University of West Georgia Campus Plan Update 2017

INSTITUTIONAL MISSION AND STUDENT BODY PROFILE

The University of West Georgia, a charter member of the University System of Georgia, is a comprehensive, residential institution providing selectively focused undergraduate and graduate education primarily to the people of West Georgia. The University is also committed to regional outreach through a collaborative network of external degree centers, course offerings at off-campus sites and an extensive program of continuing education for personal and professional development. Opportunities for intellectual and personal development are provided through quality teaching, scholarly inquiry, creative endeavor, and service for the public good.

The University of West Georgia has 87 active programs of study, including 43 at the bachelor’s level, 31 at the master’s and specialist levels, four at the doctoral level, and 11 at the advanced certificate level. The university conferred 2,610 degrees and awards in fiscal year 2017. This is a 7% increase over the number awarded in fiscal year 2016 (2,442) and a 22% increase over the number awarded in fiscal year 2012 (2,136), the baseline year for the Complete College Georgia initiative.  

There were 13,308 students enrolled in Fall 2016: 11,155 at the undergraduate level and 2,153 at the graduate level. Overall enrollment at UWG has grown 18% since the Fall 2008 semester. UWG has a diverse student population: 51.6% Caucasian, 36.8% African-American/Black American, 5.1% Hispanic, 3.1% mixed race, 1.4% Asian, 1.6% did not declare any race, 0.1% American Indian/Alaskan Native, and 0.1% Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander.

Ninety-two percent of the student body was from Georgia and represented 42 different counties. Carroll, Gwinnett, Coweta, Douglas, and Cobb were the five counties with the largest numbers of students at UWG. There were 623 out-of-state students representing 43 of the 49 remaining states. Alabama, Florida, California, New York, Illinois, South Carolina, Tennessee and Mississippi were the top states sending students to UWG. Additionally, there were 341 students from 75 countries. Canada, China, India, Jamaica, Niger, Nigeria, Germany, and Ghana were the top countries sending students to UWG.

The number of students eligible for the Pell grant has steadily increased in the past five years. In the Fall 2009 semester, 44.66% of the undergraduate population was Pell eligible. The fall semester of 2010 saw an increase when 52.16% of UWG students were Pell eligible. The percentage held at 52% in the 2011 and 2012 fall semesters. In Fall 2013, the percentage of students who were Pell eligible rose to 55.24%. Our percentage of Pell eligible students has decreased slightly in the past two years, to 53.6% in Fall 2014 and 51.9% in Fall 2015. The Pell eligible student percentage further decreased to 50.4% in Fall 2016.

The University of West Georgia has long been committed to providing access to college for students in the western region of the state, as well as students from across the state of Georgia and the nation. Our Mission and our Strategic Plan both point to our commitment to student success. In particular, the first Strategic Imperative – Student Success: Enhanced Learning, Access, Progression, and Development – focuses on the importance of RPG, access, and student engagement.  The second imperative focuses on Academic Success:  Academic Programming and Faculty Support.  The commitment to our Strategic Plan has helped the university identify and implement five high impact strategies to help our students successfully obtain a degree. These high impact strategies are discussed in Section 2 of this report.

Tables 1 through 4 are found in the Appendix at the end of this document (pages 12 and 13).

INSTITUTIONAL COMPLETION GOALS, HIGH-IMPACT STRATEGIES, & ACTIVITIES

High-impact strategy 1
Embed an institutional culture that emphasizes taking full-time course-loads (15 or more credits per semester) to earn degrees on-time.

Related Goal

CCG GOAL 2. Increase the number of degrees that are earned on time.

Demonstration of Priority and/or Impact

This high impact strategy is aligned with two of UWG’s Student Success strategic imperative goals (UWG Strategic Plan 2014-2020):

• Goal A.  Increase student persistence and timely progression to degree attainment.
• Goal D, Action 1:  Provide quality academic advising experiences with emphasis on effective academic planning, early identification of a major for undergraduates, and a clear pathway to student accountability and self-sufficiency.

Primary Point of Contact

Melissa Tarrant, Director of the Advising Center, mtarrant@westga.edu

Summary of Activities

Professional advisors in the Advising Center as well as those in the College of Education, Richards College of Business, and Tanner Health System School of Nursing began to advise students to enroll in 15 or more hours in Fall 2013, with increased emphasis each year since. In AY 2016-2017, we continued this strategy.

Because a significant number of UWG freshman are first-generation and low-income students, both they and their parents benefit from guidance that makes explicit how to pace the academic schedule in order to graduate in four years, or in six years if students are working and/or if they are enrolled in demanding majors such as STEM and Nursing. Advisors are sensitive to the needs of first-generation and low-income students and may recommend taking 12 hours each in the fall and spring terms, and completing an additional six or more in the summer to earn their 30+ for the academic year.

Academic Affairs closely monitors the core seats schedule to ensure that the institution offers a sufficient number of class sections of courses to meet students’ progression needs AND that departments have funds to hire part-time faculty or full-time instructors to meet the increased demand.

Measures of Progress and Success

Measure, metric, or data element

• Percentage of freshman students who successfully complete 30+ credit hours in their first year. Note:
• The Academic Year is defined as Summer, Fall, Spring. Freshman students typically enter in the fall term.
• Table 1 shows the percentage of freshmen who completed 30+ hours in their fall and spring terms only, although students are encouraged to enroll in the summer at the end of their freshman year, if necessary, in order to reach the 30+ credit hours.
• First and second year retention rates
• Four-year graduation rates

Baseline measures

• 11.4% of the Fall 2012 freshman cohort successfully completed 30 or more credit hours in their first yea, Fall and Spring. This percentage has increased steadily since then (Table 1).
• Our first-year retention rate for Fall 2012 entering students (full-time) was 71.77%. Second year retention for these students was 57.01% (Tables 2, 3).

Interim Measures of Progress

• 18.4% of the Fall 2016 freshmen cohort successfully completed 30 or more credit hours in their first year, Fall and Spring (Table 1).
• Our first-year retention rate for Fall 2015 entering students (full-time) was 72.34%. We do not yet have second year retention data for these students (Table 2).

Measures of Success

15-to-Finish is an ongoing initiative, which we expect will contribute to improved four- and six-year graduation rates over time (Table 1).

