT SCANDAL, 2019

“No other institution has accomplished what Georgia State has over the past decade.”

 -- BILL GATES, OCTOBER 2017

When it comes to higher education, the vision of the United States as a land of equal opportunity is far from a reality. Today, it is eight times more likely that an individual in the top quartile of Americans by annual household income will hold a bachelor’s degree than an individual in the lowest quartile.[1]  Nationally, white students graduate from college at rates more than 10 points higher than Hispanic students and are more than twice as likely to graduate with a 4-year college degree when compared to black students.[2]  According to the United States Department of Education, Pell-eligible students nationally have a six-year graduation-rate of 39%,[3] a rate that is 20 points lower than the national average.[4]

In 2003, Georgia State University was the embodiment of these national failings.  The institutional 6-year graduation rate for bachelor’s students stood at 32% and underserved populations were foundering.  Graduation rates were 22% for Hispanics, 29% for African Americans, and 18% for African American males.  Pell students were graduating at a rates more than 10 percentage points lower than non-Pell students. 

Rising Graduation Rates

Today, thanks to a campus-wide commitment to student success and more than a dozen innovative, scaled initiatives, Georgia State’s equity gaps are gone. The institutional graduation rate for bachelor’s-degree seeking students has improved by 24 points—among the largest increases in the nation over this period (See Appendix, Chart 1).[5]  Rates are up 35 points for Hispanics (to 57%), and 32 points for African Americans (to 57%).  Pell-eligible students currently represent 55% of Georgia State University’s undergraduate student population and have consistently graduated at or above the rate of non-Pell students (Chart 2).  In fact, over the past six years, African-American, Hispanic, and Pell-eligible students have, on average, all graduated from Georgia State at or above the rates of the student body overall—an all-but unprecedented accomplishment for a large public university.  In short, race, ethnicity and income level are no longer predictors of success at Georgia State.  Even amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Georgia State students continue to excel, and the university set new records for both its bachelor’s (56%) and associate (24%) degree graduation rates this past year.  Tracking these same cohorts using National Student Clearinghouse data, 63% of associate-degree students graduate or are retained after three years, and 70% of bachelor’s students graduate and 78% graduate or are retained after six years.  All of these rates are new highs for the university.

Record Numbers of Degrees Awarded

Georgia State also continues to set new records for degrees conferred.  For the third consecutive year, the university awarded more than 10,000 degrees, this year including a record of 7,758 undergraduate degrees (representing an 84% increase since 2010) (Chart3). The university established new records for total bachelor’s degrees awarded (5,422) as well as degrees awarded to Hispanic students (654, up 124% since 2010) and Asian students (913, up 80% since 2010) (Chart 4).  Georgia State now awards more bachelor’s degrees annually to African American, Hispanic, first generation, and Pell students than any other university in Georgia.  In fact, five years ago Georgia State University became the first institution in U.S. history to award more than 2,000 Bachelor’s degrees to African American students in a single year, a metric it has matched every year since (with 2,213 awarded this past year).  No other college or university in the U.S. has done so even once.  According to Diverse Issues in Higher Education, for the seventh consecutive year Georgia State conferred more bachelor’s degrees to African Americans than any other non-profit college or university in the United States (Chart 6).  Georgia State is also ranked first nationally in the number of bachelor’s degrees conferred to African Americans in a number of specific disciplines: biology, finance, foreign languages, history, marketing, psychology, and the social sciences. 

Importantly, students are succeeding in some of the most challenging majors at Georgia State.  Over the past decade, the number of bachelor’s degrees awarded in STEM fields has increased by 155% overall, 158% for African American students, 216% for African American males, and 406% for Hispanic students (Chart 5).

Perimeter College

The news may be even better at Perimeter College, Georgia State’s associate-degree-granting college that enrolls more than 16,000 students. Consolidation between Georgia State University and Perimeter College was finalized less than six years ago.  Since then, the Perimeter 3-year graduation rate has almost quadrupled, rising from 6.5% to 24% (Chart 8).  Equally encouragingly, as is the case for bachelor’s students, equity gaps based on race, ethnicity and income level have largely been eliminated.  In 2020 for the first time, African American, Hispanic and Pell students all graduated from Perimeter College at rates at or above those of the student body overall.  As recently as 2015, white students were graduating from Perimeter at rates more than two-and-a-half times the rate of African American students. In 2020, both white and African American students graduated at the same rate—exceptional progress in such a short period of time. While the pandemic has disproportionately impacted Perimeter’s low-income and African American students, reopening some gaps in 2021, the fact is that Pell students and African Americans are graduating at rates five times higher than they were prior to consolidation.  The elimination of equity gaps based on race, ethnicity and income level has been a distinctive and much-discussed accomplishment of Georgia State’s Atlanta campus, and the rapid progress in this area at Perimeter College lends credence to the view that Georgia State’s unique data-based, proactive and systematic approach to student success—an approach now being implemented at Perimeter—helps level the playing field for students from diverse backgrounds. 

According to The Chronicle of Higher Education (January 2020), 83% of Perimeter students now graduate, are retained, and/or successfully transfer to four-year institutions within three years of first enrollment, ranking Perimeter College 20^th in the nation (among 2,000+ community colleges ranked).  Despite steep declines in Perimeter College overall enrollments in the years leading up to consolidation and new declines brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, associate degree conferrals also have increased markedly, with 2,336 degrees awarded in 2020-21—representing an 25% increase since consolidation (Chart 9).  Perimeter College now ranks 15^th in the nation for the number of associate degrees awarded to African Americans annually.[6]  There is still much work to be done at Perimeter College, but the results already have been transformative.

A National Model

A core part of Georgia State’s mission is to serve all students in Georgia.  As such, the most foundational principle guiding our student-success efforts has been a pledge to improve student outcomes through inclusion rather exclusion.  In the 2011 Georgia State University Strategic Plan, we committed to increasing the number of underrepresented, first-generation and Pell students enrolled and to significantly improving graduation rates for all groups while eliminating equity gaps.  The consolidation with Perimeter College, with its thousands of students who fall into federal at-risk categories, is one example of this deep commitment to inclusion.  We also committed to achieving improved outcomes for our students not merely while they are at Georgia State but in their lives and careers after graduation. 

Over the past six years, Georgia State University’s student-success accomplishments have been the subject of growing levels of national attention.  Highlights include:

• In December 2014, former President Barack Obama highlighted the exemplary work being done at Georgia State University to assist students through its innovative Panther Retention Grant program in his address at White House College Opportunity Day.[7] 
• In 2014, Georgia State received the inaugural national Award for Student Success from the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities (APLU), and in 2015 it received the second-ever Institutional Transformation Award from the American Council on Education (ACE).  Both selection committees focused on Georgia State’s exceptional progress in student success and its elimination of equity gaps.
• In August 2015, Georgia State was invited to provide expert testimony on strategies for helping low-income students succeed before the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pension of the U. S. Senate.
• In July 2017, Bill Gates made a half-day visit to campus specifically to learn more about Georgia State’s innovative use of data and technology to transform outcomes for low-income students.
• Between 2018 and 2021, the Brookings Institution, Harvard’s CLIMB initiative, and US News and World Report released reports placing Georgia State among the top 1% of institutions in the nation for “social mobility”—helping students move from low-income status at matriculation to upper-income status as alumni.
• In spring 2018, The New York Times, in a feature article, highlighted Georgia State’s status as conferring the most degrees to African Americans in the country and labeled the university “an engine of social mobility,” while the Harvard Business Review and NPR’s “The Hidden Brain” both chronicled the impact of Georgia State’s groundbreaking work using an A.I.-enhanced chatbot to reduce summer melt.
• Georgia State’s student-success efforts became the subject of a feature-length documentary, Unlikely (2018), and an award-winning book by Andrew Gumbel, Won’t Lose This Dream: How An Upstart Urban University Changed the Rules of a Broken System (2020).
• In fall 2021, U.S. News and World Report ranked Georgia State 1^st in the nation for its Commitment to Undergraduate Teaching among all public universities (and 2^nd overall, just ahead of Princeton) and as the 2^nd Most Innovative University in the nation (behind only ASU). Georgia State ranked 10^th in the nation for Social Mobility and 11^th for Diversity.  Georgia State’s First-Year Experience and Learning Communities were each ranked 5^th in the nation.

