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Middle Georgia State University 2023

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 through professional leadership, innovative partnerships, and community engagement. The institution’s vision is to transform individuals and their communities through extraordinary higher learning. Four core values underscore this vision: stewardship, engagement, adaptability, and learning.  

Middle Georgia State University offered twenty-five programs at the baccalaureate level, eight at the master’s level, and one at the doctoral level in the 2022-23 academic year. The University awarded a total of 1,463 degrees including 986 baccalaureate degrees in FY 2023.   

Census data define the Fall 2022 student body to be Georgia residents (90.2%), White Non-Hispanic (53.5%) and Black/African American Non-Hispanic (30.7%), and under 25 years of age (69.6%). 58.5% of the student body was enrolled full-time. Females comprised 55.7% and males 44.3% of the student body.    

In Fall 2022, 90.2% of enrolled students were Georgia residents representing 155 counties with most of the in-state students coming from Houston, Bibb, Laurens, Peach, Dodge, Henry, Bleckley, Fulton, Gwinnett, Monroe, DeKalb, Jones, and Cobb. 34 out-of-state counties were also represented in the fall 2022 enrolled student body. There were 593 students that came from out-of-state primarily from Texas, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Alabama. International students represented 2.1% of the total fall 2022 enrollment.  

The number of Pell recipients in fall 2022 was 2,904 (37.8% of Undergraduates) of total enrollment. The fall 2022 enrollment was also comprised of 1,320 (17.24%) first-generation college students and 2,339 (30.45%) adult learners. In fall 2022, there were 230 military students that comprised 3.0% of the total enrollment. The ethnic minority student population in fall 2022 was 3,290 (42.96%).  

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 which 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: Kennesaw State University  

Success Inventory

Supporting student success through advising and academic support (Middle Georgia State University-2023)

Strategy/Project Name: 
Supporting student success through advising and academic support
Momentum Area: 
Purpose
Pathways
Mindset
Change Management
Data & Communications
Category: 
Advising
Data
Mindset
Peer and Supplemental Instruction
Program Maps
Tutoring
Tracking Student Success
Early Alerts
Strategy/Project Description: 

Support student success through- 

  • Targeted outreach campaigns for advising, and tutoring provided by the Student Success Centers (SSCs) and the advising team
  • Providing timely training for new and continuing advisors and the student success team
  • Continuing existing collaboration between Advising, Student Success Centers, Center for Career and Leadership Development (CCLD), Financial Aid (FA), the Library, Residential Life (RL), academic departments and faculty.
  • Revising program maps to incorporate Core IMPACTS refresh 
  • Strengthening focus on high-risk students by offering structured student engagement sessions for those on academic probation offered by the student success team
  • Expanding the peer mentoring initiative to all students across all campuses
  • Building efficiency in the advising process
  • Piloting use of SPACMNT (Banner) to track student-advisor communications
  • Implementing Salesforce to improve efficiency and effectiveness of advising
Summary of Activities: 
  • Expanded and diversified outreach campaigns through emails, texting, phone calls, on-campus pop-up events, yard signs with QR codes, providing tentative schedules to students in residence life, and visits to classrooms and residence halls to promote tutoring, online workshops for students, faculty, and staff.  
  • Launched an online D2L training for advisors
  • Held Student Success Festivals on two campuses showcasing academic and non-academic support resources available for students
  • Advisors and CCLD staff collaborated to support vision board parties on two campuses.
  • Initiating review and revision of program maps to incorporate Core IMPACTS
  • Offering semester long structured student engagement sessions on a weekly basis on two campuses.  Topics range from how to succeed as a college student, study skills, growth mindset, stress management, academic policies, financial literacy, etc. 
  • Implementing the use of a measuring tool in SPACMNT to track student-advisor communication
  • Scaling and maintaining additional focus on high-risk students to include those on probation, those identified on the early alert report, and students with GPA’s between 2.0-3.0
  • Offering study sessions in the residence halls and in the SSCs on two campuses for high-risk students and student athletes with the assistance of peer mentors.  Peer mentors will also offer multiple student engagement opportunities on all campuses during fall’23  
  • Initiating the use of Salesforce
Activity Status: 
Refining/Maintaining
Evaluation/Assessment plan: 

KPIs:

  • Percentage of students receiving individualized advising communication from their academic advisors 
  • Number of trainings planned and facilitated for academic advisors and the student success team.  
  • Number of projects planned in collaboration with the CCLD, the advising team, the SSCs, FA, Library, and RL
  • Percentage of athletes completing the semester in good standing 
  • Percentage of students beginning the semester on probation and completing the semester in good standing 
  • Percentage of students on probation retained for next semester
  • Percentage of students on the early alert list retained for next semester
  • Percentage of students on the early alert for low grades successful in all coursework
  • Percentage of students on the early alert for low grades retained for next semester

Baseline measure from 2021-22 

  • 100% of advisees received individualized advising communication every semester. 
  • 41% of tutored students flagged for low grades on the Early Alert successfully completed the course in Fall’21. 
  • Training was offered for advisors once a year in 2021-22 
  • Collaborated with the CCLD and the SSC on one event/project per semester 
  • 18% of students who started fall’21 on probation completed the semester in good standing 
  • 87% of athletes finished fall’21 in good standing
  • 55% of students on probation at the end of fall’21 were retained for spring’22 

Current/most recent data (for each KPI):

  • 100% of advisees are receiving individualized advising communication every semester. 
  • Two training sessions have been provided for the academic advisors in fall’23
  • Three activities have been planned in collaboration with the CCLD, the advising team, the SSCs, FA, Library, and RL.
  •  89.7% of athletes finished fall’22 in good standing and 85.2% finished spring’23 in good standing
  • 36.5% of students who started fall’22 on probation ended the semester in good standing as compared to 18% of students who started fall’21 on probation and completed the semester in good standing.
  • 27.8% of students who started spring’23 on probation ended the semester in good standing
  • 40.6 % of all students on probation at the end of fall’22 were retained for spring’23.
  • 45% of all students on probation at the end of spring’23 were retained for fall’23.
  • 9.1% of the students ended fall’22 on probation as compared to 8.4% in fall’21 and 11.0% in fall’20.  MGA was implementing lower GPA thresholds per USG policy in 2022-23 to exempt students from learning support.  This could be one of the factors influencing the success of students who did not receive co-requisite support as was provided prior to the lowering of the GPA.
  • 36.5% of students who started fall’22 on probation ended the semester in good standing as compared to 18% of students who started fall’21 on probation and completed the semester in good standing.
  • 27.8% of students who started spring’23 on probation ended the semester in good standing
  • Of the total number of students enrolled in spring’23, 5.93% ended the semester on probation.  
  • Of the tutored students flagged for low grades on the Early Alert report, 43.3% in fall’22 and 42.8% in spring’23 successfully completed the specific course on the early alert as compared to 29.9% of non-tutored students in fall’22 and 38.5% students in spring’23. 
  • 56.0% of students on the early alert report for spring’23 was retained for fall’23.
  • 53.8% of students on the early alert for low grades in spring’23 was retained for fall’23.

Goal or targets (for each KPI):

  • Develop comprehensive Advising resources and training courses in D2L 
  • Provide two training sessions per year for academic advisors 
  • Collaborate with the CCLD and the SSC on two events/projects per semester 
  • Provide training to all current and new academic advisors and the student success coaches
  • Increase success rates of students flagged for low grades on the EA report by 2% 
  • Increase success rates for students on probation by 2% 

Time period/duration: 2023-24 academic year

Progress and Adjustments: 

Outreach to students:  

  • Targeted outreach efforts to all students to promote student success, retention, and timely registration are being executed in AY 23-24.
  • Projects to increase advisor and student success coach visibility across all the campuses have been planned and implemented in AY 23-24. 
  • Focused communications are sent out to students on academic probation to provide support and referrals as needed for academic success (referrals to SSC, Mathematics Academic Resource Center (MARC), The Writing Center (TWC) for tutoring) through emails, phone calls, and texting.
  • “Emerging Knights Pathway to Success” initiative has been redesigned and reimagined into the Academic Communities initiative. 

Early Alert (EA):  

  • A communication plan has been implemented to include specific touch points with students on the EA list.
  • Academic Success Coaches have been hired to work with students on the early alert report to develop success action plans 

Centralized management:

  • A Communication calendar has been developed for Advising and SSCs for outreach campaigns for AY 2023-24. 
  • A comprehensive Advising resource and training course has been launched in D2L. 

