Mindset

In freshman orientation classes each 1st-year student will be required to complete an assignment designed to encourage the use of stepping blocks data.  Based on an academic major of interest, students will research common jobs associated with the major as well as the job market and the salaries associated with these positions.

All incoming first-year students were connected post-NSO with online information and communication from their top 5 engagement choices via the Panther Involvement Network - PIN. During their in-person NSO event, each student attended a 'Panther Connect' session to dive deeper in their top desired involvement opportunity, where they were able to connect and share contact information with students that possess similar interests as them.

This initiative will expand the utilization of an academic chatbot in core courses.  The chatbot provides basic academic information, utilizes intelligent agents in the LMS to monitor student engagement and prompts as necessary, evaluates readiness for quizzes and reminds students about assignments and deadlines. GSU received a $7 million Post Secondary Student Success grant from the Department of Education to launch this technology in introductory English and Math courses in Fall 2024.  Chatbot technology is already used in American Government, Macroeconomics and Chemistry.

The Accelerator Academy is an academic program offered in the summer semester to students who did not successfully complete their introductory English class during the academic year. Students are offered wrap around academic support to help them understand how to successfully engage the material and complete the course successfully.  The goal of this course is to help increase student progression in order to meet the USG’s goal of completing English by the end of the freshmen year (30 hours).

The provost is charging all academic departments with a core or gateway class that has a DFW rate above 20% to bring together a faculty committee at both the bachelor’s and associate’s level to develop strategies to improve student engagement, pedagogy and learning outcomes.

Students enrolled in precalculus (MATH 1113) have been identified as a high-priority population at Georgia Tech as the course is a gateway to successfully progressing into and completing a STEM degree. While student athletes were typically the majority of our precalculus enrollment, as the Georgia Tech strategically expands access to student groups historically underrepresented in higher education, MATH 1113 enrollment is steadily rising (161.4% increase from Fall 2018 to Fall 2022).

A team formed between Advising, Orientation, and Career Services that will continue to work with the undecided student population. We created a plan to intervene early with undecided students to connect them with resources to help them make a purposeful choice. The plan begins at orientation with a breakout session designed to get undecided students thinking about making a purposeful choice and continues once the semester begins with strategic talking points during advising appointments.

Summer Programming and Onboarding interventions aim to support growth mindset and increase college knowledge among incoming first-year students and some targeted populations of non-first year students. Specific interventions include engagement with GCPS high school seniors, initial Summer Bridge programming, the Summer Preparatory Academic Resource Camps (SPARC) and pre-Fall welcome activities on campus.

The Bobcat Summer Leadership Program (BSLP) is open to all first-time full-time freshmen planning to attend East Georgia State College immediately after high school. The program is designed to provide the student with an opportunity to build a strong academic foundation to ease the transition from high school to college. In addition to taking courses for credit toward their degree, the student will connect with support services and engage in a range of leadership development activities.

Student Learning Communities consist of courses in which a common theme or themes are utilized in order to create opportunities for students to explore these themes in more depth and see how the theme (s) crosses different disciplines. In addition, SLCs encourage a sense of belonging and student engagement since students may share two or more courses together which focus on the same theme