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College of Coastal Georgia Campus Plan Update 2018

Institutional Mission and Student Body Profile

Mission Statement

Revised and approved in November 2015, the CCGA mission statement reads as follows:

As a state college of the University System of Georgia, the College of Coastal Georgia will be a college of choice for residents of Georgia and beyond by providing an accessible and affordable quality education. Advocating excellence in scholarship and community engagement, the College promotes student progression and timely graduation through student-centered programs that offer a rich and diverse student experience. Students are prepared for meaningful careers, advanced study, lifelong learning, and participation in a global and technological society. The institution will provide associate and baccalaureate degrees that support the intellectual, economic and cultural needs of the community and region.

This mission statement is fully aligned with the University System of Georgia’s (USG) mission, it represents the core principles and unique institutional characteristics of a state college, and it is accentuated by strong leadership, worthwhile community linkages, and exemplary student development.  Further, the new mission statement effectively infuses the College’s strategic framework that is structured around five central themes: Student Enrichment, Academic Excellence, Institutional Distinction, Leadership through Community Engagement & Partnerships, and Sustainability & Organizational Development. Finally, the revised mission underscores the College’s sustained commitment to community engagement that encompasses service-learning, volunteerism, practica, and internships, contributing to the cultural, economic and social well-being of the local community, southeast Georgia and beyond.

Fall 2018 Student Profile[1]

The College of Coastal Georgia’s fall 2018 enrollment, prior to census, stands at 3,549 students and FTE of 2,947. In terms of self-declared race/ethnicity, 6.5% identified as Hispanic/Latino, 0.3% American Indian or Alaska Native, 2.2% Asian, 19.2% Black or African American, 0.1% Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, 66.1% White, 4.0% two or more races, and 1.6% undeclared. 

With an average age of 23.2, the College’s student body is composed of 68.1% female and 58.8% full-time students with 80.8% indicating Georgia residency, 17.5% out-of-state, and 1.7% out-of-country.

First-generation students (whose parent(s)/legal guardian(s) have not completed a baccalaureate degree) account for 57.1% of the 3,095 students for whom we know parent/guardian educational attainment. Adult learners (25 years of age or older) and military/veterans account for 23.3% and 17.1% of the total student body, respectively. Pell recipients account for 25.8% of students, while dual-enrolled students total 367, or a 12.2% decrease compared to fall 2017.  Academically, the class of new freshman (for fall 2017) came to the institution with a 3.01 average high school GPA, attempted an average of 24.74 hours during the first academic year, earning an average of 18.45 credits. This cohort persisted through fall 2018 at a 54.4% rate and had an average GPA of 2.12. The work on completion is imperative as we continue to support this student population.

Influence on Completion Work

CCGA’s institutional mission is a beacon that guides its completion priorities. First, by providing access and affordability, CCGA addresses the needs of the region and is particularly impactful for communities that are traditionally underserved in postsecondary education (data from the First Destination Survey shows 89% of graduates remain in the state and 81% in the region). Secondly, the College promotes student progression and timely graduation by expanding and improving retention systems and instructional delivery to support student success (as evidenced by the high impact strategies referenced in this report). Finally, by increasing student campus and community engagement, the institution prepares students to engage in meaningful careers and to satisfy the economic and cultural needs of the community and the region (data from the First Destination Survey shows that 64% of respondents were employed full-time at or immediately after graduation compared to the national rate of 53.4%).

Leading and supporting the completion efforts at the institution, the Complete College CCGA Task Force was instituted with a charge to evaluate, identify, implement, and monitor high-impact strategies and activities that increase retention, progression and graduation rates. This task force is comprised of leaders from a diverse group of units across the institution, who work collaboratively and strategically to guide the institution while maintaining an alignment of the institutional goals and strategies with the college completion plan of the state.

The next two sections will provide a retrospective review of the activities that have promoted college completion during the 2017-2018 academic year, and will provide a detailed status update of the Momentum Year initiatives, the work that has been completed so far, and what we need to accomplish in the near future.