Motivated by a desire to make an impact not only in the lives of its own students but also in the lives of students nation-wide, Georgia State University has made a conscious and significant commitment of time and resources to share with others the lessons that we have learned.  Over the past several years, Georgia State has hosted teams of administrators and faculty members from more than 500 colleges and universities enrolling 3 million students, all seeking to learn more about our student-success programs.  Visiting campuses have included almost every university in the University System of Georgia (USG), institutions from forty-seven U.S. states, as well as universities and national governing boards from the Netherlands, Great Britain, Bavaria, Georgia, Australia, Colombia, Hong Kong, South Korea, China, New Zealand, and South Africa.  Major national organizations—including Achieving the Dream, the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU), the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities (APLU), the American Council on Education (ACE), Complete College America, and the U.S. Department of Education—have also turned to Georgia State for its expertise in the area. 

In order to better support this dissemination work, as well as to incubate the next-generation of student-success innovations, Georgia State University established the National Institute of Student Success (NISS) in October 2020.  In its first year, the NISS is already delivering diagnostic and coaching services to more than two-dozen campuses nationally, including six in the state of Georgia. 

STUDENT  SUCCESS GOALS AND PRACTICES

Student Success Goals

The central goal that we have set for our undergraduate success efforts is highly ambitious, but the words were chosen carefully:  Georgia State will “become a national model for undergraduate education by demonstrating that students from all backgrounds can achieve academic and career success at high rates.”[8]

In 2011, Georgia State University committed to reach a graduation rate for bachelor’s-degree-seeking students of 52% by 2016 and 60% by 2021.[9]  We also committed to conferring 2,500 more degrees annually than we did in 2010 and to eliminating all significant equity gaps between student populations.  More recently, we committed to doubling the graduation rate of our new associate-degree seeking students from the 2014 baseline over a five-year period.

On the surface, attaining these goals seems implausible.  Georgia State’s demographic trends—characterized in recent years by huge increases in the enrollments of students from underserved populations—typically would project a steep decline in student outcomes.  Georgia State University, though, has been able to make dramatic gains towards its success targets even as the student body has become far more diverse and less financially secure. 

The 2011 Strategic Plan also outlined key strategies to achieve these goals.  We made a commitment to overhaul our advising system, to track every student daily with the use of predictive analytics and to intervene with students who are at risk in a proactive fashion, to expand existing high-impact programs such as freshman learning communities and Keep Hope Alive, to raise more scholarship dollars, to pilot and scale innovative new types of financial interventions, and to open a new Student Success Center.  After the launch of the strategic plan, we launched additional programs such as the Success Academy, meta-majors, Panther Retention Grants, College to Career, and an AI-enhanced chatbot to guide students through administrative and academic processes

The strategies have worked.  Since the launch of Georgia State University’s 2011 Strategic Plan, each of the new programs outlined in the Strategic Plan has been successfully implemented—and the new Student Success Center building will open in 2024.  Our institutional six-year graduation rate for bachelor’s-degree-seeking students has increased by 8 percentage points from 48% to 56%, while Georgia State’s cross-institutional six-year graduation rate this year reached a record 70%.  It is important to note that, due to frequent changes in jobs and economic circumstances, low-income and first-generation students and their families transfer more frequently than do middle- and upper-income college students.  This phenomenon significantly impacts Georgia State’s institutional graduation rate.  When including Georgia State students who transfer to and graduate from other institutions (with the vast majority doing so from other schools within the University System of Georgia), the six-year bachelor’s graduation rate reached 70% in 2021; and the percent of students who either earned a degree or were still actively enrolled reached 78%. The four-year graduation rate has improved even more dramatically, with a 14-percentage-point increase, from 21% to 35%, between 2010 and 2020 (Charts 1, 2, 12).

The news is equally positive for Perimeter College.  In the short time since consolidation was announced, the graduation rate for associate-degree-seeking students at Perimeter College has more than tripled, moving from 6.5% in 2015 to 24% in 2021—far exceeding the strategic goal of doubling the rate by 2021.  Just an impressively, as previously happened at the Atlanta campus, equity gaps based on race, ethnicity and income level have been closed at Perimeter College.  The year prior to consolidation, white students were graduating from Perimeter at rates two-and-a-half times those for African Americans.  By 2020, white and African American students are graduating at the same rates (Chart 7).  83% of Perimeter students are now graduating, successfully transferring, or are still enrolled after three years—a rate that ranks Perimeter College 20^th among more than 2,000 community colleges nationally according to The Chronicle of Higher Education (January 2020).[10]

A record 7,758 undergraduate degrees were conferred by Georgia State University during the 2020-2021 academic year, representing a 3,534-degree increase (84%) over the baseline year of 2011 (Chart 3).  The total now far exceeds the Strategic Plan’s target to increase undergraduate degrees awarded by 2,500 annually by 2021.  The number of degrees awarded by Perimeter College reached 2,336 (Chart 9).

Despite the fact that no major Georgia State initiative is targeted by race, ethnicity or income level, the gains have been greatest for students from underserved backgrounds.  In recent years, Georgia State University has conferred record numbers of bachelor’s degrees to Pell-eligible, first generation, African American, and Hispanic students (Chart 4).  Since the 2010-2011 academic year, the number of bachelor’s degrees conferred to Pell students has grown by 48%, conferrals to African American students have increased by 58%, and degrees awarded to Hispanic students have grown by 115% [11].  Time to degree is down markedly—by almost a full semester per student since 2011—saving the graduating class of 2021 approximately $21 million in tuition and fees compared to their colleagues just five years earlier (Chart 11). 

Georgia State’s combination of large enrollment increases of students from underserved backgrounds and significantly rising graduation rates confounds the conventional wisdom.  How has Georgia State accomplished these unprecedented gains?

