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Goals and Strategies

The work of Complete College Georgia is focued on increasing the number of undergraduate degrees awarded by USG institutions.

This objective represents the overarching goal for the initiative, and provides the focus for our work.  To achieve this goal, institutions have opportunities to approach their work in a manner that is consistent with their student body profile, institutional mission, and internal capacity.  By working on specific, high-impact actitivies, institutions can build a stronger foundation for total student success.  Complete College Georgia has identified a number of goal areas that have shown promise elsewhere. The list below provides an overview of these and their related strategies.

Institutions can and should have goals and strategies that they develop that differ from this list, and not every campus is expected to work on every one.   

Complete College Georgia Goals and Strategies

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

(all strategies and other activities should align to this goal)

Area

Goal

Associated Strategies

Access

Increase Access for underserved and/or priority communities.
  • Targeted recruitment
  • Parent & community outreach
  • Dedicated admissions counselors
  • Specialized marketing
  • Partnerships with targeted schoola
  • Summer access institutes
  • African American Male Initiative
  • Go Back, Move Ahead
  • Latino RAC

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.
  • Participate in Move on When Ready for high school students.
  • Award credit based on ACE credit recommendations.
  • Award credit based on portfolio review.
  • Sponsor an Early College.
  • Award credit based on Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate scores/exams.
  • Award credit based on assessment of prior learning via CLEP or DSST scores.

Persistence & Progression

Increase the likelihood of degree completion by transforming the way that remediation is accomplished.
  • Enroll most students in need of remediation in gateway collegiate courses in English and mathematics, with corequisite Learning Support.
  • Ensure that all remediation is targeted toward supporting students in the skills they need to pass the collegiate course.
  • End the practice of requiring students to withdraw from all collegiate courses when they withdraw from Learning Support courses.

Decrease excess credits earned on the path to getting a degree
  • Provide program maps that plot the path to a degree and reduce choice through constrained choice.  Program maps should define the appropriate mathematics pathway for each major and drive students to complete Area A1 English requirements in the first year and the Area A2 mathematics requirements in the first semester.
  • Provide academic focus areas or “meta-major” maps for students who have not decided on majors that provide them with courses that are likely to count toward their majors when chosen.  Meta-major maps should define the appropriate mathematics pathway for each meta-major and drive students to complete Area A1 English requirements in the first year and the Area A2 mathematics requirements in the first semester.
  • Create default schedules for students in majors or meta-majors; students cannot register for other courses without permission.
  • Offer block schedules for students in meta-majors or majors for the first semester or first year.
  • Require students to select majors or programs of study by the end of the first semester (two-year institutions) or first year (four-year institutions).
  • Provide students with exposure to majors and careers within the first semester or year of study to facilitate selection of appropriate programs of study or majors.
  • Establish regional partnerships to provide degree pathways that match workforce needs.
  • Align the gateway mathematics course with the degree program

Provide intrusive advising to keep students on track to graduate.
  • Establish milestones as part of program maps to facilitate defining when students are “off track.”
  • Use predictive analytics (EAB, D2L, Oracle, Ellucian, local solutions, or others) to help identify students who are off track and to help students understand their likelihood of success in particular programs.
  • Use Degree Works to track student progress.
  • Establish criteria for identifying students who may need special interventions in the semester (e.g., lack of attendance, poor performance on early assignments).
  • Ensure that students who meet off-track criteria receive timely and targeted advising intervention.

 

Restructure instructional delivery to support educational excellence and student success.
  • Promote and support the use of high-impact instructional practices across institution.
  • Increase participation of underrepresented students in high-impact practices.
  • Expand completely online opportunities.
  • Implement alternative delivery models, such as hybrid instruction, flipped classrooms, and emporium-model instruction.

Success

Increase the number of degrees that are earned “on time” (associate degrees in 2 years, bachelor’s degrees in 4 years).
  • Change institutional culture to emphasize taking full-time course loads (15 or more credits per semester) to earn degrees “on time.”
  • Create financial incentives (through tuition plans) to encourage students to take full course loads and finish on time.
  • Default students into schedules with 15 or more credits a semester.
  • Provide information to students on the benefits of taking 15 credits a semester..