Lessons Learned

Once we began advising students in the 15-to-finish model, we noticed an uptick in the number of students and parents who were concerned that if a student did not enroll in 15 hours in their first fall term, they would not be on track to graduate on time.  Advisors changed their strategy to stress the importance of students completing 30 hours during the first academic year rather than completing 15 each term. 

Also, a high number of UWG students work part- or full-time jobs, making it difficult for them to take a full academic load and be successful while working.  Because a large number of our students must work while in school, advisors suggest they also take courses in the summer and work to complete 30 hours per year across the Fall, Spring, and Summer terms.

Another lesson learned is that taking 15 hours per semester works for most, but not all, majors, and thus some majors (nursing, for example) require more individualized advising based on programmatic requirements. 

High-impact strategy 2
Increase student use of services offered by the Center for Academic Success: Tutoring, Supplemental Instruction, and Academic Coaching.

Related Goal

CCG GOAL 2. Increase the number of degrees that are earned on time.

CCG GOAL 3. Decrease excess credits earned on the path to getting a degree.

Demonstration of Priority and/or Impact

This high impact strategy is aligned with two of UWG’s Student Success strategic imperative goals:

• Goal A.  Increase student persistence and timely progression to degree attainment.
• Goal A, Action 2:  Increase student academic performance through focused classroom strategies, support programs, and enhancements to policies and procedures.

Primary Point of Contact

Ms. Carrie Ziglar, Interim Director, Center for Academic Success, cziglar@westga.edu

Summary of Activities

The Center for Academic Success offers academic support services to students through peer tutoring, academic coaching and supplemental instruction.

Measure of Progress and Success

Measure, metric, or data element

• Number of students using each service
• Retention of students using services
• Number of students that successfully completed courses for which they received tutoring
• Term GPA of students using services

Baseline measures

Academic Year 2015-2016:

 Tutoring

• 1,123 students attended one or more tutoring sessions.
• 88% of students using tutoring services in the 2015-2016 academic year were retained to Fall 2016.
• 849 of the 1,123 students (76%) who attended one or more tutoring sessions successfully completed the courses for which they received tutoring with grades of A, B, C, or S.

Coaching

• 363 students attended one or more Academic Coaching Sessions.
• 64% of students using coaching services in the 2015-2016 academic year were retained to Fall 2016.
• Students who attended four or more sessions had an average GPA of 2.22 for the academic year.

Supplemental Instruction

• 1,948 students attended one or more Supplemental Instruction Sessions during the 2015-2016 academic year. 
• 87% of students who attended SI in the 2015-2016 academic year returned for the fall 2016 term.
• Students who attended six or more SI sessions had a term GPA 0.67 points higher than students who attended no SI sessions.

Interim Measures of Progress

Academic year 2016-2017:

Tutoring

• 1,328 students attended one or more tutoring sessions (18% increase from 2015-2016).
• 92% of students using tutoring services in Fall 2016 were retained to Spring 2017.
• 1,044 of the 1,328 students (79%) who attended one or more tutoring sessions successfully completed the courses for which they received tutoring with grades of A, B, C, or S.

Coaching

• 457 students attended one or more Academic Coaching Sessions.
• 82% of students attending coaching for 2016-2017 were retained to Fall 2017 (as of today’s date of August 17, 2017). The verification of this figure occurs at the Fall Census date.
• Students who attended four or more sessions had an average term GPA of 2.55.

Supplemental Instruction

• 2,273 students attended one or more Supplemental Instruction Sessions (13% increase from 2015-2016).
• 89% of students who attended SI in Fall 2016 were retained for Spring 2017.
• Students who attended six or more SI sessions had a term GPA 0.66 points higher than students who attended no SI sessions.

Measures of Success

Ultimately, we anticipate that the focused attention on tutoring, academic coaching, and supplemental instruction will positively influence graduation rates. The increased effort began in 2015-2016, and intensified in 2016-2017. The four-year rates that will be reported at the end of the FY 2020 should reflect the effect of this initiative.

Lessons Learned

Finding classroom space for expanding Supplemental Instruction continues to be a struggle.  Also, offering SI for some, but not all, sections of a class was problematic, as students in non-SI sections attended SI for other sections (e.g, Accounting). As a result, in 2017-2018 we have expanded SI to all sections of accounting and several other high DFW courses.

In addition, we created a marketing campaign for our Center for Academic Success targeted at new, first-year students.  Called “3 to Succeed” this initiative seeks to create a culture of student success and normalize the use of academic support.  The message students are receiving is, “It’s not about waiting until you need help; it’s what UWG students DO.”

High-impact strategy 3
Identify at-risk student populations and use intrusive advising strategies to assist them.

Related Goal

CCG GOAL 4.  Provide intentional advising to keep students on track to graduate.

Demonstration of Priority and/or Impact

This high priority strategy is aligned with two of UWG’s Student Success strategic imperative goals:

• Goal A.  Increase student persistence and timely progression to degree attainment.
• Goal D, Action 1:  Provide quality academic advising experiences with emphasis on effective academic planning, early identification of a major for undergraduates, and a clear pathway to student accountability and self-sufficiency. 

Our partnership with the Education Advisory Board through the SSC-Campus academic advising system supports progress with this goal, as the technology gives advisors critical information to help students exactly when they need it.

Primary Point of Contact

Melissa Tarrant, Director of the Advising Center, mtarrant@westga.edu
Myrna Gantner, Associate Provost, mgantner@westga.edu

Summary of Activities

Group 1 (Students admitted on appeal): In Fall 2016, UWG contacted all students who were admitted to UWG via the appeal process.  These students received an email communication from the Admissions offices directing them to go to the Center for Academic Success for academic assistance.

Group 2 (Students with low, but recoverable first semester GPAs): At the end of the Fall 2016 term, first-semester students with a term GPA between 1.75 and 1.99 were identified and received email, phone, and text communications and encouragement from their advisors about academic support and other campus resources.  Students also received a post card at home over the winter break informing them about CAS and academic support programs. Advisors followed up with the students throughout the Spring 2017 semester.

Measures of Progress and Success

Measure, metric, or data element

Group 1 (Students admitted on appeal).

