Observations and Next Steps
What strategies and activities have been most successful? What have been least effective? How has your institution made adjustments to your completion activities over the past year? Where would you want to see student success efforts shift in the coming year(s)?
Over the past year, Kennesaw State University has made intentional progress in advancing student success through a coordinated set of initiatives that connect engagement, academic support, and data-informed decision-making. Efforts such as FLIGHT, Academic Coaching and Support (ACS), and block scheduling have strengthened belonging, improved course outcomes, and enhanced persistence.
The FLIGHT program’s four-phase engagement framework—Foster, Focus, Flourish, and Finalize—has evolved into a defining feature of the KSU student experience. By emphasizing structured connection and developmental growth across all class years, FLIGHT fosters a sense of community that complements students’ academic progression and supports long-term retention.
At the same time, Academic Coaching and Support has continued to build a comprehensive and personalized student success ecosystem. Through holistic, strengths-based coaching, students have developed greater confidence, organization, and motivation. The integration of mentoring programs, such as Wing Leaders, and targeted outreach using Navigate 360 has expanded engagement among first-generation students and those in academic recovery, while group workshops have strengthened academic skills such as time management and test preparation.
KSU has also strengthened its capacity for data-informed intervention. Tools like uHoo Analytics now provide timely insights into course performance and engagement patterns. This along with Early Alert and Midterm grade engagements are helping faculty and staff coordinate outreach. However, at the same time, manual and fragmented processes have proven less effective, often slowing response times and making it difficult to see patterns across units. When information about student performance, engagement, or outreach resides in separate systems, faculty and staff must rely on time-consuming data pulls and individual follow-ups to coordinate support. This reduces our ability to respond quickly to emerging concerns, leads to inconsistent communication, and limits our capacity to fully measure the collective impact of student success efforts across multiple areas.
To address this, KSU is developing more robust data dashboards that will provide quicker access to real-time insights into enrollment trends, course and program performance, and student engagement. These tools will enhance our capacity for data-informed decision-making and allow continuous monitoring of progress toward key student success metrics.
Looking ahead, our focus will be on integrating systems and fostering earlier engagement through coordinated academic support that improves course outcomes—via teaching enhancements, tutoring, Supplemental Instruction, advising, and coaching—and through Student Affairs initiatives that build connection and engagement outside the classroom. These combined efforts will ensure students are supported academically and socially from their first semester through graduation.
