Georgia Southwestern State University 2024

Student Success Inventory

GSW has coordinated its Momentum Student Success Strategies with its ASPIRE Success Strategies to the extent possible, and since we are in a SACSCOC reaffirmation year, we have also coordinated our Quality Enhancement Plan with these activities. Therefore, in the following inventory we have labelled strategies below in the order they appeared in our 2024 Momentum Plan or our 2024 ASPIRE document.

Momentum Student Success Strategy One: Improved Pass Rates in English and Mathematics

Ensuring that students complete ENGL 1101 Composition I and a Math course appropriate for the their major within their first 30 credit hours on campus has been shown to significantly increase a student’s chances of graduating within six years. At GSW, we began tracking this metric with the 2020 cohort of first time, full time students. The students who we are particularly interested in are the students who did not complete these courses in high school either through testing such as an Advanced Placement exam score, or dual enrollment credit transfer credit from another institution. Therefore, we did not include students with K grades from testing or T grades from transfer in calculating the pass rates. From fall 2020 to fall 2022, the percentage of students who took ENGL 1101 Composition I at GSW ranged from 63.9% for the 2021 cohort to 65.6% for the 2022 cohort. For major appropriate Math courses during the same period, the percentage passing with their first 30 hours at GSW ranged from 46.4% for the 2020 cohort to 52.8% for the 2022 cohort. The pass rates for both ENGL 1101 and major appropriate Math courses are both unacceptably low, although the Math courses cause greater concern than the English course. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that we have far more incoming students who do not exempt co-requisite Math courses than ENGL 1101, which may partially account for the disparity in pass rates.

During spring term 2024, the Provost and the Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs met with the English and Math faculties separately to discuss strategies for improvement. Since both ENGL 1101 Composition I and MATH 1111 College Algebra were courses that underwent the Gateways to Completion process between 2017 and 2021, one strategy that was discussed was to review the recommendations from that process, and ensure that the recommendations have been scaled and continue to be used. In particular, the use of common schedules of instruction in courses taught by multiple faculty members, and the use of embedded tutors in co-requisite support classes were emphasized. It was suggested that using Transparency in Teaching and Learning Principles (TILT) would facilitate a common approach to courses taught by multiple faculty members. TILT principles encourage faculty members to examine their course materials, such as syllabi, assignments, and tests to make sure that they are as clear to students as possible, and also that students are aware of the expectations for learning and assessment of learning. Since it is a given that some students come to GSW with a fixed mindset that allows them to say “I am not an English or Math person,” we are currently piloting the use of the USG Mindset Intervention in some sections of co-requisite support and college-level MATH courses. This intervention aims to change student mindsets from fixed to growth, to change their mindset to believe that they can improve any aspect of their cognitive skills including English and Math skills. Pass rates of student in the co-requisite sections with the intervention will be compared with those of students not exposed to the intervention at the end of fall term and the pilot will continue in spring.

The Department of English and Modern Languages has instituted the following strategies to improve pass rates in ENGL 1101 and other Core classes. Since they have identified attendance as an issue, the department has instituted a department-wide attendance policy that they believe is showing some positive effects. The jury will remain out until the end of spring term, although there will be some end of fall term data available for the spring Momentum Plan report. All instructors who teach ENGL 1101 are participating in the Guided Instructional Feedback Technique (GIFT). In this program, faculty give up 45 minutes of class time sometime between the sixth and eight weeks of classes, so a trained faculty facilitator can interview the students in the class. The discussion is organized around four primary questions:

• What is the faculty member doing that helps students succeed in the class?
• What is the faculty member doing that hinders student success?
• What are students doing to succeed in the class?
• What are students doing that hinders success in the class?

After the discussion, the facilitator meets with the faculty member to discuss their findings and provides the faculty member a written version of those findings. The reports are confidential, although the faculty member can choose to disclose them as part of the annual evaluation or tenure-promotion process. Two things about this program are noteworthy. Occurring as the discussion with students does before midterm allows the faculty member to enact positive changes in the class during the second half of the term. The students are also encouraged to think about their own positive and negative learning behavior rather than placing all the responsibility for their learning on the instructor.

