Rebuilt HTML — PaddleOCR-VL (Baidu)

for the improvement of education throughout the institution. As AWA students enroll in courses beyond the project and enter their majors, they will bring an improved attitude toward learning, better study habits, and improved skills for mastering course content. Students who did not require as much or any remediation will be increasingly satisfied with their education at KSU because their classes will be populated by greater numbers of prepared and capable students. With more students prepared for the rigors of college work, faculty will be able to "raise the educational bar" in their courses, which will translate into improvements in the Rising Junior Exam (Collegiate Assessment of Academic Proficiency or CAAP). The University will see an increase in retention from one year to the next as the former AWA students make their way through their sophomore, junior, and senior years. With more students retained, programs will see an increase in the number of declared majors, allowing programs to offer more classes and greater choices of classes for students, and the overall graduation rate of the University will rise.

When implemented, coordination and direction to the Academics with Attitude (AWA) project will be provided by the QEP Implementation Committee, headed by the Project Director, and comprised of representatives from the various constituencies involved with the project (see Section IX, "Organizational Structure," and Appendix III). The Project Director reports to the Associate Provost for Academic Affairs, who is a member of the SACS Leadership Team.

The QEP will focus on the most at-risk students: those who require full remediation in three subjects (reading, writing, and mathematics). All students with such needs are required to enroll in the AWA program and complete it successfully if they wish to be considered for admission to the University for the fall term. The program will begin in June 2009. The University believes that students who need extensive developmental assistance will best be served by starting them during the summer term when fewer distractions are present. It is an ideal time to begin this work. Fewer students are on campus during the summer, which allows a greater concentration of University resources for the AWA students and eases the coordination of actions necessary for the formation of living/learning communities. It also is a time-free from competing activities, such as athletics, chorus, band, fraternity and sorority events, which are a part of daily campus life during the regular academic term. During the summer portion of the QEP, students will experience an educational and social environment in which they participate intensively in only 3 courses that meet daily and which focus on their educational and social-psychological needs.

The summer portion of the AWA project will be free to students—the University will pay their tuition, fees, room and board. In the past students who required remediation had to pay for all developmental courses, many often borrowing money or working to pay their bills or both. The KSU AWA project will free students from working to pay for the summer classes and allow them to devote their full attention to the program and remove some pre-college deficiencies. It also relieves them of difficulty to pay debt should they not succeed. In return, the University expects students to begin developing an appropriate attitude toward their classes: admission to the fall semester will require successful completion of the summer portion of the AWA program. Successful completion of the summer program requires students to earn a minimum

49

composite score of 70 based on the average of 3 end-of-term placement exams (for AWA 101, ENG 088 and 089). Students who do not achieve a minimum of 70 on any single placement exam will be required during the fall term to retake that class in a QEP-designated section.

The AWA Director will coordinate the selection of students for participation in the QEP with the Office of Enrollment Management and the Registrar on a rolling basis up until May of each year and notify students before the end of May that they will be in the program. The Office of Enrollment Management, the Registrar, the Office of Residence Life, and the AWA Director will work collaboratively to ensure that students participating in the QEP are block scheduled as cohorts (of 15 students each) into their developmental and gateway classes and placed on the same wing or floor of a residence hall. The intent is to have cohorts of students who for the summer and next 4 semesters will share the same blocks of QEP-designated classes, form living/learning communities in the residence halls, with each community assigned a faculty advisor (initially their AWA 101 instructor), a Resident Assistant trained for interacting with a learning community in the dorm, and a trained student Supplemental Instructor (SI) from the Academic Center for Excellence who will live in the dorm with them.

Students who complete the summer portion of the program successfully will be admitted to the University for the fall semester. From that point forward, students who do not pass a class with a grade of C or above will remain with their cohort in future classes for which they are qualified. Such students must retake the course in the following semester. In consultation with their advisor and the Registrar, those students will be placed in a class with other students who also must repeat the course. In the unlikely event a student does not achieve satisfactory performance in any QEP-designated classes in a fall or spring semester, he or she will be dropped from the program. In the event that students leave the University and some cohorts become too small to be economically sustainable, the AWA Director and Implementation Committee will effect a reorganization of the affected cohorts to form one or more of a sustainable size.

Developmental classes under QEP management will add a lab component of two hours per week for supplemental instruction coordinated between the course instructor and the staff at the Academic Center for Excellence. ACE has a documented record of helping students to access the resources and to develop the behaviors, attitudes, and skills that encourage academic achievement through tutoring, supplemental instruction by peers and professional staff, and integration of support services with classroom instruction. (Link to Report of the Developmental Education Committee_p15_12-11-06.pdf) (Link to http://sacs.kysu.edu/requirement.aspx?id=3.4.9) This new lab component will promote mastery of subject matter by increasing student study time with guided instruction on course material. The lab carries no additional credit and is based on the curricular model for current liberal studies science courses at KSU, which requires regular classroom work and two hours of lab.