Institutional Completion Goals, High-Impact Strategies and Activities

Based on your review of data on completion indicators, your institutional mission, and the resources available, please identify and report on your institution’s high priority, high impact strategies. Your report should include a general overview and description of each activity, a summary of the work your institution has undertaken in the 2017-2018 academic year, the results or outcomes of this work, and any observations of lessons you have learned about this activity this year.

High Impact Strategy (1): Enroll EVERY student in need of remediation directly into gateway collegiate courses in English and mathematics, with corequisite Learning Support

General Overview

To promote access while at the same time promoting retention, progression, and graduation, it is imperative that the College has an effective structure to support students who arrive at college with a gap in academic preparation. The College has fully embraced the corequisite remediation model by shifting the focus from traditional remedial education as a standalone enterprise, and concentrating on providing the support that students need to successfully complete credit-bearing collegiate level courses that align well with the students’ program of study.

Summary of Work

The College continues to transform the Learning Support structure and is now enrolling every student in need of remediation directly into a gateway collegiate course in English and Mathematics, with corequisite support. This was the result of a year of realignment and development of the different pathways, as the institution discontinued the Foundation courses in both English and Mathematics.

Outcomes

The Department of Arts and Humanities was the first to discontinue the Foundations course, by running a designated English corequisite support section during the spring of 2018 with students that would have traditionally gone in a foundations course. Their success rate in the gateway course was 64.3% while the historical success rate for students with the same characteristics was only 43.8% (success rate in ENGL1101 within one year for students starting in ENGL0989 during spring 2015, 2016, and 2017). It is important to highlight that not only was the success rate much higher, but students were able to complete the gateway course within one semester, while the 43.8% success rate corresponded to completing the gateway course within one year.

Moving towards full-scale corequisite support in the area of Mathematics presented additional challenges and concerns, in particular for the College Algebra pathway, where the deficiencies in academic preparation may have been harder to overcome with corequisite support. To address the additional challenges, the College of Coastal Georgia worked closely with the system office and other institutions to devise a staggered approach that would allow students in every program to start with a college-level Math course.  We are confident that this staggered approach (starting fall 2018) will serve the student population very well as it will address needs for all LS students:

  • First, any LS student in a program of study that does not require College Algebra will be able to complete their gateway Mathematics course in their first semester by receiving corequisite support for either MATH1001 or MATH1101.
  • Second, if a student is in a program of study that requires the College Algebra Pathway but their test scores and high school GPA are not sufficient to place them directly in MATH1111 with or without support, they will be placed in MATH 1101 with support before progressing to MATH1111. Note that this staggered approach is advantageous when compared with the traditional foundations approach where students were required to take a 4 credit foundations course followed by a 3 credit gateway course with 2 credits of support. This traditional approach would result in a total of 9 credits, 6 of which are at the LS level, while the staggered approach totals 8 credits, with only 2 being LS credits. Students who decide to pursue a different major that does not require college algebra would be done with their area A requirements after the first semester.

Lessons Learned

The Department of Mathematics performed logistic regression discontinuity studies to determine the appropriate placement thresholds that would exempt students from corequisite support for MATH1001/1101 and the thresholds that would exempt them from corequisite support for MATH1111. These newly determined thresholds were used for placement for fall 2018, and the department will follow success rates closely to evaluate their efficacy at identifying the model that gives the student the best probability of success.

