Complete College Georgia-Georgia Tech (CCG-GT) Steering Committee. The best practices outlined above are guided by the CCG-GT Steering Committee, a diverse team cross-campus leaders who provide input for our student success initiatives and promote engagement of our Momentum work across Georgia Tech. Chaired by Dr. Steven P. Girardot, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, the CCG-GT Steering Committee meets several times annually to review, refine, and assess retention and completion strategies. Beginning this year, the members committed to a two-year term to create stability and momentum for our CCG work. See Appendix E for the membership list of the Institute’s 2023-2025 CCG-GT Steering Committee.
Updates to Georgia Tech’s Office of Undergraduate Education (OUE) Organizational Structure. Under the leadership of Dr. Steven Girardot, appointed as Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education in spring 2022, the Office of Undergraduate Education has updated its organizational structure to improve accessibility and services to students. The creation of two new units, Academic Success & Advising (ASA) and the Office of Experiential & Engaged Learning (E2L), unites several student-facing services and programs, each under a shared vision, common values, and increased visibility to improve the navigational experience for students. Dr. Lorett Swank, Executive Director of Academic Success & Advising (a new position at Georgia Tech), leads Pre-Graduation & Pre-Professional Advising, Undergraduate Advising & Transition, Retention & Completion Initiatives, Tutoring & Academic Support, and First-Generation & Limited-Income Student Initiatives. Under the direction of Dr. Chris Reaves, Assistant Vice Provost and Executive Director of Experiential & Engaged Learning, E2L leads undergraduate research, student innovation, transition seminars, co-ops, internships, and community-based learning.
Programming for Underserved Populations. Georgia Tech provides programming for student populations historically underrepresented in higher education and the Institute. The Office of Minority Educational Development (OMED) is currently situated within Institute Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and provides a variety of peer mentoring, academic support, and career placements service in addition to an academically intensive 5-week summer program for incoming first-year students. First-Generation & Limited Income Student Initiatives is a unit within the Office of Undergraduate Education advancing student success through strategic partnerships and programs that build community, strengthen well-being, develop leadership, and cultivate academic success. Academic Success and Advising’s First-Generation & Limited Income Student Initiatives area expanded its team this year hiring a Program and Operations Manager to support the program’s growing role in Georgia Tech’s strategic enrollment plan to expand access. First-Gen Jackets Mentoring launched in 2021-22 with 118 mentees matched with upper-level student mentors. In 2022-23, 210 mentees were matched through the program representing a 56% increase in program engagement. The Office of Undergraduate Education’s Director of DEI Initiatives launched a living learning community for transfer students in fall 2023. The Transfer-Year Experience program, self-selected by 88 transfer students, is a residential option offered to help new transfer residents access the services and resources that are relevant to their unique needs. The program focuses on three broad areas including academic and personal achievement, future and career planning skills, and well-being. Students are provided with opportunities to participate in programming and activities as well as “just-in-time” information about campus opportunities that are important to transfer students.
High Impact Learning Initiatives. Georgia Tech offers high-impact curricular and co-curricular opportunities to promote active learning practices and enhance academic development. According to the Association of American Colleges and Universities, these teaching and learning practices have been widely tested and found to have a positive impact on student retention, engagement, and sense of belonging. Among the options for Georgia Tech students are a first-year seminar (GT 1000), transfer student seminar (GT 2000), numerous living-learning communities, an undergraduate research program, a study abroad program, and career-engaged experiential learning opportunities (e.g., internships, co-op, and service learning). Participation levels in these optional programs are significant.
In 2022-23, approximately 50% of incoming first-year students (n = 1,835) participated in the first-year seminar, GT 1000, and 97% of these students were retained to fall 2023. Through the Career Center, undergraduates registered for 2,542 semester-long, major-related co-op/internship positions in 2022-23. For the fall 2016 cohort, 98% of the students that participated in either co-ops or internships graduated in six years, compared to the overall graduation rate of 93%. The co-op/internship program provides in-depth access to career opportunities, helps students form connections between theory and application, strengthens students’ motivation to stay on course to graduation, and increases the number of employment offers students receive prior to and upon graduation. Similarly, 97% of students in the 2016 cohort that participated in undergraduate research graduated in six years.
During 2022-23 Georgia Tech continued its commitment to learning communities, hosting five communities for first-year students (four year-long communities and one summer launch community, iGniTe) and two for upperclassmen. More than 484 first-year students participated in the summer iGniTe program in summer 2022 and almost 735 students took advantage of the four year-long communities (Explore, Grand Challenges, Global Leadership, and Honors Program). See Appendix D for graduation rates of participants in select high-impact learning initiatives.
