Georgia Institute of Technology Campus Plan Update 2017

Institutional Mission and Student Body Profile

The Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) is a science and technology-focused research university renowned for its deeply-held commitment to improving the human condition. Georgia Tech’s motto of “Progress and Service” is achieved through effectiveness and innovation in teaching and learning, research advances, and entrepreneurship in all sectors of society.  

A member of the Association of American Universities (AAU) and one of the top research universities in the United States, Georgia Tech influences major technological, social, and policy decisions. In its recently released 2017 Best Colleges undergraduate rankings, the Institute was ranked as #7 among public universities by U.S. News & World Report, and its undergraduate College of Engineering was ranked as #4. The Institute is consistently rated among the top universities in the nation for the graduation of underrepresented minorities in engineering, computer science, and mathematics. Georgia Tech also awards more engineering degrees to women than any other U.S. institution.  

In fall 2016, Georgia Tech achieved a first-to-second-year retention rate of 97% for the first-time, full-time freshman 2015 cohort and a six-year graduation rate of 86% for the 2010 cohort. Our five-year graduation rate was 80% (2011 cohort). The 97% retention rate and 80% five-year graduation rate have been maintained for two consecutive years. The 86% six-year graduation rate is a historic high for the Institute. Steady improvements in retention and graduation rates have been achieved since 2012, when the Institute submitted its initial CCG plan.

See Appendix A for retention and graduation tables. 

In fall 2016, Georgia Tech enrolled 15,489 undergraduates, 81% of whom were enrolled in STEM majors[1]. In addition to its undergraduate population, the Institute had a fall 2016 enrollment of 11,350 graduate students for a total enrollment of 26,839. Between 2011 and 2016, the Institute experienced an annual increase in undergraduate enrollment with an 11% increase over this six-year period. In 2016-17, 3,606 degrees were earned by Tech undergraduates, a 26% increase in the number of degrees conferred since 2011-12. Appendix B illustrates enrollment and degree trends.

Georgia Tech values the diversity of its student population. In 2016, Tech achieved a historic high in undergraduate female enrollment of 5,662 students. Current enrollment of women has grown by 32% since 2010, when female enrollment stood at 4,275. The proportion of women has risen from 31% of the undergraduate student body in 2010 to 37% in 2016. Underrepresented minorities comprise 17% of the undergraduate student body. To improve access for low-income students, the Tech Promise program is offered to dependent Georgia residents whose families have an annual income of less than $33,300 and who are seeking a first undergraduate degree. This program is designed to fill a gap in the financial aid support system, picking up where other financial aid options leave off. Georgia Tech is also one of 30 founding members of the American Talent Initiative, which seeks to expand access and opportunity for talented low- and moderate-income students.

The typical Georgia Tech undergraduate is of traditional age (≤ 24), enters as a freshman, lives on campus, attends full-time, and is seeking a first undergraduate degree. Although the majority of students enter the Institute well prepared academically, certain populations of students may be at a higher risk not to complete their degrees. In fall 2016, 5% of our 15,489 undergraduates were on academic probation or warning with 317 students on probation and 382 on warning at the beginning of the term.[2]  Other populations for which Tech provides outreach are underrepresented minority students, students with midterm unsatisfactory progress report grades, students enrolled in certain gateway courses, and students who have not registered for fall semester by the end of the spring semester.

Georgia Tech offers high-impact curricular and co-curricular opportunities to enhance engagement and academic development. Among these options are a first-year seminar (GT 1000), living learning communities, an undergraduate research program, a study abroad program, and experiential learning (internships, co-op, and service learning). Participation levels in these optional programs are significant, and the graduation rates for program participants are among the highest at Georgia Tech (Appendix C). Innovation is inspired through options such as Create-X, InVenture, and VIP (the Vertically Integrated Projects Program). Georgia Tech is also promoting student engagement through Student Life via a wide range of services, programs, and over 500 student organizations. Georgia Tech Health & Well-Being promotes, nurtures, and enriches a culture of health well-being, and caring for Georgia Tech students and employees so they can flourish and be fulfilled individually and within the communities in which they live, learn, work, and play.

Georgia Tech students are highly recruited by major corporations, small businesses, non-profit organizations, and government. In 2016-17, 7,358 interviews were held on campus for full-time, co-op, and internship opportunities. In May 2017, 86% of graduating seniors reported in their exit survey that they had received one or more employment offers by commencement. Moreover, 76% reported having already accepted offers at a median starting salary of $70,000.