The chair of the department purchased a series of videos on teaching under-prepared students that was made available to all instructors teaching ENGL 1101. The chair also made sure faculty knew that viewing this resource would be reportable as a student success activity on their annual evaluations. The English faculty will also engage in a grade norming exercise at the end of fall term to ensure that everyone teaching ENGL 1101 has similar expectations for student performance. English faculty members are not only spearheading the HAIL program, but are also participating in HAIL blocks that will improve student engagement in the blocked classes.

** Course Description for HIST 2600 The Global Village: This course uses hands-on methods to connect local people, places, and events to broader issues in the past and present. Students will work individually and as part of a team to critically analyze information sources, produce original knowledge, and convey their findings to diverse public audiences.

The Department of Mathematics is also requiring all faculty members teaching MATH 1001, MATH 1111, MATH 1113, and MATH 1401 to participate in the GIFT program during the 2024-25 academic year. Selected sections of co-requisite support classes MATH 0996, MATH 0997, and MATH 0999 are using the Mindset Intervention in their classes, as well as some sections of MATH 1001 and MATH 1111. Grade Distribution data from the sections using the intervention will be compared with those not using it after final grades are reported. At that time a decision will be made on scaling the intervention to more sections in the spring. All sections of MATH courses are now using Inclusive Access provided by our campus bookstore that gives students access to electronic versions of all course materials on day one of class. This access helps students who can’t afford textbooks at the beginning of the term stay up with class while waiting to purchase their textbooks. During a meeting between the Associate VPAA and the chairs of English and Math when these updates were discussed, the Chair of Mathematics asked the Chair of English and Modern Languages about the Magna videos on teaching under prepared students for possible use by Math as well as English instructors. There are two HAIL blocks that include Math classes, one that pairs MATH 1111 College Algebra with ECON 2105 Principles of Macroeconomics and one that pairs MATH 1111 College Algebra with CHEM 1211 Principles of Chemistry I.

Persons Responsible: Dr. Michael Moir, Chair of English and Modern Languages; Dr. Chadwick Gugg, Chair of Mathematics; and Dr. Bryan Davis Associate VPAA.

Momentum Student Success Strategy Two and ASPIRE Success Strategy One

GSW’s STEPZ program teaches students how to plan and follow a clear pathway to completing their college degree. GSW’s Storm Tracks degree pathways are the templates for Degree Works and for its Student Educational Planner (SEP) module that allows students to make class registration plans for their entire degree pathway and to adjust those plans as needed.

During their UNIV 1000, GSW’s First-Year Experience class, first-time, full-time students are introduced to SEP and its uses. Individual classes meet in a computer lab and the students are shown how to log into their Degree Works by their Storm Spotter, GSW’s peer mentors who co-teach UNIV 1000. The Storm Spotter demonstrates how to create plans. The preloaded plans in SEP are based on the Storm Track degree pathway for the student’s major. There are Storm Tracks for focus areas, but they only extend to the end of the first year. The students then download their plans and then adjust them to identify which courses they are taking Fall semester and which courses they will need to take Spring semester. The instructor and Storm Spotter assist the students as they work through their plans. At the end of class, the students are instructed to build out their plans to complete a degree within four years.

Fall 2024 is the second year of the STEPZ program. We are currently developing data on what percentage of the 2023 cohort of first-time, full-time students have a plan in SEP, and on the retention rate of students with a plan as compared with those without a plan.

Persons Responsible: Dr. David Jenkins and Dr. Rachel Abbott, Co-Directors for UNIV 1000 

Aspire Success Strategy Two: HAIL QEP

GSW’s Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), High-Impact Approach to Integrative Learning (HAIL) was approved by SACSCOC during GSW’s Onsite Visit during March, 2024. Year one of the QEP is AY 2024-25. During 2023-24 we ran a pilot program in Fall and Spring semesters and engaged in considerable faculty development. The QEP has three goals with targets and three learning outcomes, which we are using to measure our success. Thus far, progress in implementing HAIL has been achieved more quickly than we anticipated, in part because of strong faculty and staff buy-in on the premise. So, we are ahead of schedule in many areas. We also have some very preliminary data that is promising, but with which we cannot draw strong conclusions.

