East Georgia State College Campus Plan Update 2017

Institutional Mission and Student Body Profile

East Georgia State College (EGSC) is an associate degree granting, liberal arts institution providing its students access to academically transferable programs of study and targeted bachelor degrees at low cost to its students. The College extends its access mission from its home campus in Swainsboro to instructional sites in Statesboro and Augusta. Starting in July 2017, EGSC is included on the U.S. Department of Education’s College Affordability and Transparency Center annually updated Lowest Tuition and Lowest Net Price lists.

EGSC began offering its initial baccalaureate degree, a bachelor of Science Degree in Biology, in Fall Semester 2012 and has awarded the degree to 12 students. The College launched its second bachelor program in Spring Semester 2016, a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Fire and Emergency Services Administration (FESA) and added an Associate of Arts FESA degree option in Fall Semester 2017. FESA is offered online for the convenience of working fire and emergency service professionals. The FESA baccalaureate program is the only one offered by a Georgia based college that follows the Fire and Emergency Services Higher Education (FESHE) curriculum created at the National Fire Academy. In Summer Semester 2017, EGSC made its first two awards of its FESA Bachelor of Arts Degree.

In extending the College’s core mission of providing access to higher education beyond its home campus in Swainsboro, the College has increased the number and types of collaborations with other public institutions both within the University System of Georgia (USG) and within the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) throughout the Complete College Georgia initiative. In addition to its instructional facility in Statesboro, EGSC Statesboro students have access to services provided at Georgia Southern University and EGSC Augusta students take courses on the Summerville Campus of Augusta University.

The College is now preparing to offer another targeted bachelor degree to be delivered online to working professionals, a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) Degree designed for registered nurses (RN), starting in Fall Semester 2017. EGSC has signed a memorandum of understanding with Southeastern Technical College (STC), a unit of the TCSG, to use the Health Sciences Building located on STC’s Swainsboro Campus for new EGSC nursing program.  EGSC has also signed a letter of intent with Darton State College, Oconee Fall Line Technical College, and Southeastern Technical College “to combine their collective resources to create an educational pathway for nursing students from LPN to ADN, and ADN to BSN, to meet the need for associate level and baccalaureate level nurses” in the rural area served by these colleges.

After posting double-digit percentage enrollment growth in the 2010 and 2011 fall semesters, EGSC experienced declining enrollments in the 2012 and 2013 fall semesters before enrollment began to steadily increase, first by 1.9% in Fall Semester 2014, then by 3.1% in Fall Semester 2015 and 5.0% in Fall Semester 2016. As of the beginning of Fall Semester 2017, EGSC enrollment was holding steady with the previous fall semester

Throughout the Complete College Georgia initiative (2012 to 2017), EGSC’s four largest demographic cohorts have been African-American Females; African-American Males; White (Non-Hispanic) Females; and White (Non-Hispanic) Males. A percentage breakdown by campus of these demographic cohorts for Fall Semester 2017 is presented below in Table 1.

Table 1: Student Population by Demographic Cohort and Instructional Site

EGSC is working collaboratively with Georgia Southern University in Statesboro and Augusta University to encourage its former students to make application for their EGSC associate degree through the A.D.D. (Associate Degree you Deserve) program, a reverse transfer process. In Spring Semester 2016, EGSC awarded associate degrees to 61 former EGSC students who had completed EGSC’s requirements for the associate degree at their transfer institution. During (academic year) AY 2016-17, EGSC awarded 114 ADDs.

For Fall Semester 2017, the average age of all students is 20.3 years and the average age of new freshmen is 18.7 years, excluding high school students who are taking college courses. Only 3% of these new freshmen are aged 25 or over. An academic profile of Fall Semester 2017 new freshmen by location is presented in Table 2 below.

Table 2: Fall Semester 2017: New Freshmen Profile

In contrast to the high percentages of new freshman across all three of EGSC’s locations who enter as full-time students in the fall semester, greater percentages of the College’s returning students tend to continue as part-time, as summarized in Table 3 below. Table 3 excludes new freshmen and Move on When Ready (MOWR) high school students.

Table 3: Fall Semester 2017: Course Load by Class

Institutional Goals. High-Impact Strategies and Activities

High-Impact Strategy 1: Increase Degree Awards to Most Challenged Students

• Increase in the number of undergraduate degrees awarded to low income students (Pell eligible students)
• Increase in the number of undergraduate degrees awarded to first generation college students

Related CCG Goal

Goal 1: Increase in the number of undergraduate degrees awarded by USG institutions.

