Barbara N. Anderson

Director of Institutional Research,

Planning, and Assessment

Jocelyn Clark

Coordinator of Institutional Research

Melissa McGarity

Program Specialist

Table of Contents

The purpose of this report is to better understand the recruitment, retention, and graduation of students at Southern Polytechnic State University (SPSU). During its 50 years of existence, the University has made great strides in building its student body and professional orientation. Over the past ten years, the University has undergone major changes in the composition of its student body.

In February 1999, a group of concerned faculty and administrators began meeting informally to address how to handle the effects of these changes. Of particular concern was the fact that, even with tremendous population growth in both the Atlanta region and Cobb County (up by 25% in eight years), undergraduate enrollment at SPSU has declined.

After careful review, it was determined that SPSU did not have enough sufficient information regarding the recruitment, retention, and graduation rates of its students. Consequently, several meetings were held to identify areas to be examined and data that needed to be collected. The results of that data collection effort as well as recommendations from the authors of this study are contained in this document.

Survey results from the following were analyzed:

Additional data were analyzed from:

Looking at students who entered Fall 1995 to Fall 1999:

65% of freshman and transfer students who applied were accepted

62% of freshman students who were accepted enrolled

80% of transfer students who were accepted enrolled

A review of Entering Student Surveys, conducted since 1993, and the Communicorp Market Research Report revealed the following:

1. Students indicated that "important" characteristics about SPSU, in the students’ decision to attend SPSU, were:

• a particular academic program (92%),
• academic reputation (86.6%),
• location (72.8%)
• the variety of courses offered (70.9%),

• cost (70.3%),
• facilities (60%),

• social climate and activities at the college (29.3%),

• extracurricular activities available (27.5%),
• housing (21.3%),
• sports opportunities (17.7%),
• male/female ratio of the student body (15.4%), and
• racial/ethnic makeup of the college (14.6%).

1. Approximately 58% of entering students listed SPSU as their first choice. Of those students who did not select Southern Polytechnic as their first choice:

• 23% selected Georgia Tech,
• 9% selected non-system institutions,
• 5% selected University System of Georgia institutions, and
• 5% had no indication.

1. Graduate students were more likely than first-time freshman or transfer students to list Southern Polytechnic as their first-choice institution.
2. The major sources of information about SPSU for entering students were (in rank order of importance): the University catalog, brochures, a visit to campus, parents and relatives, and students at SPSU. Nationally, parents were the greatest source of information about the college that their children chose, according to the ACT Entering Student Survey Normative Data Report.
3. Fifty-seven percent of entering students stated that receiving financial aid was very important or moderately important to them.

1. In addition to the characteristics listed above, respondents to the Entering Student Surveys indicated they did not understand the academic rigors of SPSU.

• Only 10% of entering undergraduate students thought it was difficult to earn good grades at SPSU.
• Only 29% of entering undergraduate students indicated they knew students must be above average to be admitted here.
• Only 8% of entering undergraduate students knew there are many required courses.
• 64% of students indicated they thought SPSU offers a large number and variety of courses.

1. Entering undergraduate students indicated the following as "major reasons to continue [their] education after high school" (list includes the top 5 reasons and the bottom 4 reasons):

• qualifying for an occupation (85.9%) (significantly higher than the national norm of 72%)

• meeting educational requirements for an occupation (85.2%)

• increasing earnings (83.3%) (significantly higher than the national norm of 67%)

• becoming better-educated (73.9%)

• developing their mind (66.3%)

• developing independence from my parents (27%)
• meeting new and interesting people (22.5%)
• taking part in the social life offered at the campus (11.8%)
• being with friends who attend or will attend college (5.2%)

1. Graduate students were more likely than other students to cite learning new skills and gaining upward mobility and promotion as main reasons for continuing their education.
2. Most students indicated that they enrolled at SPSU to obtain a Bachelor’s degree even though they may have listed a major not offered at SPSU. Only a small number of students said they enrolled to obtain transfer credits or to obtain a Master’s degree or for no definite purpose.

