Kennesaw State University Campus Plan Update 2022

Activity/Project Name

Student Success Projects

Momentum Area
 

Purpose

Pathways

Mindset

 X    Change Management

Data & Communications

Activity/Project Overview or Description

A Student Success Steering Committee, chaired by the Interim Provost and comprised of the VP for Student Affairs, the Chief Administrative Officer, the Interim Chief Diversity Officer and the Assistant VP for Academic Strategy and Finance meets monthly to collaborate on student success-oriented improvements throughout the campus. The myriad of offices under their purview are engaged in improvement projects and initiatives. All this work is being tracked on a dashboard with action steps, due dates, outcomes, and metrics. This includes work being performed in every academic college, some of which was internally funded by a competitive proposal process.

Activity/Project Activity Status

This project will continue scaling as more units continue to add projects to the tracker. Some have been completed. Funded projects will be assessed at the end of spring to determine if they should be continued, changed or retired.

Evaluation/Assessment plan

Evaluation Plan and measures:
All projects have identified outcomes, timelines and measures. Leadership keeps an eye on the numbers and percentage of projects on track. 

Baseline measure:
Baseline measure: Vary from project to project but stakeholders and leaders can look at dashboard to see % of projects on track or completed

Goal or targets:
Varies from project to project

Time period/duration:

Updates for 2022

Progress and Adjustments

A Student Success tracking document was created for each funded project.  Each project lead was required to provide action steps, due dates, outcomes, and metrics, and update the document throughout the year.  This allowed Michael Rothlisberger, AVP for Strategy and Finance, to track the progress on the awards.  Michael also met with Deans and projects leads throughout the year to ensure progress was being made.  Performance reviews of the Year 1 Student Success Grants took place to determine if the grants should be continued, changed or retired.  The most promising projects were funded for an additional year.

In addition, the METRICS Dashboard and Accountability Tool was launched in fall 2022 as a way to provide actionable information that is meaningful, relevant to the context of student success and/or barriers to that success, and provide insight into potential challenges to student success. The METRICS Dashboard focuses on the following metrics that can be used by college and institutional leaders to identify potential challenges so the challenges can be explored more deeply and lead in interventions that can be employed to improve student success.

• Major changes (changes into and out of majors by major)
• Enrollment (Longitudinal headcount from fall to spring by cohort)
• Teaching (Highest/lowest course GPAs, DFWIs, variance between sections, and waitlists)
• Returning Metric (# & % of students who return from fall to fall)
• Intensity Metric (Average Credit Hours Attempted)
• Completion Metric (in-house measure of % of students completing a program at KSU)
• Student Engagement Metrics (Scholarships, Double Owl, Tutoring, Advising, Honors, Student Affairs, Career Advising, Study Abroad, Summer Enrollment)

Plan for the year ahead

This year Academic Colleges will select at least three student success outcomes that utilize the METRICS Dashboard data to identify and monitor targeted interventions. 

Academic programs will likewise use the METRICS dashboard data to select at least one student success outcome.  This work will be tracked in the Accountability Tool with action steps, due dates, outcomes, and metrics.

Funded projects will be assessed at the end of spring to determine if they should be continued for a third year, changed or retired.  

What challenges will affect your ability to do this activity?

The main challenge that remains will be to keep the wide slate of leaders across the campus from losing sight of this work as other challenges inevitably arise.

Project Lead/point of contact

Michael Rothlisberger, Asst. VP for Strategy and Finance/Lori Lowder, Interim AVP for Student Success

Activity/Project Name

President’s Focused Learners (PFL)

Momentum Area

X     Mindset

Activity/Project Overview or Description

To combat lower graduation rates, we are implementing student success initiatives to support the growing population of students sometimes referred to as the “Murky Middle,” who are not often purposely targeted in interventions at large-scale, institutional levels. With intentional focus on this student population, we believe we will achieve a positive impact on the retention and progression of this population. The President’s Focused Learner Program (PFL) is a KSU initiative seeking to assist incoming students at risk of “Murky Middle” GPAs with their ability to navigate the academic and personal well-being factors often necessary for a student’s academic success. The PFL Program spans all majors at KSU.

Activity/Project Activity Status

The first two cohorts of students were identified in Spring 2021 (Fall 2020 first year students with 2.5-2.99 GPA) and Fall 2021. Lessons from the pilot cohorts are helping to modify activities for the Fall 2022 cohort. The PFL Program Director will continue to utilize the predictive analytic measures to capture incoming students in Fall semesters.

