IntroductionClayton State University 2010 "The central conservative truth is that it is

culture, not politics, that determines the success of a society. The central liberal truth is that politics can change a culture and save it from itself." Daniel Patrick Moynahan

“The role of the president in promoting student success at any college or university cannot be overstated. ‘The president should be the daily face of student success, should be cheerleading institutional efforts, “walking the talk” with respect to visibly helping students in difficulty, and rewarding staff who make real contributions in this area.” (AASCU, 2005)

Outline of Discussion

Institutional Characteristics Roots of the Problem Evidence of Current Activities—

successes and “unsuccesses” Metrics—and reasoning for choice of

metrics Three Year Plan—and links of plan to

identified Challenges Graduation as Campus Priority

Institutional Characteristics

NOT a statement that we are unusual/special and thus cannot make significant improvements

IS a statement that progress must account for those characteristics we can identify through data about our potential and actual students and graduates

Average Age

Semester Clayton State State Universities

Fall 2009 28.7 24.3

Fall 2008 28.4 24.2

Fall 2007 28.1 24.3

Fall 2006 27.9 24.5

Full-Time Status

Semester Clayton State State Universities

Fall 2009 57.0% 72.6%

Fall 2008 55.9% 71.1%

Fall 2007 55.4% 70.2%

Fall 2006 55.4% 68.7%

Non-traditional Undergraduate Students

Semester Clayton State State Universities

Fall 2009 39.1% 16.8%

Fall 2008 37.7% 16.4%

Fall 2007 36.6% 16.9%

Fall 2006 36.5% 17.5%

Work for pay off campus (First-Year Students)

  Fall 2009 Fall 2008 Fall 2007 Fall 2006

Hrs/wk Clayton State Selected Peers Clayton State Selected Peers Clayton State Selected Peers Clayton State Selected Peers

0 41% 66% 29% 55% 28% 64% 18% 46%

1-5 4% 5% 1% 4% 4% 4% 1% 5%

6-10 5% 5% 4% 5% 4% 5% 1% 6%

11-15 4% 6% 5% 6% 5% 5% 3% 7%

16-20 7% 6% 9% 7% 6% 6% 4% 8%

21-25 11% 4% 11% 7% 10% 5% 6% 6%

26-30 4% 2% 7% 4% 8% 3% 5% 5%

30+ 23% 6% 33% 12% 34% 8% 62% 17%

Provide Care for Dependents

  Fall 2009 Fall 2008 Fall 2007 Fall 2006

Hrs/wk Clayton State Selected Peers Clayton State Selected Peers Clayton State Selected Peers Clayton State Selected Peers

0 42% 71% 37% 65% 36% 72% 27% 53%

1-5 17% 13% 16% 14% 19% 12% 13% 16%

6-10 9% 5% 11% 7% 12% 5% 8% 8%

11-15 5% 3% 7% 4% 5% 3% 5% 4%

16-20 4% 2% 3% 2% 4% 2% 9% 4%

21-25 1% 1% 2% 1% 3% 1% 6% 2%

26-30 3% 1% 4% 1% 2% 0% 1% 1%

30+ 18% 4% 21% 7% 18% 5% 31% 12%

Inferences from Characteristics of current students

Activities must account for students who are older, non-traditional, likely to have families and work obligations, and are 15% less likely to be full time than students at other peer institutions

Remain optimistic as degree programs better adapt to current demands, and support programs have expanded to better support our students

Current First Time Full Time Retention

Current Graduation Rates

Dimensions of current challenges

Inconsistencies in current student preparation

College is an unfamiliar environment for many of our students 1/3 to 2/3 of students come from families

without college graduates 40% Fall 2009 undergraduates non-

traditional

Dimensions of Challenge, Continued Students need support for choosing a major—

matching abilities, available time, and potential career choices/opportunities (highest reported need by 2009 cohort was career advice, followed by time management; financial advice was in top 5)

Some recent improvements for students for available time for school (23% Fall 2009 work more than 30 hours (vs. 6% of peers); 33% in 2008

Greatest predictor (CSU Fall 2008 data) of year one retention was number of hours worked