Collaboration with SSCs, CCLD, FA, and RL:

  • Events to promote student success, e.g. student success festivals, are being offered in collaboration with Advising, Financial Aid, SSCs, CCLD, Residence Life, and Admissions.
  • Opportunities for success coaches to engage with residential students on probation have been increased from one to seven every week.
  • SSCs staff visits residence halls to meet with students and share information about services available. These efforts will continue and include academic advisors and Financial Aid personnel in 2023-24.

Focus on high-risk students:

Any high-risk (Early Alert, Probation, Learning Support):

  • The Peer Mentoring pilot implemented in fall 2022 for learning support students has been considerably expanded to any student requesting peer support.  Currently, there are 29 mentors and 56 mentees in this program in fall’23.

Academic Probation:

  • Advisors and the Student Success Centers staff provided targeted outreach to students on academic probation. This outreach included strongly encouraging students to utilize tutoring services. 
  •  Weekly student engagement sessions are being provided to residential students on probation in Cochran and Macon.
Plan for the Year Ahead: 
  • Expand the peer mentoring initiative 
  • Provide training on Core IMPACTS for advisors and student success centers staff
  • Provide professional development opportunities for academic advisors and success coaches
  • Develop student success action plans for those on probation and on the early alert list
  • Offer structured student engagement sessions for residential students on probation
  • Plan student engagement events involving Advising, SSCs, CCLD, FA, the Library, and RL in student-friendly locations around the campuses
  • Review and revise program maps to include Core IMPACTS
Challenges and Support: 

Challenges:

  • Staff turnover 
  • Student Engagement 
  • Communication gaps
  • Networking with faculty 
  • Centralized database listing best practices followed by other USG institutions 

Support Needed:

Sharing of best practices across the USG

Primary Contact: 
Sandy Little-Herring, Deneice Bausley, Brock Giddens, Paul Johnson, Jeannie Ruggerio, and Deepa Arora

Improving student success in learning support (Middle Georgia State University-2023)

Strategy/Project Name: 
Improving student success in learning support
Momentum Area: 
Purpose
Pathways
Mindset
Change Management
Data & Communications
Category: 
Corequisite Learning Support
Data
Mindset
Peer and Supplemental Instruction
Tracking Student Success
Strategy/Project Description: 

Improve Learning Support (LS) student success outcomes  

Activity Status: 
Refining/Maintaining
Evaluation/Assessment plan: 

KPIs:

  • Number of LS students passing gateway English and math courses 
  • Number of LS students remaining in good standing at the completion of the semester
  • % of LS students who were on probation at the beginning of the semester and finished the semester in good standing. 
  • % of LS students who were in good standing at the beginning of the semester and finished the semester on probation.

Baseline measure (for each KPI):

  • 59.5% of LS students successfully completed ENGL 1101 in fall’22 and 52.8% in spring’22.
  • 56.3% of LS students successfully completed MATH 1001 in fall’22 and 53.4% in spring’22.
  • 30.0% of LS students successfully completed MATH 1111 in fall’21 and 23.1% in spring’22.
  • 17% of LS students who were on probation at the beginning of fall’21 finished the semester in good standing.
  • 46.0 % of LS students who were in good standing at the beginning of fall’21 finished the semester on probation.
  • 15.2 % of LS students who were on probation at the beginning of spring’22 finished the semester in good standing   
  • 23.4% of LS students who began spring'22 in good standing finished the semester on probation.  

Current/most recent data (for each KPI):

  • 46.8% of LS students successfully completed ENGL 1101 in spring’23
  • 52.7% of LS students successfully completed MATH 1001 in spring’23
  • 34.1% of LS students successfully completed MATH 1111 in fall’22 and 47.6% in spring’23.
  • 33.3% of LS students who were on probation at the beginning of fall’22 finished the semester in good standing
  • 47.2 % of LS students who were in good standing at the beginning of fall’22 finished the semester on probation
  • 10.4% of LS students who were on probation at the beginning of spring’23 finished the semester in good standing 
  • 13.5 % of LS students who were in good standing at the beginning of spring’23 finished the semester on probation

Goal or targets (for each KPI):

  • 2% increase in the number of LS students passing the gateway English course 
  • 2% increase in the number of LS students passing gateway math courses 
  • 2% increase in the number of students who were on probation at the beginning of fall’22 and finished the semester in good standing 
  • 2% decrease in the number of students who began fall’22 in good standing and finished the semester on probation 