The full implementation of corequisite support in English and Mathematics has resulted in the creation of new Banner processes to overcome a variety of logistic challenges. While the faculty and staff are now more comfortable with the deployment of the new structure, the relentless realignment of parameters and processes has required a considerable amount of communication and collaboration to update processes and bring the model to an efficient and sustainable delivery. The faculty in the departments of English and Mathematics have fully embraced the new LS structure and continue to make curricular changes to make sure all Learning support students have the best chance of success

Primary points of contact

Dr. Elizabeth Wurz, Department Chair, Arts and Humanities, Associate Professor of English, ewurz@ccga.edu

Dr. Tanya Cofer, Department Chair and Associate Professor of Mathematics, tcofer@ccga.edu

Dr. German Vargas, Assistant Vice President for Academic Student Engagement and Associate Professor of Mathematics, gvargas@ccga.edu

High Impact Strategy (2):Gateway2Completion

General Overview

The College is working with the John N. Gardner Institute to redesign four gateway courses to improve student success.  Specifically, we are redesigning ENGL 1102, MATH 0999, POLS 1101, and BIOL 1107 through Gateway2Completion (G2C).

Summary of Work

With approval from the College’s IRB, the G2C faculty have been collecting and analyzing data based on grades, surveys, and classroom experiences.  Using the Principles and KPIs developed by the John Gardner Institute, all committees have completed analysis of the first two principles and the steering committee will meet in late October to review this work.

Next Steps:

  • Faculty will complete their review of the G2C Principles by March 2019, while also researching and attending G2C meetings in Macon and in Atlanta to learn from colleagues and determine best practices in the discipline.  By May 2019, all course committees will have a course redesign plan in place for implementation in fall 2019.
  • The College’s CTL is working to organize workshops and other professional development opportunities to help faculty establish best practices throughout the redesign process.

Outcomes

We are still in the beginning stages of this process.  Great collaborations and discussions have occurred, but we will not see any student outcomes until fall 2019 when we begin piloting the redesigned courses.

Lessons Learned

In spring semester, we administered the Student Learning Gains survey to students.  The timing of the survey was too close to that of our normal end of course student evaluations.  We have since decided to move this survey up to week 10 of the semester.

Primary point of contact

Dr. Laura Lynch, Assistant Vice President for Faculty Affairs and Associate Professor of Mathematics, llynch@ccga.edu.

High Impact Strategy (3): New Programs of Study

General Overview

To address growing enrollment and workforce needs, we have added several new degrees and programs of study to the College Curriculum.

Summary of Work

The College has established three new degree programs in the last year:

  • BS in Health Sciences: In 2017, 23% of CCGA students were majoring in Health related/affiliated programs.  However, there were roughly 500 students that would not be admitted into the nursing/radiology cohorts because of limited capacity.  The establishment of the BS in Health Sciences provided students with an off-ramp to a related field of study.
  • BS in Environmental Science: Growing out of the popularity of the Coastal Ecology concentration of the BS in Biological Sciences and the Environmental and Regional Studies concentration of the BA in American Studies, the BS in Environmental Science serves as an interdisciplinary degree that meets regional workforce needs.
  • BS in Hospitality and Tourism Management: Hospitality was one of the largest concentrations within the Bachelor of Business Administration, so we transformed it into a standalone degree program.  As a BS degree, it better meets the local industry needs.

Outcomes

For fall 2018, we have a total of 490 students enrolled in one of our new degrees or new concentrations, broken down as follows:

New Degree Programs:

Enrollment

BS Environmental Sciences

10

 

No Concentration Declared

2

 

Environmental Studies

2

 

Natural Science

6

BS Health Sciences

392

 

No Concentration Declared

345

 

Exercise Science

36

 

Health Promotion

11

BS Hospitality & Tourism Management

23

 

Total Students in New Degrees:

425

     

New Concentrations:

 

BS Biological Sciences

General Biology

25

BBA General Business

Management

37

BS Mathematics

Scientific Computing

3

 Total Students in New Concentrations:

65

Lessons Learned

We have had great success creating new degree programs out of concentrations within existing degree programs.  We intend to continue along this path whenever possible.

Primary point of contact

Dr. Laura Lynch, Assistant Vice President for Faculty Affairs and Associate Professor of Mathematics, llynch@ccga.edu.