1. In the last four years, graduate school enrollment has increased by 8%.
2. There has been an increase in the number of international graduate students (up by 31% from Fall 98 to Fall 99).
3. The number of graduating students transferring in 30 or more hours toward a baccalaureate degree has increased (50% during the 1970s to 75% during the 1990s).
4. There has been an increase in computer science enrollment (undergraduate enrollment increased by 51% over the last four years and graduate enrollment increased by 19% over the last four years).
5. There has been a decline in undergraduate enrollment (down by 7.6% over the last four years). Specifically within the College of Technology, enrollment is down by 19% over the last four years.

The following findings came from ACT Student Opinion Surveys, conducted from 1993-1997 and the Communicorp Market Research report conducted in 1996. Findings from Communicorp are in summary form and, therefore, rank order is not listed.

1. Undergraduate students perceived the outside community as having no understanding of what kind of school SPSU is. However, graduate students thought people accurately perceive Southern Polytechnic as an institution offering bachelor's and master's degrees
2. Overall, students were satisfied with their Southern Polytechnic experience and most would recommend the college to a prospective student.
3. When compared to other institutions in the University System of Georgia, SPSU students had a distinctive look. They were older, more likely to be transfer students, more likely to be part-time, and worked more hours at a job than other USG students.
4. Students considered the following attributes important and rated SPSU’s performance above average (ranked in order from most to least important):

• value received for tuition paid
• faculty concern for student learning
• academic reputation
• balance between theory and application
• computer resources
• instructional facilities
• library resources
• career planning and placement
• acceptance of transfer credits
• availability of faculty outside class
• admissions office service

1. Most of the remaining attributes, related to social life, extracurricular activities, and residential housing, were not as important to students, and SPSU's performance ratings were below average. There were two exceptions, student health services and recreational and intramural programs, in which satisfaction levels were higher than at other USG institutions.
2. Financial aid was used by 54.5% of students at SPSU as compared to 66% of students in the University System of Georgia. At SPSU, 27.7% of students indicated they were dissatisfied with financial aid services while 66% of students in the University System of Georgia indicated dissatisfaction.
3. Most students agreed that they were pleased they chose to attend Southern Polytechnic and that they were receiving their money's worth.
4. Most agreed that Southern Polytechnic met their academic expectations and that they benefited from professors' career experiences.
5. Most students disagreed that the majority of students selected Southern Polytechnic as their first-choice institution.

1. Students who selected Southern Polytechnic as their first-choice institution were generally more positive about their experiences at the college.
2. Students who selected Southern Polytechnic as their first-choice institution were more likely to anticipate receiving their degrees from Southern Polytechnic and were more likely to state that they would recommend Southern Polytechnic to a prospective student.
3. Students who selected Southern Polytechnic as their first-choice institution were more likely to agree that they were pleased they chose to attend Southern Polytechnic and that the college offers one of the best programs in the Southeastern region of the United States for their major. Demographically, this group had similar characteristics to graduate students in the following ways: they were more likely to be female, older than 25, part-time students, and living off campus (not with parents).
4. Students who selected Georgia Tech as their first-choice institution were more likely to think people perceive Southern Polytechnic as a vocational or technical institution, and to agree that most students selected Southern Polytechnic because they were not admitted to a better-known institution.

1. Students who had been at Southern Polytechnic for one year or less were more satisfied with their educational experience than students who had been at Southern Polytechnic for more than three years.
2. Students who had attended Southern Polytechnic for more than three years rated the college's performance on the following characteristics significantly lower than other students:

• value received for tuition
• library resources
• admissions office service
• instructional facilities
• academic advising
• communication with administrators
• financial aid package
• extracurricular activities
• social life
• residential housing facilities

Demographically, students who had been at Southern Polytechnic for more than three years tended to have entered the college as first-year students seeking their first degree. But, this group was only about 25% of the total undergraduate population. Conversely, the majority of our graduates did not enter SPSU as first-time students, and their satisfaction levels were higher.