Time period/duration: 2023-24 academic year

Progress and Adjustments: 
  • English department made the following changes in 2021-22 to improve success rates and is continuing the same for 2023-24: 
  • Implemented early check-in in week 3 followed by the institutional early alert in week 4 and another alert at week 6 for improved intervention
  • Assigned the same instructor for the co-requisite and the gateway course 
  • Merged the ENGL 0999 and 1101 courses in D2L. 
  • Recommended students to utilize the Writing Center 
  • Added a mindset activity to the course design of ENGL 0999
  • Math department will continue to implement the following: 
  • The mindset module in the Math 1001 course structure as part of the Mindset Learning Project is being transitioned into the Knights Academy which provides a guiding pathway to students for the first year of college at MGA.
  • Assigned the same instructor to teach the co-requisite and the gateway course 
Plan for the Year Ahead: 

ENGL 1101

  • Coordinate WC resource needs with scheduling of LS course assessments
  • Introduce the peer mentoring program into LS English classes

LS MATH

  • Include Intelligent Agents in MATH 0997/1001 as a pilot project in some sections
  • Scale the use of peer mentors in sections of MATH 0997/1001 for fall 2023.
  • Explore various options to improve success rates to include redesigning the co-requisite courses, incorporating the utilization of the Mathematics Academic resource Center, and advising processes.
Challenges and Support: 

Challenges:

  • Lack of engagement of LS students 
  • Collaboration between LS course instructors and the ILSC 
  • Lack of utilization of academic support resources 
  • Varying levels of under-preparedness in students  

Support Needed:

Resource sharing and additional ideas/strategies employed by other USG institutions

Primary Contact: 
Deneice Bausley, Sandy Little-Herring, Deepa Arora

Providing student success content through Area B coursework (Middle Georgia State University-2023)

Strategy/Project Name: 
Providing student success content through Area B coursework
Momentum Area: 
Purpose
Pathways
Mindset
Change Management
Data & Communications
Category: 
Career/Major Exploration
Faculty Engagement
First Year Experience
High Impact Practices
Course Redesign
Mindset
Student engagement
Tracking Student Success
Strategy/Project Description: 

Designing and integrating academic success content into all sections of Area B courses, regardless of session length or modality

Activity Status: 
Scaling
Evaluation/Assessment plan: 

Evaluation Plan and measures:

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

KPIs:

  • ABC rates in the student success content portion of the course
  • Completion rates of newly embedded student success content

Baseline measure (for each KPI): will be determined based on fall’23 data

Current/most recent data (for each KPI): MGA will be working to develop processes to obtain accurate data from D2L to evaluate student performance.

Goal or targets (for each KPI):

  • 70% of the students will complete the assessment for the academic success content.
  • Of those who complete the assessments, 70% will achieve an average passing grade of C or better in the academic success content.

Time period/duration: 2023-24 academic year

Progress and Adjustments: 
  • Completely embedded academic success content in all Area B full-semester (16-week) sections
  • Assigned a faculty to serve as an Area B Coordinator
Plan for the Year Ahead: 
  • Piloting short session offerings in fall’23
  • Providing additional faculty training
  • Coaching faculty on the redesign of the remainder of Area B (“Perspectives on”) content
Challenges and Support: 

Challenges:

  • Full participation of Area B faculty in the training 
  • Continued collaboration among academic and student affairs offices for First-Year Experience events across campuses
  • Participation and cooperation of Area B faculty in course redesign 

Support Needed:

Sharing ideas and resources used by other USG institutions related to student success initiatives

Primary Contact: 
Rod McRae and Eric Sun

Supporting student success through career preparation and leadership opportunities (Middle Georgia State University-2023)

Strategy/Project Name: 
Supporting student success through career preparation and leadership opportunities
Momentum Area: 
Purpose
Mindset
Category: 
Career/Major Exploration
Leadership
Student engagement
Strategy/Project Description: 

Promoting Career Readiness and Student Leadership by: 

  • Engaging first-year students in the Focus 2 Career Assessment and career option discussions with career advisors. 
  • Introducing first-year students to the NACE Career Competencies so that they are aware of the skills employers want to see them build before entering the professional workforce.

Planning and implementing a centralized process for promoting and preparing students for internships (both credit and non-credit) to increase the number of students participating in internships.

