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Middle Georgia State University Campus Plan Update 2025

Middle Georgia State University (MGA) is a five-campus institution, providing selective undergraduate and graduate education throughout the middle Georgia region. MGA serves a diverse student body through traditional, online, and hybrid delivery of curriculum. It is the mission of MGA to educate and graduate inspired lifelong learners whose scholarship and careers enhance the region and the state. The institution’s vision is to transform individuals and our communities through extraordinary higher learning. Four core values underscore this vision: stewardship, engagement, adaptability, and learning.

Middle Georgia State University is an access institution and offered 27 programs at the baccalaureate level, nine at the master’s level, and two at the doctoral level in the 2024-25 academic year. The University awarded a total of 1,508 degrees, including 881 baccalaureate degrees in FY 2024.

Census data define the fall 2025 student body to be White Non-Hispanic (48.4%), Black/African American Non-Hispanic (31.3%), and under 25 years of age (69.8%). 56.8% of the student body is enrolled full-time. Female students comprise 53.9% and male students 46.1% of the student body. 

In fall 2025, 92.0% of enrolled students are Georgia residents, representing 142 counties. 5.8% of enrolled students are from out-of-state counties primarily from Texas, Florida, South Carolina, New York, and Alabama. International students represent 2.2% of the total fall 2025 enrollment.

The fall 2025 student body is composed of 3187 Pell recipients (36.1% of Undergraduates), 1,411 (15.98%) first-generation college students, and 2,663 (30.2%) adult learners. There were 271 military students who comprised 3.07% of the total enrollment, and the student population identifying as ethnic minority was 4,048 (45.8%).

MGA has a blended mission in that it serves both the academically gifted students in dual enrollment, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degree programs, while also serving as a point of access to higher education for underrepresented populations. Championing student success is the 2023–2028 strategic imperative for MGA and is dependent on data-driven decision-making, better service to students, executing standards of excellence in all academic programs, more efficient use of faculty and staff resources, growing student engagement at all degree levels, and utilization of tools to measure and communicate performance. Keeping students on track to program completion is the CCG goal most closely aligned with MGA’s strategic priorities. Outcomes for this goal include improved persistence and retention rates and an increase in the number of students completing their degrees on time. To fulfill its vision of “transformation of individuals and their communities through extraordinary higher learning,” MGA has identified several high-impact strategies to enhance retention and graduation.

Benchmark: Columbus State University
Competitor institution: Valdosta State University
Aspirational: University of North Georgia

Success Inventory

L (Learn) I(Investigate) G (Grow) H (Hustle) T (Thrive) Your Path (Middle Georgia State University-2025)

Strategy/Project Name: 
L (Learn) I(Investigate) G (Grow) H (Hustle) T (Thrive) Your Path
Momentum Area: 
Purpose
Pathways
Category: 
First Year Experience
Mindset
Strategy/Project Description: 

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

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

Incoming freshmen are welcomed into the ‘LIGHT Your Path’ at orientation, New Student Convocation, through the Freshmen D2L portal, and the Student Success Hub. Students in the pathway are provided with the timeline of activities and expectations with regular updates and follow-ups. Resources to support student success including advising services, success coaching, the Knights Academy and Career Readiness assessments are also shared with all incoming freshmen through focused outreach campaigns.

LIGHT Your Path Initiative:

Learn

  • Meet with an academic success coach to develop success plans to include academic goals and strategies for success (Month 1)
  • Meet with an academic advisor to discuss program of study and purposeful choice (Month 2)
  • Participate in Identity & Purpose Quest within Knights Academy (Month 1)
  • Participate in the Study Skills Quest within Knights Academy (Month 1)
  • Attend Student Expo to learn about campus organizations, university resources, and mentoring programs (Month 1)
  • Attend New Student Convocation (Month 1 – Fall Only) 

Investigate

  • Complete Stepping Blocks within the Career Quest in Knights Academy (Month 1)
  • Continue exploring careers and majors with Focus 2 (Month 2)
  • Attend a career fair to explore options and opportunities (Month 3)
  • Meet with an academic advisor to explore major requirements in MyDegree (Month 2)
  • Meet with your academic coach to assess strengths and areas of growth (Month 2)

Grow

  • Build connections with professors—attend office hours and engage in class (Months 1 – 4)
  • Utilize tutoring, study groups, and workshops to enhance your learning (Month 1 – 4)
  • Meet with a career advisor to review career assessment results and What Can I Do with this Major? (Month 2)
  • Participate in the Successful Habits Quest of Knights Academy (Month 2)
  • Request a Roundtable Peer Mentor (month 2)

Hustle

  • Develop a study routine to maximize your productivity (Month 1 and beyond)
  • Complete academic success plan, implementing personalized strategies, to achieve set goals (Month 4)
  • Discuss purposeful choice with your academic advisor, academic success coach, career advisor (by end of Month 4)
  • Participate in Motivation Quest within the Knights Academy (Month 4)
  • Join a campus organization and/or volunteer in the community (Month 2)

Thrive

  • Participate in Resilience Quest within the Knights Academy (Month 3)
  • Sign up for the Student Leadership Conference (event is held in Month 2 of Spring) or Student Leadership Programs (deadline to participate mid-August for Fall)
  • Get involved on campus and in the community (Month 3)
  • Meet with Academic Success Coach to check-in on progress (Month 3)
  • Register for next semester’s classes (Month 3)
  • Actively participate in Roundtable Peer Mentoring program and activities (Month 3)
Activity Status: 
Initiating
Evaluation/Assessment plan: 

Please describe your evaluation plan, specifically which Key Performance Indicators you are monitoring/measuring, the baseline (year 0) and goal or target for each. If there are milestones along the way or process indicators, note them as well. Indicate the length of time you anticipate before you reach your goal or target.