1. There has been an increase in the number of years it takes first-time/full-time entering students and transfer students to graduate (from 3.58 to 5.07 during the past three decades).
2. There has been a decline in the graduation rate of first-time/full-time entering students (down from 20% for the class that entered in 1990 to 17% for the class that entered in 1993).
3. Looking at first-time students who entered in Fall, 1993:

3.1% of freshman students graduated within 4 years.

11. 14.8% of freshman students graduated within 5 years.
12. 16.8% of freshman students graduated within 6 years.

4. During the past five years, the number of women graduates has increased by 19% and the number of men graduates has declined by 16%. Yet, the percentage of total enrollment represented by women remained steady at 20-22% during the last 5 years.

5. Southern Polytechnic had a very low graduation rate as measured by traditional or standard means (tracking only first-time full-time freshman). The problem was that very few students entering SPSU as first-time/full-time freshmen graduated from here; approximately 17% in six years.
6. However, if we looked at the progress of transfer students who entered six years ago, the data showed that 35% of them have graduated; twice the graduation rate of first-time/full-time freshmen.
7. Of all undergraduate students who received an undergraduate degree during the 1999-2000 academic year, 45% took 3 years or less to complete the degree. This population broke down into the following categories:

• 9% transferred in 0 credits from another institution

• 30% transferred in 0-29 credits from another institution

• 61% transferred in 30 or more credits from another institution

5. One of the misperceptions at SPSU is that it takes a long time for students to graduate from SPSU. Although there have been a few students who have taken twenty years or more to graduate, the fact is that of students graduating, most take an average of four to five years to graduate. Most students who graduate actually entered the institution as transfer students and were very focused on their goals and program of study.
6. An analysis of 7,639 baccalaureate recipients the past three decades showed that the average number of years it takes students to graduate rose every decade. In the 1970s, it took students an average of 3.58 years to graduate; in the 1980s the average number of years rose to 4.29 and by the 1990s the number of years to graduate had increased to 5.07. The years to graduate for the first-time students in particular also rose. The average number of years to graduate for freshmen in the decade of the ‘70s was 4.25, in the ‘80s was 4.92 and, by the '90s, it was up to 6.34 years.
7. Freshman enrollment declined at SPSU during the 1990s as did the percentage of first-time/ full-time students who graduated. In the 1970s, 44% of them graduated; in the decade of the ‘80s, 29% graduated, and, by the '90s, the percentage had fallen to 21%.

1. When the responses of students who only took the ACT Entering Student Survey, were compared with the students who took both the ACT Entering Student Survey and the ACT College Outcomes Survey (for graduating seniors), several interesting factors emerged:

• Many of the students who took only the Entering Student Survey (and, by inference, did not persist) reported an intention to choose a major that SPSU does not offer.
• Of the students who took both surveys (cohort group), 75% of students who reported an intent to major in Civil Engineering, Computer Engineering Technology, Mechanical Engineering Technology, and Industrial Engineering Technology graduated in that major.

1. Those areas in which 75% or more of the students indicated satisfaction included:

• class size (86.7%)
• quality of program (85.3%)
• college in general (82.7%)
• quality of instruction (81.5%)
• faculty respect for students (75.4%)
• availability of faculty (74.6%)

1. Financial Aid was the only area that stood out as having a large percentage of students dissatisfied. Of graduating seniors, 25% stated they were dissatisfied with financial aid services.
2. When a comparison was made between the cohort group (students who took both surveys), who completed both the ACT Entering Student survey and the ACT College Outcomes, with those students who took only the College Outcomes survey (for graduating seniors), several interesting factors emerged:

• Both groups gave high marks to SPSU in class size, quality of instruction, faculty respect for students, quality of programs, and availability of faculty.
• The cohort group rated their satisfaction with the college as 27%, while students taking only the College Outcomes survey (graduating seniors) rated satisfaction with the college as 83%.