Summary of Activities: 
  •  Career and academic planning is a major focus of the student success content in Area B courses.  Assignments include completing the Focus 2 Career Assessment, registering for a Handshake account, attending a career event or meeting with a career advisor, and completing readings and quizzes about career exploration and planning. 
  • In the Area B student success module, students are exposed to content, assignments, and quizzes for the following career competencies: communication, critical thinking, self-awareness and career management, and professionalism.
  • Knights LEAD has students who participate in sessions led by community, faculty, and staff leaders who discuss how career competencies have impacted their professional and leadership journey.  Students will put these skills into practice through service projects and case studies.
  • In fall 2023, between Macon and Cochran there are 26 students who meet to complete interactive role-play sessions that focus on the NACE Career Competencies. Student retention for these sessions has improved this fall due to the new interactive format. Students will also complete their resume this fall.  In the spring, students who were active in the fall will be invited to participate in a corporate tour.  Other activities for the spring include the Student Leadership Conference in Macon, the Leadership Challenge in Cochran, and a Leadership & Service Day.
  • During fall 2022, the Assistant Director (AD) for Internships & Career Readiness launched the Experiences portal in Handshake to provide a way to collect information on student internships.  In 2022-2023, 75 students completed internships. Students who report and meet with the CCLD staff to complete a reflection survey receive an honor cord.  The AD also launched a new virtual Internship Series where employers share information about their internship program. In 2022-2023, 17 employers and 55 students participated.  In Fall 2023, 10 sessions have been scheduled with 50 attendees so far.  The session with Google resulted in 42 attendees.  Going forward, the plan is to track how many students are applying for, interviewing for, and/or being selected for the internships they are connecting with during the series. Internships have also been included in the All Industry Career Fair.  Including graduate schools as well, 189 students attended in fall 2023, which was a record number of attendees.
Activity Status: 
Refining/Maintaining
Evaluation/Assessment plan: 

KPIs:

  • Number of students completing Focus 2 Career Assessment and a quiz.
  • Number of students actively participating in Knights LEAD and in Emerging Leaders.

Baseline measure (for each KPI):

  • Number of students participating in Knights Lead in 2021-22 was 24 
  • Number of students participating in Emerging Leaders in 2021-22 was 23 

Current/most recent data (for each KPI):

Goal or targets (for each KPI):

  • Increase the number of students participating in Knights Lead by 10% 
  • Increase the number of students participating in Emerging Leaders by 10% 

Time period/duration: 2023-24 academic year 

Progress and Adjustments: 
  • Knights LEAD program started in fall’22 to allow new students to engage with each other and the institution early on in the semester. All students were assigned a faculty/staff mentor.  There were 19 students in Knights LEAD in 2022-2023 and there are 26 students in fall’23.  In 2023-2024, the focus is on retaining the students who join Knights LEAD.  In the summer of 2023, the Coordinator for Student Leadership Programs revamped the leadership curriculum to make the sessions more engaging.
  • Fall 2023, Knights LEAD students have participated in interactive role-playing sessions led by the Coordinator for Student Leadership Programs.  With a more engaging format, students have been more consistent with their participation.  Students will also complete a resume activity in the fall.
  • Emerging Leaders launched in fall’22. Emerging Leaders is a co-curricular leadership development program for upper-level students that helps them expand their campus, civic, and professional involvement within the context of the Social Change Model of Leadership Development.  Twenty students participated in Emerging Leaders in fall’22 and there are 18 students in fall’23.  Participation is the highest in Macon.  For Cochran, finding upperclassmen to participate is challenging.   CCLD staff is discussing the option of moving Emerging Leaders to Eastman.
  • Students in Knights LEAD and Emerging Leaders participated in sessions with community and university speakers in fall’22.  During Spring 2023, students participated in a resume writing workshop focused on career competencies and worked in groups to complete case studies in leadership.
  • During fall’22, Focus 2 career assessment was included into the academic success module associated with Area B courses.   771 students completed at least one career assessment in Focus 2 as a result of intentionally including this assessment in summer orientation and the Area B academic success content. 
  • The number of career advising appointments in the Center for Career and Leadership Development (CCLD) for AY2023 are set to surpass 465 students addressed in AY2022.  For the 2022-2023 academic year, 643 students met virtually and in-person with the career advisors. There have been 188 student career advising interactions in fall’23 as of mid-October.
  • A form for reporting internships through Experiences in Handshake was piloted in fall 2022 and used again in spring’23. 75 students reported internships in 2022-2023. Students who report and meet with a career advisor to reflect on the experience and update resumes receive a graduation honor cord.  This initiative will continue in 2023-24. Moving forward, CCLD will seek additional opportunities to promote this program to faculty to increase participation.
  • Stepping Blocks was rolled out in January 2023 through university announcements and social media. The resource was added as another option in the Area B academic success content, in addition to the Focus 2 assignment that already existed. As of September 2023, 436 students have created Stepping Blocks accounts and 202 have completed Personality assessments.
  • Discussions were held on how to expand the Exploring Careers Workshop as an ongoing opportunity and as a way to educate Academic Advisors on the resources available in the CCLD. The CCLD and Academic Advising have had 6 career exploration workshops with 48 student attendees during Fall 2022 and Spring 2023. Vision Board parties and the Exploring Careers & Majors Workshop were also offered in Fall 2023 in Macon and Cochran. The use of Stepping Blocks was also promoted at these events as well as at the two Student Success Festivals.
  • In Fall 2023, two groups of students in Emerging Leaders, Knights LEAD, and iLEAD participated in the MGA Day of Service.
  • The Student Leadership Conference was held in March’23 to provide students with an opportunity to learn about leadership competencies needed for civic, professional, and campus life.  The event provided students with another place to gain a sense of belonging at MGA. 58 students attended the conference. The next Student Leadership Conference will be on March 8, 2024.  The Student Leadership Coordinator has also added a new event called the Leadership Challenge to occur in Cochran on April 12.
Plan for the Year Ahead: 
  • The initial plan for Knights LEAD to develop their own service project and track individual service hours through Presence for recognition at the annual student leadership programs ceremony has been modified whereby iLEAD will plan the project and service hours will not be tracked.
  • Knights LEAD will participate in MGA Day of Service in the fall and a Leadership & Service Day planned by iLEAD students in the spring. 
  •  Information is being created to help students better understand the internship search process as well as the process for receiving academic credit, if applicable. Information on the academic credit process is being added to the CCLD website.
  • Student Leadership Programs will add the Leadership Challenge on the Cochran campus in April to expand leadership involvement with those students.
  • A Career & Employer Development Coordinator for Aviation is now assigned to the Eastman campus. CCLD will study this model for effectiveness whereby staff will be aligned to the other Schools while also providing services to their specific campuses, no matter the students major.
Challenges and Support: 

