Effective Initiatives For First-Year Students That Increase The Rates Of Retention And College Completion (Webinar)

Hosted by the Institutional Research and Analytics and the Center for Teaching and Learning.  Led by Sri Sitharaman, Tina Butcher, & Kimberly McElveen of Columbus State University.  Columbus State University developed initiatives to improve student “access to” and “graduation from” our institution. These initiatives allow students to earn quality degrees in a timely manner. Institutional plans include: 15-to-Finish, consolidation of advising services, consolidation of tutorial services, and enriched services and programs for special populations. CSU embraces the value of inclusion and provides a pathway to success for diverse populations including: military and veterans, students with disabilities, African American males, Pell Grant recipients, and adult learners. Presenters will highlight these initiatives and results from data analysis based on first year students. Research includes these initiatives and the results from our data analysis based on first year first time students. The data will reflect information based on the following criteria: major, gender, ethnicity, Pell eligibility, HOPE eligibility, and special populations. Further incorporated is data for first time first year students who enrolled in 15-To-Finish and students who enrolled in less than 15 credits per term. Comparison data will reflect major, GPA, retention, qualitative data from students on why they didn’t take 15 credit hours. The culmination of the research provided will reflect best practices for first year first time students, and CSU’s dedicated resources for supporting student success.