HIGH IMPACT STRATEGIES

Georgia State’s student-success strategy has been innovative and data-informed.  We have not created programs targeted at students by their race, ethnicity, first-generation status, or income level.  Rather, we have used data to identity problems impacting large numbers of Georgia State students, and we have changed the way the institution supports all students.  Here are Georgia State’s ten most impactful strategies:

1. GPS Advising

2. Summer Success Academy

3. Panther Retention Grants

4. Keep Hope Alive (KHA)

5.  Meta-Majors/Career Pathways

6. A.I.-Enhanced Chatbot

7. Truist Student Financial Management Center

8. Supplemental Instruction

9. Hybrid Math Classes Using Adaptive Learning

10. College to Career

3. THE BIG IDEA: THE ACCELERATOR ACADEMY

During the pandemic-dominated 2020-2021 academic year, a period when most Georgia State courses were offered virtually, Georgia State saw significant increases in first-year students failing critical freshman-year courses.  In some of these courses, DFW rates increased my more than 20 percentage points, resulting not only in students falling behind academically but also risking their eligibility for federal aid and the HOPE scholarship (aid programs for which eligibility depends on GPA and/or credit-hour accumulation markers).  During Summer 2021, Georgia State offered a first-of-its-kind initiative designed specifically to help first-year college students who had fallen behind in their academic progression due to the pandemic. The Accelerator Academy targeted first-year students who had received non-passing grades in critical first-year courses during the academic year.  The large-scale program, which enrolled more than 600 students, was designed and implemented under a short timeline in order to leverage federal pandemic aid and to capitalize on the summer term between the students’ freshman and sophomore years.  The Accelerator Academy sought to allow students to “accelerate” their credit-hour accumulation in critical first-year courses and to improve their SAP standing through re-taking the courses during the summer—with a suite of additional academic and mindset supports.  The Accelerator Academy, the very embodiment of a momentum strategy, involved the following steps:

1)We analyzed DFW rates and identified first-year courses most critical to progression that also saw increases in DFW rates during the 2020-2021 academic year. After careful analysis, the following courses were identified as part of Accelerator program: ENGL 1101, ENGL 1102, HIST 2110, MATH 996 & 1401, MATH 007 & 1001, MATH 1401, PHIL 1010, POLS 1101, POLS 2401, PSYC 1101, SCOM 1000, BIOL 1103, and CHEM 1151.

2)We gained clearance for the use of federal pandemic funds for the program from appropriate state and federal sources. The Accelerator Academy offered an opportunity for students to repeat a course they did not pass during their first attempt in the Fall semester in exchange for tuition and fees and a $500 educational grant.

3)We convened a cross-campus team to develop a proposal to address the increased DFW rates for students. The Office of Student Success partnered with faculty and academic leadership on every Georgia State campus to deliver comprehensive wrap-around services for program participants. Support included Supplemental Instruction tied to all Academy sections, near-peer mentoring, and special, proactive advising.  Academic support was offered for every course, and 17 additional graduate students were hired to work in concert with faculty to bolster learning and content mastery.

4)Dr. Charles Fox and Andrea Hendricks, Director of Online Initiatives, developed several strategies for improving ONL MATH performance. One of the strategies is to require MATH faculty with persistently high DFW rates to participate in teaching circles in SPR 21

5)We secured funding to support students engaged in the program. With the use of Federal Covid Relief Funding (HERF 2 funds), the university was able to invest directly in students during this unprecedented time of financial and academic need. Students were invited individually to the program, and over 600 students enrolled in Accelerator program courses at no cost to them, as well as receiving $500 to defray educational expenses.

6)We invited first-year students who have previously failed to complete key required core courses in Fall 2020 to register for designated summer sections of the same courses that had enhanced academic supports to facilitate successful completion. The recruitment process involved academic advisors, chatbot messaging, and other approaches.  A total of 764 unique students applied to the Accelerator Academy. 

7)We implemented a special communication strategy to support students in the program. A comprehensive marketing and communication campaign was launched. Accelerator students received chatbot nudges throughout the semester to remind them about available resources, to attend Supplemental Instruction, and to register for Fall classes. Additionally, 17 graduate student academic coaches emailed and called students weekly throughout the semester to check on students and keep them encouraged and engaged.

8)The chatbot provided recruitment and retention nudges to Accelerator Academy students, helping to improve participation in the program and encouraging students to take advantage of the success resources once enrolled.  13 personalized distinct campaigns were sent, 8 for recruitment into the program and 5 for support through the program.

9)We developed a Banner attribute for monitoring students participating in the program. All program participants were codded in Banner with the Accelerator Program Attribute to allow for future tracking and reporting.

Results:  Despite the fact that 100% of the 600 students in Accelerator courses had previously received grades of DF or W in the same course—the first time Georgia State has taught courses enrolled exclusively by students who had previously failed to earn credit in the course—more than 400 students earned grades of C or better in the Accelerator program.  In fact, 98 students earned grades of “A” in their Accelerator courses—testimony to how negatively impactful the past academic year had been for our students and how unrepresentative (and under-representative) their academic work may have been this past year.  These 400+ students are now on track to text new-level courses during the Fall 2021 term.

Arizona State University, University of California Riverside, and Ohio State University have each now launched their own versions of the Accelerator program specifically based on the Georgia State model and protocols.

We are exploring the possibility that some permutation of the Accelerator Academy might be offered every summer as a way of assisting first-year students who have failed critical courses necessary for progression to regain academic momentum.

4. MOMENTUM PLAN UPDATE

Georgia State University continues to strengthen its broader Momentum strategies to support students as they navigate through and complete college. The coronavirus pandemic has created both new challenges and several opportunities to innovate in student success. The seismic changes brought by COVID-19 have meant that predictive analytics—an approach based on determining future behaviors from past trends—have had to be rethought and new data quickly gathered.  Georgia State’s commitment to data and nimble cross-unit collaboration have been critical to identifying issues and implementing timely resolutions for students faced with unprecedented issues related to learning loss, health, unemployment, mental stress, housing, and food insecurities.

Student success remains Georgia State’s highest priority as we leverage resources to support students at scale across the university.  For instance, Georgia State has taken the Momentum principles and engaged in a comprehensive review of the services we provide virtually. This, in turn, has led to significant changes in how we support students in face-to-face settings, as well.  As existing programs are strengthened and new programs established, Georgia State continues to use data and analytics to inform decisions and to pilot, evaluate, refine, and scale initiatives.

The Momentum principles and approaches set forth by the University System of Georgia and adapted by Georgia State this past year include:

1. Deepening and refining purposeful choice in the first year and beyond
2. Supporting the development of productive academic mindsets
3. Maximizing academic success in courses most critical to progression and completion
4. Providing each student with a comprehensive pathway for student success

To this list, Georgia State adds an additional priority: Effectively scaling supports for more than 45,000 undergraduate students across six Georgia State campuses throughout the metro area.  These principles and approaches will continue to serve as the guidelines for areas of focus during the 2021-2022 academic year, supported by Georgia State’s entire Student Success team.

This section consists of three parts.  First, we will discuss the positive developments GSU has achieved and the innovative programs GSU deployed in 2020 that provided immediate and effective interventions and supports to our students adversely impacted by the pandemic academically, financially, and emotionally.  Second, we will outline the largest challenges we have seen as the result of COVID-19 pandemic.  Third, we will discuss some strategies for our upcoming Momentum work. Georgia State has identified six major focused areas for 2021:

1. Support the academic recovery of first-year students and others facing disrupted progression or learning loss due to the pandemic
2. Helping students overcome financial barriers
3. Enhance supports for students transitioning from Perimeter College to the Atlanta campus
4. Further strengthen academic success in Math and English courses
5. Reinforce the “15 to Finish” model; and
6. Enhance purposeful choice and pathways

In each of the focused areas, our action plan has been laid out with implementation strategies and steps taken by the team members.  A senior Student Success leader is assigned to each area as the lead with the support of a subgroup of staff members.  The Senior Vice President of Student Success, Dr. Allison Calhoun-Brown, leads quarterly check-in meetings with the team to ensure the Momentum work is on track and producing positive results throughout the year.

