Georgia Southern University Digital Commons@Georgia Southern Electronic Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies, Jack N Averitt College of Spring 2017 Producing a College Graduate Using Retention, Progression, and Graduation (RPG) Initiatives: A University Systems’ Approach Deborah N Kittrell-Mikell Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd Part of the Educational Leadership Commons, and the Higher Education Commons Recommended Citation Kittrell-Mikell, Deborah N., "Producing a College Graduate Using Retention, Progression, and Graduation (RPG) Initiatives: A University Systems’ Approach" (2017) Electronic Theses and Dissertations 1601 https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/1601 This dissertation (open access) is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies, Jack N Averitt College of at Digital Commons@Georgia Southern It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons@Georgia Southern For more information, please contact digitalcommons@georgiasouthern.edu PRODUCING A COLLEGE GRADUATE USING RETENTION, PROGRESSION, AND GRADUATION (RPG) INITIATIVES: A UNIVERSITY SYSTEMS’ APPROACH by DEBORAH N KITTRELL-MIKELL (Under the Direction of Teri Denlea Melton) ABSTRACT Complete College Georgia (CCG) is an initiative that has the University System of Georgia institutions strategizing ways to develop plans that will increase the number of college graduates by the year 2020 Governor Nathan Deal has indicated that graduation rates need to increase from 42% to 60% within the next years With the anticipation of approximately 20% more students graduating to meet the 250,000 target, a closer look is needed at how an additional 50,000 graduates can be produced to make this goal a reality To fulfill this goal, there needs to be an increase of approximately 7,143 graduates each year for the next few years This means approximately a 3% increase in students graduating each year Under the paradigm of retention, progression, and graduation (RPG) and CCG, this descriptive research study used a questionnaire to collect data from academic advisors regarding how they plan to approach the mandate in an effort to support Governor Deal’s plan to increase the graduation rate in the state of Georgia The findings of the study indicate that both faculty and professional academic advisors support that there are two key elements which are strong factors in obtaining RPG One is when students come to college academically prepared to college work and the other is having an intrinsic motivation to learn Collectively, advisors recommend a stronger high school curriculum that will produce scholarly students Equally divided were results on funding, revealing 50% colleges from the state should be based on enrollment while the other 50% indicate funding should be based on the number of graduates an institution has per term (performance-base) Finally, this study gave academic advisors a voice The disconnect between policy makers and implementers of the policies is palpable Academic advisors are valuable and significant in fulfilling the RPG and CCG initiatives INDEX WORDS: Academics, Retention, Progression, Graduation, Complete College America, Complete College Georgia, Postsecondary education, College education, Academic advisement, College graduates PRODUCING A COLLEGE GRADUATE USING RETENTION, PROGRESSION, AND GRADUATION (RPG) INITIATIVES: A UNIVERSITY SYSTEMS’ APPROACH by DEBORAH N KITTRELL-MIKELL B.S.Ed., Georgia Southern University, 1990 M.Ed., Georgia Southern University, 1997 M.Ed., Georgia Southern University, 1999 Ed.S., Georgia Southern University, 2005 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Georgia Southern University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF EDUCATION LEADERSHIP STATESBORO, GEORGIA © 2017 DEBORAH N KITTRELL-MIKELL All Rights Reserved PRODUCING A COLLEGE GRADUATE USING RETENTION, PROGRESSION, AND GRADUATION (RPG) INITIATIVES: A UNIVERSITY SYSTEMS’ APPROACH by DEBORAH N KITTRELL-MIKELL Major Professor: Committee: Electronic Version Approved: May, 2017 Teri Denlea Melton Meca Williams-Johnson Saba Jallow DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my late father Loucious Timmons and my mother Wyomia Kittrell-Timmons Neither of my parents finished high school, but they did an extraordinary job raising a daughter with an intrinsic motivation to learn and a strong thirst for knowledge This doctoral degree is my fifth diploma; therefore, I have been blessed with enough to share I dedicate a degree to each parent because I know if they had an easier life and had been given the chance, both would have seized the opportunity to pursue an education and earned a degree God bless you mom and dad I love you ACKNOWLEDGMENTS A sincere and heartfelt “thanks” to God and to the people who contributed to my ability to complete this dissertation project Dr Teri D Melton, my dissertation chair, has been one of the most supportive professors in Georgia Southern University’s Department of Education She is a remarkable person who kept me on the path, represented me when I fell off the path and reeled me in at the end Dr Devon Jensen, my former dissertation chair, has provided much guidance and wisdom along the journey I appreciate him helping me to stay focused and instilling a desire for me to seek beyond what was written, especially how to examine writings and draw scholarly and philosophical conclusions Dr Beth A Durodoye is an