Gordon State College

FIRE 1000: Freshmen Introduction to Reasoning Essentials is a cornerstone of Gordon State College’s first-year experience and a vital component of the institution’s student success ecosystem. Launched in 2017, FIRE 1000 is a required course for all new and transfer students entering with fewer than 13 credit hours. The course is designed to build the habits of mind, self-awareness, and critical reasoning skills that promote long-term academic success, persistence, and personal growth.

The Faculty Mentor Program at Gordon State College is a cornerstone of the institution’s student success and retention initiatives, designed to provide holistic, sustained support for first-year students as they transition into college life. The program pairs first-year students—those with fewer than 30 credit hours—with faculty mentors in their major or area of academic interest. These mentors offer professional and career guidance, encouragement, and meaningful connections to campus resources, complementing the proactive support of the College’s professional academic advisors.

Overview:
Always Alert is Gordon State College’s proactive early alert and academic intervention initiative designed to identify and support students who may be at risk of academic difficulty in one or more courses. The program aims to improve student persistence and success by providing timely, personalized outreach and targeted academic coaching.

The Advising Redesign and Integration Initiative at Gordon State College (GSC) is an ongoing, multi-year effort to transform the college’s academic advising system into a proactive, structured, and program-embedded model. The project seeks to enhance student success and retention by ensuring that all students receive personalized, discipline-specific guidance from the moment they enroll until they reach 60 earned credit hours.

FIRE 1000 ("Freshmen Introduction to Reasoning Essentials") is a first-year course that stimulates students' academic self-efficacy, depth of intellectual inquiry, and problem-solving skills. This is done through research and reflection to understand themselves better, their purpose, and the campus community. FIRE 1000 was launched in 2017 and is required at GSC for all new and transfer students under 13 credit hours.

The Faculty Mentor Program at Gordon State College pairs first-year students (students under 30 credit hours) with faculty in the student's major area/area of focus. Faculty mentors act as part of the student's success team. They provide professional and career guidance and encouragement and help connect students with campus resources. All tenure-track faculty members serve as faculty members. Faculty mentors act to provide services and support that complement the services offered by GSC's professional academic advisors.

Always Alert is Gordon State College's early alert academic intervention program. The program is intended to help students at-risk of not succeeding in one or more classes. The program relies on volunteer faculty academic coaches to conduct one-on-one meetings. The program uses Navigate to facilitate outreach, appointment-making, and record-keeping.

Gordon State College completed its last advising redesign three years ago. Before the redesign, we had five advisor/faculty members who taught our first-year experience course and served as advisors for students enrolled in those courses. These advisor/faculty members held a hybrid role at Gordon. With our redesign in 2020-2021, we adopted professional advising for first-year students. Under our current system, advisors do not teach. They advise their advisees full time, and the first-year experience course is taught by teaching faculty.