POSITIVE DEVELOPMENTS IN 2020-2021

Data Intelligence: 

Our data reporting has been exceptional in adapting to the new environment and helping us understand how students are engaging in the online format. As the university transitioned to online instructional modalities in response to the pandemic, Georgia State added daily monitoring of LMS data including log-ons, and it relayed the data to our advising staff for proactive outreach—a practice which literally began the day Georgia State went fully online in Spring 2020.  In the first twelve months, advisors proactively reached out to students not logging onto their online courses more than 30,000 times, quickly identifying a range of academic, emotional, financial, and technological issues faced by the students.  The entire Student Success team then served as an integrated support network to quickly resolve thousands of the issues before they resulted in the students dropping or failing their courses.  We also created dozens of new data reports—tracking emergency aid, drops and withdrawals, Counseling Center visits, technology needs, and other factors on a weekly and at times daily basis to discern new behaviors and trends created by the pandemic.

Federal Pandemic Funds and Emergency Aid: 

Building on Georgia State’s Panther Retention Grant (PRG) program, we were able to quickly distribute federal pandemic support funds to our students within days of receipt. Over a twelve-month period, the university proactively awarded more than 70,000 grants to students who were in financial distress without the students having to fill out an application by using financial analytics honed over ten years of distributing retention grants.  In addition, the Dean of Students Office developed an emergency assistance fund providing wraparound support service amidst the ongoing pandemic, helping an additional 7,000 students.

Early Alerts for Online Courses: 

As detailed above, we have been nimble in adapting our existing Early Alert program by developing new metrics for monitoring student engagement in the learning management system (LMS), and providing virtual academic support services, supplemental instruction, and tutoring (through Tutor Ocean).

Chatbot:

The university chatbot “Pounce” has been instrumental in providing real-time data at GSU. We have deployed our chatbot in many ways during the pandemic, such as polling students and providing them with information about the pivot to virtual instruction, coordinating students transitioning students out of housing during the Spring 2020 semester, discerning instructional modality preferences for the Fall 2020 and 2021 semesters, and gauging academic mindset, among other things.  At times, the chatbot has provided us with thousands of real-time responses from students within minutes of a question being posed.  We have also begun pilots which deploy the chatbot to answer common academic questions and deliver preparatory quizzes in high-enrollment first-year courses.

Student Support Services: 

Academic advising had to shift its services to the virtual environment and was able to successfully do so with the scale-up of Navigate technology, delivering nearly 100,000 appointments via WebEx over a twelve-month period. This enabled or students to keep on track for their academic plans/pathways remotely, and it enabled us to set new Georgia State records for both our baccalaureate- and associate-degree graduation rates. Supplemental Instruction, tutoring, academic coaching, student financial services, and other supports were all delivered successfully and at scale through online modalities.

Transition Students: 

Our transition students did exceptionally well transitioning from Perimeter to Atlanta. Transition students who moved with at least 60 hours of credits to the Atlanta campus finished their first terms with a GPA above 3.0.

Senior Students: 

We did not see academic challenges with Seniors. More than a hundred additional students graduated at the bachelor’s- and associate-degree levels during the Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 terms than ever before, and both the six-year baccalaureate (56%) and the 3-year associate degree (24%) graduation rates reached all-time highs. Tracking these same cohorts using National Student Clearinghouse data, 63% of associate-degree students graduated or were retained after three years, and 70% of baccalaureate students graduated and 78% graduated or were retained after six years.  All are new highs for the university.

Strengthened Online Delivery of Support Programs: 

Offering services and programs in both online and in-person modalities across all different campuses—counseling services, financial aid, tutoring, and so forth—has strengthened our student services and programming by allowing greater and more consistent student access to the supports. The online components have expanded the accessibility and flexibility of our student programming and provided immediate solutions and support to the students’ needs.  In some cases—such as group sessions offered by our Counseling Center—participation has increased markedly.

 CHALLENGES IDENTIFIED FOR 2021

Course Modality Issues: 

Students’ re-acclimation to the face-to-face instruction modality has been a challenge. Fall 2020 freshmen may have spent little or no time in face-to-face courses during their first year of college.  This fall’s entering freshmen have had almost half of their secondary schooling delivered remotely. This significant shift means our first- and second-year students have—and will have for several years—very different experiences and expectations in course registration, course taking, and how they approach their classes. They may be impacted by significant learning loss when compared to previous cohorts.  They need help re-acclimating to an in-person environment, and many students are telling us they want to remain in online courses due to preference, convenience, or continued fears of the coronavirus. This adds more complications to the transition. We must reset the value proposition for course modality.  Until then, we will continue to face considerable pressures regarding the number of students seeking online courses, especially at Perimeter College where online courses were historically more popular before the pandemic.

After being accustomed to teaching online, faculty require some of the same adjustments as students. Equipping faculty with modality data to show them which modalities work the best for their classes is helping to inform the conversations, but at times the data is in tension with faculty beliefs and preferences. We are working to ensure that the course modalities offered by the faculty are in the best interest of students.

Math and English:

 Introductory Math courses are a particular challenge as students transition from a year of remote learning back to face-to-face instruction. We are unsure of the learning levels that have been achieved by our students in their online math classes in high school, with results likely differing widely from district to district. During the Fall 2020 semester, the percent of new students attempting college-level Math and English courses was quite high (aided, in part, by lower enrollments at Perimeter College, which alleviated some of the staffing challenges of previous fall terms).  Unfortunately, DFW rates increased significantly in these courses due to the shift to online modality and pressures from the pandemic.  The pattern was consistent with previous data—Georgia State’s first-year students do not perform well in entirely online Math and English courses in their initial college semesters—but the number of first-year students attempting these courses in online modalities exploded due to the pandemic, meaning that more first-year students were left still needing passing credits in Math and English by the end of the Spring 2021 term.  The completion rates of Math and English were significantly lower on both the Atlanta and Perimeter campuses than they had been in previous years.  The persistence rates for students who didn’t complete Math and English were much lower than they have been in the past.  As evidenced by the increase in 2nd Attempt Math petitions for STEM majors at PC, Math completion rates are now affecting student progression.

DFW Rates: 

DFW rates increased significantly for both associate-level and bachelor’s-level students, especially among first-year students, due to the multiple impacts of the coronavirus pandemic (e.g., financial hardship, health concerns, stress, anxiety, and new learning modalities, among others).

Financial Risk: 

Mediating financial risk continues to be challenging.  Given the high level of Pell eligibility in the Georgia State student population, the pandemic has had a disproportionate negative financial impact on many of our students.  Especially at Perimeter College, Georgia State saw an increase in the number of students on warning for failing to meet Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) criteria and at risk of losing financial aid eligibility.  Given the loss of employment during the pandemic and that nationally FAFSA applications are down for low-income and minority students, access to financial aid may be threatened in multiple ways, and this phenomenon is very likely to impact students’ decisions to go to and persist in college.

Student Engagement: 

How to effectively engage students who have primarily participated in an online environment is challenging, especially the first-time, full-time students. Many of Georgia State’s most effective student success programs—Success Academy, learning communities, near-peer mentoring, Keep Hope Alive—traditionally include in-person elements critical to their success.  All of these programs were weakened by the move to remote delivery, and we are in the process of collecting new types of data to help mitigate these problems and to customize programs that enhance the student engagement virtually.  