Demonstration of Priority and/or Impact

As an access institution, EGSC serves students who depend on financial aid and are often among the first of their families to attend college. During AY 2016-17 over 85 percent of students received some form of financial aid nearly one quarter were first generation students.

Of the 339 students who were awarded an associate degree by EGSC in FY 2016-17, 81 percent had received financial aid. Three of the four students who completed their Bachelor of Science degree in EGSC in FY 2016-17 also received financial aid. 102 of these graduates, or 30 percent, were first generation students. In addition, one in three of the College’s FY 2016-17 graduates entered with learning support requirements, including 27.6 percent who overcame learning support requirements in mathematics. One in eight (12.5 percent) overcame learning support requirements in English and 7.6 percent satisfied learning support reading requirements.

Primary Point of Contact

Dr. Deborah Vess, Vice President for Academic Affairs (dvess@ega.edu)

Summary of Resources Used and Activities Conducted

Continuing with programs begun in previous years, during the 2016-2017 academic year EGSC focused on using its Academic Centers for Excellence, GradesFirst, and the (g2)² 15-to-Finish program to promote student success.

Measures of Progress

Baseline Status of Metrics:

The academic year 2011-2012 (FY 12) served as our baseline year for Complete College Georgia (CCG).  The College set 2020 goals based on a specific CCG measures presented in Table 4 below compares baseline CCG metrics with the most recent results for the College.

Table 4: EGSC CCG Baseline Metrics Compared to Most Recent Results

*Includes 4 Bachelor of Science in Biology graduates.

Table A1 in the Appendix lists EGSC associate degrees earned from the 2012 through 2017 academic years. For the academic years 2013 through 2016, Table A2 lists the number of bachelor degrees awarded by Georgia Southern University and Table A3 lists the number of bachelor degrees awarded by other USG institutions to former EGSC students. As presented in Table A2 and A3, former EGSC students complete between 300 and 400 bachelor degrees each year at other USG institutions. All three tables breakdown the degrees awarded by gender and ethnicity.

Interim Metrics:

As noted above, the success rates of students will be our measure of progress toward goals.  Table 5 list the overall success rates and those for selected gateway courses, learning support courses and courses delivered online are given for the base Fall 2011 and for Fall 2016. Table A4 in the Appendix includes the intervening fall and spring semesters through Spring Semester 2017.

Table 5: Fall Semesters 2011/2015 Success Rate Comparisons

Table 6 below shows the usage of the Academic Centers for Excellence (ACE) for AY 2015-16 and AY 2016-17.  In Swainsboro, student course success rates remained flat until Spring Semester 2017, when the rate jumped by 8.5 percentage points. In Statesboro, the success rate of students increased markedly between Fall Semester 2015 to Spring Semester 2016, but has increased more slowly during AY 2016-17. The ACE data for Augusta is incomplete up to Spring Semester 2017, but that semester’s success rate is encouraging.

Table 6: ACE Use Rates for Fall 2015 through Spring 2017

Final Success Measure or Goal:

EGSC will continue to pursue initiatives that facilitate earlier graduation based on focused course selection. These efforts will center around the introduction of fifteen associate degrees with majors in Fall Semester 2017.   

Lessons Learned

EGSC not only provides its students the opportunity to earn associate and targeted bachelor degrees, but also access to a large public system of higher education. Transfer to and graduation from other institutions are successful outcomes for EGSC students, as documented the bachelor degrees earned by former EGSC students in Appendix Tables A2 and A3.

High-Impact Strategy 2: On-time Degree Completion

• Change institutional culture to emphasize taking full-time course loads (15 or more credits per semester) to earn degrees “on time.”
• Materials or information on taking 15 credits or more included in orientation for new students
• Advisors trained to encourage students taking 15 or more credits a semester

Related CCG Goal

Goal 2: Increase the number of degrees that are earned "on-time" (associate degrees in 2 years, bachelor's degrees in 4 years).

Demonstration of Priority and/or Impact

East Georgia State College developed a (g2)² program or “Get to Graduation in Two Years,” which is a “15-to-Finish” program. The program has inspired growing numbers of students to graduate on time and thus increase EGCS two-year and three-year graduation rates. The program has changed the culture on the campus so that students see the value in completing a degree in two years. The Academic Advising Center has strongly promoted the program.

Primary Point of Contact

Dr. Deborah Vess, Vice President for Academic Affairs (dvess@ega.edu)

Measures of Progress

Baseline Status of Metrics:

The Fall 2011 cohort provided our baseline data for CCG when the three-year graduation rate was 5.8%.  The first year of CCG we evaluated the Fall 2012-Summer 2012 graduates.   We had a total of 173 graduates with 8.1% finishing their degree in two years and 24.9% completing their degree in three years.  The average time to completion was 73.0 hours.

