To combat lower graduation rates, KSU will focus on four initiatives aimed at supporting new students:
- The President’s Focused Learner Program
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.
- The FLIGHT Program
FLIGHT is a class-year connections initiative focused on providing support to students as they progress through their collegiate journey and learn to make meaning of their experience during their time at Kennesaw State University. FLIGHT utilizes a four-year framework built to assist each class-year in developing a unique identity that aims to increase students’ sense of community, belonging, and school spirit. Each year in the framework is designed to provide students with targeted information and developmental “markers” necessary to ensure their successful and timely degree completion.
- Evaluation of Transfer Credit
Students transferring between institutions tend to have unused courses in their new programs. This results in additional time and costs spent at the new institution. There is an articulation agreement for courses in the core curriculum between the University System of Georgia (USG) institutions, but no such agreement exists for private or out of state institutions. The goal of this project is to allow students to transfer to KSU more easily by accepting more relevant coursework into their programs.KSU is re-evaluating all the general education courses from our top feeder universities/colleges. Rather than evaluating for course equivalency, we will review each course for a match in learning outcomes in each of our general education areas. Additionally, new and renewed articulation agreements are focusing on how to maximize credits being transferred between institutions.
- Improving outcomes in first-year critical courses
KSU will identify high enrollment courses with significant DFW rates, ensure that sufficient sections are offered to meet student demand, and target academic supports to have greater impacts.
All initiatives have identified outcomes, timelines and measures. The KPIs listed below will be measured annually at a minimum.
- The President’s Focused Learner Program
- Engagement in program
- Participation or completion of tasks assigned within PFL
- RPG over long term
- FLIGHT
- Engagement in program
- RPG over long term
- End-of-year surveys
- Focus groups
- NSSE completion rates and data
- Evaluation of Transfer Credit
- List of feeder schools
- Number of courses being added to student records
- Improving outcomes in first-year critical courses
- DFWI rates
- Course enrollment and fill rates
- Early Alert engagement
- Midterm Grade reporting engagement
Supplemental Instruction/Tutoring engagement
Baseline measure (for each KPI) N/A
Current/most recent data (for each KPI) [NEW for 2023]:
- The President’s Focused Learner Program
In total, 1,883 (88%) PFL students who were enrolled in spring 2023 reenrolled in fall 2023. Of the 200 PFL students who received a pre-built schedule in fall 2022, 90.5% of those students reenrolled in spring 2023.
- FLIGHT
Data available so far may be accessed here.
- Evaluation of Transfer Credit
General education courses from the following feeder schools were evaluated in spring 2023.
- University of Alabama - Tuscaloosa
- Jacksonville State University
- Community College of the Air Force
- University of Maryland Global Campus
- Liberty University
- Valencia College
- American Military
- University of Phoenix
- University of Tennessee at Knoxville
- Emmanuel College
Since the last report, an additional 1,331 students have been positively impacted by accepting an additional 10,712 courses.
- Improving outcomes in first-year critical courses
The table below shows the DFWI rates, course enrollment and fill rates, and Early Alert and Midterm Grade reporting engagements by faculty for spring 2023.
|
|
Spring 2023 |
Spring 2022 |
|||||
|
Course |
Sections |
Enrollment |
Fill Rate |
Early Alert Faculty Participation (%) |
Midterm Grade Reporting Faculty Participation (%) |
DFWI (%) |
DFWI (%) |
|
MATH 1111 |
47 |
1640 |
88.2 |
94% |
60% |
40% |
43% |
|
MATH 1113 |
52 |
2088 |
93.2 |
90% |
64% |
38% |
39% |
|
MATH 1190 |
31 |
1454 |
98.5 |
86% |
71% |
47% |
56% |
The table below shows SMART Center Tutoring and Supplemental Instruction data for spring 2023.
|
Course |
No. of students visiting the SMART Center |
DFWI for students visiting the SMART Center (%) |
No. of students attending SI session(s) |
DFWI for students attending SI session(s) (%) |
|
MATH 1111 |
118 |
36% |
74 |
29% |
|
MATH 1113 |
211 |
32% |
129 |
20% |
|
MATH 1190 |
283 |
37% |
176 |
29% |
Goal or targets (for each KPI): We wish to see the long-term improvements in RPG rates for our new student population. We are also seeking continual improvement of program measures
Time period/duration: On going
- The President’s Focused Learner Program
A fourth cohort of first-time, full-time students were identified and welcomed to the PFL program at the start of the Fall 2023 semester. In total, there are now 2,862 PFL students in the program this year (526 from F20 cohort, 737 from F21 cohort, 852 from F22 cohort, and 747 F23 cohort).
Prior to the start of the fall 2023 semester, we offered to provide complete pre-built schedules for students in the F23 cohort. One hundred and fifty-eight students (21%) received a prebuilt schedule. In addition to the pre-built scheduling initiative, PFL program administrators also provided additional success resources to students in the program. A number of events were hosted in spring 2023, designed to connect students to resources on campus, such as tutoring, advising, writing center, career and professional development, and campus wellbeing.
Sadly, Nicole Small, the Director leading this program, passed away in the spring. Dr. Frank Ard was hired in August of this year as the new Director. Since that time, the PFL program has expanded its support resources to include:
- One-on-one success coaching sessions (90 students have attended 146 appointments since Spring 2023).
- Academic success workshops (in-person and online).
- Community/belonging events to connect students with their peers and campus offices/resources.
- Guided study sessions to aid students with productivity and time management.
- Weekly and monthly resources newsletters to make students aware of campus events and supports.
- Increased use of D2L Brightspace for housing files and learning materials for students to access anytime.
- Coordination with numerous campus offices to create specialized programming for PFL students.