Each cohort of 15 students will benefit from collaboration among the faculty teaching them during their freshman year, who adopt in practice and philosophy a “team” approach to their students, similar to that used in the Whitney Young Honors Program at KSU, and emphasized in the University’s new strategic plan. (Link to StrateticPlan_Reference_WYC.pdf) This approach also places a new emphasis on greater collaboration with academic and non-academic support units on campus, including the Academic Center for Excellence, First-Year Experience, the Office of

50

Student Life, Career Counseling and Placement, Residence Life, and Student Health Services. The faculty team will develop syllabi for their respective courses that integrate assignments (1) with social and cultural enrichment activities planned for the semester by other support units, especially by the Office of Student Life, and (2) with selected subject matter that students will encounter in subsequent developmental and gateway courses. Students enrolled in developmental reading and writing classes, for example, will have opportunities to read and write about biological subjects that they will later encounter in BIO 101, their gateway biology requirement. Faculty collaboration with the Office of Student Life, to mention another example, will allow reading assignments to be integrated with cultural enrichment experiences, such as the visit to the Speed Art Museum in Louisville or the Freedom Center in Cincinnati planned by the Office of Student Life. Students in University Orientation will have opportunities to interact with the staff of the Office of Career Counseling and Placement to learn about the skills and knowledge required for the professions.

The team of faculty for each cohort of students, along with support staff when necessary, will meet regularly to assess and discuss the work of their students, identify those having difficulty, design appropriate interventions, and monitor the degree of success those interventions produce. Early detection of problems that students are having and quickly acting to address them is vitally important to the success of the QEP. Psycho-social problems, especially, hinder student learning, and the professional counselors in Student Health Services will provide on-going training to faculty and staff to help alert them to behaviors signifying such issues (see discussion of "Faculty and Staff Training" below). Students who exhibit health, emotional, or other psychological difficulties will receive referrals to Student Health Services, and the advisors will follow up to see whether or not the students complied. Student progress will be tracked through a variety of integrated electronic software packages, including the SAGE electronic early warning system, Advisor Trac, Tutor Trac, and Survey Trac. A variety of assessment measures (including the College Student Inventory, the ACT Collegiate Assessment of Academic Proficiency or CAAP, and electronic portfolios) will be used to monitor student learning outcomes.

Success of the QEP program depends upon the timely training of AWA faculty, staff, and student staff so that those engaged in teaching, advising, counseling, tutoring and mentoring will be prepared to begin the program when students are placed in the program and arrive on campus. In addition, all university faculty and staff need to be made aware of how courses and instruction in the QEP Project differ from what takes place in regular University classes. By keeping the University community abreast of QEP activities, the initiatives, innovations and successes that emerge from the program can be incorporated into the academic culture of the institution. Currently, the Fall and Spring Faculty Professional Staff Institutes, provided by the administration on the Monday prior to the beginning of classes each semester, are available to update faculty and professional staff about new and ongoing developments at the University. Afternoon workshops often occur during the Institutes. The Institutes are an opportunity for the QEP Director to disseminate information about the AWA Project to the University community and to announce upcoming workshops for faculty and staff involved with it.

51

Based on best practices for developmental educators, academic training for AWA faculty and staff will be adequately funded, well planned, and targeted to provide the best instruction and academic support possible for students with the greatest needs. As noted in Table 11 (p. 72), the AWA project includes over $150,000 for faculty and staff development over its 5-year period. Allowing sufficient time for planning prior to implementation is also critical. Coordinated by the Office of the Director of the QEP, major planning-training sessions will be in February, May, and August.

Planning for curricular changes will occur during the February Planning Workshop, and will be scheduled for a Friday or Saturday afternoon. This set of activities will include the faculty/staff teams and the Academics Subcommittee of the QEP Implementation Committee (see Section IX: Organizational Structure) and be designed primarily to consider and select textbooks, other texts, software, and new AWA Summer Reading packet materials, identify returning program faculty, identify particular professional development training needs, and suggest modification of student placement procedures.

Training of AWA Faculty will be provided prior to the beginning of the summer and fall terms, and it will be coordinated by the Director of the QEP. Training for the summer and fall terms will include two sessions: May training, in preparation for summer, will occur the four days after grades are in (usually the week after Mother's Day) and August Training will be the week before the Fall Faculty Professional Staff Institute (usually the first full week of August). In consultation with the QEP Implementation Committee, the Director will identify appropriate professional personnel, as necessary, from KSU's own resources or from off-campus, to lead these sessions.

