Mindset

The Continuing Student Communication Strategy priority is designed to establish a streamlined, cohesive approach to communicating with our continuing student population. We have already made progress with two key units—Registration and Financial Aid—by partnering with a third-party vendor to create personalized communication journeys for these processes.

In freshman orientation classes each 1st-year student will be required to complete an assignment designed to encourage the use of stepping blocks data.  Based on an academic major of interest, students will research common jobs associated with the major as well as the job market and the salaries associated with these positions.

All incoming first-year students were connected post-NSO with online information and communication from their top 5 engagement choices via the Panther Involvement Network - PIN. During their in-person NSO event, each student attended a 'Panther Connect' session to dive deeper in their top desired involvement opportunity, where they were able to connect and share contact information with students that possess similar interests as them.

This initiative will expand the utilization of an academic chatbot in core courses.  The chatbot provides basic academic information, utilizes intelligent agents in the LMS to monitor student engagement and prompts as necessary, evaluates readiness for quizzes and reminds students about assignments and deadlines. GSU received a $7 million Post Secondary Student Success grant from the Department of Education to launch this technology in introductory English and Math courses in Fall 2024.  Chatbot technology is already used in American Government, Macroeconomics and Chemistry.

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).

Increasing pass rates in English 1101 and the major appropriate MATH courses is the goal of this strategy. Both the department of English and Mathematics have submitted improvement plans and are implementing them. Among the strategies being employed include:

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.

As part of the consolidation with Georgia Southern University (GS), professional advisors will be advising EGSC students.

The Roadrunner Scholars is a residential and immersive summer bridge program designed for students requiring learning support math and English.  In this six-week program, students were enrolled in both learning support math and English as well as their credit course counterparts, and the Perspectives seminar. Roadrunner Scholars were provided tutoring assistance, peer education, development opportunities, as well as social activities.  All aspects of the program were provided at no cost to the student through scholarships offered by our Dalton State Foundation.  Students were invited to app

A targeted initiative to monitor the academic progress of student-athletes through structured grade checks and midterm reports, with referrals to additional resources as needed. Coaches, academic advisors, and support staff collaborate to ensure timely support for those at risk.