Interim Metrics

Presented below in Table 7 are the two and three-year associate degree graduation rates for beginning fall semester freshmen at EGSC compared to the USG State College Sector. While EGSC’s graduation rates were below the USG State Sector rates in previous years, EGSC’s graduation rates more recently have been more in line with the sector rates. One contributing factor was the approvals EGSC received from the USG and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACSCOC) to begin offering associate degrees to its EGSC Statesboro students beginning in AY 2013-14. Prior to these approvals, the 60 percent of EGSC’s student body located in Statesboro had only one option, to transfer to another USG institution.

Table 7: EGSC to USG State College Sector Comparison of 2-Year and 3-Year Graduation Rates

The number of hours a student must take to graduate has been reduced from 65 to 64 hours.  As can be seen Table 8 below, EGSC has slowly begun to reduce the number of hours taken to graduate, an indication of a much more efficient program and better advisement.

Table 8: Average Number of Hours Taken to Graduate

Our CCG graduation goal was to produce an average of 207 graduates a year between 2012 and 2020.  As can be seen by the Table 9 below, the number of graduates has surpassed that number for five consecutive years.

Table 9: 2-Year and 3-Year Graduates by Semester – AY 2013 – AY 2017

Final Success Measure or Goal:

EGSC has made substantial progress in improving its graduation rates in the last two years, but much more progress needs to be made. As an open admissions college, EGSC will work to make steady progress toward achieving a three-year graduation rate of associate degree granting colleges, which for the Fall 2012 first-time, full-time freshmen cohort was 22 percent, as reported by the National Center for Education Statistics.  

Lessons Learned

Improving graduation rates requires a diligent long-term commitment to providing students with a variety of supports, guidance and incentives to succeed. EGSC will continue to improve on the techniques that work and experiment with promising approaches that contribute to student success.

High-Impact Strategy 3: Reverse Transfer

• Students are informed upon transfer of the possibility of receiving a degree through reverse transfer.
• Institution has a process for contacting students identified as potentially eligible for reverse transfer.

Related Goal

Goal 5: Award degrees to students who may have already met requirements for associate degrees via courses taken at one or more institutions.

Demonstration of Priority and/or Impact

Through the through the A.D.D. (Associate Degree you Deserve) Reverse Transfer Initiative funded by the Lumina Foundation, USG institutions are able to increase the number of Georgia citizens with post-secondary degrees and helping to create a more educated population in the state. Students receiving a degree through the Reverse Transfer Initiative value the education received at the institution and are able to make a greater impact on our service area. Additionally, research studies have proven that students obtaining an Associate’s Degree are more likely to complete higher-level degrees.

Primary Point of Contact

Denise M. Daniels, Assistant Registrar (dmdaniels@ega.edu)

Summary of Resources Used and Activities Conducted

The institution is using the “RT” outcome status in the degree record to identify students receiving degrees through the Reverse Transfer Initiative. Based on the “RT” outcome status, the Table 10 breaks down by gender and ethnicity the number of students who have been awarded associate degrees through the A.D.D. Initiative since these awards began to be made in Spring Semester 2016.

Table 10: EGSC ADD Awards since Program Initiation

Measures of Progress

Baseline Status of Metrics:

Before the A.D.D. Program was implemented, we did not have a way of tracking the degree conferral of reverse transfer students.

Interim Metrics:

Initially, in Spring Semester 2016, 59 of the A.D.D. awards were given to students at Georgia Southern University (GSU) and 2 awards were made to students at Augusta University (AU).   During Summer Semester 2016, EGSC received student transcripts from Columbus State University, Georgia Gwinnett College, and Georgia College in addition to more transcripts received from AU and GSU.

Final Success Measure or Goal:

The ultimate success of the A.D.D. program will be gauged by two changes in perspective toward the associate degree by students, educators, and employers. First, through the increasing recognition of the importance of completing an associate degree to career preparation and advancement. Second, through the increasing recognition of the usefulness of earning an associate degree as a stepping stone to earning more advanced degrees.

Lessons Learned

With the increased processing necessary to evaluate Reverse Transfer transcripts and auditing of student’s academic history for potential degree conferral, human resources have become the biggest factor in the overall success of the initiative. The anticipated stabilization will allow for more structured processing times in the course of a semester allowing for a better time management strategy in relation to the RT initiative.