Georgia Tech’s retention and graduation rates, positive enrollment trends, number of degrees conferred, and job offer rates underscore its ability to help meet the workforce needs of the future.   

Institutional Completion Goals, Strategies & Activities

Goal: Increase the number of undergraduate degrees awarded by USG institutions.

Strategy 1: Provide targeted K-12 outreach to pique interest in STEM and provide programming to retain currently enrolled STEM majors.

Strategy 2: Implement programming to promote the academic success of underrepresented minorities.

Goal: Provide intentional advising to keep students on track to graduate.

Strategy 3: Provide an early alert system for students in 1000- and 2000-level courses and ensure that interventions are provided for students who are off track academically.

Strategy 4: Provide interventions to promote the success of students who are underperforming academically or who may be at risk for not continuing their education.

Goal: Restructure instructional delivery to support educational excellence and student success.

Strategy 5: Implement peer-led instruction for students in traditionally challenging gateway courses.

Strategy 6: Implement summer online undergraduate courses to help students stay on track to graduation.

Strategy 1: Provide targeted K-12 outreach to pique interest in STEM and provide programming to retain currently enrolled STEM majors.  

Related Goal: Increase the number of undergraduate degrees awarded by USG institutions.

Primary Contacts:

• Lizanne Destefano, Executive Director, CEISMC, lizanne.destefano@ceismc.gatech.edu;
• Jacquline Cox, Education Outreach Coordinator, Center for Engineering Education and Diversity, jackie.cox@coe.gatech.edu;
• Christine Valle, Director, Women in Engineering, christine.valle@coe.gatech.edu;
• Susan Belmonte, Pre-Professional Advisor, Center for Career Discovery and Development, sbelmonte@gatech.edu;
• Cynthia Moore, Director, Office of Minority Educational Development (OMED): Educational Services, cynthia.moore@omed.gatech.edu;
• Don Pearl, Director, Center for Academic Success, dpearl3@gatech.edu;
• Michelle Tullier, Executive Director, Center for Career Discovery and Development, michelle.tullier@gatech.edu

As a science and technology-focused institution, Georgia Tech’s STEM activities are central to its mission. The sustained economic impact made possible through a better-prepared STEM workforce is significant, and graduating a larger number of STEM students to meet workforce needs is a high priority for Georgia Tech.

Georgia Tech is involved in an array of outreach activities specifically designed to attract K-12 students. The Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics, and Computing (CEISMC) conducts a comprehensive summer program to expose K-12 students to STEM topics and careers. Additional K-12 outreach programs are conducted by the Center for Engineering Education and Diversity (CEED), and Women in Engineering (WIE), both units within the College of Engineering. In 2016-17, more than 75 individual K-12 STEM programs were held at Georgia Tech (http://oue.gatech.edu/content/2017-k-12-stem-outreach-georgia-tech). In addition, Georgia Tech offers distance math courses to dual enrolled high school students through the School of Mathematics and the department of Professional Education. In 2016-17, Distance Math served students in 47 Georgia high schools with 449 enrollments in fall and 428 enrollments in spring.

In addition to K-12 outreach for students, CEISMC has designed and implemented professional learning initiatives for STEM teachers for over 20 years. For details on CEISMC’s Teacher Education Partnerships, see https://www.ceismc.gatech.edu/outreach. Although Tech does not offer an education degree, a pre-professional advisor located within the Center for Career Discovery and Development advises students who may have interest in K-12 teaching in the future. During 2016-17, 52 students participated in pre-teaching advisement.

Summer bridge programs ease the transition from high school to Georgia Tech. Challenge is a five-week summer residential program for underrepresented minority students coordinated by the Office of Minority Education (OMED). In a simulation of the Georgia Tech experience, Challenge students take computer science, chemistry, calculus, and a success seminar as a “test run” before fall semester. TechPrep is a 5-day residential summer program offered by the Center for Academic Success that focuses on pre-calculus and academic success workshops.

Support mechanisms for currently enrolled students span the campus. For example, Georgia Tech offers STEM-facing living learning communities, mentoring programs, scholarships, student organizations, major-based first-year seminar classes, leadership development opportunities, 1:1 tutoring, and supplemental instruction for traditionally challenging STEM courses. Through Georgia Tech’s co-op program, 1,307 undergraduates completed 1,537 individual semester-long, major-related work terms in academic year 2016-17. Of this total, 95% of the positions were STEM related. Additionally, in 2016-17, 1,069 undergraduates completed 1,150 semester-long internships, 84% of which were STEM related. The co-op/internship program provides in-depth access to STEM opportunities, helps students to make better connections between theory and application, strengthens students’ motivation to stay on course to graduation, and increases the number of job offers students receive upon graduation.