Note: For further information, the Momentum Year/Momentum Approach Matrix can be found at the end of the Appendix.

FOCUSED AREAS, ACTION PLANS, AND IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES

(CAMPUS LEAD IS NOTED IN PARENTHESES)

Support first-year students through post pandemic recovery
(Allison Calhoun-Brown)

Accelerator Academy: 

See section 3 of this report.

Comeback Camp: 

The Comeback Camp was established in the Spring 2021 semester to provide academic support and resources to students who fell below a 1.99 GPA in the Fall 2020 semester.  A total of 1,294 students were automatically enrolled in the campaign which provided supportive messaging and extra encouragement to access academic support.  Students enrolled in Comeback Camp were tagged in Navigate.  Students in Supplemental Instruction, the Learning and Tutoring Center, and STEM Tutoring Support were also tagged in the platform. Students received weekly email messages with short, visual success tips and mindset messaging through email and chatbot. There were 1,083 academic coaching sessions for students in Comeback Camp with 81% of the population participating in at least one coaching session. Comeback Camp helped to expand support, steady outreach, and provide access to academic coaches for the 2021 cohort students who did poorly last fall.  Through boosting retention and progression, the program also helped students improve their status with Satisfactory Academic Progress and allowed more to keep their Hope scholarships

Success and Perimeter Academies: 

In 2020 the Success Academy class grew by 34% from 335 to 449 students. Unfortunately, with the program offered virtually due to the pandemic, the 2020 cohort did not perform as well academically as previous cohorts. There are several factors that contributed to the decline, including the significant growth in the size of the class and the challenges that COVID-19 presented. The program was built to be in-person; however, this was not possible in 2020 due to the pandemic. Our students took all their courses online and participated in the programmatic elements virtually. The average GPA dropped by .47 and the first-year retention rate by 12 points. Based on these results, it was decided to scale back the size of the Success Academy class in 2021 when most of the program still had to be delivered virtually.  397 students were enrolled in the Success Academy for Summer 2021, and the average GPA rebounded to 2.7—still below pre-pandemic levels but an improvement over Fall 2020.  We anticipate the return of the face-to-face Success Academy in Summer 2022.

Perimeter Academy (PA) has been a challenging program to recruit for and to meet established enrollment targets. Over the last three summer semesters, we enrolled 157 (2019), 109(2020) and 107 (2021) students in PA. There are several reasons for this. Unlike Success Academy, Perimeter Academy is an opt-in program, not a conditional admission program. In 2020, due to the pandemic, the USG allowed system colleges and universities to offer test- score-optional admissions, meaning more students gained admission to bachelor’s programs. This shift changed the admissions landscape and significantly impacted community college enrollments. Nationally, this sector decreased by 9.5%. Perimeter College first-year enrollment declined by 18% in 2020, and 3% in 2021. Perimeter Academy over this same time-period declined by 31% and 1.8% respectively. With the return of test-required admission, it is very likely we will see our numbers rebound at least partially if not to levels where we were pre-pandemic.  As far as performance in the Perimeter Academy, students did very well during the Summer 2021 term, finishing the program with ab average GPA of 2.89—the first time they outperformed their Atlanta-campus counterparts.

Help Student Overcome Financial Barriers
(James Blackburn)

Keep SAP Alive:

 Prior to Fall 2020, we struggled to support SAP Warning students who failed to complete SAP appeals and thus lost eligibility for financial aid.  One problem was that, due to the pandemic, fewer students were actively engaged on a continuous basis to complete the necessary appeal paperwork. To address this, in Fall 2020, the university launched a special campaign to assist 1,094 SAP Warning students with completing the paperwork and engaging in academic support services. The campaign included emails, phone calls, and chatbot nudges. As a result of this engagement, 297 students regained academic eligibility and retained access to financial aid.  In addition, 51 SAP Appeals were approved, allowing students to continue to receive financial aid while they improved their academic progress.

The campaign and results were reviewed after Fall 2020 term to identify opportunities for improvement.  One of the areas for improvement was to increase communication frequency, virtual meetings, and academic support tracking. The improvement targets for the Spring 2021 term included increases in messaging to the students, better tracking of show rates of appointments and virtual meetings and tracking student participation in academic coaching. The campaign was repeated in the Spring 2021 term to an increased population of 2,462 SAP Warning students. We developed a plan to ensure that students understand how to submit a SAP appeal in a timely manner to maintain aid eligibility. A team of student financial services professionals from the Student Financial Management Center (SFMC) was organized to actively engage with SAP Warning students to discuss financial aid eligibility and the circumstances surrounding the failed academic performance and recommend the next steps to take. The SFMC adopted a holistic approach to engage students by assessing the student’s academic preparedness, academic engagement, financial health, mental and physical wellbeing, and engagement level. Using this framework, the financial aid team recommended the appropriate services needed to ensure successful academic progress was achieved. In Spring 2021, 494 students scheduled appointments with a SFMC for SAP assistance, 393 students met with the team, and 30% regained SAP before the end of the term. Only 13% of the students who did not meet with the SFMC regained eligibility by the end of the term. 266 students in the SAP Warning status engaged in at least one session with an academic coach. 24% of these students regained SAP by the end of the Spring term. 39% of the students who met with academic coaching also met with an SFMC advisor, and 36% of these students achieved SAP by the end of the term compared to 16% who participated in academic coaching alone. 

Currently, the campaign for in Fall 2021 will expand to include existing interventions in mental and physical wellness, student engagement, and non-cognitive factors of academic preparedness. An iCollege course is currently under development that will include all five holistic categories. This iCollege course allows the Keep SAP Alive intervention to scale and impact more students.  The anticipated launch date of the pilot iCollege course is Spring 2022. Additional information will be gathered during the Spring 2022 term about the appropriate class loads a student experiencing academic challenges should undertake.

The positive early results of these various SAP interventions suggest that a holistic approach to Satisfactory Academic Progress has merit.

FAFSA Communication: 

A review of students at risk at the start of Fall 2021 term identified three categories of risk: a) students transitioning from Perimeter College to the Atlanta campus; b) students charged non-resident fees; and c) students living in on-campus housing.  The primary risk of these categories is the accompanying substantially higher costs of attendance.  During the admissions and enrollment process, students in these three categories were identified and an attribute was placed in their Banner records to allow for outreach and tracking. 13,107 students were identified as having a financial risk across these three categories: 1,289 transition students, 8,901 non-resident students, and 2,917 housing students.  Students in each risk category were communicated with in various modes including emails, phone calls, and chatbot nudges.  The students were encouraged to schedule a virtual meeting with one of our SFMC advisors.  A dedicated team of counselors were assigned to these high-risk students to ensure access. The advisors informed the students of the higher costs associated with attending the university and discussed the various options for paying the higher costs.  The conversations focused on solutions to assist students and their families with the financial barriers presented.  2,334 students attended a virtual or in-person meeting with the SFMC and 2,207 or 95% of these students enrolled in classes for the Fall 2021 term.  73% of the students were financially ready to begin classes by the beginning of the term.  Of the students who did not meet with an SFMC advisor, only 27% of the students enrolled and 63% were financially ready by the beginning of the term.  Enrollment and financially readiness in each of the categories suggest that the intervention was successful.  86.2% of the transitions students who met with SFMC enrolled compared to 75.4% who did not.  84.3% of the non-resident students who met with SFMC enrolled compared to 12.1% who did not.  98.1% of the housing students who met with SFMC enrolled compared to 84.8% who did not.  The improvement in financial readiness was significant; students who met with an SFMC advisor were 9.9 percentage points more financially ready compared to those who did not meet with the SFMC advisor.  Observations from the counselors during their interactions with the students identified three common themes: lack of awareness of costs, expectation of more scholarship aid, and a reluctance to commit until the beginning of the term.  In 2021-2022, we will incorporate these observations into new message campaigns and discussions to help the student overcome these issues.  Another observation of note is students in housing tended to have fewer financial barriers given the high rate of Hope scholarships among the population. We will gather additional data to determine the impact of Hope scholarship and housing affordability.  Further, the low engagement rate of the transition students suggests that the price differential between Perimeter College and Atlanta may not be a significant barrier to enrollment.  However, the large price differential for out-of-state students is significant and may be impacting enrollments from this population. This data suggests additional investment in staff to work with out-of-state students should be explored.  In addition to the staff increase, increase funding options are required.