- Established a committee of academic advisors (PFL Liaisons) to provide feedback on PFL initiatives and collaborate on expanded student success programming.
Additionally, in-class success workshops were conducted in three ENGL 1101 PFL sections, and a registration assistance event (“Registration Triage”) was held to coincide with time tickets opening for spring 2023 registration.
- Evaluation of Transfer Credit
During the fall 2022 and spring 2023 semesters we have examined the core curricula for twenty-eight different institutions. In all, this project has positively impacted 4,057 students by accepting 26,768 transfer courses without having to go through a course substitution process. We anticipate this will save these transfer students an average of one semester of coursework each.
- FLIGHT
In Fall 2023, the Division of Student Affairs again collaborated on a Convocation that continued to excel in welcoming first-year students to campus with a record attendance of approximately 4,000 students.
Entering AY23-24, the program is now staffed by a Director and Coordinator of Student Engagement and Belonging. These staff members were hired in Spring 2023 and have enabled the program to grow and develop, by coordinating 22 events in the fall 2023 semester and 14 events in the spring 2024 semester. These programs are aimed at increasing students’ affinity to their class year and KSU, scaffolding educational information at timely points during the year, and providing them with holistic support.
In addition to programs, the Department has implemented two student initiatives, the Student Advisory Board and FLIGHT CREW. The purpose of the Student Advisory Board is to provide the department with feedback and input about student support programs/initiatives, and FLIGHT CREW is designed to engage upper class students to mentor and guide first-year students.
The decision was recently made to administer the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) only every three years, which may change its use for measuring FLIGHT success. However, since NSSE measures engagement specifically, we still expect to glean important information about engagement from it. - Improving outcomes in first-year critical courses
College Algebra, Pre-Calculus, and Calculus were targeted in the spring.Fill rates were closely monitored, and additional sections were added when possible.Hours of tutoring and SI assistance to support students in these courses was increased.All faculty teaching these courses were encouraged to participate in the Early Alert and midterm grade submission processes, and advisors and the SMART Center staff engaged in outreach to these students.
- The President’s Focused Learner Program
PFL programs and events will be expanded throughout the 2023-2024 academic year. The academic advising community will continue to play a key role in the PFL program’s future development through collaboration via the PFL Liaison committee, as well as through assistance with outreach, classroom visits, academic success workshops, schedule building, and schedule checks. Also, intentional connection and frequent collaboration with other campus student support offices will be emphasized going forward.
We will continue to collect data to determine which activities are most impactful with which subpopulations of PFL students, and we will further track data to evaluate program effectiveness per semester and per academic year. Additionally, we will expand our collection of academic success materials via our D2L page and offer more events online, ensuring that students can access materials at the point of need regardless of whether they are attending KSU in-person our two campuses or online.
- Evaluation of Transfer Credit
In the next year, we will be updating the transfer attributes to accommodate the new IMPACTS core curriculum from the USG.
- FLIGHT
The Fall 2023 Convocation discussed above was only the beginning of the FLIGHT program in the 2023-2024 Academic Year. Staff members have rolled out a series of programs and initiatives, as well as assessment efforts, that have actualized the FLIGHT program this semester. Key events included:
- Freshman Football Runout for FLIGHT27
- Sophomore Social for FLIGHT26
- National Transfer Student Week for FLIGHT26
- Homecoming Parliament representatives for FLIGHT26 and FLIGHT27
- FLIGHT Nights at Athletic Events
- First-Year Friday series for FLIGHT27
- OwlsServe Days for both FLIGHTs
- Improving outcomes in first-year critical courses
College Algebra, Pre-Calculus, and Calculus continue to be targeted in the fall.Tutoring and SI assistance to support students in these courses remains in place.The College of Science and Mathematics also offers an Open Math Lab in which faculty are available to assist students. Students across campus are encouraged to go to the Lab, as well as take advantage of other resources, such as the SMART (Tutoring) Center and Supplemental Instruction sessions.
Block scheduling for first-time freshmen is a new initiative that is meant to improve the first-year experience and improve outcomes in critical courses with the highest non-pass rates. Block scheduling streamlines the registration process, provides students the optimal chance to register for 15 credit hours, facilitates the formation of student groups, and promotes community building and cocurricular engagement for first-year students. We expect to again see an increase in the percentage of full-time students who enroll in 15 or more hours in Fall 2024 compared to previous semesters and continued improvements in RPG rates. The building of fall 2024 blocks is currently underway, and registration testing, prior to its launch will take place in the spring.
Challenges:
- The President’s Focused Learner Program
The continued challenge will be to engage with students through a voluntary program. Also, continuing to assist students with identifying their best major early is a chief concern.While the program may be effective in retaining students, added costs associated with loss of credit when a student changes majors may lead students to stop out.
- Evaluation of Transfer Credit
The biggest challenge to this process is that it is initially time consuming. Once agreements and evaluations are in place, the time consumption will be less. However, the Interim Executive Director of General Education is working closely with the Registrar’s Office to continue to streamline the process.
- FLIGHT
The main challenge is still to identify a sustainable funding model for FLIGHT. The Director has spent significant time with University Advancement Staff and has identified a number of opportunities for corporations or individuals to invest. Efforts in this area are ongoing.
- Improving outcomes in first-year critical courses
With KSU’s growth in enrollment, the biggest challenge may be the recruitment of a sufficient number of mathematics faculty. Student engagement in tutoring and supplemental instruction is also a challenge. Classroom visits and announcements are being increased to combat this challenge.
Support Needed:
In this area, the system is already providing the support needed by effectively facilitating connections between KSU and other institutions tackling similar challenges during the Momentum Summit.