The PFL Program is piloting, but operational and in the process of scaling.

Evaluation/Assessment plan

Evaluation Plan and measures:

With the wide net cast by the PFL Program, we are currently collecting baseline data in a variety of areas (engagement in program, participation or completion of tasks assigned within PFL, majors and changes of majors, GPAs based on engagement, RPG over long term, etc.)

Baseline measure:

Currently capturing and digesting information about current F20 and F21 Cohorts. Piloting and creating/adapting events and tasks to create baseline data. ENGL 1101 and 1102 jumped on board quickly and data of student success in ENGL is part of initial data.

Goal or targets:

See long term impact to increase of RPG of Murky Middle population. Seeking continual improvement of program measures (From events to RPG)

Time period/duration:

Continual; Program will continue to evaluate and adapt based on the needs of current KSU student populations and future Cohorts

Updates for 2022

Progress and Adjustments

Much of the plan set forth for 2022 has already been accomplished.

• In June 2022, Ellie Peters was hired as an additional staff member to allow for more personal interventions and targeted programming.
• In the spring, in addition to 24 PFL sections of ENGL 1102, we offered a PFL section of STAT 1401 for the first time.  Mindset interventions and activities were implemented within these classes.  153 PFL students registered for the PFL reserved ENGL 1102 sections, and 90% of those students passed the class.  The overall pass rate for all ENGL 1102 students was 82%.  For the STAT 1401 section, 38 PFL students enrolled, and 84% of those students passed the class.                                               The overall pass rate for all STAT 1401 students was 81%.                                              This fall, we are offering 28 PFL sections of ENGL 1101, two sections of ENGL 1102, and one section of STAT 1401.
• A third cohort of first-time, full-time students have been identified and welcomed to the PFL.  In total, there are 2590 PFL students (741 F20 Cohort, 944 F21 Cohort, and 905 F22 Cohort).
• Earlier and persistent attempts were made to provide full pre-made schedules for students in the F22 cohort.  For the F21 cohort, 113 students (12%) received a pre-built schedule whereas for the F22 cohort, X PFL students (22%) received a pre-built schedule.
• In the spring, a D2L log-in tracking process was implemented.  PFL students who had not logged in into D2L in 5 days were contacted by email and/or phone.

Preliminary review suggests the program has been impactful.

• Of the PFLs on probation in spring, 31% moved to Good Standing after the spring semester.  In comparison, 29% of all students on probation at KSU moved to Good Standing.
• There were 1,372 PFL students were enrolled in spring 2022. Of these, 79% met with an academic advisor during the year.  In comparison, only 64% of KSU undergraduates met with an academic advisor during the year.

In July 2022, KSU’s advising structure changed from a primarily decentralized model to a semi-centralized model.  The new model will allow KSU to better coordinate and direct the activities of all advisors and ensure students receive consistent advising services. 

All units will now have an Advising Director who will report to Hannah Stock, the Executive Director of Student Advising and Retention (previously the PFL Director).  The new model will allow us to use advisors across campus to assist with PFL program initiatives.  A new Director for Academic Student Support Services will be hired this fall to lead the PFL program.

In addition to the PFL program, the FLIGHT program, aimed at all incoming freshmen, launch in Fall 2022.  FLIGHT is dedicated to building students’ affinity for KSU and cohesion as a class. The FLIGHT program is a Division of Student Affairs initiative with significant cross-university collaboration.  FLIGHT will contribute to student retention through student engagement, resulting in increased numbers of students who are involved with cocurricular activities, attend athletic events, stay enrolled, graduate on time, and become enthusiastic alumni and donors to KSU.  FLIGHT consists of intentional new initiatives and amplification of existing programmatic efforts. The program emphasizes students' graduation year to build a sense of identity for each class. Each class will engage in a specialized series of programs, initiatives, and events that encourage students' connections to each other, to faculty, to staff, and to KSU.

In Fall 2022, the Division of Student Affairs launched a new and improved First Year Convocation Program, focusing on increasing students’ engagement and belonging from the very beginning of their time at KSU. Students were asked to wear their FLIGHT26 jerseys to show solidarity and cohesion as a class, linking this significant event with the larger FLIGHT initiative sponsored by the Division of Student Affairs. The event was a high energy combination of an official welcome to KSU, helpful advice on how to succeed in college and entertainment.

The President, Provost, Vice President for Student Affairs, and Football Coach spoke to students, urging them to get involved inside and outside the classroom. Students learned the KSU Fight Song as well. Post-convocation, a large outdoor celebration was also sponsored by the Division of Student Affairs, enabling students to engage with each other and with staff members while having fun.  