May training workshops will focus on curriculum development and academic planning for the upcoming academic year. Based on the assessment data results from the previous academic year, changing student interests, current developmental education research, and self-reflection, faculty will exchange ideas to improve teaching and learning. Changes in curriculum content, including integrating assignments, readings, and academic experiences, will be discussed and recommendations developed during those workshops. Recommendations will be submitted to the QEP Implementation Committee for further discussion, revision, and approval. The University Professional Development Center will provide training to faculty on how to use technology, specifically Blackboard for course management and e-portfolio collection and assessment, as well as review of software for Computer Aided Instruction (CAI) in the labs.

August training workshops will focus on how faculty can interface students' personal, psychological, and social experiences with academic experiences. As noted later in this report (Section IX: Resources), KSU has many on-campus professional personnel to whom it can turn for leading these workshops. For example, The Offices of Admissions, Records and Registration, Financial Aid, Student Life, Residence Life, Health Services, Campus Police and Safety, First Year Experience, and the Office of Disabilities will train faculty to (1) recognize the legal perimeters of academic records (FERPA), (2) identify students' classroom and study behaviors that indicate a need for referral to professional counselors, and (3) understand and utilize the referral procedures of the various administrative offices. Training for faculty and staff in using these software modules will be provided by the staff of ACE, which already uses Tutor Trac, and the University Professional Development Center, which has the responsibility for providing instruction in new technologies and software.

52

The Academic Center for Excellence (ACE), which already uses TutorTrac software, and the University Professional Development Center, will provide workshops for faculty and staff in the use of software designed to track student performance; those tools and training will assist them in referring students to the tutoring and peer mentoring services provided by ACE. Training sessions will also be provided by the Offices of Student Life and Residence Life to show faculty how to engage students more fully with the concepts of the AWA Living-Learning Community concept and the services their offices provide that support teaching and learning.

Given the size and budget of the institution, implementation of the QEP requires a significant commitment of financial resources and personnel. The Academics with Attitude QEP has the potential to initiate a significant shift in the academic culture of the University. Consequently, the QEP Committee, with the approval of the University SACS Leadership Team, proposed the creation of a pilot project—a QEP in miniature—for implementation during the 2008-2009 academic year. (Link to QEP Committee Minutes_5-13-2008.pdf) The pilot study will provide assessment data for use to fine-tune the plan, provide baseline information on which to draw comparisons between QEP-managed and non-QEP students, iron out difficulties in implementation, and ensure a more successful educational experience for a greater number of students in 2009-2010. It will serve as the model for the enlarged summer pilot of the AWA QEP in summer of 2009.

The QEP pilot study is being coordinated by a faculty member from the English program with extensive experience in developmental education and who has been a member of the QEP Committee and QEP Selection Committee since 2007. The AWA Pilot Project Coordinator has the responsibility for overseeing activities associated with the pilot project and for reporting to the QEP Committee, which serves in lieu of the future Implementation Committee. The Coordinator and QEP Committee oversaw the selection of faculty, staff, and Living/Learning Assistants for the pilot study. The Coordinator arranged appropriate training sessions for them and has had the responsibility of the every-day management of the pilot study in guiding it to its completion date in May, 2009. A QEP Implementation Committee made up of 3 representatives of the QEP Committee and appropriate officers of the University has been constituted to oversee the implementation of the QEP.

The QEP pilot study will focus on 60 at-risk students who require remediation in the three subject areas of reading, writing, and mathematics and on a control group of 60 similar students. The pilot coordinator, in collaboration with the Office of Enrollment Management and the Registrar, will select students for both groups from a list of applicants during the early summer, according to criteria that characterize the typical at-risk KSU student. Each group of 60 students will be subdivided into cohorts of 15. All newly entering freshmen at KSU for the past four years have been block-scheduled into classes by the Registrar and the Office of Enrollment Management. The past success of this practice ensures that the QEP groups will be smoothly blocked scheduled into classes designed solely for them and will be assigned to QEP-floors in a residence hall; the non-QEP groups will be blocked scheduled into regular non-QEP classes and will not be assigned as cohorts to residence halls. The block-scheduling of students will be

53

repeated for the second semester only for QEP students; students in the non-QEP group will choose classes in the normal fashion in consultation with their assigned advisor. Since their number is relatively small, they and their performance will be tracked individually. Assessments of the three AWA Educational Goals will be conducted throughout the academic year of the pilot study on members of both groups and the results analyzed in May of 2009 by the newly formed Academics with Attitude Implementation Committee. The Implementation Committee will plan corrections and implement them with the launch of the Academics with Attitude summer pilot project in June, 2009. The summary action plan for the 2008-2009 pilot project is outlined in Appendix IV.