  • The Executive Director has developed a proposal highlighting the resources needed to shift away from “campus-specific” career advising staff while still managing the challenge of providing career development support across multiple campuses.   The “campus-specific” model is limiting as staff are given the opportunity to focus on a particular area and provide expertise to students.  Many universities are also looking at aligning career advising staff to industries, which would require some staff to understand and work with multiple academic areas across Schools but focus on a specific industry. Staff continue to work as generalists who have to know how to direct students toward resources related to all MGA majors. CCLD has positioned a career advisor to focus on aviation.  Going forward with more staffing, CCLD will be able to determine focus areas for the other career advisors; however, all staff would still have to be able to meet with any student.  
  • The academic success content built into the Area B course redesign has been a great opportunity to expose all students to career planning and the Focus 2 career assessment.  In addition, the module is also scaling how students are introduced to the importance of critical thinking, professionalism, communication, and self-awareness/career management.  These concepts are currently put in context of their education so the only other change would be finding a way to connect these back to their future careers.  Since Area B academic success content is offered as an online module, a short video that discusses the career competencies followed by a quick assessment could be a possible addition in the future.
  • Getting faculty to include the Handshake Experience reporting process in their academic internship process is a big challenge.   In addition to finding one to take it on as a pilot, there could also be challenges with them enforcing it with students.  The incentive of a graduation cord has attracted the attention of students and faculty which may help to build the program.
  • Student participation in voluntary career activities continues to be a challenge.  Students are not expected by the institution to engage in career assessments, resume building, internships, interviewing skills, and the career search process.  Additional staffing that would align with Schools and resources such as a virtual Mock Interview platform and JobScan to help students improve their resumes for Applicant Tracking Systems would help CCLD scale current services.