Plan for the year ahead

With the new structure in place, PFL programmatic offerings will be increased.  We will leverage the advising community and Office of Retention staff to assist with outreach, classroom visits, out-of-class workshops, schedule building, and schedule checks.  We will continue to collect data to determine which activities are most impactful with which subpopulations of PFL students.

Additional FLIGHT26 activities will take place and a plan for FLIGHT27 will be developed.     

What challenges will affect your ability to do this activity?

The main challenge will be to continually increase engagement in these voluntary programs.  For PFL students, assisting in identifying the best major as early as possible is also a challenge.  While the program may be effective in retaining students, added costs associated with loss of credit may lead students to stop out. 

Project Lead/point of contact

Lori Lowder, Interim Assoc. VP for Student Success/Sade Tramble, Director of Academic Student Support Services

Activity/Project Name

Focus Areas  

Momentum Area

 X     Purpose

 X     Pathways

Activity/Project Overview or Description

Improvement of Focus Area Program Maps to support Undeclared student

Activity/Project Activity Status

One-year program maps were created for students in KSU's eight focus areas. These plans make sure every focus area student will be guided to take 30 credit hours, complete Math and English, and explore their proposed area of study (at least three courses) within their first year.

Owl Advising has integrated the Values, Interests, Personality, and Skills (VIPS) approach in supporting students’ choice of both Focus Areas and majors.

Evaluation/Assessment plan

Evaluation Plan and measures:

Percentage of undeclared students in focus areas and ensuring students declare majors by 30 credit hour threshold.

Baseline measure:

Percentage of Undeclared Students in Focus Areas in fall 2019 was 23.6%, up to 77.4% in fall 2021

Goal or targets:

Continue to increase Percentage of Undeclared Students in Focus Areas. Aiming for 90-100%

Time Period/Duration: 2025

Updates for 2022

Progress and Adjustments

The percentage of Undeclared Students already in a Focus Area in fall 2022 is up to 79.6%.  Incorporation of a “UF” (Undeclared/Focus Area) hold has also helped with ensuring students choose a major in a timely manner, as they approach the 30 credit hour mark.  Of the students in a focus area, only 8.3% have earned greater than 30 credit hours.

Plan for the year ahead

Over the next year, we will continue to improve the percentage of undeclared students in Focus Areas by using pre-orientation appointments and orientation presentations.

• Pre-orientation appointments are critical to students understanding the importance of declaring a Focus Area, as well as ensure students are selecting appropriate courses. Owl Advising sends Pre-Orientation campaigns and communication to all newly admitted Undeclared students.
• Orientation presentations help students understand the benefits of Focus Areas and the courses associated with each Focus Area. Owl Advising has incorporated a small break in our Orientation presentations to allow students to either initially select their Focus Area, or to change it (if previously selected).

Email campaigns will be sent out regularly to students who do not choose a Focus Area.  Collaborations with Owl Advising, the Office of New Student Programming, Registrars, and the Office of Undergraduate Admissions will continue to be important. 

These collaborations ensure students are given various opportunities to choose a Focus Area, including at the point of admission, at registration for New Student Orientation, prior to their advising appointments, during advising appointments, before New Student Orientation, during New Student Orientation, or prior to the start of classes.

We will also continue to ensure more students choose a major in a timely manner.  Communication to students about declaring a major by 30 credit hours begins during Pre-Orientation appointments and during Owl Advising’s New Student Orientation presentation. Follow-up conversations are held during advising interactions during students’ first year at Kennesaw State University.    

What challenges will affect your ability to do this activity?

Admission of students with over 30 credit hours into an Undeclared/Focus Area major continues to be a challenge. Discussions and collaborations with the Office of Undergraduate Admissions continue to be critical in solving this issue, as many of these students would be more accurately coded as non-degree, transient, or auditing.

Project Lead/point of contact

Lori Lowder, Interim Assoc. VP for Student Success /AJ Amini, Director of Owl Advising

Activity/Project Name

Program Maps

Momentum Area

X      Pathways

Activity/Project Overview or Description

Program Maps for every degree program were created and placed in a central site. There is a process for updating and maintaining these maps throughout curricular changes. Programs were required to meet certain criteria to have their maps approved.

Maps are also incorporated into Degree Works for advisors and students to use.

Activity/Project Activity Status

Maintaining

Evaluation/Assessment plan

Evaluation Plan and measures:

Measuring the percentage of programs with the required curricular compliance.

