Executive Summary
In Fall 2006, Valdosta State University (VSU), with joint financial support from the University System of
Georgia, established the Student Success Center (SSC). The Center is an interdisciplinary collaborative initiative designed to enhance retention, progression and graduation by providing centrally located resources for students in a wide variety of areas that typically impact retention and graduation. Since opening the SSC in August 2006, VSU has already seen measurable results, including increases in retention rates and grade point averages for those students who use the SSC. Findings from this report will be used to increase usage of the SSC and enhance current programs and services throughout the
2007-2008 academic year.
Evidence

Retention Rates: Retention rates of students who use the Student Success Center have increased
(Exhibit 1 and Exhibit 2). Note: Retention rates are based on all undergraduate students who were attending VSU in Fall 2006 and did not graduate by Fall 2007. o Exhibit 1 displays student retention rate increases for select academic departments that have assigned graduate assistants trained by the Student Success Center embedded within the academic department. . In addition, the SSC employs six graduate assistants; four with advising responsibilities and two that coordinate tutoring appointments. Nine academic departments which possess a dedicated graduate assistant from the SSC experienced an increase in student retention rates of students in the respective major. o Exhibit 2 shows student retention rates by the number of successful appointments/visits to the Student Success Center. The results show that students who use the Student
Success Center are between 4.98% and 7.12% more likely to be retained to the next year compared to non-users.
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EXHIBIT 1: INCREASE IN STUDENT RETENTION RATES
BY SELECTED ACADEMIC DEPARTMENTS AFFILIATED WITH
THE STUDENT SUCCESS CENTER, FALL 2006 TO FALL 2007
14.00%
12.51%
12.00%
10.00%
8.00%
6.00%
4.00%
2.00%
0.00%
7.47%
6.38%
5.42% 5.27%
3.49%
2.83%
2.46%
2.26%
Source: Strategic Research & Analysis, 2007.
EXHIBIT 2: STUDENT RETENTION RATE, BY NUMBER OF APPOINTMENTS/VISITS
TO THE STUDENT SUCCESS CENTER, FALL 2006 TO FALL 2007
82.00%
80.30%
80.00% 79.12%
78.16%
78.00%
76.00%
74.00%
72.00%
70.00%
73.18%
68.00%
No Visits 1 Visit
Source: Strategic Research & Analysis, 2007.
2 Visits 3 Visits

Grade Point Average Increase: Exhibit 3 shows the average gain in grade point average (from midterm grade point average to final grade point average) of students who did and did not use the
SSC for Fall 2006 and Spring 2007. o Students who utilized the SSC averaged 0.13 points more (Fall 2006) and 0.47 points more (Spring 2007) in their grade point average than students who did not use the SSC. o Users of the SSC experienced an average of 0.29 more points in their grade point average from Fall 2006 to Spring 2007. Non-users experienced a slight decline (0.03 points) in grade point average over the same time period.
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EXHIBIT 3: AVERAGE GAINS IN GRADE POINT AVERAGE
(FROM MID-TERM TO FINAL) BY USERS AND NON-USERS OF THE
STUDENT SUCCESS CENTER, FALL 2006 AND SPRING 2007
0.60
0.56
0.50
0.40
0.30
0.20
0.10
0.00
0.14
0.11
0.27
Fa l l 2006 Spri ng 2007 Fa l l 2006 Spri ng 2007
Di d Not Use the Student Success Center Di d Us e the Student Success Center
Source: Strategic Research & Analysis, 2007.
Background & Overview of the Student Success Center
In 2006, the Board of Regents of the University System of
Georgia and VSU provided joint funding of more than $500,000 to create a Student Success Center at Valdosta State University.
The establishment of the SSC would not have been possible without the significant support from the Board of Regents who contributed 61.2% of the funding; VSU supplied 38.8% of the funding. The SSC provides students with access to free professional academic advising, peer tutoring in core curriculum courses, campus job information, and referrals for counseling; all in one location. Designed to foster interactions with peers, faculty, and staff that lead to active learning and positive attitudes toward academic life, the SSC contributes toward retention,


progression, and graduation through their academic advising, tutoring, student employment efforts, and wellness programs. The Center’s goals include supporting students who want to achieve excellence as well as those who feel they are struggling and serving as a resource for faculty. The Center is interdisciplinary, involving all divisions on campus, serving as a “onestop-shop” for resources. Any student who wants to achieve more can go to the SSC and receive assistance, as resources are available to help diagnose and refer students to the most appropriate office.
The Student Success Center is:

An interdisciplinary collaborative initiative proposed by Academic Affairs, Student Affairs,
Human Resources, and specific academic colleges and departments.

Designed to enhance retention, progression, and graduation by providing centrally located resources for students in a wide variety of areas that typically impact retention and graduation.

Centrally located on VSU’s main campus within an existing residence hall, incorporating livinglearning communities into its campus culture.
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Programs and Services Offered
The Student Success Center offers all students advising, tutoring, and employment services, as well as an opportunity to participate in wellness programs. The following details the SSC’s programs and services and provides evidence of the Center’s impact at VSU.

The SSC provides advising support and assistance with selection or changes of major, including referral information and financial aid counseling. o Graduate assistant advisors have increased their advising services two-fold in Spring
2007, compared to Fall 2006. Also, the number of students receiving advising help early in the semester has increased by approximately 20%. Student Success Center professional advisors have worked very closely with individual academic departments, such as
Nursing, to streamline their advising process. The process involved assessment of current efforts and training to make advising more accessible to and effective for students.

The SSC provides academic tutoring (writing, math, foreign languages and other core subject areas). o The number of tutoring appointments have increased from 118 (August 2006) to 658
(August 2007) to a high of more than 800 appointments (September 2007). The increase is a result of the SSC’s participation in summer orientations, targeted advertising to faculty and students, and informal communication from students to their peers.

The SSC provides employment and career advice from Career Center professionals. o A new student employment website allows employers to post job announcements and students to review and apply for available positions. As a result of the employment website, open positions have received up to 135 students applying per position. The high number of job applicants has created increased competition and a need for students to professionalize their application materials and behavior.

The SSC provides wellness programs including psychological health resources to handle issues that commonly result in students withdrawing from university. o SSC advisors collaborate with the Counseling Center and the Health Promotions Office to offer a variety of seminars, including: Time Management, Test Anxiety, and Test
Taking and Preparation Skills.
Action Plan for Fiscal Year 2009
The Student Success Center has seen visible results in students’ retention rates and grade point average increases within one year of implementation. Results from the data show that students that use the SSC benefit from the programs and services. As such, the SSC will continue to increase the number of opportunities for interacting with students for advising, tutoring, employment, and wellness. Data from this analysis will be used to determine a specific action plan to proactively reach out to more students and academic departments. The SSC will continue to collect similar data presented in this report as well as additional data elements so that more in-depth analyses can be conducted and presented in future reports.
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