Sharing ideas and resources used by other USG institutions related to career services

Primary Contact: 
Mary Roberts and Heather McIntosh

Building a growth mindset (Middle Georgia State University-2023)

Strategy/Project Name: 
Building a growth mindset
Momentum Area: 
Mindset
Data & Communications
Category: 
Data
Faculty Engagement
Mindset
Strategy/Project Description: 

Promoting and Creating Awareness of Growth Mindset in students, faculty, and staff  

Activity Status: 
Refining/Maintaining
Evaluation/Assessment plan: 

Evaluation Plan and measures:

  • Development of Part II Mindset training for faculty and staff 
  • Identification of mindset elements to include in the redesigned Area B with academic success content  
  • Faculty Development sessions addressing mindset inclusion in syllabi and course design

KPIs:

  • Number of workshops/training sessions offered on mindset
  • Number of webinars offered to address mindset
  • Development of a mindset statement to include in the syllabi
  • Number of faculty development sessions that include mindset in their course design

Baseline measure (for each KPI):

  • Two workshops have been offered on mindset in 2023
  • Two webinars have been offered to address mindset through the Monday Morning Mentor series
  • Development of a mindset statement to include in the syllabi- in progress
  • Faculty development sessions to include mindset in course design- in progress

Current/most recent data (for each KPI): see baseline measure for each KPI

Goal or targets (for each KPI):

  • Offering 4 workshops on mindset in 2023-24
  • Offering four webinars to address mindset
  • Develop a mindset statement to include in the syllabi by end of fall’23
  • Offer 2 faculty development sessions to include mindset in course design in 2023-24

Time period/duration: 2023-2024

Progress and Adjustments: 

Several webinars and workshops on mindset as indicated in the baseline measure have already been offered in 2023.  Additionally, mindset training has been offered to all the advising and student success staff in 2023. 

The Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) has been established at MGA to provide a variety of resources for faculty development.  Beginning fall 2023, all mindset related initiatives for faculty will be provided through the CETL with support from the Student Success team. 

Plan for the Year Ahead: 

Student Success team will collaborate with the CETL to work towards achieving the goals mentioned above.

Challenges and Support: 

Challenges

  • Participation of faculty and staff participation in mindset training and workshops. 
  • Faculty support for course redesign to include mindset elements.
  • Effective collaboration between Academic Affairs and Student Affairs to promote a culture of growth mindset amongst students

Support Needed

Sharing ideas and resources used by other USG institutions related to mindset initiatives 

Primary Contact: 
Eric Sun, Rod McRae, Deepa Arora

Promoting student success through learning communities (Middle Georgia State University-2023)

Strategy/Project Name: 
Promoting student success through learning communities
Momentum Area: 
Purpose
Pathways
Mindset
Data & Communications
Category: 
Block Schedules
Data
High Impact Practices
Learning Communities
Student engagement
Strategy/Project Description: 

Establishing Learning Communities to promote student success

Activity Status: 
Refining/Maintaining
Evaluation/Assessment plan: 

Evaluation Plan and measures: Students participating in the FLCs will be evaluated using the successful – unsuccessful metric.  Students who receive a letter grade of A, B, or C will be deemed successful.  All other grades will be considered unsuccessful.  Withdrawals will be included in the unsuccessful category.  Two courses will be used in the evaluation.  The two courses are English Composition I (ENG), and Quantitative Reasoning (QR).

KPIs:

  • DFW rates in ENGL 1101
  • DFW rates in MATH 1001
  • DFW rates of Business majors LC in Cochran
  • DFW rates of IT majors in Warner Robins
  • DFW rates of Health Science majors in Warner Robins

Baseline measure: 

Institution-wide DFW measurements for the Fall 2022 term are as follows:

  • English Composition 1 (All programs – 40%, IT -34%, Health – 44%, Business – 49%)
  • Quantitative Reasoning (All programs – 37%, IT – 55%, Health – 41%, Business – 42%)
  • Cochran - Business majors (ENG – 54%, QR – 51%)
  • Warner Robins – IT majors (insufficient enrollment for baseline measurement)
  • Warner Robins – Health Science focused majors (ENG – 32%, QR – 20%)

Note: IT students may take College Algebra (ALG) instead of QR. The overall DFW metrics for IT in ALG is 64% for the Fall 2022 term.

Current/most recent data (for each KPI): This initiative will be piloted in fall’23.

Goal or targets (for each KPI):

  • Reduce DFW rates by 2% for each KPI

Time period/duration: 2023-2024

Progress and Adjustments: 

The Learning Communities as described above need to be adjusted. The enrollment in the LCs is insufficient to make any statistically significant conclusion. However, another initiative was launched in the Fall 2023 semester- Knight’s Academy.  The Knight’s Academy is an online academic community focused on engaging the student in a variety of learning activities. The activities seek to assist students develop critical student success skills by participating in learning activities called quests and engaging with other students through discussion posts.  Topics covered in the Knight’s Academy include:

  • Motivation,
  • Resilience,
  • Habits,
  • Study Skills,
  • Mindset,
  • Economic Literacy, and
  • Media Literacy.