High-Impact Strategy 4: Increase Move On When Ready (MOWR) Opportunities

• Participate in dual enrollment/Move On When Ready programs for high school students.

Related Goal

Goal 6: Shorten time to degree completion through programs that allow students to earn college credit while still in high school and by awarding credit for prior learning that is verified by appropriate assessment.

Demonstration of Priority and/or Impact

As an access institution within the USG, EGSC seeks to expand post-secondary opportunities in its Southeast Georgia service area. Since more than one-third of its students are first generation college students, the College encourages high school students to take college-level courses on EGSC campuses and on location at area high schools.

Primary Point of Contact

Brandy Murphy, MOWR Coordinator (bmurphy@ega.edu)

Summary of Resources Used and Activities Conducted

During Fall Semester 2016, EGSC enrolled 350 MOWR students, more than two times the 104 MOWR students the College enrolled in Fall Semester 2015. Similarly, EGSC enrolled 369 MOWR students in Spring Semester 2017, a more than 100 percent increase over Spring Semester 2016. In addition to hosting MOWR students on campus, EGSC conducted courses at seven area high schools, as summarized in Table 11 below.

Table 11: EGSC Courses taught at Area High Schools during AY 2017

Measures of Progress

Baseline Status of Metrics:

EGSC’s MOWR program has grown dramatically since the beginning of its Complete College Georgia plan. In Fall Semester 2017, EGSC had only 17 MOWR students enroll with all of these students attending an EGSC campus.

Interim Metrics:

The High school grade point average (GPA) for EGSC’s MOWR students during AY 2016-17 was 3.60 on a 4.00 scale. The overall GPA for the EGSC courses taken by MOWR students was 3.23 on a 4.00 scale.

Final Success Measure or Goal:

EGSC will continue to use the MOWR Program to encourage high school students to commit themselves to pursuing high education and graduating faster, as measured by increases in the College’s 2-year and 3-year associate degree graduation rates.

Lessons Learned

The MOWR Program has proven to be a very effective approach of providing a seamless transition from high school to college and EGSC will continue to use it as a key component of its CCG strategy.

High-Impact Strategy 5: Effectively Target Remediation

• Ensure that all remediation is targeted toward supporting students in the skills they need to pass the collegiate course.

Related Goal

Goal 7: Increase the likelihood of degree completion by transforming the way that remediation is accomplished.

Demonstration of Priority and/or Impact

The corequisite program in English and mathematics began on two campuses (Swainsboro and Augusta) in fall of 2014 and was expanded to the third campus (Statesboro) in fall 2015.  The alternative pathways model in mathematics has been employed since the beginning of the Complete College Georgia initiative.

Starting in Fall Semester 2015, the School of Math/Science changed the delivery of remedial mathematics to include a lower level 3 credit Foundations of College Algebra (MATH 0989) and a 1 credit co-requisite College Algebra Support (MATH 0999). In using this model, each College Algebra instructor also taught a linked College Algebra Support (MATH 0999).

Primary Points of Contact

Dr. Jimmy Wedincamp, Dean of the School of Mathematics & Natural Sciences (Wedincamp@ega.edu), Dr. Carmine , Dean of the School of Humanities (cpalumbo@ega.edu)

Summary of Resources Used and Activities Conducted

The delivery of remedial mathematics changed starting Spring Semester 2017. Each instructor will now teach one Algebra support regardless of the number of MATH 1111 courses taught. Instructors will use the computer labs to conduct the algebra support courses. This model may change as we continue to participate in the John N. Gardner Institute initiative aimed at improving success in Gateway courses. One of those possible changes include the conversion of remedial mathematics to a lab model. College Algebra instructors will be assigned to staff computer labs to assist remedial students enrolled in MATH 0999. The delivery of remedial mathematics may continue to evolve as we learn more regarding mathematics education by our participation in the G2C initiative aimed at improving success in Gateway courses.

Measures of Progress

Baseline and Interim Metrics:

Presented in Table 12 below are percentages of students requiring learning support in mathematics, English, and reading for the fall semesters 2011, 2015, and 2016 broken down by EGSC location. The drop in students requiring learning support has fallen most dramatically in reading, with 1 percent or less requiring learning support in that area by Fall Semester 2016. However, learning support challenges remain. The English Composition I success rate for students requiring learning support English has declined steadily from the 2016 to the 2017 Spring semesters. The English corequisite remediation model is being evaluated for improvements.