• Number and percentage of students admitted on appeal who used the CAS services
• Term GPAs  

Group 2 (Students with low, but recoverable first term GPAs)

• Number of first-semester students with a GPA between 1.75 and 1.99
• Cumulative GPAs (entire freshman year)

Baseline measures

In the 2016-2017 Academic Year:

Group 1 (Students admitted on appeal). These data refer to Fall 2016 activities.

• 113 students were admitted via appeal and were directed to go to the CAS for assistance. 
• 79 of the 113 students (70%) used one or more CAS services such as academic coaching, tutoring, and supplemental instruction. This group’s average term GPA was 2.45, compared to 2.16 for students who used no CAS services.
• 9 of the 113 students (8%) visited the CAS ten or more times. Their average term GPA was 3.05.

Group 2 (Students with low, but recoverable first term GPAs). These data refer to Spring 2017 activities.

• 93 first-semester students were identified as having a Fall 2016 term GPA between 1.75 and 1.99.
• At the end of Spring 2017, 52% of these 93 students had earned a cumulative GPA above 2.0 (cumulative for entire first year, which means they kept their federal financial aid).

Interim Measures of Progress

Since 2016-17 was our baseline year, no interim measures of progress are available.

Measures of Success

Ultimately, we anticipate that the focused attention on at-risk populations will improve retention and graduation rates. The specific efforts began in 2016-17. The four-year rates that will be reported at the end of the FY 2020 should reflect the effect of this initiative.

Lessons Learned

Identifying at-risk students early in their academic career and encouraging them to use academic support seemed to have a positive effect on students’ academic success.  We will continue this effort in 2017-2018.

High-impact strategy 4
Participate in dual enrollment or joint enrollment programs for high school students. (Dual enrollment is also called Move on When Ready, MOWR).

Related Goal

CCG 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

This high impact strategy is aligned with two of UWG’s Student Success strategic imperative goals:

• Goal B.  Attract students with characteristics consistent with our vision and mission who will choose UWG as a top choice institution.
• Goal B, Action 2:  Create a comprehensive recruitment plan that will serve as a pipeline for all student populations.

Primary Point of Contact

April Wood, Associate Director of Move on When Ready , awood@westga.edu

Summary of Activities

In Fall 2014, UWG established the Carrollton City and Carroll County Education Collaborative (CCEC) with dual enrollment as one of its top priorities for our region.  The CCEC Dual Enrollment Sub-committee formed in Spring 2015 and produced these recommendations:  

• Offer dual enrollment courses at the Newnan Center’s expanded location, which opened August 2015.
• Implement strategies to increase dual enrollment (e.g., convenient scheduling for high school students, early planning for course offerings, and hire a Pre-College Program Coordinator to facilitate recruitment and support.
• Provide eCore options for high school students.

In AY 2015-2016, we added a new MOWR staff member by reallocating resources from the Advanced Academy, allowing UWG to expand our reach and serve more high schools.

In AY 2016-2017 the MOWR staff included an Associate Director, a Coordinator, and a graduate assistant. The appropriately staffed office was able to step up recruitment and support activities, which resulted in increased enrollments in the Carrollton and Newnan locations, as well as online through eCore.

Measures of Progress and Success

Measure, metric, or data element

• Number of students enrolled in dual enrollment each term at Carrollton, Newnan, and through eCore.
• Number of credit hours earned through dual enrollment each term.
• Success rates of students in dual enrollment each term (A, B, C, or S grades).

Baseline measures

In AY 2014-2015:

• The unduplicated headcount for the number of MOWR students was 189.
• Students earned 2,224 credit hours.
• 93% of dual enrollment students earned an A, B, C, or S in their coursework.

Interim Measures of Progress

In AY 2015-2016:

• The unduplicated headcount for the number of MOWR students enrolled was 404, a 113% increase from the previous year.
• Students earned 4,867 credit hours. This is a 119% increase over the previous year (2,224 credit hours).
• 91% of MOWR students successfully completed their classes, earning grades of A, B, C, or S in their coursework, a decrease of 2% from the previous year.

Measures of Success

In AY 2016-2017:

• The unduplicated headcount for the number of MOWR students enrolled was 585, a 44.8% increase from the previous year.
• Students earned 7,049 credit hours, a 44.8% increase over the previous year (4,867 credit hours).
• 93% of MOWR students successfully completed their classes, earning grades of A, B, C, or S in their coursework, an increase of 2% from the previous year.

Lessons Learned

The biggest “lesson learned” this year resulted from the implementation of streamlined processes to (1) help students receive their books in a timely manner and (2) allow the bookstore to run a sustainable, fiscally responsible operation. These procedures emerged from challenges encountered in previous years. The bookstore’s new process is as follows:

• Receive all MOWR students’ schedules.
• Create a system to confirm MOWR textbooks via their student identification numbers.
• Prepackage the MOWR students’ textbooks prior to the first day of class.
• Deliver textbooks for the Newnan MOWR students to the Newnan Center, an added convenience for these students and their families.

Additionally, communication between the MOWR team and the bookstore staff is constant. Their collaborative efforts resulted in the bookstore strategically pulling used textbooks for MOWR students early to reduce its costs, which in turn helps the bookstore break even each semester.   

High-impact strategy 5
Increase the number of students under 60 credit hours being advised by Professional Advisors for the College of Social Sciences, College of Arts and Humanities, and College of Science and Math.

Related Goal

CCG GOAL 4.  Provide intentional advising to keep students on track to graduate.

Demonstration of Priority and/or Impact

This high impact strategy is aligned with two of UWG’s Student Success strategic imperative goals:

• Goal 1.A.1:  Implement and continually assess evidence-based strategies that improve retention, progression, and graduation rates.
• Goal 1.D.1:  Provide quality academic advising experiences with emphasis on effective academic planning, early identification of a major for undergraduates, and a clear pathway to student accountability and self-sufficiency.

Primary Point of Contact

Melissa Tarrant, Director of the Advising Center   mtarrant@westga.edu

Summary of Activities

Advising in Fall 2014 relied on a largely mixed model:

• Professional Advisors advised all students in the Richards College of Business, the College of Education, and the Tanner Health System School of Nursing.
• Faculty Advisors worked with most students in the College of Arts and Humanities, College of Science and Math, and College of Social Sciences, although Professional Advisors in the Advising Center advised students up to 30 hours in Biology, Criminology, Sociology, Mass Communication, and Psychology.