Support Transition Students
(Scott Burke)

New Student Orientation: 

During the 2021 admissions cycle, we continued to improve our outreach and onboarding processes for transition students from Perimeter College.  The Office of Undergraduate Admissions hosted 10 virtual next step sessions for accepted transition students to the downtown campus. The sessions ran between December 2020 through August 2021.  Overall, 630 students registered, and 371 students attended. The transition admissions counselor met with 225 students for virtual appointments. The Student Financial Management Center served 900 transition students virtually over the same period.  Unfortunately, due to staffing, resources, and COVID-19, we did not implement an in-person orientation program for transition students; however, we did successfully revamp our online orientation program to deliver the important onboarding guidance that transition students need to successfully enroll.  Our goal is to develop and implement an in-person NSO in 2022. 

Community for Transition Students: 

Under our new model, PC Advisors review and discuss students' plans to transition to the Atlanta campus.  Intentional conversation focuses on career interests, requisite skill set, and which pathways support seamless transition to the bachelor’s programs that align with career goals and interests.  The PC advising sessions include a review of how the associate-level programs align with the bachelor’s level programs and requirements, including additional planning for students seeking premium programs at the bachelor’s level that require a 2nd admissions process.  PC Advising team partners with Admissions team to host transition sessions to inform students of application deadlines, the importance of working with advising team to review prescribed academic plans in preparation of transition and remind students to connect with financial aid to review award package for transition plan.  The Perimeter Learning Community schedules are designed to support seamless transition from the associate level to the bachelor’s level. After NSO, PC Advisors review and discuss students plans to transition to the Atlanta campus. The advising session includes a review of how the associate-degree programs align with the Bachelor-level programs and requirements, including additional planning for students seeking premium programs at the bachelor’s level that require a 2nd admissions process.  The PC/ATL Advising team is developing Meta Major information sessions to support students as they navigate the bridge from UAC PC advising to UAC Atlanta advising team.

 Strengthen Math and English Success
(Allison Calhoun-Brown & Cynthia Lester)

The Teaching Fellows Program: 

The Teaching Fellows program for Perimeter College was piloted beginning fall 2021 with an initial cohort of 10 graduate students from the Atlanta campus. The implementation consisted of students selected as either a Graduate Teaching Assistant A (GTAA) –students who are supervised by a Perimeter College faculty member and assist in grading, serving as a discussion leader or lab section leader—or Graduate Teaching Assistant B (GTAB)—students who have some teaching experience and serve as the instructor of record for a course.  Atlanta campus colleges that are participating in the initial phase are the College of the Arts, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, and the College of Arts and Sciences.  To provide additional support, all graduate students participating in the program register for a one-credit-hour teaching seminar that introduces them to Perimeter College culture and strategies to support students at the associate-degree level.  The graduate teaching assistants will also participate in a one-credit-hour teaching circle, which focuses on teaching and best pedagogical practices.  Both experiences are collaborations between Perimeter College and the Graduate School.

Perimeter MILE Lab: 

The latest Mathematics Interactive Learning Environment (MILE) lab is near completion at Georgia State’s PC Decatur campus. This newest lab will focus on three distinct interactive working stations and several individual workstations for students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) courses. This is the third state-of-the-art MILE lab at Georgia State. The lab’s completion is scheduled for the end of November 2021, and its grand opening for the spring 2022 semester

Reinforce the “15 to Finish” and Pathways Models
(Carol Cohen, Michael Sanseviro & Allison Calhoun-Brown)

Leveraging Block Schedules: 

The learning community model continues as the default for all incoming freshman students at both Perimeter and Atlanta, providing premade block schedules with 15-16 credit hours each.  The schedules are created with attention to morning only, evening only, as well as MW and TT only course options to allow students to select a block compatible with their work and family schedules.  For Fall 2021, there were 93 Perimeter Learning Communities offered for student registration.  1,246 new, incoming freshmen are currently registered in Perimeter learning communities.  For returning students, advisors are using the academic planning tool within Navigate to create 15-hour term plans for better planning and progression.  Advisors constantly review schedules throughout the enrollment cycle, reaching out to thousands of students who may be under-enrolled or need other types of registration adjustments.

In addition to offering Accuplacer, the Math department created an iCollege math placement test that provides online access to placement for all our incoming students needing placement into collegiate level math or to increase their current math placement.  This iCollege exam is emailed out as a link during our next steps process within admissions once a student is accepted.  During the orientation program students are divided into groups based on meta major to allow for the appropriate guidance (especially in math) during their advising session.  Students also have access to Accuplacer testing within our testing centers across the Atlanta and Perimeter locations.  A total of 2,343 new incoming freshmen registered and completed the Accuplacer or ICM math exam.

The “Chat with an Advisor” option was piloted during Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 semesters with an average of 100 advisors participating who provided a one-hour block each week to meet with students.  Approximately 3,000 advisor chats were conducted based on this model.  We will continue with this program throughout the spring term.

Navigate: 

The new advisor assignment process was finalized and the assignments to begin at the point of admission for both Atlanta and Perimeter students were streamlined.  Currently, 20,000 advisor assignments have been made for Atlanta campus students and 15,000 have been made for Perimeter students.  This process runs nightly and can adjust to any changes in the student population or advisor staffing.  The use of the chatbot has been expanded to strategically reach out to various groups of students based on their meta major, registration status, and barriers to progression.  Other campaigns include graduation applications, registration for the same course, or reverse transfer interests.  Navigate and the chatbot continued to be used collaboratively by nudging students through the chatbot then communicating with students via Navigate based on the chatbot responses.  The advisement team is strategizing the communication flow within Navigate based on chatbot data to follow up with the students via calling campaigns and notate all correspondence.  From Fall 2020 to Fall 2021, 39 individual chatbot campaigns were launched are resulted in advisor-driven strategic Navigate calling-campaigns.

Virtual Appointments: 

Academic advising appointments have increased significantly.  The year over year comparison of advising appointments reflects a 60% increase from the 2019/2020 academic year to the 2020/2021 academic year.  Both virtual and in person advising appointments continued to be integrated to allow for maximum service capacity to our student population.  From August 1, 2020, to July 31, 2021, we have conducted a record 135,284 virtual and in person advising interactions with the UAC student population.

