The Summer Success Academy is a 6-week residential learning opportunity that provides incoming freshmen with the ability to get a jump start on their ASU experience. Student participants are enrolled in 7-9 hours depending on their cohort. Working closely with expert faculty and supported by a network of peer advisors, learning specialists, and tutors, Academy scholars learn together as a community within and beyond the classroom. Focus of the program is to enable students to develop into owners of their educational experiences and leave strong and ready for the challenges of a first year in college.
KPI’s and Baseline:
% of SSA Scholars who agree/strongly agree that SSA sufficiently prepared me to begin my journey as a Golden Ram Baseline: 75%
% of SSA Scholars with a GPA of 2.5 or above at the end of the program. Baseline 81%
% of SSA Scholars who complete Area A by end of Spring · Fall – to Fall Retention
Baseline: 50%
Goals:
80% of SSA Scholars who agree/strongly agree that SSA sufficiently prepared me to begin my journey as a Golden Ram ·
85% of SSA Scholars with a GPA of 2.5 or above at the end of the program. ·
75% of SSA Scholars who complete Area A by end of Spring ·
80% Fall – to Fall Retention
Evaluation Plan
Survey at the end of the program (August) and survey at the end of the first year of the same cohort (May) ·
Review of performance data at end of program (August) ·
Review of grades of SSA participants in ENGL 1101, ENGL 1102, MATH 1001, and MATH 1111 the end of the first year (May) ·
Review of retention data in Fall of every year (October)
Overall assessment: We are moving satisfactorily toward most of our stated goals): ·
- Satisfactory Progress:
- 80% of SSA Scholars agree that SSA sufficiently prepares them for their journey: We are currently at 100% agreement but we need to increase our response rate significantly.
- 85% of SSA Scholars with a GPA of 2.5 or above at end of program: We are currently at 77% for the 2024 cohort but average 83% over the last four cohorts (2021-2024). The current curriculum format, instructor selection, and scheduling seems to be working well for our students.
- 80% Fall-Fall Retention: We are currently at 81% for the 2023 cohort but average 79% over the last three cohorts (2021-2023). The current rate is a 10% increase over the first reported cohort for Momentum Year (71% for 2021). ·
- Mixed Results
- 75% of SSA Scholars completing Area A by the end of Spring: Overall, 35% of the 2023 cohort passed Area A by Spring 2024. We have mixed reviews but are observing that passing ENGL 1101 on the first try, passing ENGL 1102 on the first try, and enrollment in MATH 1001 performance overall seems to be related to success in this area.
- ENGL 1102 performance: ·
- With the 2023 cohort, only 38% of students who passed ENGL 1101 during SSA passed ENGL 1102 on the first try; 78% of those that did pass on the first try completed Area A by the end of Spring, regardless of performance in the math class. This is a significant decrease from our first cohort reported in Momentum Year (2021), where 64% of the students passed ENGL 1102 on the first try. Once again, 78% of those students completed Area A by the end of Spring, regardless of performance in the math class.
- ENGL 1101 performance after MATH 1001: MATH 1001 students who do not take ENGL 1101 until after the summer program are not fairing as well as we would like. ·
- In the 2021 cohort, 100% of the students taking either MATH 1001/1111 passed, with 50% of those students passing Area A by the end of Spring
- MATH 1001: 100% of the students passed
- 4% (1 student) of this group transferred in ENGL 1101; no other student passed ENGL 1101 on the first try
- The 1 student who transferred in ENGL 1101 passed Area A
- MATH 1111: 100% of the students passed
- 100% of this group transferred in or passed ENGL 1101 on the first try
- 100% of the students passing ENGL 1101 on the first try passed Area A
- MATH 1001: 100% of the students passed
- In the 2023 cohort, 89% of the students taking either MATH 1001/1111 passed, with 46% of those students passing Area A by the end of Spring
- MATH 1001: 89% of the students passed
- 59% of this group passed ENGL 1101 on the first try
- 18% of the students passing ENGL 1101 on the first try passed Area A
- MATH 1111: 88% of the students passed
- 88% of this group passed ENGL 1101 on the first try
- 68% of the students passing ENGL 1101 on the first try passed Area A
- MATH 1001: 89% of the students passed
- Advising/Registration: Students who are not scheduled for ENGL 1101 in the summer or in the fall have 0% chance of passing Area A. Students who are not scheduled for ENGL 1102 in the Spring have 0% chance of passing Area A. It is critical that schedules be audited to make sure that the sequences are part of every student's schedule in Fall and Spring.
- In the 2021 cohort, 100% of the students taking either MATH 1001/1111 passed, with 50% of those students passing Area A by the end of Spring
- ENGL 1102 performance: ·
- 75% of SSA Scholars completing Area A by the end of Spring: Overall, 35% of the 2023 cohort passed Area A by Spring 2024. We have mixed reviews but are observing that passing ENGL 1101 on the first try, passing ENGL 1102 on the first try, and enrollment in MATH 1001 performance overall seems to be related to success in this area.
- Satisfaction: Survey data will be collected on the last class meeting of ASU 1101 to increase the response rate.
- Area A (now Communication and Mathematics areas): We are considering two options:
- Option 1: Requiring students who are enrolled in MATH 1001 to also enroll in ENGL 1101 in the summer program. While this would improve ENGL performance overall for these students, we risk a dip in satisfaction as students may feel that their schedules are not as imaginative as their peers.
- Option 2: Work with University College to place students in specific learning communities for the Fall that include ENGL 1101 w/support and ENGL 1102.
- Fully executing a previous plan to extend the faculty-student relationship into the first semester to assigning students with the most challenges to SSA faculty as mentors.
- We conducted intensive auditing of Fall schedules to ensure that students were adequately placed.
- Proposing two learning communities for Fall 2025.
- Focus groups comprised of all six SSA cohorts (2019-2024) to get a better understanding of support systems necessary to sustain satisfactory academic performance after the program has concluded.
Challenges:
- Staffing: A continued increase in participants will require additional full-time, part-time and student leader support.
- Funding: Despite a positive fundraising from alumni that has yielded over $4000 for experiential learning and personal items for eligible students, and grateful partnerships with Student Engagement and Campus Housing to sponsor specific activities, funding continues to be a primary area of concern. There are currently no scholarships, book vouchers, or completion incentives as part of the program. This makes it difficult to increase the number of participants annually, as it competes with summer income opportunities prior to the start of Fall.
- Community: The increase in the number of students may be leading to a decrease in community among the students. We observed that more students in this cohort than in any other completed the program without having engaged significantly with every other member.
Supports Needed: Reviewing the requirement in Momentum Year of all students completing Area A (Communication and Mathematics) within the first 30 hours. This forces advisors to place students in classes with high failure rates and where they may not be developmentally ready to engage with the course. For instance, it may be in the students’ best interest (non-STEM or non-traditional) to take math as a solo course in the summer or when the GPA is higher so that the stress of a potential failure is lessened.