A measure of progress for our STEM recruitment strategy involves the number of students enrolled in STEM majors at Georgia Tech. Tech has achieved a steady increase in STEM enrollment from 10,389 students in fall 2010 to 12,611 students in fall 2016 (a 21% increase over seven years). Currently four out of every five Georgia Tech students is seeking a STEM degree.

Efforts to engage and retain larger numbers of female students are key, as women represent one of our best opportunities for overall increases in STEM. In just seven years, the number of women enrolled in STEM majors at Georgia Tech increased from 2,793 (27% of total undergraduate STEM enrollment) to 4,226 (34% of total undergraduate STEM enrollment). Once enrolled, women at Georgia Tech consistently graduate at a higher and faster rate than men. For the 2010 overall cohort, the six-year graduation rate for women was 90% compared to an 84% rate for men; women in STEM majors had an 89% six-year graduation rate compared to an 85% rate for men. See Appendix D for overall STEM graduation rates and STEM graduation rates by gender.

Table 1 illustrates enrollment of women in STEM from 2010 through 2016.   

Table 1: STEM Enrollment Fall 2010-Fall 2015

The number of STEM degrees earned is a key measure of our success for this strategy. In 2016-17, 3,038 STEM degrees were earned, a 41% increase from the number of STEM degrees earned in 2011-12.

Table 2: Number of STEM Degrees Earned

Below, Table 3 demonstrates job offer rates, acceptance rates, and average starting salaries based on an exit survey of graduating seniors in May 2017.

Table 3: Career and Salary Survey for Graduating STEM Seniors - Spring 2017*

*Data represents status prior to commencement. Source: Career and Salary Survey, Georgia Tech Office of Assessment

Georgia Tech continues to be a U.S. leader in the number of STEM students enrolled and the number of degrees conferred each year.

Strategy 2: Implement programming to promote the academic success of underrepresented minorities.

Related goal: Increase the number of undergraduate degrees awarded by USG institutions.

Primary contact:

Cynthia Moore, Director, OMED: Educational Services, cynthia.moore@omed.gatech.edu

Georgia Tech’s strategic plan confirms our aspiration to be an Institute that pursues excellence and embraces diversity in all its forms. A high priority for our CCG plan involves outreach and programming for underrepresented minority (URM) students, who have frequently experienced lower retention and graduation rates than their Asian and White counterparts. As of fall 2016, 17% of all undergraduates were underrepresented minorities.[3]

To encourage academic excellence, the Office of Minority Education: Educational Services (OMED) provides programming specifically targeted to underrepresented minorities. OMED, a unit within the Center for Student Diversity and Inclusion (CSDI), provides a range of services designed to promote the success of underserved minorities.

• Challenge is a five-week, intensive residential summer program for incoming freshmen designed to prepare students for the Georgia Tech experience.
• The Edge Program pairs highly engaged students with incoming students and transfer underrepresented minority students in order to assist them both academically and socially throughout their first year at Georgia Tech.
• Workshops, study groups, tutoring, and Concept Classes cover course material historically found to be the most challenging.
• The African American Male Initiative (AAMI) helps to improve performance trends in the African-American male population. AAMI is the first-ever statewide effort specifically focused on increasing post-secondary education attainment among African American males. AAMI students participate in monthly workshops and are paired with faculty, staff, or alumni mentors.

Metrics used to assess the success of this strategy include:

• Average GPA of Edge Program participants compared to the average GPA of non-participating matched peers at the end of the first year.
• Average GPA of the Challenge summer program participants compared to the average GPA of non-participating matched peers at the end of the first semester plus retention rates of Challenge participants.
• First-semester average GPA and first-to-second-year retention rate of AAMI participants compared to non-participating matched peers.
• Retention and graduation rates for underrepresented minorities at Georgia Tech compared with overall campus rates.

A measure of progress is for program participants to academically outperform matched non-participating peers. Our ultimate goal is for our underrepresented students to attain or exceed the retention and graduation rates of the overall student population.