Although still a mixed model, more advising shifted to Professional Advisors in Fall 2015:

• Most students in the College of Social Sciences, College of Arts and Humanities, and College of Science and Math were advised by Professional Advisors until they earned up to 60 credit hours. 
• Student majoring in Music, Theatre, Art, Geosciences, and Physics were advised up by Professional Advisors until they earned 30 credit hours. 
• All Undeclared majors were advised in the Advising Center.

This advising structure remained the same for 2016-17.

Measures of Progress and Success

Measure, metric, or data element

Full-time, degree-seeking undergraduate students who were advised in the Advising Center:

Baseline and Interim Measures of Progress:

• Percentage of students who return the following year.
• Percentage of students attempting 30+ credit hours in one year (Fall, Spring, Summer).
• Percentage of students earning 30+ credit hours in one year (Fall, Spring, Summer).
• Credit hour completion rate (passing grades)

Measures of Success:

• Reduced excess credits at graduation
• Improved graduation rates

Baseline measures

In the 2014-2015 academic year, full-time, degree-seeking undergraduates served by the Advising Center achieved the following results:

• 73% of students were retained Fall 2014 to Fall 2015.
• 46% of students attempted 30+ hours in one year (Fall, Spring, Summer).
• 34% of students earned 30+ hours in one year (Fall, Spring Summer).
• Students completed 90% of total attempted hours (i.e., earned passing grades).

Interim Measures of Progress

In the 2016-2017 academic year, full-time, degree-seeking undergraduates served by the Advising Center achieved the following results:

• Percentage of students who were retained Fall 2016 to Fall 2017 (Note: data will be available after the Fall 2017 Census Date).
• 42% of students attempted 30+ hours in one year (Fall, Spring, Summer)
• 29% of students earned 30+ hours in one year (Fall, Spring Summer)
• Students completed 90% of total attempted hours (i.e., earned passing grades).

Measures of Success

Ultimately, we anticipate that the improved advising experience will reduce excess credit hours and positively influence graduation rates. The increased effort began in 2014-2015, and intensified these past two years. The four-year rates that will be reported at the end of the FY 2020 should reflect the effect of this initiative.

Lessons Learned

Beginning in Fall 2017, the Advising Center and the College of Social Sciences is piloting a new model that will provide all COSS students with a Professional Advisor in the Advising Center.  The former Faculty Advisors will transition to the role of Faculty Mentor. COSS students will be able to meet with both their Professional Advisor and a Faculty Mentor.

SECTION 3. REFLECTIONS, OBSERVATIONS & PLANS FOR NEXT YEAR

Reflections, Observations, and Plans for Next Year

We are finishing five years of Georgia’s completion agenda. UWG began the initiative with a campus-wide collaborative effort that followed a two-year project, the President’s Special Commission to Improve Graduate Rates, that engaged multiple stakeholders across campus. Complete College Georgia generated an urgency that naturally complemented the recommendations that emerged from the president’s commission. UWG’s CCG team embedded many of the President’s Special Commission recommendations into the new CCG Campus Plan. We would describe these recommendations as a variety of best practices found in the literature and reported in professional conferences.

Each year we have refined our CCG efforts, focusing on areas with potential to leverage the most movement in terms of student retention and progression. Examples include (1) programming support for STEM majors, (2) freshman success efforts via intrusive advising and block scheduling, (3) new opportunities to earn credit-by-exam, and (4) increased online offerings in courses and degree programs. What began as a collection of strategies has now, by August 2017, evolved into a more comprehensive, systematic reform model. Our provost’s leadership in Georgia and on our campus to improve undergraduate education – via AAC&U’s LEAP Project – aligns perfectly with the state’s completion agenda and is shaping our efforts in AY 2017-2018.

UWG’s CCG work is supported by and aligned strategically with several other academic initiatives that seek directly to impact student learning and success through retention, progression, and graduation.  Partnering with the John Gardner Institute and other USG institutions, the Gateways to Completion (G2C) initiative focuses on five specific core classes with unacceptably high DFW rates. Using analytics, we are working directly with departments and faculty to implement changes in the course design with an emphasis on improving students’ learning and success.  We are also planning to send a team to the University of Virginia Course Design Institute in January 2018 to train faculty on implementing a more systematic course redesign process on campus. Through NEXUS, we are also working to align our CCG and G2C work with our campus-wide LEAP (LEAP West) initiatives. Our emerging LEAP West campus recommendations include a new First-Year Seminar Program – 28 pilot sections are being offered this fall – revitalizing our academic Learning Communities, increasing opportunities for both experiential learning and high impact practices in both core and major courses, and developing guided pathways that link these completion initiatives together into an integrative vision of student learning and success. As a LEAP State Georgia charter institution, UWG is partnering with other colleges and universities in the state to collaborate on LEAP best practices. LEAP West is also offering UWG exciting new opportunities for collaboration between Academic Affairs and Student Affairs to improve student learning and success. While we have started incrementally, we are now exploring ways to take our CCG work to scale and we believe this will shift our completion work in positive ways going forward.

Retrospective Review of CCG over the Past Five Years

What has worked well? Two things are notable: (1) We value the USG’s commitment to the completion agenda, which we view as a moral imperative for higher education. (2) We appreciate the streamlined, annual reporting format for the campus updates, which has become easier each year, most particularly in the last two years.

What has not worked well? Two things come to mind: (1) The reporting process in Years 1 and 2 lacked clarity, which made producing the annual updates unnecessarily complicated. (2) We did not find the peer review process for our annual campus updates to be helpful. The process was burdensome and results did not inform our drafts sufficiently to make revisiting the documents worthwhile.

Our Recommendations for Shifting Approaches to Completion in the State

1. Should UWG’s course redesign efforts go well, we suggest that the USG ramp up the Gateways to Completion (G2C) strategies to include more comprehensive course redesign.
2. Should the USG Advising Academy work well, consider making it an annual event to support quality professional development for academic advisors throughout the system’s institutions.
3. Encourage the legislature to revisit limits to regaining the HOPE scholarship. 