For the purpose of implementation, the QEP had the following goals:

Goal #1: Provide faculty development opportunities to ensure that faculty can incorporate integrative learning into their teaching.

Our target for year one was to provide 15 of our 118 faculty members some training in integrative learning. In fact, 34 faculty members were involved in some kind of training including book groups, teaching circles, and a summer workshop. We are roughly where we projected ourselves being in year 5, with 33% of faculty have engaged in some training and many faculty members have taken advantage of multiple opportunities. This outcome was achieved before year one began.

Goal #2: Increase the opportunities for faculty and staff to collaborate in teaching and learning. In fall 2023 we had a small pilot with 2 clusters (6 classes total), and 2 stand-alone classes. In spring 2024 we ran 1 block (2 classes), 8 course clusters (21 classes) and 8 stand-alone courses. Our target for year one is 10 blocks total and 10 classes with some HAIL component (either as clusters, standalone classes, or stations). Again, because of faculty interest, we will likely hit this target by the end of year one for blocks and far exceed our estimate of other HAIL classes. We acknowledge that we need to work harder at driving co-curricular integration into classes, although we are seeing some preliminary success in the co-curricular part of HAIL without this integration (see HAIL Glossary below).

Goal #3: Increase students’ sense of belonging through engagement in co-curricular experiences with integrative learning components. In 2023-24 we established baseline data in a variety of HAIL related events and have narrowed our focus on six specific events that we are targeting for 5% increase in participation and survey scores from 4-5 on a 5 point Likert scale about belonging. Preliminary data from “Under the Lights” in 24-25 suggests some success—333 signed in 2023, whereas 400+ attended in 2024. Likert scores are mixed (3.89 and 3.45 in relationship to student belonging) but are close to target. We’ve hit our participation goal in this event, but are working on the getting students to feel a deeper sense of belonging.

Further coordination between academic affairs and student success will likely facilitate both more attendance and more attention to student belonging.

Results from the assessment of our pilots is included below. Targets are for AY 2024-5, but our results demonstrate that these targets are not wildly off the mark.

Fall 2023

Spring 2024 

In addition, we gathered some preliminary data how these classes might impact retention. The data are too limited to draw strong conclusions; however, it looks like block classes may have a slightly positive impact on retention (83% vs. 80% baseline) and classes with strong connections with one major may have a stronger impact when including HAIL (91% vs. 80% baseline).

Feedback from students and faculty have provided several areas to consider in the implementation of these classes, including the following: 

1. Block and cluster classes need considerable coordination to be successful.
2. Being transparent (TiLTing) integrative assignments helps students do well.
3. Faculty and students need realistic expectations about what can be accomplished in a semester.
4. Positive faculty engagement makes a difference, according to students
5. Schedules need for both students and faculty need to be carefully considered.
6. When done well, the benefits of integrative learning go beyond the content of either class
7. Structured reflective prompts help students, faculty, and the assessment process
8. Students are able to exceed our expectations when given the tools to do so. We anticipated lower scores in synthesis and transfer, which are higher order skills, but first-year students are perfectly capable of doing this kind of work.

The HAIL committee believes that a clearer framework for reflections will help faculty and students and are piloting workshops that use the Describe, Examine, and Articulate Learning (DEAL) model for critical reflection to clarify expectations, which we believe will likely put us at our assessment target by 2024-25. Furthermore, a number of events have been created to facilitate communication between experienced and neophyte faculty in the program.

HAIL Glossary

HAIL Courses: standalone courses where students can explore their purpose in life and apply their learning to their experiences outside the classroom. These courses tend to integrate co-curricular activities into classroom learning

HAIL Clusters: courses with linked content and activities where students can make connections among their classes.  Students are encouraged to register for multiple classes within the cluster for the best experience, but it is not required.

HAIL Blocks: fully integrated courses where students can work closely with people across disciplines and connect their learning in new and creative ways. Classes in these blocks will share content, activities, or projects, so students are required to be co-enrolled in them.

HAIL Stations: courses that will help students bridge their general education experiences to their major and start their professional journey. Most HAIL Stations will be a 2000-level course at the beginning of your degree program.