Progression metrics demonstrate positive program-level outcomes:

• For the 232 URM students participating in the Edge Program (peer mentoring), the average cumulative GPA achieved at the end of the first year was 3.19 compared to 3.14 for URM non-participants.
• For Challenge (75 participants), average GPA’s were higher for African-American/Black students and Hispanic students compared to GPA’s of non-participating matched peers. Moreover, 16 of 75 Challenge participants completed their first semester with a 4.0 GPA and 52 of 75 participants had a 3.0 or higher GPA at the end of their first semester. By fall 2016, 100% of the previous summer’s Challenge participants had been retained after one year.
• AAMI students (109 participants) had an average first-semester GPA of 3.09 compared to a 2.85 GPA for non-participating African-American males. When we look at first-to-second year retention for AAMI students, 100% were retained to the second year compared to a 95% rate for non-participating matched peers. AAMI is demonstrating the importance of peer leadership towards raising expectations and cultivating a climate of excellence.

See Appendix E for more information about Challenge and AAMI outcomes.

By fall 2016, the overall URM first-to-second-year retention reached a historic high of 97% (equal to the overall institutional rate), and the six-year URM graduation rate for the 2010 cohort was 80% (compared with an 86% overall rate). URM graduation rates have improved dramatically over the past six years (from 71% for the 2005 cohort to 80% for the 2010 cohort). In looking at our two largest URM groups—Black or African-American and Hispanic or Latino—six-year graduation rates for the fall 2010 cohort were 76% for Black or African-American students and 87% for Hispanic or Latino students compared to 86% for the overall campus population. While the graduation rate for Black or African-American students compared to the previous year decreased from 78% to 76%, the six-year graduation rate for Hispanic students improved from 85% to 87% (and in fact exceeded the graduation rate for the overall campus population). See Appendix F for URM graduation rates.

Individual programs for URM students continue to demonstrate success. Plans are underway to increase the number of students served by Challenge, our summer bridge program, from 75 to 175 students over the next three years.

Strategy 3:  Provide an early alert system for students in 1000- and 2000-level courses and ensure that interventions are provided for students who are off track academically.

Related Goal: Provide intentional advising to keep students on track to graduate.

Primary Contacts:

Debbie Pearson, Retention and Graduation Manager, debbie.pearson@gatech.edu,
Beth Spencer, Director of Undergraduate Academic Advising, beth.spencer@gatech.edu

Georgia Tech’s early alert system provides useful feedback for students adjusting to its academically rigorous environment. We identify students who are off track in a given semester with Midterm Progress Reports (MPR’s) in 1000- and 2000-level courses. Submitted after 40 percent of the term, MPR’s allow faculty in these courses to assess student performance with an “S” (Satisfactory) or “U” (Unsatisfactory). All students with U’s are contacted by the Center for Academic Success (CAS), offered tutoring and success resources, and encouraged to meet with faculty and with their academic advisor. Additionally, we currently require that all first-year students with two or more midterm U’s meet with their academic advisor or a CAS staff member, and we use registration holds to enforce the mandatory advisement. During advisement, students receive advice, encouragement, and referrals to campus resources where necessary.  

Our MPR strategy touches a large number of students. During fall 2016, 37,624 midterm grades were provided for 1000- and 2000-level courses, and 3,454 U’s were assigned to 2,577 students. During spring 2017, 30,900 midterm grades were entered for 1000- and 2000-level courses, and 2,699 U’s were assigned to 2,043 students. With support from the Registrar’s Office, we achieved a 99% faculty response rate in both fall and spring semesters.

To measure MPR outcomes, we are tracking (1) the percentage of first-year students with two or more midterm U’s who participate in academic advisement, (2) the percentage of students with at least one midterm U who participate in a CAS program or Clough Commons tutoring after receiving midterm grades, and (3) U-to-final-grade convergence.

Table 4: Midterm Progress Report Metrics

In reflecting on our progress with this strategy, we are pleased to see outstanding faculty response rates and academic advisement rates. We would like to see a higher percentage of students with U’s participating in tutoring and success programs, and to that end we continue to hone our messaging for these students. In addition to improving our underperforming students’ participation in tutoring and success programs, we would like to see improvement in our U-to-final A/B/C/S rate, a metric associated with higher retention rates according to a longitudinal study at Georgia Tech.[4]  In the future, we plan to track the progress of students who did not participate in academic advising after receiving two or more U’s.

Strategy 4: Provide interventions to promote the success of students who are underperforming academically or who may be at risk for not continuing their education.

Related Goal: Provide intentional advising to keep students on track to graduate.

Primary Contacts:

Donald Pearl, Director, Center for Academic Success, dpearl3@gatech.edu;
Beth Spencer, Director of Undergraduate Academic Advising;
Debbie Pearson, Retention and Graduation Manager, debbie.pearson@gatech.edu.

