East Georgia State College-[node:field-date:custom:Y]--Tutoring, -Early Alerts

Goal 1

Increase in the number of undergraduate degrees awarded by USG institutions.

Strategy 1.1 Implementation

Provide a range of academic support services to remove obstacles and provide clear pathways to college completion.

1.1 Summary of Activities

1. Increase student usage of tutoring and academic advising services in the Academic Center for Excellence (ACE).
2. Extend operational hours in the evening for ACE.
3. Refine the Early Warning System and integrate it into the academic services of the ACE.  Utilize intrusive advising techniques, with assistance from course instructors, to assist students.

1.1 Interim Measures of Progress

1. In Swainsboro, most of the students coming to the ACE were looking for math assistance, but in Fall 2014 came to the ACE for 44 different courses.  In Statesboro, most were also in math and 44 different courses (some from GaSoU).  In Augusta, most were in math and 27 different courses. In Swainsboro, Statesboro, and Augusta the most common course was MATH 1111.  A study of the usage shows the accompanying success of students who utilize the ACE for tutoring.  Student (academic) success is measured by the percentage of students who receive A,B, or C grades in a course or a set of courses.   

Students/Hrs/Success Rates in Fall 2014:

• Swainsboro – 638 (54% of all students at Swainsboro)/6,960 hrs/71.9%
• Statesboro – 687 (49% of all students at Statesboro)/4,319 hrs/76.2%
• Augusta – 191 (61% of all students at Augusta)/1,183 hrs/74.4%

Students/Hrs/Success Rates in Spring 2015:

• Swainsboro – 419 (59% of all students at Swainsboro)/5640 hrs/66.4%
• Statesboro – 498 (43% of all students at Statesboro)/5051 hrs/73.0%
• Augusta – 193 (62% of all students at Augusta)/1830 hrs/76.4%

Although the success rates are better than the overall success rates of all students, there was a decline in the ACE success rates due to a delay in hiring tutors because of an inadequate number of qualified tutors and the need to reduce the number of tutors because of funding.  In addition, it was found that the overall math utilization of the ACE in Fall 2014 was 29%, highest among all disciplines, and the success rate of those students was only 56%, lowest among all disciplines.  We showed an overall increase in percentage of our students who used the ACE in Swainsboro, but a slight decline in the percentage in Statesboro and Augusta when compared to last academic year. 

2.      Hours in ACE have been expanded in Swainsboro to Monday-Friday 8-6; in Statesboro to Monday-Thursday 8-8, Friday 8-5; in Augusta to Monday-Thursday 7-8, Friday 7-5, and Saturday 8-5.

3.      In Fall 2014, all students who come to the ACE for assistance were tracked to compare their early-warning grades to their final grade.  The students showed a substantial improvement in their final grades.  At the time of the early-warning grades the success rates of those students was 48%.  By end-of-term, the success rate for those students had increased to 74%.

4.      There were a number of academic success measures which have shown the overall success of these activities.  The academic success data shows an increase in the percentage of students making Dean’s List, a flattening in the overall course success rate, a decline in the success rate in gateway mathematics (MATH 1111) and gateway English (ENGL 1101), a good increase in the success rate in gateway history (HIST 2111/2112), an increase in student success in learning support classes, and an increase in student success in online classes.

Measures of Success

The following table shows the academic success data for the fall and spring semesters for the last three years. The usage of ACE is a factor leading to the success of students in individual courses and ultimately their success in completing their degree.  Collection of the academic success data which includes data on the Dean’s List, overall course success rates, and success rates in gateway courses, learning support classes, and online classes is vital to assess activity success.