This project is a First Year Experience initiative created to improve student engagement and academic progress.

Plan for the Year Ahead: 

Learning Communities as described above will be delayed until 2024.  During the remainder of this academic year, the institution will focus on growing the engagement within the Knight’s Academy.  Measurements used will include:

  • Completed quests within each meta-major,
  • Content completed within each meta-major,
  • Discussion posts created, and
  • Average weekly usage rates.

Correlations between Knight’s Academy participation and GPA will be measured for potential impact.

Challenges and Support: 

Challenges

  • Student participation in the Knight’s Academy.
  • Student engagement with advisors, coaches, and faculty.
  • Student Success and Student Affairs programming.

Support Needed

Sharing ideas and resources used by other USG institutions related to student academic communities

Primary Contact: 
James Blackburn

Campus Plans Supplemental Sections

Observations and Next Steps:

Middle Georgia State University has made great strides in helping our students’ succeed by planning initiatives to build the  persistence, retention and graduation rates.  This is evident in improved one-year retention rates from 2020-2022: first time freshman (5.1% increase from 2020-21 and an additional 1.6% increase from 2021-22); first-time-full-time (FTFT) students (5.1% increase from 2020-21 and no change from 2021-22); students who began with learning support requirements (4.13% increase from 2020-21 and an additional 0.3% increase from 2021-22), FTFT students working towards an associate degree (5.6% increase from fall’21 cohort to fall’22 cohort) as well as FTFT students working towards a bachelor’s degrees (6.8% increase from fall’20 cohort to fall’21 cohort) (refer to the Tables 2-4 in the Appendices).  Implementation of several new initiatives including some existing ones has shown encouraging trends and gradual improvements in persistence, retention, and course success outcomes. It is also important to note that of the total number of undergraduate hours attempted, 83% were completed (refer to Table 6 in the Appendices)

Our academic support initiatives include tutoring support provided through our Student Success Centers, the Mathematics Academic Resource Center, The Writing Center, and additional departmental tutoring centers.  In addition to peer tutoring offered face-to-face and online, they also offer supplemental instruction and embedded tutoring.  Peer mentoring that was piloted in fall’22 for students at high-risk has gained interest amongst our student body and grown significantly in fall’23 across all campuses. 

Students identified through early alert reporting for low grades have shown higher success outcomes when tutored as compared to those who did not avail tutoring. The outreach and nudging provided to all students including those reported for absenteeism and low engagement has led to encouraging retention rates.Percentage of all early alert reported students that persisted from fall’22 to spring’23 was 69.3%; of those who received tutoring persistence was at 81.6%.

Focused outreach and communication with those on probation at the beginning of the semester has led to an increase in the percentage of students who complete the semester in good standing. This trend is also observed for students on probation in the English and math co-requisite courses.  Persistence from one semester to the next for students on probation and also those in learning support is also reflecting an upward trend. MGA athletes continue to do well with a 85-89% completing the semester in good standing.

Additional efforts to promote student success include the hiring of success coaches to support our high-risk populations including our residential students by offering one-on-one coaching, developing action plans, offering study halls, and planning and presenting workshops for students. The development of a Knights Academy to provide an academic community for students to engage with and develop skills to succeed as college students including developing a growth mindset has offered an opportunity for students to engage with each other, with the academic advisors, as well as get involved in clubs and organizations. The addition of student success content to our Area B course offerings is another avenue for our students to learn and develop skills for succeeding as a college student.

The reestablishment of a Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning has opened up a number of opportunities for faculty development and training on course redesign, new pedagogies for enhancing student success, and strategies for promoting a growth mindset in students through the course offerings.

Even though MGA is observing encouraging outcomes, additional strategies are being planned to continue to address barriers and help our students. Student engagement with all the resources offered to provide academic and non-academic support still remains a challenge. Students in our learning support English and math classes need additional help to improve the course success outcomes through course redesign and academic support. MGA will continue to focus on our high-risk populations to help them succeed, and improve their academic standing, persistence, and retention rates. Following a holistic approach and forming collaborations with all the Divisions including Student Affairs and Enrollment Management, MGA can continue to achieve our goals of championing student success by improving our retention and graduation rates.