• Students who took only the College Outcomes survey reported only one area with a dissatisfaction level of 25% or more (financial aid services), while the cohort group rated 13 areas with a dissatisfaction of 25% or more:

• atmosphere for diversity (41.2%)
• involvement in campus activities (35.7%)
• social activities (35.1%)
• financial aid services (32.9%)
• new student orientation (32.2%)
• variety in courses (31.8%)
• recreational programs (27.1%)
• rules governing student conduct (26.6%)
• career planning services (26.5%)
• new student placement in courses (26.3%)
• student health services (25.3%)
• student mental health services (25.3%)
• residence hall services (25%).

• African American respondents and the cohort group of respondents (who took both surveys) reported the highest dissatisfaction levels with social activities.

1. The ACT College Outcomes Survey measured students’ perceptions of the contribution of the educational experience the college made to their growth and preparation intellectually, personally, and socially. It also measured preparation for further study and for a career. These data were analyzed for all respondents as well as by gender, race, and citizenship. The following were findings:

• All respondents rated SPSU high (over 80%) as contributing to their intellectual growth, while 58% rated SPSU as contributing to their personal growth, and 46% to their social growth.
• In preparation for a career and for further study, the respondents rated SPSU higher in preparation for a career (78%) than in preparation for further study (58%).
• Non U.S. citizen respondents and African American respondents rated the University higher in contributing to their personal growth and preparation to study than any other sub-group studied.

After studying the results of the many surveys, and various other forms of data collected at the University, the authors of this report state the following to summarize the findings:

• SPSU’s student body is diverse in age, ethnic origin, race, and gender. Students who persist are usually focused, career oriented, and older. Students who graduate more often have transfer credits and have spent three or fewer years at the University.

• The majority of students at SPSU commute.

• SPSU is more successful at enrolling and graduating transfer students than first time freshmen.

• While first-time/full-time freshmen have only half the graduation rate of transfer students, those freshmen who have a clear idea of their major and list Southern Polytechnic as their first choice are more likely to graduate.

• As a whole, neither freshmen nor transfer students are interested in elements which contribute to a strong social climate and do not select Southern Polytechnic based upon such criteria.

• Entering freshmen have some interesting perceptions of Southern Polytechnic when they enroll. The following views are supported in the data. Students: are unsure of the majors offered, do not view Southern Polytechnic as an institution with academically talented students, believe it is easy to make good grades, and do not believe that students have to be above average to be admitted here. Also, more than ½ of student respondents believe that SPSU offers a large number and variety of courses and programs.

• Generally students are satisfied with the University, but the longer it takes a student to graduate, the more dissatisfied they seem to become with the University. The reasons for this trend are not known and need further study.

• Entering freshmen at SPSU indicate a strong desire to obtain a bachelor’s degree, however, the graduation rate of freshmen over 6 years is only 16.8%.

• The University is experiencing a 30-year trend of decreasing percentages in first-time/full-time freshmen that graduate.

• Most students select SPSU based on information they get from the University catalog, brochures, a visit to campus, their parents, and/or students already attending SPSU.

• Women students graduate from SPSU at a higher rate than men.

Southern Polytechnic is an institution characterized by 3 defining aspects—a unique mission, a focused curriculum, and high academic rigor. These defining aspects impact every program and service that Southern Polytechnic undertakes and should be the framework upon which all marketing, recruitment, and retention efforts are designed. Keeping this idea in mind, the following conclusions can be made:

• Students are most attracted to Southern Polytechnic because of the University’s academic reputation and a particular academic program rather than because of its social climate.

• Students are more likely to persist to graduation if SPSU is their first choice and/or if their intended major is available at SPSU. In general, SPSU is the first choice of most transfer students, and they enter having chosen a major offered at SPSU. Many freshman students' intended majors are not offered at SPSU or they enrolled as "undecided" and they leave the University before graduating.
  

• Freshmen enter Southern Polytechnic with many misconceptions. These misconceptions have the potential to create false expectations and could ultimately lead to students leaving the University.

• Based on transfer conversion rate from acceptance to enrollment (80% who were accepted enrolled) and their graduation rate, money used to recruit these students gives the University a better return for its investment.