Dimensions of Challenge, Continued Students choose difficult majors, and

are not retained in majors Pre-Nursing– 693 Pre-Business—678 Biology– 412 Evidence supports needs to improve

career advising/course advising Also supports need for intensive

support in difficult entry courses

Preparation and first time success

Selected Courses with D/F/W Rates > 40% from the Fall of 2009

Course Title Number of students earning D/F/W

% of students earning D/F/W

ACCT 2102 Principles of Financial Accounting

32 40%

BIOL 1108 Principle of Biology 23 42.6%

CHEM 1151 Survey of Chemistry 126 52.9%

CHEM 1152 Survey of Chemistry II 60 46.5%

CHEM 1211 Principles of Chemistry I

63 60.6%

CHEM 1212 Principles of Chemistry II

29 50.9%

MATH 1101 Introduction to Mathematical Modeling

50 42.7%

MATH 1241 Survey of Calculus 49 52.1%

PHYS 1111 Introductory Physics 24 53.3%

Challenges to Student Learning Habits and Skills

Nine of top ten feeder schools from Clayton County (tenth in Henry County did not make AYP)

32% of schools in Clayton County unable to make AYP (2009)—18% state wide

Many students come to us without significant expectations for institutional success

Challenges to Student Success

Even with improvements for Fall, 2009, 11% in poor academic standing

2007 institutional data indicates 75% students with 2.0 GPA retained to second year

Retention by GPABY GPA

Not Retained Retained Total % Retained

Less than 1.99 60 15 75 20.0%

2.0 to 2.499 17 43 60 71.7%

2.50 to 2.999 19 80 99 80.8%

3.0 or above 28 111 139 79.9%

124 249 373 66.8%

Challenges in institutional readiness

Better need to improve advising and course selection activities to match student needs

Better need to develop clearer career advising and career connections

Greater need to systematically increase faculty/student interactions—especially for upper classmen-even with perceived support currently

NSSE Data 2009Southeast Public

Carnegie Class NSSE 2009

Level of Academic Challenge

First-YearSenior Year

53.557.8

52.456.1 *

53.057.7

53.757.0

Active and Collaborative Learning

First-YearSenior Year

44.553.2

43.051.1 *

44.953.8

43.251.0**

Student-Faculty interaction

First-YearSenior Year

35.143.6

35.542.9

37.4 *46.2 **

34.742.0

Enriching educational experience

First-YearSenior Year

27.238.4

28.140.0

27.140.9**

28.040.8 **

Supportive Campus Environment

First-YearSenior Year

64.565.3

61.1 **58.0 ***

63.561.6 ***

61.6 *58.2 ***

Challenges, continued

Historic lack of integration among strong efforts/historic lack of collaboration across divisions

Room for improvement in creation of new campus wide culture of collaboration—challenge is not commitment of community, but shared strategies to fulfill the commitment

Challenges, continued

Need to improve access to science lab facilities

Fall, 2008, 125 student waiting list for biology labs—some relief with 3 additional labs available Spring 2011

Without new science building, limits to growth of key programs in nursing, science secondary education limited

Successes and Barriers to Success

Progress in graduation rates/retention rates—as noted earlier, the institution has recently made improvements (see slide)

Progress has roots in many initiatives aimed at improving student success Learning communities First year experience program requirements Center for academic success (serves 40% of

undergraduates currently

Institution 2008-2009 2004-2005 % Inc/dec 04-05 to 08-09

Albany State University 520 546 -5%

Armstrong Atlantic State University 898 657 37%

Augusta State University 608 529 15%

Clayton State University 871 558 56%

Columbus State University 850 651 31%

Fort Valley State University 242 229 6%

Georgia College & State University 979 771 27%

Georgia Southwestern State University 385 334 15%

Kennesaw State University 3,019 1,908 58%

North Georgia College & State University 769 669 15%

Savannah State University 326 286 14%

Southern Polytechnic State University 519 433 20%

University of West Georgia 1,335 1,136 18%

TOTAL 11,321 8,707 30%

Success and Barriers to Success Mandatory Advising after mid term

grades/mandatory reporting of mid term grades

Additional baccalaureate academic programs significantly support improved graduation rates—examples of psychology and biology—examples follow

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Biology Bachelor's Degrees

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Psychology Bachelor's Degrees

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Less than successful program attempts Summer bridge program—aimed at

less prepared students, and provides summer head starts—to date unsuccessful because of habits of late decisions by students to seek admission.