INSTITUTIONAL MISSION AND STUDENT BODY PROFILE

The University of West Georgia, a charter member of the University System of Georgia, is a comprehensive, residential institution providing selectively focused undergraduate and graduate education primarily to the people of West Georgia. The University is also committed to regional outreach through a collaborative network of external degree centers, course offerings at off-campus sites and an extensive program of continuing education for personal and professional development. Opportunities for intellectual and personal development are provided through quality teaching, scholarly inquiry, creative endeavor, and service for the public good.

The University of West Georgia has 87 active programs of study, including 43 at the bachelor’s level, 31 at the master’s and specialist levels, four at the doctoral level, and 11 at the advanced certificate level. The university conferred 2,610 degrees and awards in fiscal year 2017. This is a 7% increase over the number awarded in fiscal year 2016 (2,442) and a 22% increase over the number awarded in fiscal year 2012 (2,136), the baseline year for the Complete College Georgia initiative.  

There were 13,308 students enrolled in Fall 2016: 11,155 at the undergraduate level and 2,153 at the graduate level. Overall enrollment at UWG has grown 18% since the Fall 2008 semester. UWG has a diverse student population: 51.6% Caucasian, 36.8% African-American/Black American, 5.1% Hispanic, 3.1% mixed race, 1.4% Asian, 1.6% did not declare any race, 0.1% American Indian/Alaskan Native, and 0.1% Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander.

Ninety-two percent of the student body was from Georgia and represented 42 different counties. Carroll, Gwinnett, Coweta, Douglas, and Cobb were the five counties with the largest numbers of students at UWG. There were 623 out-of-state students representing 43 of the 49 remaining states. Alabama, Florida, California, New York, Illinois, South Carolina, Tennessee and Mississippi were the top states sending students to UWG. Additionally, there were 341 students from 75 countries. Canada, China, India, Jamaica, Niger, Nigeria, Germany, and Ghana were the top countries sending students to UWG.

The number of students eligible for the Pell grant has steadily increased in the past five years. In the Fall 2009 semester, 44.66% of the undergraduate population was Pell eligible. The fall semester of 2010 saw an increase when 52.16% of UWG students were Pell eligible. The percentage held at 52% in the 2011 and 2012 fall semesters. In Fall 2013, the percentage of students who were Pell eligible rose to 55.24%. Our percentage of Pell eligible students has decreased slightly in the past two years, to 53.6% in Fall 2014 and 51.9% in Fall 2015. The Pell eligible student percentage further decreased to 50.4% in Fall 2016.

The University of West Georgia has long been committed to providing access to college for students in the western region of the state, as well as students from across the state of Georgia and the nation. Our Mission and our Strategic Plan both point to our commitment to student success. In particular, the first Strategic Imperative – Student Success: Enhanced Learning, Access, Progression, and Development – focuses on the importance of RPG, access, and student engagement.  The second imperative focuses on Academic Success:  Academic Programming and Faculty Support.  The commitment to our Strategic Plan has helped the university identify and implement five high impact strategies to help our students successfully obtain a degree. These high impact strategies are discussed in Section 2 of this report.

Tables 1 through 4 are found in the Appendix at the end of this document (pages 12 and 13).

INSTITUTIONAL COMPLETION GOALS, HIGH-IMPACT STRATEGIES, & ACTIVITIES

High-impact strategy 1
Embed an institutional culture that emphasizes taking full-time course-loads (15 or more credits per semester) to earn degrees on-time.

Related Goal

CCG GOAL 2. Increase the number of degrees that are earned on time.

Demonstration of Priority and/or Impact

This high impact strategy is aligned with two of UWG’s Student Success strategic imperative goals (UWG Strategic Plan 2014-2020):

• Goal A.  Increase student persistence and timely progression to degree attainment.
• Goal D, Action 1:  Provide quality academic advising experiences with emphasis on effective academic planning, early identification of a major for undergraduates, and a clear pathway to student accountability and self-sufficiency.

Primary Point of Contact

Melissa Tarrant, Director of the Advising Center, mtarrant@westga.edu

Summary of Activities

Professional advisors in the Advising Center as well as those in the College of Education, Richards College of Business, and Tanner Health System School of Nursing began to advise students to enroll in 15 or more hours in Fall 2013, with increased emphasis each year since. In AY 2016-2017, we continued this strategy.

Because a significant number of UWG freshman are first-generation and low-income students, both they and their parents benefit from guidance that makes explicit how to pace the academic schedule in order to graduate in four years, or in six years if students are working and/or if they are enrolled in demanding majors such as STEM and Nursing. Advisors are sensitive to the needs of first-generation and low-income students and may recommend taking 12 hours each in the fall and spring terms, and completing an additional six or more in the summer to earn their 30+ for the academic year.

Academic Affairs closely monitors the core seats schedule to ensure that the institution offers a sufficient number of class sections of courses to meet students’ progression needs AND that departments have funds to hire part-time faculty or full-time instructors to meet the increased demand.

Measures of Progress and Success

Measure, metric, or data element

• Percentage of freshman students who successfully complete 30+ credit hours in their first year. Note:
• The Academic Year is defined as Summer, Fall, Spring. Freshman students typically enter in the fall term.
• Table 1 shows the percentage of freshmen who completed 30+ hours in their fall and spring terms only, although students are encouraged to enroll in the summer at the end of their freshman year, if necessary, in order to reach the 30+ credit hours.
• First and second year retention rates
• Four-year graduation rates

Baseline measures

• 11.4% of the Fall 2012 freshman cohort successfully completed 30 or more credit hours in their first yea, Fall and Spring. This percentage has increased steadily since then (Table 1).
• Our first-year retention rate for Fall 2012 entering students (full-time) was 71.77%. Second year retention for these students was 57.01% (Tables 2, 3).

Interim Measures of Progress

• 18.4% of the Fall 2016 freshmen cohort successfully completed 30 or more credit hours in their first year, Fall and Spring (Table 1).
• Our first-year retention rate for Fall 2015 entering students (full-time) was 72.34%. We do not yet have second year retention data for these students (Table 2).

Measures of Success

15-to-Finish is an ongoing initiative, which we expect will contribute to improved four- and six-year graduation rates over time (Table 1).

