Student Learning Communities consist of courses in which a common theme or themes are utilized to create opportunities for students to explore these themes in more depth and see how the theme (s) crosses different disciplines. In addition, SLCs encourage a sense of belonging and student engagement since students may share two or more courses together which focus on the same theme.
General Evaluation Plan and measures: See pg 55 of the QEP:
KPIs: (pg 34 of QEP)
- Success-rate: Percentage of passing grades (ABC)
- Average Cumulative GPA for participants in SLCs
- Retention Rates
Baseline measure (for each KPI): (pg 34 of QEP)
- Participants in SLCs who are taking first-year courses will have a higher percentage of passing grades (15% more) and fewer DFWI grades than students who did not participate in an SLC.
- Average Cumulative GPA for participants in SLCs will be .5 higher than similar students who did not participate in an SLC.
- Participants in SLCs will have retention rates several percentage points higher than students who did not participate in an SLC.
Goal or targets (for each KPI): pg 34 of the QEP:
Note: Student Learning Communities were initially started as part of the Quality Enhancement Plan in 2020. With the consolidation, EGSC will adopt the Ready Day 1 Connect initiative. Thus, the SLCs will continue, but they will now broaden slightly to support the goals and mission of Ready Day 1 Connect, focusing on helping to develop “critical thinking, communication, and professionalism” in students. RD1 Connect has “three primary goals: (1) increase students’ ability to recognize career competencies they develop through academic experiences; (2) enhance students’ confidence in articulating these competencies in professional contexts; and (3) improve employers’ perception of graduates’ ability to demonstrate career readiness.”
The assessment and evaluation of the SLCs may change and evolve during the consolidation process to align with RD1 Connect.
In the past, the SLCs moved from a co-requisite model to a thematic approach without co-requisite restrictions. While this allowed flexibility in scheduling, it also limited the number of students who registered for and participated in the thematic group as an SLC participant (since students had to register for two courses within the same thematic group to be counted as a participant). As a result, limited students and student data were available during certain semesters to accurately assess student success and performance in the SLCs.
One recommendation for SLCs is that the co-requisite model be added back during registration to encourage students to register for two of the courses within the thematic group with the help of their advisor. During drop/add at the start of the semester, the co-requisite in Banner will be removed so that students can drop or withdraw from a class during the semester without having to drop/withdraw from two classes. In addition, this will allow students who only need one of the classes to register for it during drop/add. This would ensure that students who wanted to participate in the SLC and be considered a participant would have priority for registration. Yet, it would also ensure that students who needed a course to graduate or fulfill their requirements would not be excluded.
Another recommendation for the SLC courses is to place a hold or cap on the seats allowed during the registration period. For instance, if a class has 24 seats, place a hold for 18-19 of the seats to be used during the regular registration period. Allow for 5-6 seats to be open after summer or fall grades are released so that students who have to retake a course will have a seat. This may help prevent a large number of students who need to retake a course (s) from all entering the same section of an SLC (or any course). Often this can affect the mindset and success of the entire class if a large number of students who are repeating the course are in the same course together.
In Spring 2026, we will be working through the consolidation process to align the SLCs with RD1 Connect. We will be developing new thematic groups to implement in Fall 2026. For instance, I am currently in the process of developing a Leadership & Literacy SLC to help support the goal and mission of RD1 Connect. This new thematic group will take some of the successful ideas that were initially developed for the Bobcat Summer Leadership Program and combine them with some of the ideas from the Literacy SLC. I believe that by combining these two themes, it might best serve our students and support our goals for critical thinking, communication, and professionalism. Note: This new thematic group will focus on incorporating the new FLIGHT (first-year experience) course as part of the SLC.
We will also work on creating Residential Learning Communities that correlate to our thematic SLCs. I recently contacted Lex Bailey and Katie Fester to coordinate a meeting to discuss this idea. Lex has responded to inform me of the 18-month timeline that it takes to create Residential Learning Communities (Live and Learn Community), so this will take some time, dedication, and coordination to implement.
With the implementation of RD1 Connect, faculty will need new training about its impact on the SLCs. Thus, training for faculty who plan to teach a Fall 2026 SLC will need to take place during Spring/Summer 2026.
Faculty participation, course scheduling, and student enrollment will all affect our ability to successfully implement the SLCs on each campus (Swainsboro, Statesboro, and online).
We also may need help with marketing the new thematic group, promoting the SLC courses to students during advisement/registration/orientation, and troubleshooting any issues with adding/removing co-requisite courses during the registration process for the SLC courses.