Faculty Mentor program—successful insofar as many faculty expressed interest in participating—few students academically challenged expressed interest

Program in process Child care potentially affects many

students Business plans for campus child care

historically challenging—interest; uneven demand; child care as variable costs to individuals and not fixed costs; high costs for low income students

Current actions—education of local options; initial discussions with potential off campus partners

Metrics for three year goals 70% first to second year retention rates 40% (50% system) six year graduation rates

(aspiration at 50% and 60%)(Montclair State example)

10% (minimum) improvements in success rates in current high D-W-F courses

Improvements in perceived performances in first year experience program Time management skills Financial management Study and learning strategies Information seeking skills

32

Retention Trends 1983-2009 Freshman-Sophomore Year

Highest % Lowest % Current %

Two-Year Public 53.7(’08,’09) 51.3(’04) 53.7

BA/BS Public 70.0(’04) 66.4(’96,’05) 67.6

MA/MS Public 71.6(’06) 68.1(’89) 69.8

PhD Public 78.1(’04) 72.9(’08) 74.4Two-year Private 72.6(‘92) 55.5(’08) 55.5

BA/BS Private 74.0(’89) 69.6(’08) 69.9

MA/MS Private 78.0(’85) 72.3(’08) 72.0

PhD Private 85.0(’85) 80.4(’08) 80.6

33

Completion Trends 1983-2009Four-year Colleges – Graduation in 5 years or less

Highest % Lowest % Current %

BA/BS Public 52.8(’86) 39.6(’06) 43.0

MA/MS Public 46.7(’86) 37.0(’00) 38.4

PhD Public 50.6(’89,’90) 45.0(’01) 48.7

BA/BS Private 57.5(’06) 53.3(’01) 55.9

MA/MS Private 58.4(’88) 53.5(’01) 54.8

PhD Private 68.8(’86) 63.1(05) 65.1

NATIONAL 54.6(’90) 50.9(‘01) 52.6

Metrics for success

Greater assessment of individual engagement activities (ex: campus organizations and activities; ex: disaggregated learning communities

Development of, and publication of, clearly reported “dashboard indicators.” ex: retention by major; ex: common definitions of advisement and charting of frequencies

Necessity for Plans

If you don't know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else. Yogi Berra

Three Year Plan

Must Address Previously considered elements

Leadership Shared Campus Responsibility Coordination of Campus Efforts Clearer Dashboard Indicators to assess

effectiveness Negotiating Financial support for

Students

Plan Year One

Retention and graduation improvements to be integrated in current planning efforts Strategic planning Facilities master planning Strategic enrollment management

(recruitment, public school student development through graduation from Clayton State)

Messaging and communication

Plan Year One Newly developed Executive Level Enrollment

management committee, jointly directed by Provost and Vice President for Student Affairs

Currently recruiting Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Success

Creation of pre-made schedules for first year students, to increase chances of success

Refine current graduation review processes for incremental improvements in graduation rates (90+ hours assessed, and graduation plan advised)—preview for possible year two and three development of “graduation coaches.”

Commit the institution to successful improvement of graduation and retention rates with public presidential leadership and leadership actions—ex, teaching first year students and promising need for success

Plan Year Two Associate Vice President charged with oversight

of coordinated and collaborative strategies for retention, progression and graduation rates

Review must include review of success rates for native (from first time full time cohorts) and transfer students, reviewing means to increase graduation success for both groups

Review and integrate current and evolving FYE operations

Plan Year Two Coordinate multi-faceted activities outlined in text Must include Completion of dashboard indicators, link of

advising to career skills and career connections Must include connections with emerging residential

experiences Must include increasingly institutionalized partnerships

with K-12 partners, especially Clayton, Henry and Fayette County schools

Develop plans and programs to expand financial support for students

Target available faculty and staff hiring guided by goal of maximizing student successes

Identify “ombuds” to assist students in avoiding “roadblocks” to success—examples of printer in residence hall and referral to counseling services

Plan Year Three

Three major elements Actions based on assessment data from first

and second year activities Assess relationships between improvements

and resources Modify activities aimed at first and second

year students to achieve improvements for third and fourth year students

Further assess ability to assist students financially

Graduation as a Campus Priority

Selling this to the campus is not a hard sell!!

Selling collaboration and shared responsibility will be focus of cultural changes—some evidence of progress already beginning

Presidential and leadership engagement is already a given—clarity of targets will be next steps