Block Schedules

We continue to implement ways to help support students both in and out of the classroom to be successful and improve retention.

Develop and strengthen strategies that address institutional performance gaps. Strategies to consider include: the creation of 1^st Gen/Pell Eligible student transition support; summer bridge programs that support traditionally underserved or underrepresented populations, with the goal of reducing institutional performance gaps.

The Learning Communities (LCs) activity provides first-year learning communities where two or more courses are linked thematically with collaborative instruction. The primary approach of the Learning Communities is to organize and leverage student success activities and campus resources while supporting and aligning to the mission of University College and our strategic plan, The Standard. Courses within a first-year learning community will develop co-curricular activities and focus on core areas as well as areas of academic performance, retention, student mindset, and degree progression.

Establishing Learning Communities to promote student success

To combat lower graduation rates, KSU will focus on four initiatives aimed at supporting new students:

1. The President’s Focused Learner Program

The President’s Focused Learner Program (PFL) is a KSU initiative seeking to assist incoming students at risk of “Murky Middle” GPAs with their ability to navigate the academic and personal well-being factors often necessary for a student’s academic success. The PFL Program spans all majors at KSU.

USG Strategy 2.1: Change institutional culture to emphasize taking full-time course loads (15 or more credits per semester) to earn degrees ‘on-time.’

USG Strategy 3.4. Offer block schedules for students in meta-majors or majors for the first semester or first year.

Requiring all students to choose a meta-major puts students on a path to degree that allows for flexibility in future specialization in a particular program of study, while also ensuring the applicability of early course credits to their final majors.  Implemented in conjunction with major maps, block scheduling, and freshman learning communities, meta-majors provide clarity and direction in what would otherwise be a confusing and unstructured registration process.