“Creating A More Educated Georgia”

Utilizing Shared Resources to Increase Access and Decrease Costs: Leveraging the Benefits of a System in Georgia

Sandra Stone, VPAA

Andy Meyer, Assistant VPAA

Dalton State College

1

“Creating A More Educated Georgia”

eCore

Electronic Core Curriculum

University System of Georgia

2

“Creating A More Educated Georgia”

What is eCore?

• eCore offers the opportunity for any USG student to complete his/her core curriculum online – began in fall 2000

• Courses taught by faculty from across the 35 unit system – 25 courses available

• Program is completely financially self-sustaining – receives no state appropriations

3

“Creating A More Educated Georgia”

Benefits to Students

• Courses are transferrable

• Low tuition - $189/credit hour

• Accredited by SACS

• Convenient/flexible

• Highly qualified faculty

• ADA compliant

• Student support services

4

“Creating A More Educated Georgia”

Benefits to Institutions

• Centralized administration

• Centralized registration - INGRESS

• No faculty or course development cost

• Cost sharing (40% to program administration, 40% to site providing faculty – pay faculty $3,600 and keep the rest, 20% to home site for student – must be an affiliate)

5

“Creating A More Educated Georgia”

Benefits to Institution (con’t)

• Course revisions and instructional design

• Marketing

• Faculty training and mentors

• Student support

• Evaluation

• Proctored test coordination

• Affiliate tech support

6

“Creating A More Educated Georgia”

Increases Student Success

• Retention for FY10 – 82%

• Gated registration – requires assessment prior to registration

• Identification of at-risk students and intensive follow-up

• Faculty training re: student success

• Student-friendly navigation within courses

• Ongoing evaluation of student withdrawals

7

“Creating A More Educated Georgia”

eCore Retention Rates

8

“Creating A More Educated Georgia”

Student Information

• Average age = 26

• About 70% white, 20% Black, rest mixed

• About 2/3rds are female

• About 2/3rds are Freshmen or Sophomores

9

“Creating A More Educated Georgia”

Program Information

• Grade comparisons vary across courses and institutions – passing with a C or better ranges from a low of 62% (English) to a high of 93% (Integrated Science); GPA of eCore vs traditional classroom varies as well

• Withdrawals – 19% class related; 16% lack of preparation; 43% personal; 21% other

10

“Creating A More Educated Georgia”

Faculty Information

• In FY10, 84% had taught an eCore course before

• 70% were full-time at their institution; 24% part-time; 6% retired

• 84% of students rated the instructor as an effective teacher (55% strongly agree, 29% agree)

11

“Creating A More Educated Georgia”

Assessment

• Overall student satisfaction 4.2 on 5 pt. scale

• Most successful area for completion is social sciences (64%); least is essential skills (Eng and Math) (53%)

12

“Creating A More Educated Georgia”

Assessment (con’t)

• eCore common outcomes and successful student achievement for FY07 – FY10 (grade of A, B, or C):– Communications – 74%– Quantitative – 67%– Cultural – 74%– Scientific – 67%– Aesthetic – 73%

13

“Creating A More Educated Georgia”

For more information:

• https://ecore.usg.edu

14

“Creating A More Educated Georgia”

GA College 411

Shared information site for the University System of Georgia

15

“Creating A More Educated Georgia”

GA College 411

• Began in 2005

• Information for career planning, high school planning, college planning, financial aid

• Common admissions application

• Common financial aid application

• Common transcripts (high school and college)

16

“Creating A More Educated Georgia”

GA College 411

• College Access Challenge Grant – 2009 – funding to add content for middle school and adults and to increase career information

• GA Apply to College Week – was one week in Nov., has been so successful it will be extended to the month of Nov. in 2011

17

“Creating A More Educated Georgia”

GA College 411

• BRIDGE Law – passed in GA General Assembly in 2010 – Building Resourceful Individuals to Develop GA’s Economy

• Requires students be provided with advisement, counseling, career awareness, and career inventories; requires students to create an individual graduation plan

18

“Creating A More Educated Georgia”

GA College 411

• FY11 – 931,494 individual accounts created, 2 times the number in FY10

• 218,114 admissions applications submitted, 11% increase from FY10

• About 90,000 transcripts sent, 26% increase from FY10

• More than 3.8 million site visits (10 min +)

19

“Creating A More Educated Georgia”

More Information

• www.gacollege411.org

20

“Creating A More Educated Georgia”

Additional Online Shared Resources

University System of Georgia

21

“Creating A More Educated Georgia”

Georgia On My Line

• Complete list of online courses

• Complete list of online degree programs

• Complete list of institutions providing online instruction

• Cross institution registration available

• www.georgiaonmyline.org

22

“Creating A More Educated Georgia”

Public and USG Libraries

• Administered by the University System of GA

• GALILEO – GA Library Learning Online

• GIL – GALILEO Interconnected Libraries

• OLLC – Online Library Learning Center

23

“Creating A More Educated Georgia”

Collaborations

• WebMBA – five schools

• WebBSIT – five schools

• Independent online learning – UGA

• Online Education certificates, endorsements

• www.usg.edu– Academic programs– Distance education

24

“Creating A More Educated Georgia”

The Adult Learning Consortium

25

“Creating A More Educated Georgia”

College Access Challenge Grant

• Goal: o Increase the college degree attainment of:

o low-income adults owho have some college credit obut have not been enrolled in the past year o and have not attained a degree.