As shown in the student body profile, most students enter Georgia Tech well prepared academically but may experience academic performance issues once enrolled. A high-priority strategy related to intentional advising involves interventions for students who are underperforming academically or who may be at risk for not continuing. Programming and outreach are provided through the Retention and Graduation Manager and the Center for Academic Success. The Director of Undergraduate Academic Advising provides leadership for advising initiatives related to these populations.

An annual survey of students who did not register for fall semester during Phase I was institutionalized in 2014. Historically, it has been observed that not registering for classes during Phase I may be a red flag for students who may not be returning or who may be experiencing a barrier to returning. Students who need assistance are referred by the Retention and Graduation Manager to academic advisors, the Center for Academic Success, the Center for Career Discovery and Development, the Dean of Students, the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid, the Counseling Center, and the Registrar’s Office. An annual survey of “non-returning” students (defined by students who are in good academic standing but have not been enrolled for three consecutive semesters) has also been institutionalized. The “non-returning” survey helps to identify students who may need assistance to return to Georgia Tech and to identify primary reasons students in good academic standing leave the Institute. As result of these surveys in 2016-17, 319 students communicated with us and received outreach as needed.

Georgia Tech has populations of students who, once enrolled, experience issues with academic progress. A high-priority strategy for Georgia Tech is to assist students who are underperforming academically—specifically students on academic warning, academic probation, and students returning on contract from academic dismissal. We also have students who are technically in good academic standing but who have lower GPA’s and students who are not meeting their own academic expectations.

The Center for Academic Success (CAS) was established, in part, to assist Georgia Tech with its retention and completion goals. CAS provides a range of resources for students who need additional academic support (see www.success.gatech.edu). In 2016-17, CAS provided 26,316 contact points with 8,257 Georgia Tech Students.

GT 2100, Seminar on Academic Success, was approved in 2013 specifically in relation to Tech’s CCG goal to provide increasing support for students who are permitted to return on contract after academic dismissal. The seminar, taught by CAS staff, offers opportunities for reflection, skill development, and one-on-one academic coaching. The inaugural class, taught in spring 2014, was optional, and the course became mandatory in fall 2014. From the course’s beginning in 2014 through spring 2017, 186 of 360 GT 2100 students (52%) have either graduated or are continuing. This represents a significant improvement from our pre-initiative baseline of 14%.

Based on the promising results for GT 2100 for students returning from academic dismissal, in fall 2015 we piloted a section of GT 2100 for students on academic probation (participation is voluntary), and the course was offered again during spring 2016 and in spring 2017. Of the probation students who took the course since its inception, 75% have remained enrolled or have graduated.

Even with these positive outcomes, we are not reaching the majority of students who are on academic probation and academic warning. When we look at non-GT 2100 participants, only a minority of these “at-risk” students participated in CAS or Clough Commons tutoring during 2016-17.

Table 5: Percentage of students on academic probation or warning using CAS services*

*Excludes GT 2100 students

In reflecting on lessons learned with outreach to students in academic distress, we are finding that our outreach to these students in distress must be more robust. In comparing six-year graduation rates for the 2010 cohort, we observed that among the students who were on probation at any time in their academic history only 36% graduated compared to an overall six-year graduation rate of 86%. Members of the CCG-GT Steering Committee (Appendix G) are considering more effective ways to intervene early with these populations. A more intrusive approach will be piloted in fall 2017 with first-year students who are on academic probation, academic warning, or who have a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or below.

Strategy 5: Implement peer-led instruction for students in traditionally challenging courses.

Related Goal: Restructure instructional delivery to support educational excellence and student success.

Primary Contact:

Donald Pearl, Director, Center for Academic Success, dpearl3@gatech.edu

Innovation in teaching and learning is a key component of Georgia Tech’s mission. In alignment with this mission, Georgia Tech provides supplemental instruction (called Peer-Led Undergraduate Study or PLUS) to students in traditionally challenging courses—primarily math and physics courses. An increase in departmental support allowed PLUS to expand into chemistry, organic chemistry, and biomechanics during 2016-17. The program is administered through the Center for Academic Success. Enrollment and the number of contact hours represent markers of success for PLUS. During fall 2016, 1,568 students participated in PLUS for total of 5,625 visits. During spring 2017, 1,693 students participated for a total of 6,432 visits. Also useful for gauging the impact of this strategy is the percentage of participation for courses in which PLUS was offered. In fall 2016, 38% of students in the courses for which PLUS was offered participated in the program; in spring 2016, 43% of registered students participated.