High Impact Strategy (4):Strategic Enrollment Planning Process

General Overview

Charged by the Chancellor of the University System to continue to grow enrollment, campus leaders identified the lack of a long-term view of enrollment or enrollment-focused strategic initiatives at the College.  The institution engaged with Ruffalo Noel Levitz to assist in this cross-campus planning process as well as help in developing the College’s first strategic recruitment plan. The purpose of the strategic enrollment planning process was to complete an internal and external environmental scan to help identify the feasibility of this growth plan, help further define appropriate growth markets, identify potential threats to the College’s enrollment, and identify opportunities to expand and grow programming in terms of enrollment (academic and co-curricular).   It was our shared goal to document and implement the results of the strategic enrollment plan as well as appropriately fund the initiatives therein.

Summary of Work

The Strategic Enrollment Planning process was led by a steering committee who had primary oversight for the development, implementation, assessment, and modification of the Strategic Enrollment Plan (SEP).  This committee was chaired by Dr. Jason Umfress, Vice President for Student Affairs & Enrollment Management, and was supported by Jim Anderson, Associate Consultant with Ruffalo Noel Levitz.

Five subcommittees were charged with developing specific strategies and actions to meet the goals of the SEP: Academic Subcommittee; Purpose, Price, and Promotion Subcommittee; Undergraduate Experience Subcommittee; On-Line Student Experience Subcommittee; and the Research Subcommittee.  These subcommittees, made up of faculty and staff from across campus, met throughout the Spring and Summer 2018 terms to conduct in-depth analyses of enrollment successes and challenges, brainstorm strategies to address institutional growth, and prioritize these strategies in terms of cost, impact, and implementation. 

Outcomes

Currently, the Strategic Enrollment Planning Steering Committee is considering the recommendations from the subcommittees for prioritization.  Below is a draft list of some of the subcommittee recommendations being considered.

  • A comprehensive repurposing of the College website in order to provide an appealing and informative virtual space where prospective students and the general community can learn more about the College of Coastal Georgia and navigate opportunities for engaging with the campus.
  • Revisit and revise/create a student success experience program for first & second year students, to include the revamp of a first year experience course.
  • Develop a strategic vision and mission for the Camden Center and continue the conversation about the undergraduate experience at the Center.
  • Enhance the promotion of the Bachelor of Science in Hospitality & Tourism Management and the Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice with a Concentration in Cyber Security.
  • Align the mission, vision, and attributes of the College through the establishment of a cohesive identity, so that it may distinguish itself as a unique institution of higher education with value for key audiences.

The steering committee is still working on the final list of strategies / recommendations and their corresponding prioritization.  The final report will be written once this phase of the process is complete.

Lessons Learned

Embarking on a campus-wide project such as this was a monumental task.  Although the project is still on-going, there are a few lessons we have learned in the process. 

  • Timing – The project has lasted longer than originally anticipated.  Running through the spring semester and into the summer posed a number of challenges for committees and committee chairs in terms of getting input from different constituencies.  Also, a number of unexpected and unavoidable changes in leadership (2 deans and a presidential transition) occurred during this time that made committee continuity difficult.   As a result, the original timeline for the project has been extended three times.
  • Committee Structure and Communication – Committee members and chairs were hand-picked to take part in this process.  While these individuals did an outstanding job representing their constituencies, communication back to departments and units was spotty.  Additionally, communication between the committees was nonexistent.  In retrospect, it would have been helpful for the committee members to have an opportunity to share their process and findings with each other.

Primary point of contact

Dr. Jason Umfress, Vice President for Student Affairs & Enrollment Management, jumfress@ccga.edu.

High Impact Strategy (5):Promote access and affordability by adopting low cost and open educational resources in core courses

General Overview

With the goal of promoting access and affordability of higher education, the College is committed to adopting open and low-cost educational resources as alternatives to high price textbooks, without compromising the standards of the courses.