KPIs:

  • % of freshmen persisting for next semester
  • % of residential freshmen persisting for next semester
  • % of freshman ending the semester in good academic standing
  • % of residential freshmen ending the semester in good academic standing
  • % of freshmen engaged in/completing Knights Academy quests
  • Total number of engagements in Knights Academy Quests by Freshmen
  • % of freshmen completing Stepping Blocks career assessment (semester data available from fall’25 onwards; combined date available for all previous semesters beginning spring’23)
  • % of freshmen with academic success plans
  • % of freshmen engaging in activities promoted on Knight Life/Involve
  • % of freshmen engaging in career fairs promoted on Knight Life/Involve

Baseline from 2023-2024: 2236 freshmen; 837 residential

Fall 2023:

  • 73.4 % freshmen persisted from fall’23-spring’24
  • 84.9% residential freshmen persisted from fall-23 to spring’24
  • 72.2% freshmen ended fall’23 in good academic standing with 4.8% suspended
  • 69% residential freshmen ended fall’23 in good academic standing with 4.9% being suspended
  • 7.5% freshmen engaged in/completed Knights Academy quests
  • 1424 Total number of engagements in Knights Academy Quests by Freshmen
  • % freshmen had academic success plans developed for fall’23 (not implemented)
  • 28.5% (637) of freshmen engaged in activities promoted on Knight Life/Involve
  •  4% (91) freshmen engaged in career fairs promoted on Knight Life

Spring 2024: 1641 freshmen; 616 residential

  • 63.4 % of freshmen persisted from spring’24-fall’24
  • 68.9 % of residential freshmen persisted from spring’24-fall’24
  • 72.5% of freshman ended spring’24 in good academic standing with 12.2% suspended
  • 69.1% of residential freshmen ended spring’24 in good academic standing with 16.9% suspended
  • 7.6% freshmen engaged in/completing Knights Academy quests
  • 48 Total number of engagements in Knights Academy Quests by Freshmen
  • 4.5% (74) freshmen had academic success plans developed
  • 38.3% (629) of freshmen engaged in activities promoted on Knight Life/Involve
  • 3.0% (50) freshmen engaged in career fairs promoted on Knight Life/Involve

Data from 2024-2025

Fall 2024: 2180 freshmen; 889 residential

  • 77.9 % freshmen persisted from fall’24-spring’25
  • 85.0% residential freshmen persisted from fall-24 to spring’25
  • 75.1% freshmen ended fall’24 in good academic standing (4.1% suspended)
  • 75.4% residential freshmen ended fall’24 in good academic standing (3% suspended)
  • 5.1% of freshmen engaged in/completed Knights Academy quests.
  • 96 total number of engagements in Knights Academy quests by Freshmen.
  • 36% of freshmen placed in Learning Support had academic success plans developed
  • 37.9% (826) of freshmen engaged in activities promoted on Knight Life/Involve
  • 3.7% (81) freshmen engaged in career fairs promoted on Knight Life

Spring 2025: 1645 freshmen; 640 residential

  • 62.0 % of freshmen persisted from spring’25-fall’25
  • 68 % of residential freshmen persisted from spring’25-fall’25
  • 72.1% of freshman ended spring’25 in good academic standing (12.4% suspended)
  • 74.8 % of residential freshmen ended spring’25 in good academic standing (14% suspended)
  • 14.8 % of freshmen who received communication through Salesforce engaged in/completing Knights Academy quests
  • 392 engagements in Knights Academy Quests by Freshmen receiving Salesforce communication
  • 185 success plans were developed of which 61.6% were freshmen, 20.3% were for students in learning support, and 28% were for students on probation.
  • 42.2% (694) of freshmen engaged in activities promoted on Knight Life/Involve
  • 3.1% (51) freshmen engaged in career fairs promoted on Knight Life/Involve

Goal: 2% increase in all metrics by the end of Fall’25

Progress and Adjustments: 

MGA provides several academic and non-academic support services for its students. This has led to considerable enhancement in MGA’s student success outcomes including an 11% increase in retention of FTFT bachelor-degree seeking freshmen from the 2020 cohort to the 2023 cohort. While advising, student success, FYE and career and leadership services have all been focused on improving student success outcomes, all these services have faced challenges with student engagement. The LIGHT Your Path initiative is designed to enhance student engagement with all these services.