To measure whether or not PLUS is successful, we are comparing students’ final grades in courses for PLUS regulars vs. non-PLUS participants. Our goal is for regular participants in PLUS (>5 visits) to consistently outperform their peers who do not participate. In both fall 2016 and spring 2017, this goal was achieved.

• In the fall 2016, 96% of PLUS regular participants (>5 visits) earned a grade of A/B/C/S compared to 84% of their peers in the same classes who did not participate in PLUS.
• In spring 2017, 94% of PLUS regular participants earned a grade of A/B/C/S compared to 83% of their peers who did not participate.

See Appendix H for outcomes by course. 

PLUS is a high-impact strategy that has consistently demonstrated positive outcomes. PLUS has an added advantage of providing leadership opportunities for high-achieving undergraduates who provide instruction during the sessions.

Strategy 6: Implement summer online courses to help students stay on track to graduation.

Related Goal: Restructure instructional delivery to support educational excellence and student success.

Primary Contact:

Leo Mark, Associate Dean, Academic Programs and Student Affairs, leo.mark@pe.gatech.edu 

The Summer Online Undergraduate Program (SOUP) is a high-priority strategy that offers opportunities for students to take online classes during summer semester.  SOUP allows us to engage with students who may not otherwise study during summers. We are measuring the success of SOUP based on increases in the number of courses offered, the number of online enrollments, and the percentage of completed courses with a grade of A/B/C/S. We are also tracking the retention of SOUP students to the following fall semester. From a baseline of 12 courses offered in summer 2013 (SOUP’s first year), we have expanded to 30 courses in summer 2017. The number of course registrations increased from 112 in 2013 to 778 in 2017. A/B/C/S rates were earned in 87% of SOUP courses in summer 2016. Since 2013, an average of 98% of SOUP participants have graduated or have been retained by the end of the fall semester following the SOUP semester. Understanding how participation in summer classes impacts time to graduation is a metric we plan to track in the future.  

Observations

With our 2016-17 CCG successes, we continue to face challenges, such as a high advisor-to-student ratio for some majors, academic coaching requests that exceed current resources, and low participation rates by students on academic warning or probation in success programming and support services.  In addition to maintaining our current strategies, our plans for the coming year include the following:

• Employ a more robust, intrusive outreach with our first-year students in academic distress.
• Expand summer programming to encourage timely graduation.
• Provide increased professional development opportunities for academic advisors and establish an academic advisement task force.
• Implement the DegreeWorks student planner module to help students monitor their progress towards graduation.
• Encourage higher levels of participation in our high-impact academic enrichment options including the expansion of living learning communities.
• Expand participation in Challenge, our summer bridge program for underrepresented minorities.

As we reflect on our first five years with Complete College Georgia, we see how aligning the Institute’s retention-progression-graduation goals and strategies with those of CCG has encouraged continual self-study, measurement of outcomes, and sharing across the campus community and the University System of Georgia. Some of our major accomplishments for the first five years include the following:

• Creation of a CCG-GT Steering Committee comprised of leaders across all colleges and major departments on campus. Support of CCG from Georgia Tech’s top leadership has been an important ingredient in our success.
• Expansion of the Center for Academic Success (CAS), whose rich and tailored programming has positively impacted the academic progress of thousands of undergraduates.
• Increase in meaningful outreach for students with unsatisfactory midterm progress grades through a cross-campus intervention model.
• Increased outreach for students who may be at risk for not completing their degrees.
• Development of GT 2100, Seminar on Academic Success, as a requirement for students permitted to return to Georgia Tech after academic dismissal. Retention and graduation outcomes for participants are attributable to the remarkable success of this strategy.
• Increased human resources to carry out our RPG goals, including a Retention and Graduation Manager, a Director of Undergraduate Academic Advising, a Director of Summer Session Initiatives, expanded staff for CAS (including academic coaches), and additional academic advisors in some schools.
• Creation and steady growth of our Summer Online Undergraduate Program (SOUP).

By fall 2016, Georgia Tech had achieved a 97% first-to-second-year retention rate and a six-year graduation rate of 86%. These rates have increased dramatically since the inception of CCG (from 79% to 86%) and have in fact exceeded the goals we established in our initial CCG plan. The number of degrees conferred by Georgia Tech has also increased significantly over the past five years. While we believe current strategies are demonstrating success, we continue to seek out opportunities for improvement and look forward to our continued collaboration with CCG.