• Upper division transfer students, international students and graduate students are those most satisfied with the University and most likely to graduate from it.

• Students who enter without clear goals do not stay either because SPSU does not offer the program they want or the social experience they desire, or their maturity level is not such that they are able to handle the academic rigors of the curriculum.

• Since SPSU has a large number of nontraditional students, traditional measures of retention and graduation, such as using first time/full time freshman as the basis for comparison, are not appropriate for SPSU.

Overall the "bread and butter" of this institution has always been the retention and graduation of part-time, working adults, who for the most part, are focused on obtaining the academic credentials that result in increased earnings. Past efforts to change the campus culture and student body have met with little success.

The authors of this study speculate that the following factors may be contributing to the current enrollment trends:

• New people and businesses to the area are unfamiliar with SPSU and a lack of financial resources has meant that appropriate marketing and advertising programs have not been implemented.

• The unemployment rate for the Atlanta region as of August 2000 was 3.1%, providing students the option of working rather than going to school.

• Increased competition for students exists from other schools and colleges—Kennesaw State University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia GLOBE, DeVry Institute, technical colleges, on-line courses and programs.

• External restraints placed on ET graduates (via licensure requirements) are affecting their employment opportunities.

• Higher admissions standards have been phased in since 1997—higher SAT for freshmen and higher GPA for transfer students. This has decreased the pool of qualified applicants.

• Semester conversion resulted, initially, in students graduating quicker followed by a period when students registered for fewer credit hours.

• If the University had made a more concentrated effort to recruit and retain female students, female enrollment would be higher.

• Typically, the relationship of commuter students to the University has been neither emphasized nor incorporated into the design of policies, programs, and practices, which could be leading to lower retention.

Southern Polytechnic must implement better and more targeted ways of recruiting and retaining its students. It needs to seriously consider the elements of "institutional fit" as well as its limited resources. It must view all of its recruitment and retention efforts through the lens of its unique mission, its specialized curriculum, and its high academic rigor. The University can no longer afford to spend time and money recruiting students who are not ready to perform academically. It is not a place for the socially immature and unfocused student. Because of the lack of resources to provide a wide variety of social activities and support services, SPSU can no longer hope that all of its recruits will eventually "fit" into the culture of the University. The rigorous nature of the academic programs, the highly structured curriculum, the limited number of degree offerings, and the desire of students to work in their field while attending college requires a redirection of resources and a slightly different focus in the areas of recruitment and retention.

Many of Georgia’s citizens choose to attend a two-year institution closer to their home either because they are not adequately prepared to enter Southern Polytechnic as freshmen and/or they need to live closer to their homes for personal reasons. Since the University enrolls and graduates transfer students at a much higher rate than freshman students, it needs to continue building relationships with Georgia’s two-year institutions. These relationships need to help prepare students to enter Southern Polytechnic and to be successful after they enter. These efforts must go beyond those required to simply recruit students as they prepare to leave the two-year institutions. SPSU must work as partners with these institutions as students matriculate. Borrowing from Dr. Portch’s State of the System Address (Sept. 2000), we should not be losing our future engineers and computer analysts to income, race, or geography. We at Southern Polytechnic believe that failure to capture these bright, but sometimes underprepared, students will only further contribute to Georgia’s importation of highly technical workers.

Specific recommendations include the following:

1. Focus time and resources toward recruiting upper division transfer students, graduate students, international students, and students already in jobs who want to enhance their career. These students are more likely to graduate and are more satisfied. Examples of possible programs to implement include:

• 2 + 2 programs
• 2 + 3 programs
• weekend college
• degree completion
• websites designed specifically for international students
• recruiter participation in career fairs hosted by large companies who employ SPSU students
• newsletter specially targeted for and delivered to area businesses
• media advertising
• working more closely with SPSU's academic degree advisory boards

1. Continue to focus more recruitment efforts on freshman students who are intellectually talented and clear about their major by:

• raising minimum admission standards to a 2.5 GPA for entering freshmen
• providing more entry-level counseling
• helping students to better understand majors offered and demands of the curriculum

1. Build stronger relationships with Georgia’s two-year institutions to help prepare these students to enter Southern Polytechnic and to be successful after they enter.
2. Make better use of materials noted by students as their major source of information - our website, catalogs, brochures, campus visits - by updating and enhancing these resources to create an appealing and accurate picture of SPSU.
3. Develop more targeted marketing literature and websites by:

• Emphasizing SPSU as a commuter as well as residential University.
• Concentrating on SPSU's proven ability to turn out employable graduates who "hit the ground running".
• Emphasizing SPSU's small class sizes, quality programs, cost, close faculty attention, and friendly, comfortable atmosphere.
• Stressing SPSU's sustained close ties to industry and ability to stay alert and responsive to the changing needs of the marketplace.

6. Provide specialized recruitment programs for women, such as:

• Women in Technology Day
• 2/3 programs with local women's colleges
• specific programs for women during orientation

7. Establish strategies to retain freshman students who are clear about their goals, such as:

• block scheduling
• residence halls that cluster students by major

8. Provide specialized retention programs for women, such as:

• Women on campus awareness day / week
• MentorNet - online mentoring program that links women technology students with women in professional technical fields (www.mentornet.net)
• Women's resource center

9. Continue to offer successful specialized services, such as:

• Freshmen Year Experience Program
• multicultural affairs
• cooperative education
• learning resource center
• disability services
• academic, career, and personal counseling

to support the unique needs of these students.

9. Continue to allocate more student fees and other resources toward student professional organizations and leadership development.
10. Enhance the personal mentoring relationships between students and faculty within their major by:

• Increasing faculty involvement in student professional organizations
• Providing more opportunities for faculty and students to work together on specific projects (similar to the Bridge Building and Aerial Robotics projects)
• Encourage faculty to attend mentor training workshops, as provided

9. Identify students who, upon enrolling, listed SPSU as their first choice. Make extra efforts to retain these students since data shows they are the most satisfied.
10. Broaden the curriculum to enable the University to keep students who fit the institution's profile and will stay at SPSU to complete their degree in a related, but different, field.
11. Coordinate services more compatible with the needs of commuter students and working adults, such as:

• evening orientation
• career services
• financial counseling
• evening advisement slots
• off-campus housing rental agreements
• ride share opportunities
• child care

9. Provide more flexible course scheduling (i.e. early morning and night classes, weekend school).
10. Provide more courses and/or degree programs via distance education.

 

 

 

 

Advising

11. Provide pre-entry career and academic counseling and advising, especially to students at two-year institutions, adults changing careers, and high school juniors and seniors interested in math and science.
12. Develop a plan for a more proactive approach to advising students with undecided majors. Make sure these students know which majors SPSU offers and what each major program emphasizes.
13. Create a well-structured and efficiently coordinated advisement center with well-trained advisors able to educate students on their "critical path" to graduation.
14. Identify an academic coordinator for each department along with a core group of advisors that meet regularly to coordinate their efforts.
15. Require advisement at certain important and/or pivotal points in a student's education (i.e. the end of their first semester, the end of their first year, at the end of 30 credit hours, each time they change their major).
16. Train academic advisors to identify those students who do not fit well within their major but will be successful in another of the University’s programs.
17. Provide online advising for current students as well as those considering enrolling at SPSU. The advantages of online counseling include:

• It is more time efficient than a 15 minute advisement slot.
• It gives students a "contact person" on campus.

9. Increase faculty responsibility for advisement and make it part of the evaluation

These recommendations come with the understanding that full implementation would have to be phased in over a number of years.

Jim Cooper

Regenia Doyle

Joel Fowler

Jackie Gilpin

Steve Hamrick

Ed Klein

Ron Koger

Mary Ellen McGee

Maggie McHugh Parrish

Britt Pearce

Becky Rutherfoord

Sam Scales

Mary Stoy

Bob Tilton

Debra Shaw Wingate