Observations from fall’24 and spring’25:

In fall’24, the total number of degree-seeking freshmen decreased by approximately 2.6% as compared to fall’23. The number of freshmen in the residence halls, however, increased by 6.2%.

In spring’25, the total freshmen population was approximately the same as compared to spring’24. Residential freshmen increased by 3.9% in spring’25 in comparison to spring’24.

Overall, the total number of degree-seeking freshmen in MGA’s residential halls increased in the 2024-25 academic year. The impact of MGA’s student success initiatives on different metrics is highlighted below.

Persistence:

Fall’24-spring’25- Freshmen persistence from fall’24-spring’25 increased by 3.6% as compared to the previous year. Of the 22% freshmen that did not persist from fall’24-spring’25, 78.2% were in good academic standing.  

Residential freshmen persisted at the same rate, 85%, from fall’24-spring’25 as compared to the previous year despite the increase in the actual numbers. Of the 15% that did not persist, 74% were in good academic standing.

Spring’25-fall’25-Freshmen persistence from spring’25-fall’25, decreased by 1.4% in comparison to the previous spring though residential freshmen persistence remained the same at approximately 68%. Further analysis of the data revealed that of the freshmen population that did not persist (38.0%) in spring’25, 66.1% were in good academic standing. 56.1% of the residential freshmen who left were in good academic standing.

The observation from both the total freshmen and the residential freshmen populations from the fall and spring semesters is that a large percentage that do not persist at MGA are in good academic standing. It will be important to figure out the reasons behind their transfer, the institutions they transferred to, and the majors they selected at the transfer institution. This insight would help to plan strategies for reducing the number of students who leave MGA while maintaining good academic standing.

Academic standing:

Fall’24- Approximately 75% of the freshmen population ended fall’24 in good academic standing. This was an increase of 2.9% as compared to the data for fall’23. The number of students suspended also decreased by 0.7% in fall’24 as compared to fall’23.

The percentage of residential freshmen who ended fall’24 in good academic standing increased by 6.4% as compared to fall’23. The suspensions for residential freshmen decreased by 1.9% in fall’24 as compared to fall’23.

Spring’25- 72.1% of freshmen ended spring’25 in good academic standing, a decrease of 0.4% over the numbers for spring’24. Two additional freshmen got suspended in spring’25.

The number of residential freshmen who ended spring’25 in good academic standing, 74.8%, increased by 5.7% when compared to the data for spring’24. The number of suspensions for residential students in spring’25 decreased by 2.9%.

Our data show that overall freshmen success in the fall semester exceeds the outcomes observed in the spring. Some of this may be attributed to students who do not succeed in the fall and repeat the courses in the spring. The strategy going forward will be early identification of these high-risk students and connecting them with the required resources.  

The results for students in our residential halls in fall’24 and spring’25 were encouraging. 75% of the residential freshmen were successful in completing both semesters in good academic standing. Using the faculty feedback system for early alerts, advisors and success coaches continue to reach out to students as the alert is raised to provide early and timely intervention and reduce the number of students ending the semester in negative academic standing.

First Year Experience:

The First Year Experience (FYE) implemented in Fall’25 guides students through a holistic program designed to foster success and belonging from the start of their college journey.  They begin with a "Welcome & Transition" that includes New Student Orientation, Convocation, and continued engagement through the D2L platform that provides information about campus resources, reminds students about upcoming events, and encourages discussion. Next, "Academic Foundations," strengthen essential skills for learning and engagement through Academic Advising, the First Year Seminar module in Domain I courses, and online and in-person Knights Academy sessions to help students develop deeper understanding of themselves and their place in college. "Personalized Support" is offered to First Year students through Academic Success Coaching and the Light Your Path initiative where students are provided with tailored plans to reach educational milestones. First year students are encouraged to cultivate and deepen relationships with their peers through "Peer & Social Engagement," which includes the Roundtable Peer Mentoring program and Knight Life events specifically targeted to First Year student audiences. Finally, "Beyond the Classroom" provides opportunities for students to explore career and leadership opportunities as well as real-world applications of their learning to include participation in Career and Leadership Development (CCLD) initiatives such as Knights Lead, and topic-based, faculty-led workshops that apply theory to real student concerns like financial literacy and coping with burnout. FYE is being expanded to include collaboration with Recreation & Wellness for FIT (First Year Students in Transitions) programs.

Knights Academy:

In the 2023-24 academic year, the baseline was established using data from a pilot project in which the Knights Academy was placed in D2L for incoming fall students. In Fall 2024, the Knights Academy was updated and migrated out of D2L into Knight Life (Presence), which provided an enhanced experience for students, reduced reading content, and made it more interactive. However, this brought challenges to track their progress. Some of the Knights Academy quests were migrated to SalesForce-Marketing Cloud (SF-MC), so that freshman could receive email campaigns to complete Knights Academy Quests. This allowed for better tracking and assessment of freshman engagement in Knights Academy Quests. In fall’24, the Knights Academy communication was sent through SF-MC to incoming new freshmen of which 5.1% engaged or completed the Knights Academy Quests. In spring’25, Knights Academy communication was sent to continuing freshmen from fall’24 and new spring’25 freshmen. Student engagement increased to 14.8% in spring’25, an increase of 9.7%. There was also a four-fold increase in the number of engagements in spring’25 as compared to fall’24.