The summary of the action plan for the (non-pilot) KSU QEP, Academics with Attitude: Building the Foundation for Student Success, follows in Table 9. These actions would be repeated for subsequent years unless indicated.

54

Review/edit program description for students and parents and letter of application to QEP program; mail to students Acceptance postcard returned Promotion of AWA Project Director, administrative assistant January, 2009; November 2010 and subsequent years May, 2009; December 2010 and subsequent years May 1, 2009

Pre-Registration; Identify QEP cohorts; residence hall placement of QEP cohorts Establish student cohorts and living/learning communities Director in collaboration with Registrar and Office of Residence Life May, 2009 End of May

Spring Training Workshops Curriculum development and academic planning for next summer term Director and academic teams May (week after Mother's Day) May

Professional development of faculty and staff on student psycho-social problems Director and appropriate campus professional personnel

Pre-orientation work: review integrated curriculum; review e-portfolio guidelines; develop/modify syllabi; review program assessments from previous year (pilot project) and make corrections; train faculty Continuous improvement of AWA project content and delivery Director of QEP, Director of Developmental Education, Director of Innovative Teaching, Learning and Assessment and assigned teaching faculty June 1 June 8

55

Train professional staff: ACE, Residence Life, FYE, Health Train students: SIs, RAs, Tutors Prepared staff Director, and appropriate University Personnel June 1, 2009; After Mother's Day in 2010 and subsequent years End of first week in June

CSI given; CSI referrals Complete first round of CSI AWA 101 instructors First week of class, June Monday following first week of class, June

Classes begin NA NA June NA

Academic team meetings; intervention Address and resolve student problems Academic team members; appropriate support personnel Second week of summer classes End of second week of summer classes

Midterm exams NA Faculty First week of July End of first week of July

Academic team meetings; assessment of midterm grades of QEP students; intervention Identification of student academic problems; Address and resolve student problems Academic team members; appropriate support personnel Second week of July End of second week of July

E-portfolio assessment Integrated learning AWA 101 instructor and academic team Third week of July End of third week of July

Second CSI given; Placement exams (AWA 101, ENG 088 and 089); Summer program ends; Assessment of summer program Assessment of changes in student attitudes AWA 101, ENG 088 and 089 instructors; assessment by Director and Implementation Committee End of July August 3

Confirmation/review of student course placement Proper placement of summer QEP students in next academic term classes Director of QEP, Director of Academic Advising and Registrar Orientation Week, August End of Orientation Week, August

Summer Training Workshop Professional development of faculty and staff on student psycho-social problems Director and appropriate campus professional personnel First week of August End of first week of August

Fall classes begin NA NA August NA

56

Academic team meetings; intervention Address and resolve student problems Academic team members; appropriate support personnel Early September Mid-September

Midterm Exams NA Faculty First week of October End of first week of October

Academic team meetings; assessment of midterm grades of QEP students Identification of student academic problems Academic team members Mid-October Third week of October

Interventions Address and resolve student academic problems Academic team members; appropriate support personnel Beginning within one week after mid-term week, October End of October

Pre-registration NA Academic advisors November End of November

E-portfolio assessment Integrated learning AWA 101 instructor; academic team November End of November

Post-Final Assessments: Individual students Program Measuring QEP Success Measuring student success Make recommendations for improvements Academic team members Director and Implementation Committee December December Mid-December Mid-December

Confirmation of student course placement Proper placement of students in second semester classes Director, Implementation Committee, and Registrar Early January, 2010 Early January, 2010

QEP Reorientation (all students) Maintain positive student attitudes Director Early January, 2010 Early January, 2010

Classes Begin NA NA January, 2010 NA

57

February Planning Workshop Text and software selection, identification of next term's faculty, identification of professional development needs Director and academic team members; Early February Mid-February

Academic team meeting; interventions Address and resolve student problems Academic team members; appropriate support personnel Beginning of February End of first week in February

Midterm Exams NA Faculty Late February Early March

Academic team meeting; assessment of midterm grades of QEP students Identification of student academic problems Academic team members Mid-March Third week of March

Interventions Address and resolve student academic problems Academic team members; appropriate support personnel Second half of March First week of April

Pre-registration NA Advisor April May

Liberal Studies Core Committee Learning Outcomes Assessment Assess Educational Goal 5 Director in consultation with LSCC April April

CAPP exam Assess Educational Goals 4-5 Collaboration between Director of AWA project, Director of IR and Director of Placement and Testing Center Late April Early May