administrator extraordinaire who’s unrehearsed knowledge and ability to understand and provide guidance in navigating through the process of earning a doctoral degree from Georgia Southern University is highly appreciated Mr Tony Ard is a Library Information Specialist who works night shift and has helped me in the Zach Henderson Library at Georgia Southern University Ms Astraea J Thigpen is an Academic Advising Specialist and a God-sent friend who always encourages me to persevere I am especially thankful for her willingness to drive us to work in Swainsboro particularly on those many nights/mornings when I stayed up until 2:30 am working on my dissertation Ms Teenie Leader is a co-worker and coordinator for the Academic Center for Excellence (ACE) at EGSC I thank her for her love affair with statistics and any other mathematics calculation she has helped me to better understand Even more significant is her incredible ability to edit and serve as a grammarian Mrs Kristin D Waters is a co-worker and Director of the ACE who is gifted with outstanding technology skills; she educated me about the various techniques when using Microsoft excel and spent a significant amount of time editing tables and formatting my dissertation Mr Michael A Barlow is a notable and dear friend who reminded me to take a break, relax, and sleep I appreciate him taking me out for dinner and to the movies as a getaway The movies about superheroes have been a true escape from reality Finally, I would like to thank academic advisors at the various University System of Georgia institutions for their willingness to complete the survey and provide their voice to this project After 24 years of experience in the field of academic advising, I hope to help close the gap for those who are implementers of the policies (advisors) with the policy makers and empower academic advisors to have a voice TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS CHAPTER I 10 INTRODUCTION 10 Academic Advising and RPG 16 GEORGIA CHALLENGES 17 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM AND PURPOSE STATEMENT 19 RESEARCH QUESTIONS 20 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY 21 DEFINITIONS 22 LIMITATIONS, DELIMITATIONS, AND ASSUMPTIONS 24 CHAPTER SUMMARY 26 CHAPTER II 28 REVIEW OF LITERATURE 28 THE STATE OF GEORGIA 30 COMPLETE COLLEGE GEORGIA 32 GEORGIA SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY 33 EAST GEORGIA STATE COLLEGE 34 Retention, Progression, and Graduation (RPG) 35 THE FIRST INITIATIVE: RETENTION 40 Academics 44 Academic Advisement 49 THE SECOND INITIATIVE: PROGRESSION 56 Academics 57 Student Achievement 58 Curriculum Changes 62 Social and Economic Status 63 THE FINAL INITIATIVE: GRADUATION 66 Producing College Graduates 67 Obtaining Graduation Success 73 CHAPTER SUMMARY 77 CHAPTER III 79 METHODOLOGY 79 RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND DESIGN 79 RESEARCH PARADIGM 81 POPULATION AND SAMPLE 83 INSTRUMENTATION 85 VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY OF THE INSTRUMENT 86 DATA COLLECTION 88 DATA ANALYZED 90 CHAPTER SUMMARY 90 CHAPTER IV 91 REPORT OF DATA AND DATA ANALYSIS 91 FINDINGS 91 Description of the Participants 91 PART II 98 163 Table 16 Increasing RPG Increasing RPG Officials at the state level need to increase the amount of financial aid Administrators at the institutions need to work with faculty members by putting focus on improving success in classrooms The high school curriculum needs to improve More emphasis should be placed on connecting students to sports, activities, etc Administrators at the institutions need to build a strong(er) academic advising program Most Importan t 12.12% Not as Important Total 36 23.91% 71 18.52% 55 24.58% 73 20.88% 62 297 14.8% 44 25.93% 77 29.63% 88 17.17% 51 12.46% 37 297 46.31% 138 17.45% 52 10.07% 30 12.42% 37 13.76% 41 298 4.04% 12 10.77% 32 16.84% 50 25.59% 76 42.76% 127 297 23.49% 70 23.49% 70 25.84% 77 18.12% 54 9.06% 27 298 164 APPENDIX C USG 15 to FINISH 165 APPPENDIX D EGSC Graduation in Years 166 APPENDIX E GSU IRB Approval 167 APPENDIX F Clayton State IRB Approval 168 APPPENDIX G Valdosta State IRB Approval 169 APPENDIX H Armstrong State IRB Approval 170 APPENDIX I Darton State College IRB Approval 171 Figure Gender of Participants Figure Type of Advisors 172 Table 12 Type of Advisors What type of advisors does your institution use to administer academic advising to students? a All professional advisors % of Participants Count 9.18% 28 b Primarily professional advisors 14.43% 44 c Mixture of professional advisors and faculty advisors 55.08% 168 d Primarily faculty advisors 10.16% 31 e All faculty advisors 3.61% 11 f Administrators, Faculty and Professional advisors 7.54% 23 Total *7 participants elected not to answer Figure 11 CCG Responsibilities 100.00% 305* 173 APPENDIX J 2014 National College Completion Rates United States Ranks 14th in the World 174 APPENDIX K THE INSTRUMENT The Instrument used for the study From Retention, Progression & Graduation to Complete College Georgia This questionnaire is anonymous My current or primary job classification involves the responsibilities of academic advising and is officially classified as: a Administrative (Vice President, Dean, Department Chairperson, etc.) b Faculty (primarily) c Director or Coordinator of Academic Advising d Academic Advisor/ Advising Specialist e Student or Staff employee f Other Select your University System of Georgia (USG) Institution (Drop