Persons Responsible: Dr. Paul Dahlgren, Director of HAIL, and Dr. Jennifer Ryer, Assistant Director of HAIL

Momentum Student Success Strategy Three: Social Belonging

GSW has incorporated the strategy to increase social belonging among students into its HAIL program that will support co-curricular experiences enabling students to connect classroom learning with their lives outside of the classroom. These experiences aim to assist students in recognizing the relationship between curricular and co-curricular learning and foster a sense of belonging in college and within the GSW community.

Since the HAIL program officially began in August 2024, the 2024 – 2025 academic year will serve as the baseline assessment of HAIL Co-curricular Engagement, and the assessment of events will continue for the duration of the program as a QEP. A survey instrument will assess student impressions of events for future planning, and will be correlated to important campus measurements such as retention and progression. The event assessments will also contribute to the decision about whether to continue the HAIL program beyond its five-year run as a QEP.

A sense of belonging is important for GSW students in their first two years, and especially for students who are less privileged or less experienced within university culture. These students often feel isolated and unsure of themselves, and as a result, they are more likely to struggle to adjust to college life and academic expectations.

Through meaningful engagement in co-curricular experiences, students will be able to build supportive relationships and determine their connection to the GSW community. They will have opportunities to explore and define their purpose in life and to reflect on how these experiences may shape their future.

GSW has selected six events for the 2024-2025 academic year that are premier, traditional events for GSW students to encourage engagement and survey students about their feelings of belonging and connectiveness to the university community. The events for the academic year are:

Fall Term 2024

• September 5 – Under the Lights
• October 16 – UNIV 1000 Freshmen Convocation
• December 3 – Pancakes with the President

Spring Term 2025

• January 27 – 31 Be the Change Week Community Service Opportunity
• February - Teddy Bear Toss
• April 2 - Taste of the World

Assessment surveys will be sent using Canes Connect, GSW branded version of Anthology’s Engage student engagement platform. The event evaluation surveys will utilize the four questions below.

Faculty and Staff members will include assessment questions during the Canes Connect event creation process. Event feedback will provide necessary metrics to consistently review success of HAIL and co-curricular exposure.

HAIL Event Evaluation Reflective Survey:

What skills, attitudes, or knowledge did you gain from this experience? (i.e connecting to resources, further developing your sense of belonging at GSW, and applying experiences in and outside of the classroom?)

How did this event broaden your understanding of People, Purpose, and Profession? (Integrative Pillars)

List any transferable skills (problem-solving, adaptability, teamwork, Critical Thinking, Ethical Reasoning, Information Literacy, Inquiry and Analysis, Intercultural Competence, Perspective-Taking, Persuasion, Problem-Solving, Teamwork, Time Management, etc.) gained from this co-curricular event. (Application)

Connection: Do you plan to attend additional Student Engagement events? (Connection)

Results from these surveys will be analyzed annually to direct future event planning and to correlate with retention and graduation metrics.

Person Responsible: Dr. Gaye Hayes, Vice President for Student Engagement and Success

ASPIRE Success Strategy Three: Faculty Development for Student Success

To increase faculty training and adoption of development activities that lead to improved pedagogy and course outcomes, GSW is concentrating in three areas: continuing to scale the use of Transparency in Learning and Teaching (TILT) principles across as many courses and course materials as possible, increasing the number of faculty members participating the Guided Instructional Feedback Technique program (GIFT), and piloting the use of the USG Mindset Intervention in English and Math classes.

TILT was GSW’s Big Idea in our 2021-22 Momentum Plan, and the strategy has continued to be important. As noted above, participants in the HAIL program are advised to make sure that integrative assignments in blocks and clusters adhere to TILT principles. TILT is also a part of the plans to improve pass rates in ENGL 1101 Composition I and major appropriate Math classes. We track the effects of TILT on students by questions that were added to our course evaluation survey in 2021:

• Was The Course Transparent, Well Planned, and Organized?
  
  • Clearly explained the goals and requirements of the course.
  • Clearly explained how the class activities, reading, and assignments related to each other.
  • Clearly explained how to learn or study course materials and content.
  • Clearly explained why the class focused on the topics presented.