Final Exams NA Faculty May May 7

58

Post-Final Assessments: Individual students Program Measuring Pilot Success Measuring student success Make recommendations for improvements Academic team members Director and Implementation Committee May May Mid-May Mid-May

Spring Training Workshops Curriculum development and academic planning for next regular academic term Director and academic teams May, 2010 (week after Mother's Day) May, 2010

Confirmation of student course placement Proper placement of students in upcoming summer classes Director and Registrar May End of May

The dates specified for many of the activities designed to meet the goals of the AWA project were noted in the summary action plan in Table 9. What follows below is a generalized account of the critical actions implemented during each year of the QEP from 2009-2014. Times and activities associated with the Pilot Project for 2008-2009 can be found in Appendix IV. Items marked with an "X" indicate the activity is repeated.

Year Activity 2009-2010 2010-2011 2011-2012 2012-2013 2013-2014

Appoint AWA Implementation Committee Appoint/hire Director of AWA Project Hire/re-appoint full-time administrative assistant March March-April March-April

59

Review/edit (1) AWA program description for students and parents and (2) letter of application ("acceptance packet") to QEP program Send mailing to students January January - April November November - April X X X X

Add 4 new Resident Assistants, 3 new part-time Instructional Counselors, 4 new Supplemental Instructors Early Spring March - May

Evaluate results of previous year's assessments, recommend improvements for implementation in next academic cycle Spring training workshops May May X X X X X X X

Identify AWA student cohorts; place cohorts in residence halls May X X X X

AWA orientation, all AWA students; program begins College Student Inventory (CSI) given twice in AWA 101 Academic Team meetings, interventions, and intervention follow-up (summer courses) June June/July Mid-term (July) X X X X X X X

Electronic Portfolio assessment July X X X X

Confirmation/review of student course placement for next term August and January X X X X

Summer Training Workshops August X X X X

Office of Student Life cultural/social enrichment activities On-going throughout program X X X X

Academic Team meetings after mid-term exams; evaluation of midterm grades; interventions and intervention follow-up Mid-term each semester X X X X

60

Post-Final Exam assessment of AWA Program August, December, May X X X X

February Planning Workshops; select faculty and staff for next academic term, identify course sections for block-scheduled AWA students February X X X X

Academic Team meetings, interventions, and intervention follow-up Early February X X X X

Academic Team meetings after mid-term exams; evaluation of midterm grades; interventions and intervention follow-up March X X X X

Budget preparation for next academic year March X X X X

CAPP exam for freshmen; CAPP exam for sophomores April - May X X X X

Liberal Studies Core Committee Learning Outcomes Assessment April X X X X

Post-Final Exam assessment of AWA Program; recommend improvements for implementation in next academic term May X X X X

Annual report to University Provost and Leadership Team June X X X X

Increase support staff: Add 6 Resident Assistants 3 part-time Instructional Counselors 8 Supplemental Instructors 1 Licensed Professional Counselor May - July

Increase students participating in AWA to 240 and maintain June - July X X X

Prepare and submit SACS Five-Year Impact Report Spring

As noted in the rationale for the choice of the QEP topic, a significant obstacle to helping students learn at KSU has been the lack of coordination of the instructional components (developmental program, gateway courses, and UNV 101) with the various student support programs (Academic Center for Excellence, Advising Council, First Year Experience, Student Life, Residence Life, Health Services, and Counseling). To end the

61

“silo effect” among these various entities and to bring coordination to their activities, the KSU QEP creates a 17-member Academics with Attitude Project Implementation Committee, chaired by the Project Director, and comprised of representatives from each instructional and support unit (see the organizational chart “Structure for Implementing the QEP” in Appendix III). Many of these members are the directors and assistant vice presidents of their areas. Faculty members of the Implementation Committee are expected to have teaching responsibilities in QEP-designated courses. Faculty who serve as coordinators of key areas (composition, mathematics, science) have extensive experience in both developmental and gateway courses.

To promote efficiency and to facilitate the functions of such a large committee, the Implementation Committee has two subcommittees, the Academics Subcommittee and the Student Support Subcommittee. All are chaired by the Director. The Academics Subcommittee has primary responsibility for issues related directly to classroom teaching and academic support through ACE; the Student Support Subcommittee has primary responsibility for all non-classroom issues related to student performance.

The Implementation Committee meets a minimum of three times each semester: before the start of classes, immediately after midterm, and after final exams. The Director determines additional meeting times for the Implementation Committee as necessary and schedules separate meetings of the subcommittees as necessary.