Baseline measure:

87.5% of program in compliance in Fall 2021.

Goal or targets:

100% of programs in compliance by Fall 2023

Time period/duration:

3 years

Updates for 2022

Progress and Adjustments

95.5% of program curricula comply with all USG policy for Fall 2022. Compliant programs are programs in which their curriculum structure meets all USG requirements and regulations. During this year, 17 programs selected the new Statistics Pathway as appropriate for their students. Their maps were modified for this new pathway. Processes are in place for updating maps with curriculum change and for changing maps for other progression reasons. The student/advisor use of the pathways in Degreeworks has been launched.

Plan for the year ahead

100% of programs that can be brought into compliance have been brought into curricular alignment with USG rules for Fall 2022. A Curricular Analytics study has begun. Program complexity was calculated for 50 different non-accredited undergraduate programs revealing a complexity range of 55 to 405. Currently, critical course pathways are being analyzed to identify individual courses that have the greatest delay and blocking factors in popular majors. Enrollment management is analyzing availability of seats in these courses to ensure adequate availability.  Program maps are in place for all programs to support students in planning their registration. As of Fall 2022, of the 43,428 students enrolled at KSU:

•      32,808 of them do not have any plans selected in Degreeworks, yet (75.86%).

•      There are 1,455 students with a plan that was created using the Program Map template created by the Academic Affairs team (3.36%).

•      There are 8,985 students with plans that were created using the "blank" plan method, i.e., did not use the template created by the Academic Affairs team (20.78%).

This data should be considered a baseline and indicates that Academic Affairs will need to communicate with advisors about encouraging students to select the appropriate program plan and teach students how to use it when planning their registration.

What challenges will affect your ability to do this activity?

No barriers to communication with advising exist any longer. Recent changes to the advising team should make communication with advisors straightforward, promoting consistent practice across advising groups.

Project Lead/point of contact

Anissa Vega, AVP for Curriculum and Academic Innovation

Activity/Project Name

QEP: It’s About Engagement

Momentum Area

 X     Purpose

Activity/Project Overview or Description

Success is more about what you do while you are in college and less about what college you attend. A recent study showed that the most successful students are those who participate in undergraduate experiences, such as internships, undergraduate research, and service learning. These engaged learning opportunities allow students to take what they learn in the classroom and apply it to the real world. Through internships, undergraduate research, and service-learning, students also gain unparalleled opportunities to hone their critical thinking and communication skills. More importantly, these opportunities pay dividends for students well beyond graduation.

At Kennesaw State, we believe that doing is the key to learning, which is why we are focused on increasing the number of engaged learning opportunities and giving more students the chance to learn by doing. We developed our Quality Enhancement Plan, It's About Engagement, to advance KSU’s mission of student success by focusing on the dynamic nature of engaged learning in each of the academic colleges and the university, overall.

Activity/Project Activity Status

Maintaining – The QEP is nearing the end of year 3 of 5. At this point in the plan, the campus is actively engaged in scaling our efforts to meet our overall QEP goals.

Scaling – The focus for years four and five will be on expanding the number of courses and students engaging in courses using one of the three HIPs and engaging in the practice of reflection.

Evaluation/Assessment plan

Evaluation Plan and measures:

Goal #1: Increase the number of opportunities for students to engage in internships, undergraduate research, and service-learning in undergraduate degree programs in each of the academic colleges and for the university as a whole.

Goal #2: Increase the number of students engaging in internships, undergraduate research, and service-learning opportunities in undergraduate degree programs in each of the academic colleges and for the university as a whole.

SLO #1: Students will cite meaningful and valuable connections of their HIP experiences to their overall educational preparation.

SLO #2: Students will gain new insights on the connectedness and integration of the academic preparation of their disciplines of study to the applied settings of their HIP experiences.

SLO #3: Students will build upon prior knowledge and experiences to respond effectively to the new and challenging demands of their HIP settings.

SLO #4: Students will demonstrate growth in professional and personal core values and sense of self as a result of their HIP experiences.

Baseline measure: N/A

Goal or targets: N/A

Time period/duration:

Goals and Student Learning Outcomes are evaluated annually over a five-year period.

Updates for 2022

Progress and Adjustments

The QEP has made good progress in advancing its goals.  Still, an awareness of a need for greater administrative support led to the creation of a new position this past summer with the QEP as a major part of its portfolio. Processes have been studied, and a number of changes have been implemented to improve the accuracy of course coding as well as to automate some of the data collection.