Midterm Progress Reports. Georgia Tech’s early alert system provides useful feedback for students adjusting to an academically rigorous environment. We identify students who are off track with Midterm Progress Reports (MPR’s) for 1000- and 2000-level courses. Submitted halfway into the term, MPR’s allow faculty teaching freshman- and sophomore-level courses to assess student performance with an “S” (Satisfactory) or “U” (Unsatisfactory). Academic advisors are provided with lists of students in their programs with two or more Us. Academic advisors access the MPR data through the Academic Advising CANVAS site managed by OUE’s Undergraduate Advising & Transition (UAT) team.
Our MPR strategy impacts many students. During fall 2022, 699 students received two or more midterm Us, 179 of which were first-year students. During spring 2023, 370 students received two or more midterm Us, 114 of which were first-year students. Georgia Tech requires all first-year students with two or more midterm Us to meet with their academic advisor or a UAT staff member. Registration holds are typically used to enforce the mandatory advisement. During advisement, students receive guidance, encouragement, and referrals to relevant campus resources.
Outreach to Students Not Registered for Fall Semester by the End of Phase I Registration. An annual Non-Registered Student Survey, distributed to students who did not register for fall semester during Phase I registration, was institutionalized in 2014. Historically, not registering for classes during Phase I is a red flag for students who may not be returning or who may be experiencing a barrier to returning. Students who need assistance to register are referred as needed by the Director of Retention and Completion Initiatives to academic advisors, UAT, TAS, the Career Center, the Dean of Students, the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid, the Center for Assessment, Referral and Education, and the Registrar’s Office. In summer 2023, 1,411 students were surveyed and encouraged to enroll during the Phase II registration period, 321 of which responded to the survey, and 94 students requested individualized assistance with a variety of registration issues, including account holds, approval of registration permits for co-op or internship work terms, major changes, and closed class sections. A summary report, included in Appendix H was prepared to capture issues related to non-registration and individualized interventions provided.
Tutoring & Academic Support (Academic Success and Advising). The focus of Georgia Tech’s Tutoring & Academic Support (TAS) programs, a unit within Academic Success and Advising, is to support undergraduate students in achieving their academic goals through a range of both personalized and campus-wide initiatives that center students as our top priority. Our programming strives to foster self-regulated learning, enhance academic skills, and create opportunities for leadership and continued development within and beyond Georgia Tech's rigorous environment. The peer-to-peer collaboration in our programs enhances learning and academic success for undergraduate students. Furthermore, the students who serve as peer educators make meaningful connections between their academic work, peer community, and their personal career preparation. In AY22-23, TAS hired 247 undergraduates as PLUS Leaders, tutors, Learning Assistants, and student assistants.
In 2022-23, TAS services were heavily utilized by students seeking academic support, including 1-to-1 tutoring, group study sessions (PLUS), drop-in tutoring, and a learning assistant program. Appointment-based tutoring and Peer-Led Undergraduate Study (PLUS) saw increases in the number of unique visitors and total visits. On average, TAS serviced 25% more 1-to-1 appointments each week and 50% more visits to PLUS sessions in fall 2022 semester compared to fall 2021, an increase in attendance beyond the proportional increase we might expect from enrollment growth alone. Additionally, in-person appointment-based tutoring sessions (versus virtual) increased from 56% in 2021-22 to 79% in 2022-23. Drop-in tutoring also marked shifts in student utilization of “help desks,” as MathLab reached near pre-pandemic levels, CS 1371 (Computing for Engineers) saw more than 3,400 visits, and Physics recorded more than 4,500 visits. See Appendix F for historical trends of the utilization of TAS services.
Expansion of Scholarships for Students with Demonstrated Need. Georgia Tech is furthering its commitment to enrolling talented Georgia students from low-income families by expanding the G. Wayne Clough Georgia Tech Promise Program to include even more students with financial need. Under the new program guidelines, Tech Promise will now assist qualified families whose annual estimated family income is $55,500 or less. Tech Promise is the first program of its kind provided by a public university in Georgia. Since 2007, more than 1,000 students from 103 Georgia counties have benefited from Tech Promise. The program fills a gap in the financial aid support system by picking up where other scholarships and financial aid options leave off, covering a student’s full cost of attendance. It offers the possibility of a debt-free degree to hundreds of talented and ambitious students who, without financial assistance, would likely not be able to achieve the dream of graduating from Georgia Tech.