Membership on the Implementation Committee is as follows:

Academics Subcommittee (10 members)

○ Developmental Program (3 representatives)

Director

Faculty (1 from English, 1 from Mathematics)

o Gateway courses (2 representatives)

1 faculty from English (Coordinator of Composition)

1 faculty from Mathematics and Sciences (Coordinator of either the Mathematics area, Biology, or Chemistry)

o Coordinator of AWA 101

o Director of Academic Center for Excellence

o Associate Provost, Academic Affairs (ex officio)

o Former Chairperson of QEP Committee

o Student (from AWA project)

o Director of Advising

o Director of Residence Life

o Director of Student Life

62

Assistant:o Assistant Vice President of Enrollment Management

o Coordinator of the Pilot Project

o Registrar

o Student (from AWA Project)

Implementation Committee responsibilities include the following:

be familiar with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Principles of Accreditation as they apply to Core Requirement 2.12 (The Quality Enhancement Plan)

63

The Director should hold a doctorate from a regionally-accredited institution and have experience in teaching, advising, and administrative work, including assessment and accountability. Ideally, the Director would be an individual with teaching experience in developmental education and/or general education courses. The Director would also hold a faculty appointment and teach at least one course per semester in accord with University policy.

During the 2008-2009 pilot phase of the QEP, a faculty member from the English program familiar with developmental education, rather than a Director, will have the responsibility for coordinating activities associated with the pilot project. As a current member of the QEP Committee, the coordinator will work with the Committee and the faculty selected to teach in the pilot project to guide the pilot to completion. Several members of the QEP Committee will join the Academics with Attitude Implementation Committee in late spring of 2009, thus assuring continuity between that pilot project and the implementation of the QEP.

The University has sufficient financial, personnel, and infrastructure resources to support the AWA Project. The administration of Kentucky State University and its Board of Regents strongly support it and are prepared to provide the estimated new expenditure of $1 million over 5 years to complete it. Much of the new cost for the project is for additional personnel to enhance the support structure for students: supplemental instructors, instructional counselors, and resident assistants. Over $150,000 is devoted to funding professional development of faculty and staff (see Table 11, p. 72). In addition to that pledge of support, the administration agreed to support a small pilot project for the 2008-2009 academic year to provide assessment data that could be used to fine-tune the plan, iron out difficulties, and ensure a better educational experience for students under the future AWA project.

As the smallest public university in the state with 2600 students and 162 faculty,

64

KSU has an advantage over other universities with its typically small class sizes—the University enjoys a student/faculty ratio of 16 to 1, the lowest among all the public colleges and universities in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. (Link to Budget_p.17.pdf) This meant that making significant reductions in class size and spending large sums of money for hiring several new faculty expressly for the QEP were not necessary.

Due to the rise in the number of students who require remediation, the University has relied upon adjunct faculty to supplement the regular faculty who teach developmental reading, writing, and mathematics classes. The AWA QEP, however, will use regular full-time faculty with extensive experience in teaching developmental courses as much as possible. Such will also be true for gateway classes. University Orientation courses have traditionally been taught by regular faculty and professional staff, a practice which will continue.

The University committed to filling the position of Director of Developmental Education in spring 2009. That decision came independently of the development of the QEP but will complement and benefit the AWA project. The Director of Developmental Education, along with two faculty members from the area, will serve on the AWA Implementation Committee.

The AWA Quality Enhancement Plan will make use of several support programs, services, and activities that KSU provides that promote students' learning and enhance their development. These programs also have available professional staff that will provide training for faculty and other staff members in areas critical for success of the QEP. The Office of Student Affairs administers the programs and activities of Student Support Services, which are organized into several areas, while the Office of Academic Affairs administers Academic Support Services. The AWA project will coordinate and integrate with the following:

o Academic Center for Excellence

o Office of Academic Advising

Facilities

o Residence Life

Student Support

o Student Health Services

o Computer Services and Labs

o First Year Experience

o Career Counseling and Placement

Office of Placement and Testing and the Center for Professional Career Preparation

65

Office of Student Life (Center for Holistic Development and Programming)

The Office of Student Life is a natural fit with the Academics with Attitude project and its educational goals. The mission of the Student Life Center for Holistic Development and Programming is to complement the academic programs of study at KSU and enhance the overall educational experience of students through the development of, exposure to and participation in social, cultural, intellectual, recreational, spiritual, and governance programs. The Office of Student Life has its own budget and provides structured activities, programs, services, resources and facilities to accomplish this mission. (Link to Student Support_StudentLife.pdf)

The Academic Center for Excellence (ACE) promotes academic excellence by helping students to access the resources and to develop the behaviors, attitudes, and skills that encourage achievement. ACE was formed in 2004 as a merger of the former Communication Skills Center (writing and study skills lab) and Peers Empowering Peers (PEP) Lab for tutoring in mathematics, sciences, foreign languages, and accounting. ACE provides tutoring in a number of academic areas, including, reading, writing, and mathematics, as well as providing workshops to help students with study strategies, test-taking skills, and time-management. In addition, ACE assists students by

serving as a support agency for the University faculty, academic departments, and other entities on campus assisting with supplemental and/or alternative presentations of course content.