The results of these questions are tracked over time and have shown a positive trajectory since their adoption. We will also be doing a survey of faculty later this year asking about their use of TILT principles. These data will be an adjunct to our course evaluation data, as well as giving a sense of how widespread adoption of the strategy is. The course evaluation data show that the area in greatest need of improvement is instruction in how to study.

Person Responsible: Dr. Bryan Davis, Associate VPAA

In an effort to improve student success during the semester in ways that can make immediate impact, GSW began GIFT in Fall of 2021. In this program, teachers volunteer to relinquish the final 30-45 minutes of a pre-determined class period, shortly after an exam or other major assignment, to a trained facilitator who engages the students in discussions about how they could improve their success in the class. The facilitator has the students, in groups of 4 or 5, brainstorm on things that the teacher does that help the student’s learning, things that the teacher does that hinders the student’s learning, and things that the teacher does not currently do but might consider doing which would further help the student’s learning. In other terms, it’s a brainstorm of “start,” “stop,” and “continue.”

The students are then asked to change the perspective to things that they do to help their learning, things that they do which hurt their learning, and things which the might consider doing but are not currently doing.

After about a half hour of small group interaction, the facilitator asks a spokesperson from each group to share common ideas in each of the six categories, looking for common themes across the groups.

At the conclusion of the session, the facilitator summarizes findings and meets with the teacher to give the results. The belief in the program is that the teacher would normally not hear these feedback ideas until the end-of-semester class evaluations, when it is too late to do anything to improve, and that, by receiving the ideas mid-semester, the teacher can make real-time improvements to the class. Overall course evaluations should therefore improve, along with student grades.

Eight facilitators were trained in Fall of 2021, and began offering sessions in Spring of 2022.

As with most new programs, the GIFT program was slow to be adopted by the general faculty, but has become very popular. Over the course of the past three years, the number of sessions conducted has grown as follows:

Person Responsible: Dr. Mark Grimes, Director of CTL

As noted above in the first strategy discussed in this section, GSW is piloting the use of the USG Mindset Intervention in selected sections of co-requisite and college-level Math course this fall. We will be assessing this effort for scaling at the end of fall term 2024 and will also consider the adoption of this intervention for fall 2025 in high DFW rate classes in other domains of the Core.

Person Responsible: Dr. Bryan Davis, Associate VPAA

ASPIRE Success Strategy Four: Graduate Studies Director

Since the submission of GSW’s ASPIRE Success Strategies, the institution has experienced a change of president. The creation of a Director of Graduate Studies was part of a possible reorganization of GSW’s academic units that has been placed on hold by our new President, Dr. Michelle Johnston. Therefore, the position has not yet been created, but is under consideration for the FY 2026 budget. We are also considering alternate means of meeting the needs the position was proposed to meet, including hiring additional staff in the Office of Admissions and Recruitment dedicated to graduate recruitment and admissions.

Person Responsible: Dr. Jill Drake, Provost

ASPIRE Success Strategy Five: Class Scheduling and Support for Incoming Students

Scheduling for Incoming First Time, Fulltime Students

Advisors in the Department of First-Year Experience and Student Success create schedules for first-year students during the summer for the STORM Registration Days. Students indicate on their STORM Day reservation what major they wish to pursue so the advisors can select the appropriate pathway and courses for the students. Degree Works, Storm Tracks, and HAIL blocked courses are used when building schedules. During the STORM Day, FYE Advisors explain the IMPACTS core to first-year students so they understand general education requirements and the courses they are enrolled in.

During the Fall semester, first-year students are introduced to the Student Educational Planner (SEP) in the UNIV 1000 course. The students create their plans and learn how to use Degree Works and SEP. The students then schedule an academic advising appointment with their academic advisor before they can register for the following semester. The plans help the advisors and students have productive and informative advising sessions. Following the advising session, the academic advisor will remove the student’s advising hold. Once registration opens for the following semester, the students are able to register themselves in RAIN. The Department of First-Year Experience and Student Success also hosts a Registration Party each semester to assist first-year students with registration.