Table 12: Percent Comparison of Fall Semester Students Requiring Learning Support

(AY 2011-12 last year the previous USG Learning Support Policy was in effect)

Final Success Measure or Goal:

As an associate degree dominant open admissions college, EGSC is committed to its access mission and will continue to assist those who need learning support. Of the students who earned an associate degree from EGSC since Complete College Georgia began, 37 percent entered the College requiring some form of learning support.

Lessons Learned

As indicated in the Appendix Table A4, the success rates of students who take advantage of learning support in the Fall semester 2016 was markedly higher than students taking learning support in Spring Semester 2017. The same result is true for selected gateway college courses, including MATH 1111 College Algebra and ENGL 1101 Composition I. Closing this performance gap is key to improving completion outcomes. A solution in the mathematics area is presented in the Going Forward section below.

Observations

Reflections on AY 2016-17

Successes:

The most dramatic growth in programs designed to promote college completion during AY 2016-17 was the A.D.D. Program, with 114 former EGSC being awarded their associate degrees through reverse transfer. Another highlight of the year was the rapid increase in high school students who are taking advantage of MOWR opportunities. Both of these programs are discussed in detail in Section 2 above. Another initiative that continued to expand in AY 2016-17 at EGSC was Affordable Learning Georgia (ALG). One ALG grant to history faculty covers the period from Fall Semester 2016 through Fall Semester 2017 and is expected to result in annual savings to students of $18,008. A second ALG grant awarded to biology faculty for the same period is expected to result in an annual savings of over $46,000 in textbook costs.

Challenges:

As an access institution, EGSC continues to focus its resources on assisting students who can succeed, but do not enter college fully prepared and will explore instructional methods that will improve their completion outcomes.

Adjustments Made to Completion Activities: Several of the college completion activities and programs highlighted as successes above will continue to be used and improved. A focus will be placed on guiding students to make more consistent progress toward completing a degree of their choice. These degree choices are expanding in Fall Semester 2017, as described below in the Going Forward section.

Review of Progress Made since AY 2012-13: Tables A1 to A3 on the first page of the Appendix document both the dramatic increase in the associate degrees awarded to EGSC students and the consistency with which former EGSC student go on to earn bachelor degrees at other USG institutions. Appendix Tables A4 and A5 document the contribution that continuous improvements in overall course success rates and credit hour completion rates have made to college completion and show that students who take a combination of in-class and online courses have the highest completion rates.

Focus on College Completion Going Forward

Associate Degrees with Majors: Prior to Fall Semester 2017, EGSC offered one associate degree, the Associate of Arts Degree, Core Curriculum (AACC). Beginning in Fall Semester 2017, in addition to the AACC Degree, EGSC will begin offering associate of arts (AA) and associate of science (AS) degrees with majors in specific academic disciplines (see USG Degrees and Majors Authorized for East Georgia State College). EGSC is implementing this initiative to highlight the intrinsic value of earning an associate degree and to emphasize its usefulness as a key stepping stone to earning a baccalaureate degree. The expectation is that by completing an associate degree in a specific major, EGSC students will be more motivated and better focused to pursue a bachelor degree within the University System of Georgia.

Math Quantitative Skills for Non-STEM Majors: The USG Task Force on Transforming College Mathematics issued the following statement in July 2013: “System institutions should ensure the alignment of pathways for AREA   A Mathematics to programs of study so that students learn the mathematical content necessary for success in their majors.” Most students in System colleges now take College Algebra as their entry-level mathematics course. College Algebra was designed explicitly to meet the needs of students who are preparing to take Pre-calculus and Calculus. Most students in non-STEM majors would be better served by enrolling in Quantitative Reasoning or Introduction to Mathematical Modeling, possibly followed by a statistics course in Area D (Natural Science, Mathematics, and Technology) of the core curriculum. Based upon these USG recommendations, each School at EGSC will create program maps for each degree (A.A., A.S. and B.S.). Program maps provide lists of recommended courses for each semester leading up to degree-completion, with milestones that clearly indicate to students whether or not they are “on-track.”

Targeted Bachelor Degrees: EGSC continues to explore opportunities to develop targeted bachelor degree programs that complement and add to the degree options available to students in its region. Targeted bachelor options currently being explored include a Bachelor of Applied Science Degree in Organizational Leadership with concentrations in Health Care Management, Natural Resource Management, and Profit/Non-Profit Management. Students in both the USG and TCSG should find this degree option attractive. EGSC is also investigating the potential for offering a pre-licensure Bachelor in Nursing Program. This program should be attractive to students competing limited seating in nursing programs in a field offering high graduate employment rates. In addition, the pre-licensure program would serve as a gateway to graduate nursing programs.