down box) What type of advisors does your institution use to administer academic advising to students? a b c d e f All professional advisors Primarily professional advisors Mixture of professional advisors and faculty advisors Primarily faculty advisors All faculty advisors Administrators, Faculty and Professional advisors What advising structure does your institution employ? (i.e Centralized, Decentralized Professional advisors for first 30 hours, faculty advise on all campuses) Explain, if necessary _ Please select your gender a Female b Male c Transgender d Prefer not to answer How long have you been involved in academic advising (at the higher education level)? (Drop down box) Years Months 175 The number of students you are responsible for advising total (or estimation): Put in number (Drop down box) Please rank in order of importance, with #1 being the most important and #5 being not as important, the elements which most contribute to the retention rate of college students? _Strong Academic support (Tutoring and study sessions offered by institution) _ Academic Advising (Building a relationship w faculty/staff) _ Financial Aid (Financing College) _ Academic preparation (academically prepared for college) _ Intrinsic motivation (come to complete college) The implementation of the Retention, Progression, Graduation (RPG) initiative mandated administrators in Georgia public college and universities to direct more attention to retention, progression, and graduation of students What you believe is the “key” to increasing RPG? As with the previous question, please rank the fundamentals based on #1 as most important up to not as important _Officials at the state level need to increase the amount of financial aid students can receive or consider reducing the cost of attending college _Administrators at the institutions need to work with faculty members by putting focus on improving success in classrooms _The high school curriculum needs to improve so that students will come to college academically prepared _More emphasis should be placed on connecting students to the institution through student clubs, sports, activities, etc _Administrators at the institutions need to build a strong(er) academic advising program with the respective faculty/staff with the goal of helping students to completing college 10 By the year 2020, Complete College America (CCA) has projected that 60% of all new jobs in the United States will require some type of college education As a part of the Complete College Georgia (CCG) initiative, Governor Nathan Deal has requested an increase of 20% in the graduation rate of University System of Georgia Institutions For example, if a college is graduating 100 students an academic year (50 in the fall and 50 in the spring), then that institution would need to have 20 additional graduates to meet this initiative What is the general likelihood of your institution accomplishing this goal? a Very likely b Likely c Unsure d Highly unlikely e Unlikely 176 11 Regardless of your response in item 8, please briefly list one main reason you believe your institution will reach or get close to this goal and one main reason you believe your institution will struggle to reach this goal a b 12 Being cognizant and aware of the Governor’s CCG initiative (to increase the graduation rate), by the year 2020; how does this impact the way you plan to advise students? Please briefly describe two approaches your institution has changed or will change in academic advising as it relates to Complete College Georgia _ _ 13 As a result of the CCG Initiative, who has received many of the RPG/CCG responsibilities on your campus? a The Presidents and Vice Presidents b Directors and Coordinators c Faculty who teach d Academic Advisors (Faculty /Staff) e All of the above 14 What influence or difference can an academic advisor make in accomplishing the CCG initiative to increase the graduation rates? (In a couple of sentences) _ 15 If you could make two changes (at your institution) to increase the graduation rate of students, what would you do? (2 sentences, please) 16 To reach the 20% increase in graduation (by the year 2020), what would you say your institution needs to accomplish the goal outlined by Governor Deal? (2 sentences, please) _ _ _ _ 17 There has been discussion of a shift in the funding of Georgia public colleges and universities institutions The amount of funding that institutions received will be shifted from receiving funds for enrollment to performance-base In other words, institutions 177 will receive state funds based on the number of students who graduate, not how many are enrolled How likely is it that this change will help institutions increase the graduation rate? f Very likely g Likely h Unsure i Highly unlikely j Unlikely 18 Why or why not? (2 sentences, please) ... Complete College Georgia, Postsecondary education, College education, Academic advisement, College graduates PRODUCING A COLLEGE GRADUATE USING RETENTION, PROGRESSION, AND GRADUATION (RPG) INITIATIVES:... Maryland has 45%, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Vermont have 44%; Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island have 43%; Virginia has 42%, Colorado, Hawaii, and Kansas have 41% while Wisconsin has 40%... the compilation of all that a student has done to earn a degree from a college Producing college graduates and graduation success are subtopics and ultimate goals of the final initiative 29