|
New year brings new initiatives
ENGAGE YOUR STRENGTHS | COMMUNITY | FUTURE AT UNIVERSITY COLLEGE
|
As both President Papp and Provost Harmon discussed last week, this academic year will be one of change for the college. I have been asked to serve as Founding Dean of the proposed Honors College, although a date for that transition has yet to be set. There are also numerous new initiatives and opportunities for University College to ensure its continued growth, even as the Dual Enrollment Honors Program and Undergraduate Honors Program move out of the college. Change can be disconcerting, especially when the details are still to be determined. It can also be invigorating. I am confident our college will embrace it, living up to the culture of optimism that is one of our core values. Welcome to fall semester and another year of opportunities for University College!
|
|
|
Save the date: FoE summit Sept. 6
 In the fall of 2003, numerous faculty and staff from across the campus volunteered to participate in the Foundations of Excellence in the First Year of College self-study. The recommendations of the year-long study led to enhancements of the First-Year Experience, including the launch of University College in July 2004. KSU needs to do more, however, to promote first-year student success, so the university will embark on the Foundations of Excellence - Refresh study this fall.
Vice President Jerome Ratchford and I asked Keisha Hoerrner and Michael Sanseviro to lead this initiative on our behalf, and they have invited individuals to join a Steering Committee representative of key campus constituencies.
The Refresh study will launch Sept. 6 with a summit in the Leadership Room. Drew Koch, executive vice president of the John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate Education, will be the keynote speaker. An invitation was sent to all college personnel who work with first-year students last week. I hope to see you at the summit and look forward to your participation in the Refresh study.
|
|
Pilots to study new remediation options
 University Studies developed two pilot programs that will assess new delivery options for learning support math content this year. Both utilize Math 1111 sections with a required lab component in lieu of an LSP math course.
Students in the Early Start Bridge Aacademy are enrolled in the Math 1111/1111L combination using the stretch summer/fall format that is the signature feature of that program. The second pilot uses the Math 1111/1111L format in the traditional 15-week fall semester. In both pilots LSP students are co-enrolled in the Math 1111 with students whose COMPASS scores were just above the minimum needed to test out of LSP math. The non-LSP students have supplemental instruction available to them in lieu of the Math 1111L lab component. Department Chair Becky Casey explained that the lab components were created to allow students "the opportunity to complete Math 1111 while still benefiting from the reinforcement they would receive in the Math 0097/0098 sequence as well as satisfying their Math LSP requirements."
Transforming remediation courses is one of the Complete College Georgia "strategies for success," so these pilots will be studied extensively to determine next steps in that transformation.
|
|
M.S. in First-Year Studies at BOR for review
 Personnel at the University System of Georgia are reviewing the full proposal for the Master of Science in First-Year Studies. According to Associate Vice President Val Whittlesey, the System Office personnel requested the full proposal to better explain this one-of-a-kind degree program. There is no timeline for the review, but Whittlesey praised the updated proposal and said it provided a strong argument for the program's eventual approval. Stephanie Foote and Ruth Goldfine updated the proposal throughout the summer to meet the new Board of Regents' guidelines. If the proposal is approved, the new graduate degree program could begin recruiting students as early as 2014.
|
|
Honors student receives ASU scholarship
 Honors student Michael Thomas was named an Alliance Scholar by the REU faculty at Arizona State University after completing an internship there this summer. The designation, awarded by the Math Alliance, is given to promising math students "who come from ethnic groups, families and/or regions that have had little prior experience with doctoral study in the mathematical sciences," according to the organization's website.
Thomas, who is a math major with a computer science minor, will be awarded a $3,000 grant to support his graduate studies.
|
|
CSL to focus on strategic plan this fall
 A primary focus of the Center for Student Leadership, according to Interim Director Nancy King, will be to develop its next strategic plan. As the CSL begins planning for its 10th anniversary, which will be celebrated in fall 2014, it is pausing to take a critical look at where it has been and where it is headed. The development of the strategic plan will coincide with the launch of a national search to hire the new Director. King will serve as Interim Director through this academic year.
Judy Craven has been appointed Associate Director and will play a prominent role in the development of the new strategic plan while also ensuring a smooth transition to new leadership.
|
|
New name leads to new email address
The Department of First-Year and Transition Studies can now be reached at fytslist@kennesaw.edu rather than fyplist@kennesaw.edu. The department also has a new general information email address: fyts@kennesaw.edu for prospective students and parents. The web address for the department changed to www.kennesaw.edu/fyts, and all links on other university webpages now reference the new departmental name. Please change your Zimbra address book, so you can ensure messages you want to send to all full-time faculty and staff in the department reach all recipients. |
|
Two program papers accepted in proceedings
 Scholarship of Teaching and Learning papers on the effectiveness of the Thrive program and the Hispanic/Latino RRPG program were accepted for presentation at the National Symposium on Student Retention and will be published in the conference proceedings.
I was lead author on the paper "Thrive: A program to help students maintain state merit scholarship support (HOPE)" with co-authors Cathy Bradford, Keisha Hoerrner, and Dee Grindell. Jennifer Wade-Berg was lead author on "Helping Hispanic/Latino students successfully navigate their university experience: An integrated service delivery model," and I served as a co-author along with Allyson Bianchi, Jule Carillo, and graduate student Sam Box. Both papers, which showcase successful retention initiatives for targeted populations, will be presented in November in San Diego,Ca. |
|
|
|
|
|
Honors and DEHP celebrate record participants for 2013-2014
| |
Both programs that will soon be part of the proposed Honors College boast a record number of students this fall.
According to Liza Davis, there are approximately 615 students in the Undergraduate Honors Program, including the newest honors students who are enrolled in the Presidential Emerging Global Scholars Program, the Great Books program, and the Custom Honors program this fall.
There are 308 high school juniors and seniors who are part of the Dual Enrollment Honors Program. That substantial increase in the population necessitated Katherine Kinnick and the DEHP team to hold multiple advising sessions in the spring and orientations during summer.
|
|
ADP plans events for Constitution Week with theme of sustainability: Sept. 16-19
| |
American Democracy Project Co-Chair Carlton Usher announced the theme of the annual Constitution Week celebration along with key events at the recent University College fall meeting.
The sustainability theme will be woven through several events featuring internationally regarded speakers.
The week leads off with a lecture by KSU's Director of Sustainability, R.C. Paul, Sept. 16. Roger Thurow, author of The Last Hunger Season and a Senior Fellow at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, will visit KSU Sept. 17.
Jeffrey Smith, executive director of the Institute for Responsible Technology and an expert on genetically modified crops, will speak Sept. 18.
Usher will be distributing details for each event to both college personnel and the campus community in the coming days.
The federal government requires institutions receiving federal funds to promote education of the Constitution Sept. 17, but KSU has traditionally enlarged the celebration to encompass a week.
|
|
|
|