The Center is staffed by a Director, Associate Director, five Instructional Counselors, an Administrative Assistant, and approximately twenty peer tutors and supplemental instructors. Because the AWA project will require integration of developmental courses with ACE, the Center's staff needs and training will increase. The budget for the 2008-2009 Pilot Project includes funds for hiring three part-time Instructional Counselors, four Supplemental Instructors, and professional training workshops (see the section below on the budget). Additional software for tracking student performance and assistance in mathematics classes will also be required and is included in the budget. When the number of students under AWA management increases for the 2009 pilot two more part-time Instructional Counselors and four additional Supplemental Instructors will be required. To meet the needs of students for the full implementation in 2010, two more part-time Instructional Counselors and four additional Supplemental Instructors will be required. From 2010-2014, when the number of AWA students reaches its maximum of 240 students, the Center will convert the part-time Instructional Counselors to two full-time positions and add eight more Supplemental Instructors. The Director of ACE is a member of the QEP Committee and will continue on the AWA Implementation Committee.

66

The First-Year Experience office counsels and advises new students on how to be successful during the first year. The office provides transitional and mentoring services, developmental referral services, assists with new student orientation sessions, and collaborates with KSU faculty, staff, and student families to support students in the university's retention efforts. FYE is committed to advocacy and the empowering of new students as they journey through the many phases of university life towards graduation. FYE supports faculty in University Orientation 101, developmental courses, and other courses frequented by new students. The unit will collaborate with AWA faculty concerning student absences, student concerns, and personal issues, and then work to find solutions for improvement. FYE serves an advocacy role for new students in all areas of the University. Students are meant to feel that they are not alone as they matriculate through Kentucky State University. The office also oversees the Peer Mentors and First-Year Family Program, which is FYE's effort to keep students connected to the University while diminishing isolation. The goal is to assist new students in becoming active KSU students, connected to classes and to the University as a learning community. (Link to Student Support_FYE.pdf)

The mission of the Office of Career Counseling and Placement (OCCP) is to assist students with counseling needs for academic, personal, social and vocational development. Among the goals of the office are

The OCCP has proven highly successful in its mission. In a study done by the Office of Post Secondary Education, KSU's Placement Office ranked number one in the State of Kentucky on job placements of their graduates. (Link to Student Support_CareerCounseling.pdf)

Office of Placement and Testing and Center for Professional and Career Development

67

The goal of the Testing Center is to support the University's mission for Kentucky's public higher education. Testing is responsible for the administration, scoring, reporting and record keeping of a number of nationwide standardized institutional testing programs and services. Included also is the Center for Professional and Career preparation (CPCP), which gives attention to preparing students for standardized examinations and supports the University strategic goal for retention and graduation. CPCP is a multifaceted program that addresses a wide variety of needs for a diverse population. The Center provides a collaborative learning environment which connects students, faculty, staff and the community in meaningful learning activities. The use of technology and test preparation guides supports and provides opportunities that enhance the students' career and professional choices. These combined offices will aid the AWA project in coordinating arrangements for standardized tests, such as the CAAP, national surveys, such as NSSE, and in-house evaluations, such as the KSU course evaluation. (Link to Student Support_Testing_pdf)

The Office of Academic Advising promotes an intentional, educational partnership between advisors and students. The faculty and professional staff assist the members of the student body in making a successful transition to university life, to plan and take responsibility for their learning, to set achievable academic and personal goals, and to progress successfully to graduation and beyond. Under the leadership of its Director, the Office of Academic Advising supports an Advising Center comprised of experienced faculty and staff advisors from the Faculty Advising Council who are assigned to students who have not yet declared a major.

Good advising is a critical component of the Academics with Attitude project, and the Director of Academic Advising will be a member of the AWA Implementation Committee to aid the Committee in monitoring and evaluating the advising process.