Academic success coaching:

Spring’25:

In spring’25, success coaches were assigned to 14 sections of Quantitative Reasoning-co-requisite pairing with 229 students, 11 sections of English Composition I-co-requisite pairing with 200 students and 9 sections of Anatomy and Physiology I and II with 192 students. High-risk students were identified by the faculty and received assistance from the coaches to improve course performance. The outcomes from the math and English intervention are highlighted in Activity 2. A&P coach embedding was done as a pilot several weeks into the spring semester. Results of A&P I course from spring’25 as compared to spring’24 showed an increase of approximately 6% in the pass rates as well as a decline in withdrawal rates by 8.5%. However, no impact was observed either in the pass rates or in the withdrawal rates in A&P II. More work is needed to engage A&P faculty with the initiative for early intervention and timely assistance.

185 success plans were developed of which 61.6% were for freshmen, 20.3% for students in learning support, and 28% were for students on probation. In addition to working with students to develop success plans, the success coaches reached out to 283 students on probation to help them receive tutoring and other assistance as needed. Coaches also planned and conducted six workshops in spring’25 focusing on skills needed to succeed academically.

Note: 4 of the 7 Success Coaches that worked with students in these courses were employed beginning February and March in the Spring’25 semester. 

Fall 2025:

As of October’25, seven success coaches have reached out to 248 students on probation alerts, and are working with high-risk students in 26 sections of LS math, 22 section of LS English, and 9 sections of A&P I and II. 445 success plans have been developed for students that include 280 freshmen. Twenty-two workshops have been offered to support student success with 334 students attending to date. Coaches also held pop-up events to support students with 126 students attending so far.

The integration of Success Coaches into Learning Support courses has been a notable success. Faculty collaboration in these areas has been exceptionally strong, fostering a shared approach to supporting underprepared students and improving classroom engagement. Success Coaches have become valuable partners in identifying academic and non-academic barriers, equipping students with strategies for success, and enhancing both success and retention rates within this student population.  

Additionally, the expansion of Success Coaching into targeted outreach areas, such as the Roundtable Peer Mentoring program, academic support for student-athletes, and the development of residential workshops, has strengthened the success centers holistic support network. Partnerships with Housing and Residence Life have increased coaching visibility but need to be strengthened.

While progress has been sizeable, the Student Success Center (SSC) continues to address several structural challenges. As programming expands, streamlining operational processes and establishing clear structures for case management, communication, and data tracking remain priorities. The at-risk student population continues to present engagement challenges. Success coaches will continue to refine outreach methods, especially among students who are academically disengaged or hesitant to seek support, further utilizing platforms such as Salesforce, to improve responsiveness and follow-through, the online community being the largest challenge.  

Career and Leadership:

The Center for Career & Leadership Development (CCLD) has focused on initiatives that expand student awareness and understanding of the importance of early and frequent use of career development resources as well as elevating their professional preparedness for the workforce. In Fall 2025, the CCLD joined the Light Your Path initiative where key first-year career and leadership experiences were promoted to first-year students.  These experiences include engaging in the Stepping Blocks Career Platform, attending a career fair, meeting with a career advisor, and participating in one of the Student Leadership Programs.  These opportunities were promoted to students through orientations, Student Convocation, poster and lawn sign campaigns, Salesforce email marketing, direct email marketing, and Handshake email marketing.  CCLD also spoke to all first-year residential students during building meetings in August.  Housing & Residence Life also promoted the Stepping Blocks Career Assessment to students participating in the themed living communities.  The CCLD staff used annual events such as the Student Success Festival and Majors & Mocktails to engage students with Stepping Blocks in a one-on-one group setting.  Information was also included in the First Year Experience D2L platform and the First Year Seminar Career & Leadership Development Module. The career development staff also send bi-weekly messages through Handshake to their individual schools to encourage students to meet with a career advisor. 

Overall, freshmen participation in career fairs in fall’24 and spring’25 continued to be low as compared to the previous fall/spring. The Light Your Path initiative focuses on increasing opportunities for career assessment and promotes participation in career fairs. It is encouraging to note that as of October’25, 6.5% of enrolled freshmen have participated in the career fairs hosted so far. Freshmen engagement in activities promoted through KnightLife continues to grow and increased by 9.4% in fall’24 and 3.9% in spring’25 as compared to the previous fall/spring.

Advising:

The Academic Advising team continues to increase its’ visibility with students on campus through increased number of classroom visits, participation in various department events, and hosting multiple Advising Days targeting specific populations (Student Athletes, International students, and veterans). The Advising team uses mass and automated communication tools to support our early alert program and registration outreach campaigns. Advisors continue to build relationships with their advisees and foster a growth mindset through the services they provide. As of October 2025, MGA has observed an increase in advising office visits and more interaction with the advisors to discuss plans of study, any challenges, and to get registered as compared to last year. The advising team continues to build strong collaborations with other offices including the Registrar, Admissions, and Veteran and Military Services as well as programs including Athletics and International.