Person Responsible: Dr. David Jenkins, Director of First-Year Experience and Student Success

University Supported Enrollment

Since fall term 2022, GSW no longer uses the traditional academic statuses of warning, probation, and suspension. Now when student falls below Good Standing (below 1.75 GPA for students with fewer 30 credit hours and below 2.0 for all other undergraduates), they are placed on University Supported Enrollment (USE). When a student is placed on USE, they receive an email that informs them of their change of status and gives them the contact information for the new Success Champion. Success Champions are experienced, committed advisors who help the USE students create a success plan to get back to Good Standing. In the email, the students are also asked to complete an Academic Inventory survey that asks questions about their academic behavior and more generally about their personal situation. The results of this survey are sent to the student’s Success Champion to give these advisors more information to help the students make success plans. Success plans include courses to take in the next semester and additional requirements, such as using tutoring services, regularly attending office hours to get to know their instructors, and having regular meetings with their Success Champions to help keep them on track with their plans.

Many of the students who were placed on USE after fall term 2022 did not return to GSW, as was the case with many of the students before the policy change. We did track all fall 2022 USE students to find out their academic standing at the end of fall 2023. As can be seen in the supporting data below, the overall percentage of USE students who had returned to Good Standing was higher than the highest percentage in the previous six years (28% Fall 2022 students compared to 19% for Fall 2017 and Fall 2019 students). Disaggregation of the data by whether the students had a plan or a survey shows that the plan is more important than the survey by far, since students with a plan regardless of whether they also filled out a survey or not got back to good standing at a rate of 36%. These data also support the rationale behind STEPZ that students with a plan for reaching a goal whether getting back to Good Standing or graduating will be more successful in reaching that goal. Putting such plans in writing also seems to make them more powerful. We will continue with the survey because the results have given us other important insights, such as the high percentage of respondents would struggled in a Core class and locating students who need to be referred for Counseling.

Person Responsible: Dr. Bryan P. Davis, Associate VPAA

Supporting Data

Pre-USE Data

Data on Fall 2022 USE Students After One Year

Observations and Next Steps

GSW has learned that for our student population having a clear degree pathway, is the most powerful strategy from the Momentum Approach. Moreover, the increased success of students in University Supported Enrollment who have a written plan that includes more than classes to take suggests that recording the plan in writing or in the Student Educational Planner is more powerful than simply having a plan in the abstract.

The pilot of our HAIL program in 2023-24 demonstrated that students are more capable of synthesis and transfer than we anticipated. Since GSW has high percentages of Pell eligible and First-Generation students, these outcomes confirm George Kuh’s observation that High Impact Educational Practices with rigorous expectations benefit underprepared students more positively than more prepared students, although all students benefit.

We have also learned that applying TILT principles to co-curricular programing is more difficult than we anticipated. It remains to be seen if the HAIL program will help students make the connections between their lives and their learning that TILTing co-curricular events was meant to facilitate. 

GSW’s next steps include the continuation of the STEPZ program for incoming students and of University Supported Enrollment (USE). Both of these efforts help students formulate plans to achieve a goal and demonstrate the efficacy of planning. In the case of USE, planning for academic success includes more than simply taking the right classes. Availing themselves of supports, such as tutoring, and Writing Center consultations, as well as maintaining regular communication with instructors and their Success Champions are additional aspects of students’ success plans.

As noted above the HAIL program has shown the potential to significantly improve student success at GSW. As we build out more aspects of the program, such as the HAIL station courses that are designed to make the transition from primarily general education courses to primarily major and minor courses, we expect to see additional positive gains for students. The on-site team from SACSCOC that reviewed the HAIL program as a QEP encouraged GSW to expand the program beyond the first two years, which we will explore as the students exposed to the program begin to complete their first two years at GSW.

GSW also begins the National Institute for Student Success (NISS) Diagnostic and Playbook process this term. This process will help us identify other student success strategies to improve the retention, progression, and graduation rates for all our students. We had a kick-off meeting with our NISS consultants on Friday, November 15, and will be working through the diagnostic process during spring term 2025. We look forward to completing a campus plan to advance our student success goals and eliminate possible barriers to retention, progression, and completion.