26

“Creating A More Educated Georgia”

College Access Challenge Grant

• Strategies: o Expand postsecondary program options which

meet the needs of adult students and are aligned with State’s workforce development

plan, o improve services for adult and military students, o conduct an outreach campaign to low-income adults

who have “dropped out” or “stopped out” of postsecondary education.

27

“Creating A More Educated Georgia”

Fort Valley State University

Atlanta Metropolitan College

Georgia Southwestern State University

Valdosta State University

Bainbridge College

USG Adult Learning Consortium 1.0

28

“Creating A More Educated Georgia”

USG Adult Learning Consortium 2.0

• Atlanta Metropolitan College

• Bainbridge College• Fort Valley State

University• Georgia Southwestern

University• Valdosta State

University

• Columbus State University

• Dalton State College• Gainesville State

College• Southern Polytechnic

University

29

“Creating A More Educated Georgia”

Adult Learning ConsortiumAdult Learning ConsortiumYear 1: Five campuses

30

“Creating A More Educated Georgia”

• Administer ALFI Toolkit (ISAS and ALI)• Develop/Expand Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) options• Develop “crosswalk” programs aligned with state economic/workforce priorities• Conduct public awareness campaign• Collect data to evaluate progress• Develop best practices and resources that can be shared System-wideInstitutions will become members of the Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges (SOCS)http://www.soc.aascu.org/

31

USG Adult Learning Consortium

“Creating A More Educated Georgia”

The ALFI Toolkit

• Institutional Self-Assessment Survey (ISAS): A team of school administrators, faculty and staff evaluate the effectiveness of programs and services that serve adult learners

• The Adult Learner Inventory (ALI): Administered to students 25 and older to measure students perceptions of programs and services that attempt to meet their needs

• The results of these two assessments are then integrated and benchmarked nationally. Together the ISAS and ALI “provide a framework of policies and practices to make educational programs more attractive and accessible to adult learners”

• http://www.cael.org/alfi/tools

32

“Creating A More Educated Georgia”

PLA Options: PLA Options: Tools in our bagTools in our bag

Advanced Placement Advanced Placement

International Baccalaureate International Baccalaureate

College Level Examination Program ACE GuidesCollege Level Examination Program ACE Guides

DSST Credit by Exam DSST Credit by Exam

1.Departmental Challenge Exams2.Experiential Learning Assessments (individualized student portfolios)

Evaluation of Local Training

Excelsior College Examination Program

33

“Creating A More Educated Georgia”

Target Crosswalk Programs

• Begin with Professional and/or Industry Standards– Certification and Credentials

• Align with common courses and course credit– Lower … and upper division

• Identify appropriate CLEP, DSST, and other nationally recognized assessments

34

“Creating A More Educated Georgia”

Public Awareness

• All 9 institutions have their web pages up and available (www.daltonstate.edu/adultlearner, http://www.bainbridge.edu/adultlearners)

• Billboard and media campaigns are ready to be launched

• www.georgiaonmyline.org/adultlearner

35

“Creating A More Educated Georgia”

Billboards

36

“Creating A More Educated Georgia”

Television and Web video

37

• http://www.georgiaonmyline.org/adultlearner

“Creating A More Educated Georgia”

Data Collection

Institutions will contribute to data collection and sharing for the purposes of program evaluation, accountability, continuous improvement, and market research. Participant databases will be used for administration of surveys to assess and improve effectiveness of services, provide feedback for program improvement, and provide data for reporting progress on proposed outcomes

38

“Creating A More Educated Georgia”

Current Situation / New Developments

• Learning Counts – CAEL, ACE, College Board – created online PLA Center & ALC Institutions are pilot project members

• Developing Faculty Assessors Network – establishing online evaluations through GeorgiaVIEW

• Planning eMajor – Collaborative Online Programs – focused on adult learners

39

“Creating A More Educated Georgia”

eMajor Planning

• First program launches in August 2011 – Bachelor of Science in Organizational Leadership (ORGL) – as VSU degree

• Submit substantive change notification to SACS & BOR to establish collaborative program

• Other institutions can submit substantive change and offer ORGL degree – Sp 2012?

40

“Creating A More Educated Georgia”

More on ORGL

• Interdisciplinary Degree – short sessions, flexible schedules (full-time, part-time, no cohort)

• Concentrations:– Law Enforcement Administration

– Legal Office Administration

– Office Administration & Technology

– Public Service Administration

– Communication Arts

– More to come soon!

41

“Creating A More Educated Georgia”

Questions?

42