Plan for the Year Ahead: 

First Year Experience plan: In a preliminary survey conducted in Domain I courses that include the FYS component, students stressed the need to learn more about navigating institutional systems early in the semester to avoid academic or financial challenges. While orientation and onboarding materials cover the support resources available, students expressed the need to have additional learning opportunities.  

Beyond the activities listed above as part of the Light Your Path initiative, for Fall 2026 freshmen, FYE will include an extended orientation session before classes begin. Students will have the opportunity to attend workshops dedicated to topics such as MGA Technology (SWORDS, D2L, Email, etc.), financial literacy, and maximizing the first year. These workshops will be a collaborative effort between Academic Affairs and Student Affairs that will be piloted for residential students. 

Academic Success Coaching plan:

Looking ahead, the SSC aims to strengthen the foundation of the Success Coaching model through a more consistent and intentional framework. Future goals include: 

  • Developing standardized processes to ensure efficient workflows and consistent coaching experiences across all campuses.  
  • Outlining core procedures, communication standards, documentation practices, and outreach protocols. 
  • Enhancing data-driven evaluation through a revitalized effectiveness metric that measures not only participation but also impact on persistence and academic performance. 
  • Salesforce dashboards and regular data reviews will allow the team to identify trends and measure progress toward retention and success rate goals.  
  • Expanding cross-campus collaboration, ensuring alignment between Success Coaching, Academic Advising, Housing, Athletics, and Faculty. Shared initiatives such as co-sponsored workshops, classroom visits, and targeted support campaigns will ensure students receive consistent messaging and coordinated assistance. 
  • Enhancing the impact of coaching sessions through sustained professional development focused on motivation, engagement, and student success strategies. 
  • The SSC will continue its ongoing professional development for success coaches by providing advanced certifications from the National Tutoring Association.  
  • Increasing engagement among at-risk populations through targeted, personalized interventions and innovative outreach strategies. 
  • The SSC will adopt proactive engagement strategies such as early-semester check-ins, success plan follow-ups, and in-person “pop-up” coaching hours in high-traffic student areas. Success coaches will also continue partnering with Housing and Residence Life to reach residential students in the residence halls.  

Career and Leadership plan: For the career and leadership engagement aspect of Light Your Path, it will be important to analyze participation data of all students after Fall 2025 to see the impact on student engagement over time.  For instance, if sophomores in Fall 2026 choose to take a career assessment, meet with a career advisor, or participate in the Student Leadership Programs, it is likely that the Light Your Path initiative influenced that choice.  In four years, this outreach through Light Your Path could also show increased career engagement among graduating seniors which could positively impact the institution’s focus on graduate employment monitoring and career outcomes. 

Challenges and Support: 

CHALLENGES:

  • Staff turnover    
  • Student Motivation and Engagement  
  • Communication gaps
  • Support from faculty and staff   

SUPPORT NEEDED: 

Information or ideas on how to engage students in various support initiatives.

 

Primary Contact: 
Deepa Arora, Senior Associate Provost of Student Success
Kimberly Leinberger, Director of First Year Experience
Brock Giddens, Director of Student Success Services
Mary Roberts, Executive Director, Center for Career & Leadership Development
Sandy Little-Herring, Director of Advising

Improving student success in learning support (Middle Georgia State University-2025)

Strategy/Project Name: 
Improving student success in learning support
Momentum Area: 
Pathways
Mindset
Category: 
Corequisite Learning Support
Course Redesign
Tutoring
Strategy/Project Description: 

MGA admits a significant number of students who need remediation and are enrolled in learning support (LS) coursework.  MGA saw a 107% increase in the number of LS students from fall’22 to fall’25.  In fall’25, 847 students placed into learning support, accounting for 9.6% of enrollment. 

To improve LS student success outcomes, several initiatives have been implemented that include course redesign, adding growth mindset activities, introducing early alert reporting and outreach, and peer mentoring, supplemental/embedded tutoring.  The LS Coordinator, faculty who teach LS courses, the departmental Chairs, student success coaches, peer mentors, and the academic advisors collaborate to work towards this goal.  Data-driven decision-making drives the planning and execution of these initiatives.  

MGA observed successful outcomes with a pilot initiative in fall’24 in which success coaches were embedded into all the sections offered for Co-requisite-Quantitative Reasoning pairing for students placed into non-STEM LS math. These coaches also served as a bridge to math tutors and peer mentors for these students. With support from the math faculty, success coaches received weekly communication on students who were at-risk due to absenteeism, low grades or lack of engagement in class. Academic Success Coaches built individualized success plans for students through regularly scheduled meetings with the students.  Discussions focused on student engagement, resilience, student performance in classes, motivation and mindset, resource availability for academic and non-academic support, and any other financial or personal concerns the student shared. Coaches also helped connect students with tutors and peer mentors as needed with regular check-ins. Tutors provided coaching in the subject.  In some sections, tutors were embedded and attended classes with the students; they worked with them to review concepts, practice, and answer questions. They were also available after class for scheduled appointments to assist the students in-person or online.  Tutors assisted students who were identified by faculty as having low or failing grades on assessments. Mentors provided guidance to the students, helped students to develop a sense of belonging to the institution by hosting a number of events, helped students develop an academic growth mindset by offering workshops, provided information on support resources available at the institution, and helped students to connect with their peers. Students who missed class or were not engaged in class were connected with mentors to encourage them to attend and to understand the value of progression through the curriculum and how it impacts their career goals.