Summary of Work

With institutional support from the faculty and administration, and with the support of Affordable learning Georgia, the College has adopted open educational resources (OERs) in 12 common courses in the general education curriculum. To further encourage and support the evaluation of new OER alternatives, the Office of Academic Affairs continues to support the OER Reviewer initiative, where faculty members receive a small stipend to engage in additional review of OERs. While the institution continues to participate formally in ALG by engaging in transformation grants (Introduction to Psychology is currently part of the Round 11 of textbook transformations), the culture of evaluating more affordable options as part of the textbook selection process is now permeating the different academic disciplines, and the No-Cost/Low-Cost Course Designation initiative is helping raise the awareness.

Outcomes

Based on the total enrollment for the academic year 2017-2018 the current courses implementing cost saving strategies, these efforts are resulting in more than $350,000 in student savings per year. For fall 2018 14.4% of all sections at the institution are using low-cost or no-cost textbooks, and it is important to highlight that most of the sections designated as low-cost/no-cost are lower division courses with typical higher enrollment (and therefore greater impact) when compared with the upper division courses where the availability of OER may still be limited.

Lessons Learned

After a thorough evaluation of the OER that was in use for MATH 1111 College Algebra, MATH 1112 Trigonometry, and MATH 1113 Precalculus, the Department of Mathematics adopted a different textbook for MATH 1111 that would have a more robust platform to serve the students that needed the corequisite support in this course. The OER is still in use for MATH 1112 and MATH 1113 as none of the students participating in this course will require corequisite support.

Primary point of contact

Dr. German Vargas, Assistant Vice President for Academic Student Engagement and Associate Professor of Mathematics, gvargas@ccga.edu

High Impact Strategy (6): Increase Dual Enrollment student outreach to local county school districts.

General Overview

The College continues to strengthen its Dual Enrollment program. The program is delivered as a collaborative enterprise supported by various institutional units, with participation from Academic Affairs, Student Affairs & Enrollment Management, and the Business Office. The administrative oversight is handled by the Lead Academic Advisor, and the institution has a designated Dual Enrollment Advisor.

Summary of Work

CCGA continues to expand and enhance relationships with high school counselors, locally, regionally and state‐wide. The institution now hosts annual Dual Enrollment breakfasts for all area high school counselors, including those in Glynn, McIntosh, Camden, Wayne, and Brantley County school systems as well as area private high schools.

The strengthening of the bonds with the school systems in the region is paired with a focused student recruitment plan, with regular College information programs to continually update guidance counselors on new degree programs, and with Dual Enrollment Information Nights for prospective students and parents.

Outcomes

With the goal of promoting access and shortening time to degree completion, the institution needs to promote Dual Enrollment in all our service counties, and as such, the total enrollment in this program is an important metric for success. With a baseline of 203 students participating in the program during fall 2015, the efforts to strengthen the program have resulted in 304 participants during fall 2016, 418 participants during fall 2017, and 367 participants during fall 2018 (an 81% increase when compared to the baseline, but a 12% decrease when compared to previous fall).

Lessons Learned

With the rapid growth of the program, the institution experienced scalability issues during the 2016-2017 year that were associated with the capacity of processing students through any single process (e.g. communication with individual counselors, collection of participation agreements, financial aid processes, textbook rentals, etc.). This scalability was addressed via process mapping sessions where the Lead Academic Advisor worked with various units to streamline communication and documentation gathering processes. The new structure is giving the Dual Enrollment Advisor additional time to focus on student support and outreach to the school officials, counselors, and parents.

The institution has been closely monitoring the decrease in the Dual Enrollment population for fall 2018, which we attributed to the delivery of Dual Enrollment courses within the high schools by the local technical college. Based on the June 2018 update to SACSCOC policy regarding Dual Enrollment, and in light of the concerns raised by the Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts Performance Audit Division in their Special Examination Report (No.17-09, January 2018), the institution has not engaged in dual enrollment instruction at the high schools.

Primary point of contact

Patricia Morris, Lead Academic Advisor, pmorris@ccga.edu

Linny A. Bailey, Dual Enrollment Academic Advisor, lbailey@ccga.edu

Dr. German Vargas, Assistant Vice President for Academic Student Engagement and Associate Professor of Mathematics, gvargas@ccga.edu

Momentum Year

As indicated in the strategies above, the College of Coastal Georgia continues to embrace and support Complete College Georgia efforts to improve retention, progression, and graduation rates across the state. In addition, the College is fully committed to the Momentum Year initiatives and has worked diligently in the execution of the strategies and activities delineated in the institutional implementation plan.