Lessons Learned

Once we began advising students in the 15-to-finish model, we noticed an uptick in the number of students and parents who were concerned that if a student did not enroll in 15 hours in their first fall term, they would not be on track to graduate on time.  Advisors changed their strategy to stress the importance of students completing 30 hours during the first academic year rather than completing 15 each term. 

Also, a high number of UWG students work part- or full-time jobs, making it difficult for them to take a full academic load and be successful while working.  Because a large number of our students must work while in school, advisors suggest they also take courses in the summer and work to complete 30 hours per year across the Fall, Spring, and Summer terms.

Another lesson learned is that taking 15 hours per semester works for most, but not all, majors, and thus some majors (nursing, for example) require more individualized advising based on programmatic requirements. 

High-impact strategy 2
Increase student use of services offered by the Center for Academic Success: Tutoring, Supplemental Instruction, and Academic Coaching.

Related Goal

CCG GOAL 2. Increase the number of degrees that are earned on time.

CCG GOAL 3. Decrease excess credits earned on the path to getting a degree.

Demonstration of Priority and/or Impact

This high impact strategy is aligned with two of UWG’s Student Success strategic imperative goals:

• Goal A.  Increase student persistence and timely progression to degree attainment.
• Goal A, Action 2:  Increase student academic performance through focused classroom strategies, support programs, and enhancements to policies and procedures.

Primary Point of Contact

Ms. Carrie Ziglar, Interim Director, Center for Academic Success, cziglar@westga.edu

Summary of Activities

The Center for Academic Success offers academic support services to students through peer tutoring, academic coaching and supplemental instruction.

Measure of Progress and Success

Measure, metric, or data element

• Number of students using each service
• Retention of students using services
• Number of students that successfully completed courses for which they received tutoring
• Term GPA of students using services

Baseline measures

Academic Year 2015-2016:

 Tutoring

• 1,123 students attended one or more tutoring sessions.
• 88% of students using tutoring services in the 2015-2016 academic year were retained to Fall 2016.
• 849 of the 1,123 students (76%) who attended one or more tutoring sessions successfully completed the courses for which they received tutoring with grades of A, B, C, or S.

Coaching

• 363 students attended one or more Academic Coaching Sessions.
• 64% of students using coaching services in the 2015-2016 academic year were retained to Fall 2016.
• Students who attended four or more sessions had an average GPA of 2.22 for the academic year.

Supplemental Instruction

• 1,948 students attended one or more Supplemental Instruction Sessions during the 2015-2016 academic year. 
• 87% of students who attended SI in the 2015-2016 academic year returned for the fall 2016 term.
• Students who attended six or more SI sessions had a term GPA 0.67 points higher than students who attended no SI sessions.

Interim Measures of Progress

Academic year 2016-2017:

Tutoring

• 1,328 students attended one or more tutoring sessions (18% increase from 2015-2016).
• 92% of students using tutoring services in Fall 2016 were retained to Spring 2017.
• 1,044 of the 1,328 students (79%) who attended one or more tutoring sessions successfully completed the courses for which they received tutoring with grades of A, B, C, or S.

Coaching

• 457 students attended one or more Academic Coaching Sessions.
• 82% of students attending coaching for 2016-2017 were retained to Fall 2017 (as of today’s date of August 17, 2017). The verification of this figure occurs at the Fall Census date.
• Students who attended four or more sessions had an average term GPA of 2.55.

Supplemental Instruction

• 2,273 students attended one or more Supplemental Instruction Sessions (13% increase from 2015-2016).
• 89% of students who attended SI in Fall 2016 were retained for Spring 2017.
• Students who attended six or more SI sessions had a term GPA 0.66 points higher than students who attended no SI sessions.

Measures of Success

Ultimately, we anticipate that the focused attention on tutoring, academic coaching, and supplemental instruction will positively influence graduation rates. The increased effort began in 2015-2016, and intensified in 2016-2017. The four-year rates that will be reported at the end of the FY 2020 should reflect the effect of this initiative.

Lessons Learned

Finding classroom space for expanding Supplemental Instruction continues to be a struggle.  Also, offering SI for some, but not all, sections of a class was problematic, as students in non-SI sections attended SI for other sections (e.g, Accounting). As a result, in 2017-2018 we have expanded SI to all sections of accounting and several other high DFW courses.

In addition, we created a marketing campaign for our Center for Academic Success targeted at new, first-year students.  Called “3 to Succeed” this initiative seeks to create a culture of student success and normalize the use of academic support.  The message students are receiving is, “It’s not about waiting until you need help; it’s what UWG students DO.”

High-impact strategy 3
Identify at-risk student populations and use intrusive advising strategies to assist them.

Related Goal

CCG GOAL 4.  Provide intentional advising to keep students on track to graduate.

Demonstration of Priority and/or Impact

This high priority strategy is aligned with two of UWG’s Student Success strategic imperative goals:

• Goal A.  Increase student persistence and timely progression to degree attainment.
• Goal D, Action 1:  Provide quality academic advising experiences with emphasis on effective academic planning, early identification of a major for undergraduates, and a clear pathway to student accountability and self-sufficiency. 

Our partnership with the Education Advisory Board through the SSC-Campus academic advising system supports progress with this goal, as the technology gives advisors critical information to help students exactly when they need it.

Primary Point of Contact

Melissa Tarrant, Director of the Advising Center, mtarrant@westga.edu
Myrna Gantner, Associate Provost, mgantner@westga.edu

Summary of Activities

Group 1 (Students admitted on appeal): In Fall 2016, UWG contacted all students who were admitted to UWG via the appeal process.  These students received an email communication from the Admissions offices directing them to go to the Center for Academic Success for academic assistance.

Group 2 (Students with low, but recoverable first semester GPAs): At the end of the Fall 2016 term, first-semester students with a term GPA between 1.75 and 1.99 were identified and received email, phone, and text communications and encouragement from their advisors about academic support and other campus resources.  Students also received a post card at home over the winter break informing them about CAS and academic support programs. Advisors followed up with the students throughout the Spring 2017 semester.

Measures of Progress and Success

Measure, metric, or data element

Group 1 (Students admitted on appeal).