In spring’25, students in the Co-requisite-Quantitative Reasoning pairing were also supported by embedded coaches. The initiative was also expanded to the Co-requisite-English Composition I pairing as a pilot project in spring’25. The plan for 2025-26 is to improve our processes for reporting and follow-up.

Activity Status: 
Refining/Maintaining
Evaluation/Assessment plan: 

KPIs:   

  • Number of LS students passing gateway English and math courses   
  • % of LS students persisting from one semester to the next  

Baseline measure (for each KPI):  

  • 51.5% of LS students successfully completed ENGL 1101 in fall’23 and 51.9% in spring’24.   
  • 58.8% of LS students successfully completed MATH 1001 in fall’23 and 58.9% in spring’24.  
  • 66.8% LS students persisted from fall’23 to spring’24; 46.9% persisted from spring’24 to fall’24

Data from fall’24 and spring 2025:

  • 50.0% of LS students successfully completed ENGL 1101 in fall’24 and 51.0% in spring’25.   
  • 72.7% of LS students successfully completed MATH 1001 in fall’24 and 60.7% in spring’25.  
  • 72.2% persisted from fall’24 to spring’25; 47.6% persisted from spring’25 to fall’25.

Goal:

  • 2% increase in the number of LS students passing the gateway English course at the end of fall’25  
  • 2% increase in the number of LS students passing gateway math courses at the end of fall’25   
  • 2% increase in the number of LS students persisting from fall to spring and spring to fall. 
Progress and Adjustments: 

LS math: Fall’24

Overall success rates: The results of the pilot program in LS math highlighted a significant increase in the overall success rates of students taking Math 1001/0997 for fall 2024. The overall success rate of those students was a 73% pass rate, an increase of approximately 14% from the previous year. Also noteworthy was the decrease in the withdrawal rate during fall 2024, which was 6% versus 10% the previous fall 2023. Results also indicated that students taking the online sections of the course had a pass rate of 57.5% which was considerably lower than the pass rates for the in-person sections, 78.3%. The success rates for in-person sections showed an increase of 14% comparing fall’23 to fall’24. This data highlighted the challenge linked to student engagement in online courses.

Success rates for new students as compared to those repeating the course: Repeaters had lower pass rates (53.8%) as compared to those taking the course for the first time (69.2%) in fall’24. The observation was the same for the fall’23 data but the success rates were higher for both the categories in fall’24 as compared to fall’23: success rates for repeaters increased by 10% in fall ‘24 as compared to fall’23; success rates for new students increased by 4% in fall’24 as compared to fall’23.  This data highlights the need to focus on students who are repeating the course and may need additional support from tutoring and coaching to perform successfully.

LS math: Spring’25

Overall success rates: The results from spring’25 showed an increase of 1.8% in the pass rates as compared to spring’24 data. Pass rates for the online sections was 11% lower as compared to that of the in-person sections (66.7%) again highlighting the challenge with engaging online students. The withdrawal rate showed a decline from 15.1% in spring’24 to 7.6% in spring’25 which was a step in a positive direction.

Success rates for new students as compared to those repeating the course: Students taking the course the first time had passing rates of 69.2% as compared to 34.5% for students repeating the course. This observation was parallel to that observed in the fall’24 data.

In analyzing data and success metrics from fall’24 and spring’25, it is important to note that the number of students repeating the course in spring’25 was double the number repeating the course last fall which might explain the overall reduced impact in the spring. However, the success rates for in-person section continued to remain strong in spring’25.

These insights will influence the strategy moving forward, with more support in terms of tutoring and coaching being offered to students repeating the course from the start of the semester. The challenge with online sections is ongoing and the success team is in conversation with the faculty to plan additional strategies to engage the students.

LS English, Spring’25:  The success coaching pilot with LS English sections did not show any improvement in the overall pass rates for both in-person and online sections combined as compared to the previous spring. However, the in-person sections with embedded coaches showed an increase in success rates by 2.8% as compared to spring’24. The pass rates for students taking the course the first time were 13% higher than those of student repeating the course. This pattern parallels the observation with the math LS course. It is interesting to note that there was a 35% increase in the number of repeaters in spring’25 as compared to spring’24. The spring pilot faced some challenges with communication between the academic success coaches and faculty which have been addressed and resolved for fall’25.

Overall persistence and retention rates: Persistence rates for the LS student population from fall to spring showed an increase of 5.4% when comparing 2023 to 2024 fall semesters. Persistence from spring to fall increased by 0.7% when comparing 2024 to 2025 spring semesters.

One-year retention of students who began with learning support requirements increased by 1.7% comparing fall 2024-25 with fall 2023-24. This is an encouraging trend as the LS enrollment increased by over 46% from fall’23 to fall’25.