Momentum Year Plan

For organization and to improve conciseness, we will itemize the actions taken for each of the elements in the plan, will immediately indicate any next steps, and will indicate any challenges or necessary reallocation of resources:

ELEMENT 1 (A) - PURPOSE: Each student is guided into an academic focus area or program that best aligns with that student’s aspirations, aptitudes, and potential for success.

  • Completed vetting the Academic Focus Areas through all academic departments.
  • Updated the Academic Advising presentations during orientations to introduce academic focus areas, program maps, and 15 to finish.
  • Realigned the pre-semester new student activities (Anchor Days Program) to frame the Academic Sessions under the context of Focus Areas.
    • A specific academic session was targeted to students that had not declared a major where the focal theme was purposeful choice and academic focus areas.
  • Updated the admissions process for fall 2019 so that no new student will be undecided. The Office of the Registrar worked with academic units and Admissions to create individual program codes for each of the academic focus areas, and these have been included in the new admissions process for students that have not yet declared a major.
  • Academic Affairs continues to work with units across campus to effectively communicate this paradigm shift to students, faculty, and staff.
  • Next Steps
    • The implementation of a new CRM system for the Admissions process will allow us to provide the students with the necessary information to make a purposeful choice when applying to the College. With the latest change in the admissions process described above, students that do not select a major will select an academic focus area and will remain undeclared within that area; however, in addition to providing the choice, we need to be able to provide rich information to help them make that decision and the current common application process does not have that functionality.
  • Reallocation of resources
    • While no specific funds have been diverted to this element, the substantial efforts to design, communicate and implement this paradigm shift, has required a significant reallocation of time and human resources.

ELEMENT 2 (A) - PROGRAM OF STUDY: Degree programs are aligned into academic focus areas that have common first year courses.

  • Academic Focus Areas and the alignment of the programs to each focus area has been approved by academic departments.
  • Academic Focus Areas and the alignment of the programs was submitted to the USG at the end of the summer.
  • All 4-year program maps have been completed.
  • Next steps
    • Every 4-year program map needs to be evaluated under the framework of the academic focus areas to ensure that a change of major during the first year (within the same focus area) will result in minimal credit loss.

ELEMENT 2 PROGRAM OF STUDY:(B) Each focus area and program of study has an established default curricular (program) map that provides term-by-term course requirements and structured choice for appropriate electives.

  • (CDE) Students are provided with a default program map that is sequenced with critical courses and other milestones clearly indicated, advised, and counseled to build a personal course schedule that includes
    • (C) core English and mathematics by the end of their first academic year.
    • (D) three courses related to a student’s academic focus area in the first year.
    • (E) as full a schedule as possible - ideally 30 credit hours - in the first year.
  • Every program now has a highly structured 4-year program map that guides students term-by-term.
  • These 4-year program maps already have: core English and Mathematics, three courses related to the academic focus area, and 30 credits during the first year.
  • Next Steps
    • The evaluation of the 4-year program maps under the framework of academic focus areas may result in updates to improve the commonality of the first year courses for programs within the same area.
  • Reallocation of resources
    • While no specific funds have been diverted to this element, the substantial efforts to design, communicate and implement this paradigm shift have required a significant reallocation of time and human resources.

ELEMENT 2(F) - PROGRAM OF STUDY: Students are provided with personalized curricular maps and have ongoing advisement in their academic program. Students are directed to co-curricular activities and practices that are supportive of their major and overall integration into the college environment.

