Supplemental Updates
As part of our ASPIRE Top Five Strategies, Northwest Georgia Connect is a project working to create pathways for Georgia Northwestern Technical College (GNTC) and Chattahoochee Technical College graduates to receive degrees at Dalton State College (DSC) and Georgia Highlands College (GHC) using courses completed at GNTC. These pathways indicate the degrees students can earn and the courses they will complete at GNTC to obtain those degrees. They also show to which DSC or GHC programs the students can transfer their GNTC courses. These pathways will be shared with students at GNTC, DSC, and GHC, as well as prospective students of those institutions. Pathways in Phase 1 were signed in December 2024. Business programs are part of Phase 2 which is underway. Dalton State has also renewed work on articulation agreements with Chattanooga State Community College in Tennessee.
Two other ASPIRE Top Five Strategies for Dalton State that also align with Dalton State’s Vision 2050 strategic plan included creating a Roadrunner Experience and working on course differentiation to increase the number of students engaging in experiential learning.
The Roadrunner Experience Committee’s charge to enhance student success, start building a cohesive “Core” experience for all Dalton State students, and to start engaging with civil dialogue and debate grounded in moral and ethical reasoning – Dalton State initiated its first “Fledge Fest” designed to strengthen the first-year experience at Dalton State. Held mid-way through the fall semester, Fledge Fest provides a strategic touchpoint to reconnect first-year students as a cohort after their initial transition to college life. The event encourages students to reaffirm their affinity for Dalton State, reflect on their values, engage in meaningful dialogue and exchange, and deepen their sense of community. Through interactive sessions, motivational programming, and opportunities to engage with faculty, staff, and peers, students gain a renewed understanding of what it means to be a Roadrunner. In 2025, Fledge Fest welcomed 876 of the 1,242 invited first-year students, representing an impressive 70.5% participation rate. Students were inspired by keynote speaker Jarryd Wallace, a Paralympian who shared his story of resilience and purpose. A faculty and staff panel followed, exploring the importance of civil discourse and modeling how to engage in meaningful dialogue across differing perspectives.
Additionally, seven staff facilitators led breakout sessions designed to help students reflect on their values and understand their role in decision-making and community engagement. The event concluded with an Engagement Fair, allowing students to explore involvement opportunities and connect with campus resources. The program was further enriched by the participation of Perspectives faculty, many of whom attended with their classes to reinforce the importance of connection, reflection, and community within the first-year experience.
Coordinated through our Center for Teaching and Learning, Dalton State received a USG mini grant to develop and refine a scalable, structure protocol for reviewing and evaluating High-Impact Practices. Also, at work are experiential learning efforts coordinated through a Title III STEM grant to increase the students participating in undergraduate research, imbed research opportunities in core STEM classes and connect STEM students to internship opportunities. Along with further development of the Roadrunner Experience, Dalton State plans to provide intentional avenues for all students to be involved in experiential learning during their academic journey.
Observations and Next Steps
As evidenced in our Student Success Inventory and our Optional Supplemental Updates, Dalton State has a strong focus on student success, and this success has manifested itself in improved enrollment, retention and graduation rates. Over the last three years, Dalton State has had a 22% increase in enrollment. After experiencing a 10-point increase in our retention rate from Fall 2022 to Fall 2023 cohorts, the Fall 2024 FTFT cohort’s one-year retention rate increased another 1.4-point ranking Dalton State as a leader among the state college sector. Our institution-specific 6-year baccalaureate graduation rate for the Fall 2019 FTFT baccalaureate-seeking cohort improved by 3 points to 26.8%. Dalton State College has earned recognition in three categories of U.S. News & World Report’s 2026 Best Colleges rankings, standing out as No. 1 in Georgia and No. 11 overall on the Top Public Schools in the South list. Dalton State was also recognized as a Top 20 Best Hispanic-Serving College.
Among our successful retention efforts has been our Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), known as PACE (Perspectives, Advising, Campus Resources, and Engagement). Dalton State ensures that all students in the first-year course, Perspectives (PRSP), participate in similar interventions, including advising and campus resources. For example, all PRSP courses include a common presentation and lab component related to these student success areas. PRSP students also engage in rich collegiate experiences, such as Dalton State’s New Student Convocation, called “First Chime.” The day before classes started in August 2025, First Chime welcomed over 1,400 new first-year, transfer, and dual enrollment students to campus. Students met with their PRSP faculty and classmates, enjoyed games, live music, food trucks, and a merchandise tent. The evening culminated with the lighting of the James A. Burran Bell Tower and a fireworks display. Dalton State is proud of its First Chime event, which is quickly becoming a Roadrunner Tradition.
Dalton State earned the Seal of Excelencia through work with the organization Excelencia in Education to develop practices that will better serve all students. The Seal of Excelencia is a national certification for institutions that strive to go beyond enrollment to intentionally SERVE Latino students. The framework used focuses on data, leadership, and practice in support of developing a comprehensive institutional strategy. In 2023, the Dalton State team completed the virtual Evidence-Based Practice Institute and completed a research project evaluating the effectiveness of interventions and support offered through our CARE (Campus Assessment, Response, and Evaluation) Team and social worker. In 2024, our team attended the Excelencia Data Institute, and Dalton State is now part of the 2025 cohort Modeling Intentionally Serving Hispanic Serving Institutions. The current year has focused on policy development, and the upcoming year will center on financial models.
Dalton State has also engaged the services of the National Institute of Student Success (NISS) at Georgia State University. Work with NISS diagnostic team began in April 2025. Dalton State is expecting their diagnostic review and playbook later in November. Once this process is complete, Dalton State will evaluate the data-driven recommendations and being implementation.
Other future work will involve solidifying our articulation agreements with Georgia Northwestern Technical College (GNTC), Chattahoochee Technical College, and Georgia Highlands College (GHC) detailed in Section 3 above. Additionally, we will further define and develop the Roadrunner Experience, also addressed in Section 3. While originally focused on the value of IMPACTS courses, the Roadrunner Experience vision has evolved to include creating common academic and developmental experiences for students throughout their college careers. Within this more encompassing experience will be a variety of opportunities and activities, including experiential learning options for all students. Increasing experiential learning for Dalton State students had originally been a separate initiative within Dalton State’s Top Five Strategies for ASPIRE, but the goal now is to incorporate it into a larger Roadrunner Experience. Student Success efforts will continue to align with Dalton State’s Vision 2050 strategic plan: Transforming lives and partnering for success.