Plan for the Year Ahead: 
  • To strengthen communication between the faculty and the success coaches on a weekly basis, MGA will explore web-based reporting for both English and math courses.
  • Success rates between face-to-face and online classes vary.  English and math will study the distribution of online vs in-person classes across the campuses to enable more effective offerings that align well with success outcomes.
  • Math and English departments will discuss policies to improve success rates in online course offerings.
  • The maximum enrollment for LS English sections will be capped at 20.
  • A LS Coordinator will be hired for the English department to organize and support LS course offerings.
  • Faculty teaching LS English will be organized into a community to support engagement and professional development.   
  • English department will refine the student success coaching model in Learning Support classes based on the success outcomes from spring’25. 
Challenges and Support: 

Student engagement remains the biggest challenge

Primary Contact: 
Deepa Arora, Senior Associate Provost of Student Success
Richard Kilburn, Chair, Department of Mathematics
Joseph Lease, Chair, Department of English

Providing academic success content in Institutional Priority domain courses (Middle Georgia State University-2025)

Strategy/Project Name: 
Providing academic success content in Institutional Priority domain courses
Momentum Area: 
Purpose
Strategy/Project Description: 

Measuring the impact of academic success content in all sections of the Institutional Priority domain (formerly, Area B) courses. The asynchronous academic success content contains three main modules with a total of 15 sections, focusing on topics like time management, student success resources, and career preparation

Activity Status: 
Studying
Evaluation/Assessment plan: 

We have concluded the previous evaluation plan and associated KPIs (below) because they did not provide sufficient depth of understanding about the impact of the academic success content in Institutional Priority domain courses.

Previous Evaluation Plan and Measures:  

  • Student academic success indicators in Area I courses (semester-over-semester)
  • Completion of academic success content

Project KPIs:

  • ABC rates in Area I courses
  • Completion rates of academic success content

Project Baseline Measure (for each KPI): Based on data obtained from Institutional Priority domain course sections with embedded academic success content during academic year 2023-2024:

  • Average combined ABC grades: 73.01%
  • Completion rate of the academic success content quizzes was 94%

Project Goal or Targets (for each KPI):

  • Combined ABC rates in Area I >75%
  • Completion rate for the academic success content >95%

As from fall 2025, the evaluation plan and measures will be based on the change of students’ perceptions of their ability to engage in behaviors that contribute to their academic success.  The delta of self-perceptions of their self-efficacy will be captured by surveying Institutional Priority domain course students in the second week of the semester and again in the third-to-last week of the semester (so as to avoid interfering with the end-of-course survey process).  The survey items use a Likert-type scale (1=never to 4=always) and align with the topics of the academic success content in Institutional Priority domain course sections.

Survey 1 comprises 12 items:

  1. I participate actively in my classes.
  2. I know how to keep myself physically and emotionally healthy.
  3. I express myself professionally when emailing an instructor.
  4. I submit all of my coursework when/before it is due.
  5. I know where to get answers at MGA to questions about financial aid.
  6. I know where to find campus activities to join.
  7. I understand how tutoring can support my learning.
  8. I know how to find MGA’s library resources to help with my coursework.
  9. I consider my academic advisor a useful resource for my academic success.
  10. I can set worthwhile goals for my studies.
  11. I know where to find MGA resources about my future career.
  12. I am confident in my ability to succeed this semester.

Survey 2 includes the same 12 items, along with three opened-ended questions:

  1. What topic in the Academic Success content did you find most useful?
  2. What topic in the Academic Success content did you find least useful?
  3. What do you wish you knew more about before starting your first semester at MGA?

After each semester, the mean of the delta in the students’ perceptions of their self-efficacy in academic success behaviors will be compared against 1) the Institutional Priority domain course grade average (per section), 2) the average grade of concurrent courses in the same semester, and 3) persistence rates and retention rates.  This grouping of comparisons could help to indicate the impact of the academic success content on students’ positive outcomes in their first year of studies at MGA.

Upon assessing the usefulness of the survey and the usefulness of the comparisons, new baselines, KPIs, and goals will be identified.

Progress and Adjustments: 

At this point in AY 2025–2026, preliminary data on students’ perceptions of self-efficacy changes in the first-session sections of Domain I courses is available.  For the surveys in these six courses, 102 (60%) of 169 students completed survey 1 and 88 (52%) of 169 students completed survey 2.  The results indicate that students in the aggregate had a positive delta in 8 of the 12 domains of the academic success content—with 2 at no change (items 2 and 10) and 2 at a negative delta (items 4 and 12).

Additionally, for the three open-ended questions on survey 2 in the first-session courses (completed at week 6 of the 8-week session), our analysis revealed useful information about students’ perceptions of the usefulness of the academic success content and what they wish they knew when they started the semester in August 2025:

Q13. What topic in the Academic Success content did you find most useful?