Academic Credit Reconciliation: 

A team of advisors worked daily to evaluate the AP/IB/DE credit as soon as it arrived. In Summer 2021, the credits were evaluated the credits and alerts sent out daily to the NSO team to make the adjustments needed to the schedules and to notify students.  (Note: Fall 2021 College Board had a staggered test date reporting schedule, therefore scores were sent in batches between July and mid-August due to their internal changes. This change required our advisors to have to pivot and prepare to make schedule changes into late August.)   A job in banner was created that provided the output for duplicate course work for the upcoming term. Students who have re-registered for any AP/IB/DE credit can be identified easily and alerted via phone calls, emails or Chatbot nudges. A note is now put on their record when the student intends on repeating the course.   Advising & Admissions collaborate at a team meeting each month. The review of new AP/IB exams is discussed and planned for if needed.  Analysis of the AP/IB credit received for the fall term is then shared with the FLC team to determine any trends in credit received, i.e. more ENGL 1101 credit received, fewer GEOG 1101 credit, etc. Over 15,000 students had transfer credits entered, with an average of 40 credits per student.  Total credit hours received were 442,000 with an average of 147,000 courses articulated.

FLC and Panther Tracks: 

Two systems were created to track FLC onboarding: (a) Pre-registration Dashboard that tracks 113 data points across 13 categories to help advisors map incoming freshmen to FLCs; and (b) Post-Registration App developed to better track student registration change requests.  These systems were utilized by 45 Academic Advisors and a team of 7 processors.  A better integrated Banner functionality in the app is required for next year’s cycle to address the time lapse that caused untimely processing submission changes for students before classes become unavailable or closed.  A review of the FLC structure with the Banner teams is called for to cultivate a model that better fits our student demographic that requires variations of scheduling.  The scaling of the Academic Coaching program was prioritized to reach more students in the term.  This allowed us to build a better connection with students as we navigated the pandemic and provide better support to the graduate students through student employment.  15 coaches (8 more than previous terms) in Spring 2021 were hired to serve 3,030 students, 31 coaches in Summer 2021 serving 2,713 students, and 34 coaches in Fall 2021 serving 1,847 students.  These students complete an intake process with each coach that helps our team identify risky behaviors and administer effective strategies to help our students succeed. 

Guided Pathways: 

The Advising Team developed a Chatbot calendar and added content to GSU 1010/PCO 1020 in iCollege to communicate timely information related to full-time registration, retention, graduation information, and action items concerning progression as it relates to full-time vs part-time status.  Atlanta and PC advisors follow up with NSO schedule to ensure full-time balanced schedules meet pathway and momentum requirements, adjust schedules as needed, and upload academic maps that promote the 15 to Finish Model, 30 hours per academic year, and add summer schedules for students as an opportunity to advance in their major and pathways or complete academic year with 30 earned credit hours.

Advising Model and Academic Coaching: 

Advisors utilize the UAC created 360⁰ Advising Tool that incorporates time management tips and tools to assist with developing a balanced study schedule based on course content, credit hours, and school/work/life balance.   Advisors reiterate the importance of incorporating academic resources such as the Math Lab (MILE), Supplemental Instruction, Writing lab, the Learning and Tutoring Centers, and Online tutoring services. The academic resources have been incorporated within the Navigate application.  Before and after each term, and in collaboration with PC Academic Affairs, the Associate Dean of Enrollment Management, the schedulers, and the UAC leadership team developed a weekly Course Availability and Demand report to measure course demand in support of building balanced and progressive schedules.  The Course Availability/Demand report provides data that informs what courses need to be added or modified in real time to provide courses needed by student schedules to support progression.

Leveraging the Chatbot to Support Pathways: 

An RCT consisted of 11,561 students (5,780 control, 5,781 treatment) was concluded in May 2021. The results from the formal data analysis are expected soon.  The PC chatbot was scaled in summer 2021 to include 11,430 enrolled Perimeter students in total.  Personalized understandings have been developed for PC students and a combined bot with personalized responses was launched in September 2021 to manage both ATL and PC communications and understandings within the same bot.  Pounce has operated at scale for 11,430 Perimeter students and 24,825 Atlanta campus students for the Fall 2021 term. 55 Distinct Text Campaigns/ Nudges sent at in fall 2021 semester (Aug 16-current). “How’s it going?” Campaign meant to help assess how freshmen are adapting to the university and drive them towards appropriate resources.  The scope of communication sent out through the chatbot has expanded to include reminding students of supplemental supports (including new STEM tutoring pushes), encouraging students to visit academic advising and periodically checking in on how students are doing with his “How’s it going” campaigns.  Monthly communication meetings with Student Financial Services, Advisement and Registrar Staff help align communication goals across teams.  We currently have an RCT in progress to assess the effectiveness and viability of course level nudging (currently taking place in POLS 1101 on the Atlanta Campus).  Modality campaigns targeted all active students to listen to student voices as course modality is planned and scheduled for upcoming terms.  DWF Rate Nudges: The chatbot provided recruitment and retention nudges to the Summer Accelerator Academy students (a program designed to aid students who had withdrawn of failed a course), helping to improve participation in the program and encourage students to take advantage of the success resources once enrolled.  (13 personalized distinct campaigns sent, 8 for recruitment into the program and 5 for support through the program.)  Math and English: The chatbot plans regular communication to students who are missing key English or Math courses to encourage those students to engage with an academic advisor early in their academic career. Targeted 2,305 students. STEM tutoring nudges were encouraged outside of courses designed for SI.  These nudges reached a much larger number than the targeted SI nudges. Pouce continues to engage students who are consistently showing lack of engagement within iCollege. 

Parent Engagement: 

The Student Success and Career Support communities are being utilized within the Panther Family Portal to increase shared content around the momentum initiatives.   Because of Georgia State University’s commitment to student success, all families that join the Panther Family Portal are automatically added to the Student Success community and receive those posts. Based on their responses to the onboarding survey within the portal, families can also join the Career Support community.   In October 2021, implementation of a content calendar allowed for more intentional use of both communities, incorporating input and posts from University partners to ensure consistent messaging.

• Student Success Community Membership – 691.7% increase
  • September 1, 2020: 7,502
  • September 1, 2021: 59.392
• Career Support Community Membership – 277.8% increase
  • September 1, 2020: 1,141
  • September 1, 2021: 4,311
• Total Number of Posts Shared within Community
  • Student Success: 112
  • Career Support: 10

Academic calendar notifications were activated within the portal to remind family members of key deadlines and term information so they can better nudge and support their students.  Additionally, the weekly “Student News You Can Use” email newsletter (containing key student success content, academic reminders, and engagement information) that is sent each Monday to all enrolled students is also forwarded via the portal to all family members, and thus allows them to be kept up to date on key campus reminders and better support their students.  In March 2021, the Student Connections FERPA (The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) module was activated within the Panther Family Portal to provide families with direct access to key information to support their students, with appropriate FERPA permissions.

FERPA Module Connection Requests & Approvals to date:

• Account Balance Connections Approved/ Requested: 983/1343 (73%)
• Class Schedule/ Enrollment Connections Approved/ Requested: 960/1343 (71%)
• Financial Aid Information Connections Approved/ Requested: 984/1343 (74%)
• Grade Information Connections Approved/ Requested: 897/1343 (67%)
• Graduation Information Connections Approved/ Requested: 965/1343 (72%)
• Holds on Account Connections Approved/ Requested: 979/1343 (73%)

Georgia State received the Q3 MVP award from the portal provider (CampusESP) due to the rapid increase of FERPA connections made during the summer of 2021.