Georgia Tech also expanded its commitment to academic excellence and access for Georgia students by introducing the Georgia Tech Val-Sal Scholarship, which will provide financial support for valedictorians and salutatorians from high schools across the state who would otherwise struggle to afford a college education. This scholarship furthers the Georgia Tech Scholars Program, an initiative that guarantees admission to graduating valedictorians and salutatorians from accredited Georgia high schools with 50 or more students who meet the requirements for the program. Through this expansion, Tech continues to strengthen its commitment to the state of Georgia and accessibility to a Tech education. The annual $2,500 scholarship will be available to graduating high school valedictorians and salutatorians whose annual estimated family income is $75,000 or less and have demonstrated financial need. For those who also qualify for the Federal Pell Grant, an additional $2,500 can be awarded, bringing the total potential scholarship amount to $5,000 per year. Over the past five years, Tech enrolled 843 graduating valedictorians and salutatorians from the state of Georgia. These students represent 320 different high schools across 108 counties. The Val-Sal Scholarship will further opportunity for top students from across the state to attend Tech.
Observations and Next Steps
What strategies and activities have been most successful? What have been least effective? How has your institution made adjustments to your completion activities over the past year? Where would you want to see student success efforts shift in the coming year(s)?
Many of the embedded initiatives and targeted strategies positively impacting student success and degree progression at Georgia Tech are demonstrated throughout our CCG update, including progress on our Momentum plan which highlights accomplishments and areas for improvement. While retention and completion metrics are satisfactory, Georgia Tech is making a concerted effort to better understand, and improve, our four-year graduation rate. A college education is a significant investment, and students must weigh tuition, fees, and other expenses against future earning potential. Georgia Tech is nationally recognized as a top return-on-investment (ROI) institution. PayScale.com ranks Georgia Tech as #1 in Georgia and #13 among all U.S. colleges for providing the best 20-Year ROI for its graduates. Additionally, the Institute is ranked #3 by WalletHub for the Highest Return on Educational Investment. Even still, Georgia Tech’s leaders recognize that it is imperative to ensure our students are not unnecessarily taking on added financial burdens associated for longer time to degree completion.
While Georgia Tech’s four-year graduation rate for the 2018 first-year cohort reached a record rate of 64%, this metric remains an Institute priority, particularly regarding achieving parity for our underrepresented minority, Pell, and first-generation students. In FY23, a committee of cross-campus stakeholders led by Institute Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (IDEI) identified several factors at Georgia Tech that influence time to graduation, including student involvement in experiential education (e.g., co-op and internships, study abroad), the length of degree programs in science and engineering, and the rigor of Georgia Tech coursework. We continue to develop and implement a plan of action to improve the four-year graduation rate over time and are instituting several capacity-building efforts including:
- Creating an OUE-led working committee focused on a comprehensive analysis of the four-year graduation rate factors identified by IDEI to streamline the implementation of targeted strategies.
- Deploying any new FY24 resources to meet enrollment growth, demand in academic support services, and design interventions, including hiring a student success specialist to support retention and completion initiatives and exploring new advising technology to encourage holistic student support through improved data and record keeping.
- Continuing our analysis of curricular complexity by examining the impact on student progress towards degree after curricular pathway changes have been implemented.
- Developing methods to better predict course enrollment demands and additional support service needs for bottleneck courses.
- Developing new data dashboards to empower student success champions across campus.
Since the inception of CCG in 2011, Georgia Tech has increased its six-year graduation rate from 79% for the fall 2006 first-year cohort to 92.3% for the fall 2017 first-year cohort. For the second time in as many years, Georgia Tech’s first-time, full-time freshmen (fall 2022 cohort) have achieved a first-to-second year retention rate of 98%. The proportion of women in the undergraduate population continues to grow, and women outperform men in degree progression metrics. While a success gap persists, the six-year graduation rate for underrepresented minority students has risen from 76% for the fall 2007 first-year cohort to 87% for the 2016 first-year cohort. These metrics underscore the robustness of our student support initiatives and high-impact practices as advanced through our CCG and Momentum work.
Data Sources:
Georgia Tech Factbook 2022. (2022). Georgia Institute of Technology, Institutional Research and Planning.
https://irp.gatech.edu/files/FactBook/Factbook_2022_FINAL.pdf
Georgia Tech Census. (2022). Student Data Dashboards. http://lite.gatech.edu