Recurring themes:

  1. Career and leadership development – Students frequently mentioned the Career and Leadership Development Center (CCLD), Handshake, and career planning lifecycle.
  2. Time management and study skills – Repeated mentions of goal setting, time management, and study strategies as practical and personally applicable.
  3. Academic resources and advising – Many referenced academic planning, registration, tutoring, MyDegree, and advisor support.
  4. Financial aid and registration processes – A consistent focus on financial aid and understanding how to register for classes.
  5. Campus involvement and wellness – Some students valued learning about student life, activities, wellness, and support resources.

Interpretation:

The responses reflect high engagement with actionable and resource-oriented topics. Students seem to value tools that directly affect their ability to succeed (career services, advising, and time management). They appear to gravitate toward content that clarifies procedures and provides concrete steps—rather than abstract advice.

Q14. What topic in the Academic Success content did you find least useful?

Recurring themes:

  1. Campus activities – The most common “least useful” topic. Many respondents (especially online or nontraditional students) said that information about on-campus events was irrelevant to them.
  2. Goal setting and study tips – Some felt these topics were redundant or overly basic, noting prior familiarity.
  3. Professional communication and CCLD – A minority found these redundant or confusing, citing previous experience or unclear value.
  4. Library/research modules – Several indicated this section was unnecessary, especially for returning or experienced students.
  5. Wellness and “soft skills” topics – A few respondents dismissed wellness or class management as less relevant.

Interpretation:

This section highlights a divide between new and experienced students. Although newcomers valued broad academic support, returning or working students felt some material was repetitive. Content on campus involvement was least useful to those learning online or attending regional campuses.

Q15. What do you wish you knew more about before starting your first semester at MGA?

Recurring themes:

  1. Learning systems navigation (D2L, SWORDS) – Many expressed confusion about how to navigate D2L and SWORDS (Banner).
  2. Financial aid and billing – High frequency of comments about financial aid processes, scholarships, billing, and cost transparency.
  3. Academic and student resources – Students wished they had known earlier about tutoring, advising, writing support, CCLD, and campus facilities.
  4. Registration and course planning – Multiple mentions of how to register, when classes open, how to plan ahead, and elective selection.
  5. Time management and workload expectations – Many reflected that they underestimated the workload and wished for more preparation in balancing responsibilities.
  6. Campus life and involvement – A secondary cluster of comments about clubs, activities, and campus facilities.

Interpretation:

Students’ retrospective wishes cluster around institutional navigation and time management. The most consistent frustration involves not knowing how to use MGA’s systems early enough to avoid academic or financial stress. Key information was covered adequately because of restrictions in time for this portion of new student orientation.

Plan for the Year Ahead: 

For the rest of AY2025-2026, we will continue conducting the survey in all sections of Area I courses and run the analyses, including comparisons of survey results as they might relate to aggregated letter grade averages by section, the average grade of concurrent courses in the same semester, and persistence rates and retention rates.  We will also prepare for semester-over-semester, and year-over-year longitudinal comparisons.

Challenges and Support: 

Survey completion rates are a perennial challenge, and we expect the same, especially when allowing for survey fatigue.

Contact email: 
rod.mcrae@mga.edu
Primary Contact: 
Rod McRae, Vice Provost of Education Outreach

Supplemental Updates

Observations and Next Steps:

Over the past five years, Middle Georgia State University (MGA) has made significant progress in promoting student success through strategic initiatives aimed at enhancing persistence, retention, and graduation rates. This progress is reflected in the improved one-year retention rates for both associate and bachelor’s degree-seeking first-time, full-time (FTFT) students, comparing the 2020 and 2024 cohorts (Tables 3–4 in the Appendices). The number of undergraduates enrolled in 15 or more credit hours also increased by 2.6% from Fall 2024 to Fall 2025 (Table 5). Additionally, 84% of undergraduate credit hours attempted in Fall 2024 were successfully completed (Table 6). Course success rates continue to trend upward, reaching 81.6% overall in Fall 2024.

MGA’s academic support infrastructure includes a range of tutoring services offered through the Student Success Centers, the Mathematics Academic Resource Center, the Writing Center, and various departmental tutoring centers. These services are delivered both in-person and online, and include peer tutoring, supplemental instruction, and embedded tutoring. Peer mentoring is also available for students enrolled in learning support courses.

Enrollment in learning support courses has grown to represent 9.6% of MGA’s Fall 2025 student population. In response, the University has expanded its team of academic success coaches to provide targeted support to these students. This initiative has yielded promising outcomes and continues to serve as a vital resource for students identified as at-risk.

This year, MGA is prioritizing efforts to improve persistence and retention among its freshman cohort. The First Year Experience (FYE) program will be reimagined and strengthened to better serve incoming students. The Light Your Path initiative, which offers a holistic guided pathway for freshmen, will play a central role in enhancing the FYE program. Cross-divisional collaborations with Student Affairs and Enrollment Management will further reinforce and expand the University’s commitment to FYE.

One of MGA’s most pressing challenges remains increasing student engagement. To address this, the University has launched the Knights Academy, an initiative designed to foster a stronger sense of belonging among students. In addition, a variety of co-curricular events—organized by academic schools, peer mentoring groups, Student Life, success coaches, and academic advisors—are being implemented to support this goal.