East Georgia State College-[node:field-date:custom:Y]--15-to-Finish

Goal 2

Increase the number of degrees that are earned "on-time" (associate degrees in 2 years, bachelor's degrees in 4 years). 

Strategy 2.1 Implementation

The (g2)2 or “Get to Graduation in Two Years” is a “15-to-Finish” program.  To expand the program, it was paired with the “Commit to Completion” initiative, sponsored by Phi Theta Kappa. The (g2)2 program began in Fall 2013 and the College received a 2014-2015 USG Innovation Grant to assist in funding this program.

2.1 Summary of Activities

The (g2)2 program is for those students who plan to finish an associate degree in two years.  The mission of the program is to assist students to achieve that plan by (1) providing active attention from the Academic Affairs staff and direct assistance from the faculty and staff mentors, (2) providing assistance in developing and following an academic plan focused on graduation, (3) waiving of the graduation fee for (g2)2 students, (4) providing a learning community of like-minded students to support each other, and (5) recognizing those students who successfully achieve their (g2)2 goals. 

2.1 Interim Measures of Progress

The percentage of enrolled students taking 15 or more credit hours increased from 13.7% for Fall Semester 2014 to 16.5% for Fall Semester 2015.

 An analysis of the data for EGSC graduates for the last three years (Fall 2012 - Summer 2015) corresponding to the year before the (g2)2 began, the first year of the program, and the second year the program which was funded by the USG grant shows approximately 8% of our graduates finished a degree in two years from entry and 25% finished a degree within three years of entry prior to the introduction of the (g2)2 program.  The program’s first year produced a two-year graduation percentage of 12% and a three-year graduation percentage of 41%.  After the completion of the grant period, 29% of our graduates completed an associate degree in two years and 62% completed the degree in three years.  

The total number of graduates for each academic year (fall-to-summer) has increased from 173 graduates in AY 12-13 (fall 2012-summer 2013) to 253 in AY 2014-2015 (fall 2014-summer 2015), perhaps being spurred on by the program to increase the number of two-year and three-year graduates. 

EGSC has plans to continue the (g2)2 program even though the funding for the program was just for a single year.  The entire College has actively supported the (g2)2 program and has agreed to waive the $35 graduation fee for (g2)2 graduates.

An additional success measure of the program may be the reduction in the number of hours students are getting in order to graduate.  The following table shows the reduction of the number of hours to graduate before the program and during the program.

This may also be due in part to the work of the Academic Advising Centers to focus on graduation.  They have developed program maps for almost all of the associate degree fields of study and those have been used by the academic advisors.

2.1 Measures of Success

The most important measure of success will be the number of graduates who complete their degrees in two years followed by the number of graduates who complete their associate degree in three years.  The goal of the original (g2)2 project was to increase the average number of students completing a degree in two years from 15 to 30 per academic year by the end of the innovation grant period (Spring 2015).  The actual number was 61 for Fall 2014 and Spring 2015, 73 with the addition of Summer 2015.  The goal was changed to a percentage rather than a number.  The goal is for 25% of the graduates to graduate in two years and for 60% to graduate in three years.  In addition, a goal was developed to decrease the average hours to graduation to less than 70 hours.