Enhance Purposeful Choice (Michael Sanseviro, Heather Housley, Catherine Neiner, Angela Christie)

Panther Connect: 

Panther Connect was successfully piloted in summer 2020 using the Panther Involvement Network (PIN) based in Campus Labs Engage.  A daily data feed of the Panther Connect involvement data from Slate into PIN was completed in Spring 2021, allowing for a more timely, accurate, and efficient process.  It provided us with increased understanding of how the technology works, and the enhancement needed going into next NSO cycle.  The model is complementary to our Meta Majors and narrows the hundreds of co-curricular opportunities into a handful of guided and connected pathways for students to have co-curricular opportunities that support their curricular experiences.  The model also pulls data from admissions to proactively connect new students with tailored co-curricular opportunities that align with previously demonstrated interests.  Departmental owners of the related PIN pages have been provided continuous support and training to utilize the email messaging function within PIN to share engagement information, events, and opportunities with the students on their roster.  Departments that fully embraced the Panther Connect program and communicated regularly with their student members achieved impressive gains in engagement and attendance.  Due to the codes given each student indicating their entry term and campus in PIN, they can be sent more targeted content from each engagement area.  As an example, sophomore students were sent emails relating to the specific events and support created for them this fall separate from the information sent to new freshmen.  In addition to the use of PIN pages, new in-person Panther Connect sessions were added to the Atlanta campus freshmen New Student Orientation schedule in summer 2021.  Each student attended two 20-minute sessions representing their top two involvement selections where they were provided with information on how to get involved in that area and connected with other students who share that interest.   Going into the Fall 2022 orientation cycle, students’ meta major will also be included in the data feed so that they can be placed as a member in these related meta major PIN pages.  The challenge will be to work effectively with college colleagues to ensure that accurate, timely, and interesting co-curricular content and events are included in those pages.

Panther Rewards: 

Provide incentives for students to increase co-curricular engagement.  The pilot program was launched in January 2021 with over 300 student participants.  The program continued for Fall 2021 and beyond. Prize values have been reduced slightly to lower the overall cost of the program.  Event attendance is regularly studied in PIN to identify and recruit students who are attending events, reminding them that they have already begun to accumulate points towards the program and that they only need to ask to join.  An aggressive enrollment goal of 1,000 students has been established for Fall 2021.  Students were more effectively introduced to the PIN event check-in app feature at New Student Orientation in summer 2021, and thus will be more prepared to have their attendance at events recorded and POUNCE Rewards accumulate.  A new monthly audit is being conducted to identify events which lack attendance information in PIN and remind the hosts to enter it, thus increasing student attendance data that can contribute to the program.  This past summer Student Organizations staff purchased 10 new pop-up banners with the event check-in QR code on them for display at university events.  Banners can be checked out by departments for use at their events without having to purchase it themselves.  More information for event hosts on the benefits of using the event check-in app to gain new data about their attendees should be included in future training plans. 

College to Career: 

The Awareness module for the Orientation course (GSU 1010/PCO 1020) was developed and implemented so that students learn the career readiness competencies and begin to consider career starting in their first year.  However, the awareness student engagement numbers dropped significantly in 2020—only 32% of GSU 1010 students and 20% of PCO 1020 students uploaded their resumes as part of the final, required Career Explorer Project. (A new approach for Fall 2021 increased these number to above 70%.)  In every part of the Awareness module, we saw decreased student engagement.  Of those students who did engage, students in 2020 performed slightly better when asked to recognize each of the competencies than they did in 2019. PCO 1020 students performed better in 2020 than they did in 2019.  Their awareness of specific competencies increased across the board.  Students still struggle with recognizing opportunities on campus for skills development.  56% of students could not adequately identify the co-curricular activities that help develop career competencies.  We ensure alignment of QEP with all student engagement programs.  One of the exemplary programs is Stepping Blocks, a career navigator digital platform that has been developed, along with a curriculum skill-builder tool for faculty and staff that assist in the learning processes for students about their undergraduate experience and its value to prospective employers.   The connection module for English 1101 was developed and piloted so that students learn how to connect the skills they learn in their coursework with the in-demand skills employers require.  In the Connection Modules there is a modest increase in career preparedness confidence levels as reported by students from the start of the course to the end of the course.  In each category, students noted an increase in their ability to connect, articulate, and demonstrate the career readiness skills they acquired.  At PC, students using the connection modules created Portfolium and LinkedIn accounts at a rate of 85% or higher.  The Demonstration module for Signature Experience courses was developed and adopted by faculty so that students could learn how to appropriately articulate the skills and competencies they have developed in a digital portfolio space.  The module also allows students to practice articulating their skills proficiency by stepping them through a mock interview.  Provided digital skills training for students during the first year with Ready, Set, Go!  This platform provides students with free digital tools workshops in Excel, PowerPoint, Digital Literacy, and WordPress.  The digital tools in Ready, Set, Go! are also imbedded in the Awareness and Connection course modules

5. CONCLUSION

Georgia State University is testimony to the fact that students from all backgrounds can succeed at high rates.  Moreover, our efforts over the past few years demonstrate that dramatic gains are possible not through changing the nature of the students served but through changing the nature of the institution that serves them.  How has Georgia State University made the gains outlined above?  How do we propose to reach our ambitious future targets?  In one sense, the answer is simple.  We employ a consistent, evidenced-based strategy.  Our general approach can be summarized as follows:

• Use data systematically and daily to identify and to understand the most pervasive obstacles to our students’ progressions and completion.
• Be willing to address the problems by becoming an early adopter.  This means piloting new strategies and experimenting with new technologies.  After all, we will not solve decades-old problems by the same old means.
• Track the impacts of the new interventions via data and make adjustments as necessary to improve results.
• Scale the initiatives that prove effective to have maximal impact.  In fact, almost all of the initiatives outlined benefit thousands of students annually. 

Our work to promote student success at Georgia State has steadily increased graduation rates among students from all backgrounds, but it has also served to foster a culture of student success among faculty, staff, and administration.  As the story of Georgia State University demonstrates, institutional transformation in the service of student success does not come about from a single program or office but grows from a series of changes throughout the university that undergo continual evaluation and refinement.  It also shows how a series of initially small initiatives, when scaled over time, can significantly transform an institution’s culture.  Student-success planning must be flexible since the removal of each impediment to student progress reveals a new challenge that was previously invisible.  When retention rates improved and thousands of additional students began progressing through their academic programs, for instance, we faced a growing problem of students running out of financial aid just short of the finish line, prompting the creation of the Panther Retention Grant program.  It also led to a new analytics-based initiative to better predict and address student demand in upper-level courses.  Problems we faced with Summer Melt, seniors stopping out for financial reasons, and pandemic-related struggles for incoming students have each led to significant, new innovations—all of which have been adopted by other universities nationally.  For a timeline of where we have been and where we are going next, please see Chart 18.

Georgia State still has much work to do, but our progress in recent years demonstrates that significant improvements in student success outcomes can come through embracing inclusion rather than exclusion, and that such gains can be made even amid a context of constrained resources.  It shows that, even at very large public universities, we can provide students with systematic, personalized supports that have transformative impacts.  Perhaps most importantly, the example of Georgia State shows that, despite the conventional wisdom, demographics are not destiny and equity gaps are not inevitable.  Low-income and underrepresented students can succeed at the same levels as their peers—if we support students by systemic and proven approaches.  We owe our students no less.