Plan for the year ahead

Starting this fall, a number of innovations have been implemented.  KSU is utilizing the USG’s Course Attribute Dashboard to apply course attributes directly in Banner.  We have used Smartsheet to create a HIPs course submission form to aid department chairs and associate deans in tracking and coding prospective HIPs courses.  We have created a HIPs student reflection form, with a built-in default reflection prompt, to aid in the collection of student reflections and subsequent evaluation of those artifacts.

What challenges will affect your ability to do this activity?

We have had a significant amount of turnover in leadership positions involved with QEP implementation.  Familiarizing these new administrators with the plan and its processes has been a challenge.  Likewise, training everyone on the new tools to improve coding and data collection has taken time and resources. 

Through its development of CAD, the system office has already been deeply supportive of our efforts.

Project Lead/point of contact

Leigh Funk, AVP of Academic Effectiveness and SACSCOC Liaison/Brian Etheridge, Director of Institutional Effectiveness and QEP

Activity/Project Name

Learning Analytics

Momentum Area

X     Data & Communications

Activity/Project Overview or Description

KSU aims to take full advantage of data gathered through the LMS, D2L, for a faculty audience. Our online learning unit, Digital Learning Innovations, has revised their mission to support faculty in using the LMS to manage learning in all modalities and using the data to identify problems, diagnose root causes, and take targeted actions during the semester to impact student success within the semester.

Activity/Project Activity Status

1. Develop micro-learnings for faculty on how to find and use the course-level learning analytics within D2L. (Complete)
2. Update current DLI training to include using D2L for hybrid and face-to-face courses. (IP)
3. Automate D2L data dashboard pulls for the course outcomes reports in the College of Computing and Software Engineering. (IP)
4. Prototype new reports tied to D2L quiz and rubric data across multiple course sections that copy the same course design. Gather stakeholder input. (IP)
5. Map D2L quiz and rubric data fields to the prototype reports. (IP)
6. Interview consultancies who have proven track record in building educational data ingestion, storage, transformation and distribution systems for instructor audiences. Select consultancy. (IP)
7.  Scope full project to work with consultancy to build learning analytics platform. (Early progress)
8. Gather partners to collaborate on cross-institutional additions including USG D2L team and possibly eCampus. (studying)
9. Hire consultancy and launch project including minimum viable production: Ingestion process, storage process, transformation process, and distribution process. (planning)
10. Pilot initial reports. (planning)
11. Assess and gather stakeholder input. (planning)
12. Design Phase 2 with expanded instructor reports. (planning)

Evaluation/Assessment plan

Evaluation Plan and measures:

1. Micro-learning completion rates
2. Increase number of programs using D2L data for program assessment reporting (F-CAR reports)
3. Hiring of consultancy
4. Completion of minimum viable product which includes:
   
   1. automated data ingestion from D2L CHLOE into a cloud solution
   2. systematic data processing
   3. data storage
   4. data transformation
   5. and data distribution for insights and action.
5. Development of faculty training
   
   1. Design and development of faculty training materials
   2. Attendance or access numbers on faculty engagement with professional development
6. Use of analytics for instructional optimization
   
   1. Measure frequency of faculty access of learning analytics system.
   2. Measure number of faculty engaged with learning analytics system.

Baseline measure: N/A

Goal or targets: N/A

Time period/duration: N/A

Updates for 2022

Progress and Adjustments

We have created initial prototypes of reports that use data from D2L.  We have interviewed consultants and outlined broad goals of the project. The consultancy and KSU has agreed on a statement of work and final contract is in process.

Plan for the year ahead

We have scoped the project in detail in partnership with the consultancy, 3-Cloud through CDW, and our Microsoft, Inc. partners. Work on the minimum viable product will begin and close within the year.

What challenges will affect your ability to do this activity?

Access to communicate with the D2L corporate (BrightSpace) technical staff and USG D2L working team. Additional costs imposed by D2L/Brightspace are currently undetermined and may exceed current budgets. We have spoken with eCampus to discuss collaboration on building a solution that provides instructional faculty at both KSU and eCampus real time analytics and insights. In that process we discovered that the nature eCampus common course designs limits the value added by the learning analytics system designed by the KSU team.

We have learned from the eCampus team about the sources of specific D2L data fields for analytics and will reciprocate the collegiality once our project produces something valuable to the eCampus team and their unique context.

Project Lead/point of contact

Anissa Vega, Assistant Vice President for Curriculum and Academic Innovation