• Number and percentage of students admitted on appeal who used the CAS services
• Term GPAs  

Group 2 (Students with low, but recoverable first term GPAs)

• Number of first-semester students with a GPA between 1.75 and 1.99
• Cumulative GPAs (entire freshman year)

Baseline measures

In the 2016-2017 Academic Year:

Group 1 (Students admitted on appeal). These data refer to Fall 2016 activities.

• 113 students were admitted via appeal and were directed to go to the CAS for assistance. 
• 79 of the 113 students (70%) used one or more CAS services such as academic coaching, tutoring, and supplemental instruction. This group’s average term GPA was 2.45, compared to 2.16 for students who used no CAS services.
• 9 of the 113 students (8%) visited the CAS ten or more times. Their average term GPA was 3.05.

Group 2 (Students with low, but recoverable first term GPAs). These data refer to Spring 2017 activities.

• 93 first-semester students were identified as having a Fall 2016 term GPA between 1.75 and 1.99.
• At the end of Spring 2017, 52% of these 93 students had earned a cumulative GPA above 2.0 (cumulative for entire first year, which means they kept their federal financial aid).

Interim Measures of Progress

Since 2016-17 was our baseline year, no interim measures of progress are available.

Measures of Success

Ultimately, we anticipate that the focused attention on at-risk populations will improve retention and graduation rates. The specific efforts began in 2016-17. The four-year rates that will be reported at the end of the FY 2020 should reflect the effect of this initiative.

Lessons Learned

Identifying at-risk students early in their academic career and encouraging them to use academic support seemed to have a positive effect on students’ academic success.  We will continue this effort in 2017-2018.

High-impact strategy 4
Participate in dual enrollment or joint enrollment programs for high school students. (Dual enrollment is also called Move on When Ready, MOWR).

Related Goal

CCG 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

This high impact strategy is aligned with two of UWG’s Student Success strategic imperative goals:

• Goal B.  Attract students with characteristics consistent with our vision and mission who will choose UWG as a top choice institution.
• Goal B, Action 2:  Create a comprehensive recruitment plan that will serve as a pipeline for all student populations.

Primary Point of Contact

April Wood, Associate Director of Move on When Ready , awood@westga.edu

Summary of Activities

In Fall 2014, UWG established the Carrollton City and Carroll County Education Collaborative (CCEC) with dual enrollment as one of its top priorities for our region.  The CCEC Dual Enrollment Sub-committee formed in Spring 2015 and produced these recommendations:  

• Offer dual enrollment courses at the Newnan Center’s expanded location, which opened August 2015.
• Implement strategies to increase dual enrollment (e.g., convenient scheduling for high school students, early planning for course offerings, and hire a Pre-College Program Coordinator to facilitate recruitment and support.
• Provide eCore options for high school students.

In AY 2015-2016, we added a new MOWR staff member by reallocating resources from the Advanced Academy, allowing UWG to expand our reach and serve more high schools.

In AY 2016-2017 the MOWR staff included an Associate Director, a Coordinator, and a graduate assistant. The appropriately staffed office was able to step up recruitment and support activities, which resulted in increased enrollments in the Carrollton and Newnan locations, as well as online through eCore.

Measures of Progress and Success

Measure, metric, or data element

• Number of students enrolled in dual enrollment each term at Carrollton, Newnan, and through eCore.
• Number of credit hours earned through dual enrollment each term.
• Success rates of students in dual enrollment each term (A, B, C, or S grades).

Baseline measures

In AY 2014-2015:

• The unduplicated headcount for the number of MOWR students was 189.
• Students earned 2,224 credit hours.
• 93% of dual enrollment students earned an A, B, C, or S in their coursework.

Interim Measures of Progress

In AY 2015-2016:

• The unduplicated headcount for the number of MOWR students enrolled was 404, a 113% increase from the previous year.
• Students earned 4,867 credit hours. This is a 119% increase over the previous year (2,224 credit hours).
• 91% of MOWR students successfully completed their classes, earning grades of A, B, C, or S in their coursework, a decrease of 2% from the previous year.

Measures of Success

In AY 2016-2017:

• The unduplicated headcount for the number of MOWR students enrolled was 585, a 44.8% increase from the previous year.
• Students earned 7,049 credit hours, a 44.8% increase over the previous year (4,867 credit hours).
• 93% of MOWR students successfully completed their classes, earning grades of A, B, C, or S in their coursework, an increase of 2% from the previous year.

Lessons Learned

The biggest “lesson learned” this year resulted from the implementation of streamlined processes to (1) help students receive their books in a timely manner and (2) allow the bookstore to run a sustainable, fiscally responsible operation. These procedures emerged from challenges encountered in previous years. The bookstore’s new process is as follows:

• Receive all MOWR students’ schedules.
• Create a system to confirm MOWR textbooks via their student identification numbers.
• Prepackage the MOWR students’ textbooks prior to the first day of class.
• Deliver textbooks for the Newnan MOWR students to the Newnan Center, an added convenience for these students and their families.

Additionally, communication between the MOWR team and the bookstore staff is constant. Their collaborative efforts resulted in the bookstore strategically pulling used textbooks for MOWR students early to reduce its costs, which in turn helps the bookstore break even each semester.   

High-impact strategy 5
Increase the number of students under 60 credit hours being advised by Professional Advisors for the College of Social Sciences, College of Arts and Humanities, and College of Science and Math.

Related Goal

CCG GOAL 4.  Provide intentional advising to keep students on track to graduate.

Demonstration of Priority and/or Impact

This high impact strategy is aligned with two of UWG’s Student Success strategic imperative goals:

• Goal 1.A.1:  Implement and continually assess evidence-based strategies that improve retention, progression, and graduation rates.
• Goal 1.D.1:  Provide quality academic advising experiences with emphasis on effective academic planning, early identification of a major for undergraduates, and a clear pathway to student accountability and self-sufficiency.

Primary Point of Contact

Melissa Tarrant, Director of the Advising Center   mtarrant@westga.edu

Summary of Activities

Advising in Fall 2014 relied on a largely mixed model:

• Professional Advisors advised all students in the Richards College of Business, the College of Education, and the Tanner Health System School of Nursing.
• Faculty Advisors worked with most students in the College of Arts and Humanities, College of Science and Math, and College of Social Sciences, although Professional Advisors in the Advising Center advised students up to 30 hours in Biology, Criminology, Sociology, Mass Communication, and Psychology.

