The Accelerator Academy is an academic program offered in the summer semester to students who did not successfully complete their introductory English class during the academic year. Students are offered wrap around academic support to help them understand how to successfully engage the material and complete the course successfully. The goal of this course is to help increase student progression in order to meet the USG’s goal of completing English by the end of the freshmen year (30 hours).
Evaluation Plan and measures: Evaluating number of students who pass English 1101 during the summer semester
KPIs: Grade of C of better
Baseline measure (for each KPI): Baseline measure is only 55% of students who retake course pass with a C grade or better the 2nd time they take the course at the Atlanta campus and 42% at the PC campus
Current/most recent data (for each KPI): Summer 2024
Atlanta Campus 66% and PC Campus 59%
Goal or targets (for each KPI): pass rate in English 1101 of at least 70% during the summer retake term at Atlanta and 60% at PC.
The program has demonstrated success in 2023 and 2024 at the Atlanta campus and success in 2024 at the PC campus. The success rate on retake of ENGL 1101 by PC students was almost equal to the Atlanta campus, which is a major accomplishment.
The institutional financial responsibility of this program is high with tuition support and stipend. However, data suggests that these incentives do not drive either participation or success. Reallocating this funding to improved outreach and coaching are expected to continue to drive future success.
This program has shown success in ENGL 1101, particularly at the PC campus. Our goal is to systematize the program to increase enrollment and build community with the participants in the program to drive peer accountability and success.
Student recruitment is difficult. Students often do not know if they will be successful in a course’s final days of the term, by which point they have already registered for the summer. Changing schedules to fit a specific section can be difficult and negatively impacts enrollment.