  • Once the program maps are updated, they will become a key component in a "Navigation Chart" that details by major not just what courses a student should take but also the different type of co-curricular activities and practices that will help them integrate into the college environment.
  • Next Steps
    • Develop the content for individual Navigation Charts for each program
      • Use the Navigation Chart proof of concept for the Mathematics baccalaureate program and its associated Mariner's Checklists (co-curricular activities), to develop the equivalent content for every program.
      • Work with the Office of Advancement to develop the final format, design and sustainable structure to update the information in the Navigation Charts.
  • Reallocation of resources
    • This element will require a formal reallocation of the resources dedicated to the different creation stages (concept, design, and production) of the Navigation charts.

ELEMENT 3 (A) - ENGAGEMENT: All incoming freshmen will be invited to participate in the USG Getting to Know Our Students Mindset Survey before the first three weeks of the semester.

  • Academic Affairs and the Office of Institutional Effectiveness worked with Technology services to devise a mechanism to improve the participation in this survey. With the changes implemented, the institution was able to increase the participation rate from 4% for the 2017 survey, to 38% for fall 2018.

ELEMENT 3 (B) - ENGAGEMENT: All faculty and staff, especially those who work with students in their first year, are oriented toward student engagement and success, and are provided with the training and tools they need to fulfill their roles in this regard.

  • The College is establishing a Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) to provide the training and tools necessary to prepare faculty and staff to appropriately engage and support first year students. The College has also established a new academic advising model, where first-year professional advisors, assigned to specific departments and/or majors, help students complete a four-year academic plan, monitor students’ academic performance, provide direct advising when registering and assist in major selection, seek individualized services as needed, and encourage students to engage in the CCGA community.
  • Challenges
    • The two key accomplishments highlighted above are great steps to support the faculty and staff to effectively engage with students in their first year; however, both of these strategies will require the appropriate funding to make these efforts effective and sustainable. At present, the CTL is under the direction of the Assistant Vice President for Faculty Affairs.  A full-time CTL Director is on the list of budget priorities for FY20. Similarly, the Center for Academic Advising is staffed at a level that limits the amount of engagement that the professional advisors can have with individual students, as their caseload remains around 350 students.
  • Next Steps
    • In a collaborative effort between Academic Affairs and Student Affairs & Enrollment Management, identify opportunities to provide all CCGA faculty and staff with the training and tools necessary to effectively engage and support first year students.

ELEMENT 3 (C) – ENGAGEMENT: Select specific enrichment activities that your institution is investigating, piloting, implementing or building to a greater scale that promotes student engagement, connectivity and satisfaction with their program of study and/or college itself, or their productive academic mindset.

  • The institution has formalized codename: Endeavor, a prospectus for framing college initiatives and the student experience.
    • With its concept originated during the USG Momentum Year Summit on February 2018, Endeavor is a project that repackages the CCGA experience exemplifying our College mission to provide “student–centered programs that offer a rich and diverse student experience.”
    • The formal prospectus has been completed and will be submitted to the President for consideration.
  • Reallocation of resources
    • While no specific funds have been diverted to this element yet, its full implementation will require substantial time commitment and financial support.

ELEMENT 3 (D) – ENGAGEMENT: Select specific enrichment activities that your institution is investigating, piloting, implementing or building to a greater scale that promotes student engagement, connectivity and satisfaction with their program of study and/or college itself, or their productive academic mindset.

  • Gateway2Completion: Refer to High Impact Strategy #2.

In closing, the retention and progression priority is embedded in everything the College is engaged in, including performance reviews, annual reports and budget reviews. The focus is to create a learning-centered environment for traditional, adult, first-generation, and military/veteran students that will increase student learning, promote student progression and, ultimately, lead to improved graduation rates. The College believes its student progression metrics, standards and retention/graduation strategies are clear evidence of those expectations and a strong foundational commitment to growing enrollment and focusing on graduation with distinction as the overarching campus priorities.

 

 

[1] Total enrollment and FTE are based on Banner live data recorded on 10/05/18; all other demographic information is based on USG Preliminary Student Enrollment Report data for fall 2018 and the academic achievement metrics correspond to the fall 2018 cohort.