Although still a mixed model, more advising shifted to Professional Advisors in Fall 2015:

• Most students in the College of Social Sciences, College of Arts and Humanities, and College of Science and Math were advised by Professional Advisors until they earned up to 60 credit hours. 
• Student majoring in Music, Theatre, Art, Geosciences, and Physics were advised up by Professional Advisors until they earned 30 credit hours. 
• All Undeclared majors were advised in the Advising Center.

This advising structure remained the same for 2016-17.

Measures of Progress and Success

Measure, metric, or data element

Full-time, degree-seeking undergraduate students who were advised in the Advising Center:

Baseline and Interim Measures of Progress:

• Percentage of students who return the following year.
• Percentage of students attempting 30+ credit hours in one year (Fall, Spring, Summer).
• Percentage of students earning 30+ credit hours in one year (Fall, Spring, Summer).
• Credit hour completion rate (passing grades)

Measures of Success:

• Reduced excess credits at graduation
• Improved graduation rates

Baseline measures

In the 2014-2015 academic year, full-time, degree-seeking undergraduates served by the Advising Center achieved the following results:

• 73% of students were retained Fall 2014 to Fall 2015.
• 46% of students attempted 30+ hours in one year (Fall, Spring, Summer).
• 34% of students earned 30+ hours in one year (Fall, Spring Summer).
• Students completed 90% of total attempted hours (i.e., earned passing grades).

Interim Measures of Progress

In the 2016-2017 academic year, full-time, degree-seeking undergraduates served by the Advising Center achieved the following results:

• Percentage of students who were retained Fall 2016 to Fall 2017 (Note: data will be available after the Fall 2017 Census Date).
• 42% of students attempted 30+ hours in one year (Fall, Spring, Summer)
• 29% of students earned 30+ hours in one year (Fall, Spring Summer)
• Students completed 90% of total attempted hours (i.e., earned passing grades).

Measures of Success

Ultimately, we anticipate that the improved advising experience will reduce excess credit hours and positively influence graduation rates. The increased effort began in 2014-2015, and intensified these past two years. The four-year rates that will be reported at the end of the FY 2020 should reflect the effect of this initiative.

Lessons Learned

Beginning in Fall 2017, the Advising Center and the College of Social Sciences is piloting a new model that will provide all COSS students with a Professional Advisor in the Advising Center.  The former Faculty Advisors will transition to the role of Faculty Mentor. COSS students will be able to meet with both their Professional Advisor and a Faculty Mentor.

SECTION 3. REFLECTIONS, OBSERVATIONS & PLANS FOR NEXT YEAR

Reflections, Observations, and Plans for Next Year

We are finishing five years of Georgia’s completion agenda. UWG began the initiative with a campus-wide collaborative effort that followed a two-year project, the President’s Special Commission to Improve Graduate Rates, that engaged multiple stakeholders across campus. Complete College Georgia generated an urgency that naturally complemented the recommendations that emerged from the president’s commission. UWG’s CCG team embedded many of the President’s Special Commission recommendations into the new CCG Campus Plan. We would describe these recommendations as a variety of best practices found in the literature and reported in professional conferences.

Each year we have refined our CCG efforts, focusing on areas with potential to leverage the most movement in terms of student retention and progression. Examples include (1) programming support for STEM majors, (2) freshman success efforts via intrusive advising and block scheduling, (3) new opportunities to earn credit-by-exam, and (4) increased online offerings in courses and degree programs. What began as a collection of strategies has now, by August 2017, evolved into a more comprehensive, systematic reform model. Our provost’s leadership in Georgia and on our campus to improve undergraduate education – via AAC&U’s LEAP Project – aligns perfectly with the state’s completion agenda and is shaping our efforts in AY 2017-2018.

UWG’s CCG work is supported by and aligned strategically with several other academic initiatives that seek directly to impact student learning and success through retention, progression, and graduation.  Partnering with the John Gardner Institute and other USG institutions, the Gateways to Completion (G2C) initiative focuses on five specific core classes with unacceptably high DFW rates. Using analytics, we are working directly with departments and faculty to implement changes in the course design with an emphasis on improving students’ learning and success.  We are also planning to send a team to the University of Virginia Course Design Institute in January 2018 to train faculty on implementing a more systematic course redesign process on campus. Through NEXUS, we are also working to align our CCG and G2C work with our campus-wide LEAP (LEAP West) initiatives. Our emerging LEAP West campus recommendations include a new First-Year Seminar Program – 28 pilot sections are being offered this fall – revitalizing our academic Learning Communities, increasing opportunities for both experiential learning and high impact practices in both core and major courses, and developing guided pathways that link these completion initiatives together into an integrative vision of student learning and success. As a LEAP State Georgia charter institution, UWG is partnering with other colleges and universities in the state to collaborate on LEAP best practices. LEAP West is also offering UWG exciting new opportunities for collaboration between Academic Affairs and Student Affairs to improve student learning and success. While we have started incrementally, we are now exploring ways to take our CCG work to scale and we believe this will shift our completion work in positive ways going forward.

Retrospective Review of CCG over the Past Five Years

What has worked well? Two things are notable: (1) We value the USG’s commitment to the completion agenda, which we view as a moral imperative for higher education. (2) We appreciate the streamlined, annual reporting format for the campus updates, which has become easier each year, most particularly in the last two years.

What has not worked well? Two things come to mind: (1) The reporting process in Years 1 and 2 lacked clarity, which made producing the annual updates unnecessarily complicated. (2) We did not find the peer review process for our annual campus updates to be helpful. The process was burdensome and results did not inform our drafts sufficiently to make revisiting the documents worthwhile.

Our Recommendations for Shifting Approaches to Completion in the State

1. Should UWG’s course redesign efforts go well, we suggest that the USG ramp up the Gateways to Completion (G2C) strategies to include more comprehensive course redesign.
2. Should the USG Advising Academy work well, consider making it an annual event to support quality professional development for academic advisors throughout the system’s institutions.
3. Encourage the legislature to revisit limits to regaining the HOPE scholarship.