The Office of Residence Life oversees the operation of all University-owned and operated housing facilities for students and coordinates all programs, services, and activities associated with these facilities. The office encourages personal development, through in-hall programs and academic and social activities, and is responsible for ensuring that students have an atmosphere conducive to studying. Each residence hall is supervised by a professional Head Resident (non-student) and assisted by at least one student resident assistant on each floor. Computer/study rooms are available on a 24-hour basis in each of the residence halls. (Link to Student

The AWA project forms communities of learning in the residence halls among the various student cohorts and will have its own dedicated group of student resident assistants, who will have the title of Living/Learning Assistants and who will be trained by the faculty and staff of the AWA project. Supplemental Instructors supplied by ACE will be available in residence halls to provide extra educational assistance to students in the AWA project. Because each cohort of students will take classes together and belong to

68

the same living-learning residence hall community, it is essential that coordination of student placement in academic courses and in rooms in the residence halls occurs. The Director and staff of the Office of Residence Life will work closely with Vice-President of the Office of Enrollment Management and its staff to achieve that goal.

Student Health Services provide quality health service to students. The student health program encompasses preventive medicine, health education, health maintenance, medical and mental health care, referrals, and a drug and alcohol abuse program. For the convenience of students, health education, medical consultation, and emergency treatment for minor illnesses and injuries are available free of charge to all students. Student Health provides quality physical, mental and emotional health care services to all students. Drug and alcohol education and mental health counseling are made available to help maintain a student's optimum health and instill good personal and community health habits. The professional staff consists of a full-time nurse, mental health counselor, and alcohol and drug abuse counselor. The professional staff makes referrals to the local hospital and to other off-campus health facilities. (Link to Student Support_StudentHealth.pdf) Given the importance of physical and mental health for academic success, the KSU AWA project will use the resources of the Student Health Services professional staff for workshops and training for the faculty and staff so that they will be better informed and prepared to refer students with health-related problems to the appropriate campus health professional.

Faculty and professional staff utilize the services of the University Professional Development Center (UPDC) for information and technology training. The UPDC is dedicated to facilitating all professional development workshops and training activities on the KSU campus. The center provides dedicated staff and technical resources which can be scheduled to provide faculty and staff training sessions to upgrade or enhance professional and/or pedagogical skills. Training is currently available for Microsoft Word, Excel, Power Point, Outlook, Turnitin and Blackboard through the UPDC. The AWA project will use the services of the UPDC to provide workshops for faculty and staff on using Blackboard and its e-portfolio features.

Student Resident Hall Assistant training is provided at the beginning of the academic year by Information Technology. Information Technology also hosts training for students on how to get their personal computers connected to the internet in the residence halls at the beginning of the academic year.

All incoming students are trained in the Web Student Self Service module (also known as W.I.R.E.D, for Web Information Really Easy and Direct) — the registration and records management system they must use to function while enrolled at KSU. They are also required to take a freshman University Orientation class where much of the course work is delivered via Blackboard, the University's online course management system. University Orientation regularly trains students in using other University web sites and library systems. (Link to IT_StudentTraining.pdf) Because this type of training for students already occurs at KSU, the AWA project classes will take advantage of this

69

existing infrastructure.

All KSU faculty and professional staff are equipped with computers and the software applications required for their positions. AWA Students will have unlimited access to laptop computers in the residence halls (through the University's laptop lending policy), 48 terminals in the student center, and 19 workstations in Blazer Library. In addition, AWA students will have restricted use (class time or tutoring session) of the 26 computers in the newly renovated Hathaway Hall Composition Computer Lab, 15 in the English Computer Lab, and 8 in ACE. (Link to IT_Computers.pdf) The computers in the Composition Lab have specialized software for students to aid them with reading and writing, and those in ACE will have ModuMath software installed for students requiring additional instruction in developmental mathematics. Hathaway 427 (English Computer Lab) will be designated as the meeting room for the supplemental instructor/tutor-directed labs of the pilot projects.

Blazer Library provides a variety of resource services that adequately support the University's teaching, research, and service mission. User services available for students, faculty and staff include reference services, interlibrary loan, orientation tours, library instruction, microform machine readers and printers, and viewing rooms for videos and DVDs. KSU belongs to the Kentucky Virtual Library (KYVL), which provides access to electronic resources, a Virtual Reference Desk, and Information Literacy tutorials in support of student and faculty teaching and research. Blackboard is used by students in the Library and in the University Orientation (UNV 101) courses. Faculty members have placed the Library's databases online as electronic links for students logged on to Blackboard.

The Library's collection contains over 700,000 items, which includes monographs, government documents, bound periodicals, kits, and microforms in all disciplines. In 2006, the Kentucky Legislature allocated one million dollars to enhance the Library's book collections in support for the University's undergraduate and graduate academic programs. The electronic resources collections include access to 85 databases and an expanding collection of over 16,000 electronic books covering a wide range of subjects. (Link to Library_Short.pdf) The Library Director has set aside up to $30,000 from the library budget to purchase materials appropriate for faculty and professional staff involved with developmental education. (Link to Chapman_Stuckey_email.pdf.) Library staff regularly provide assistance to individual students and entire classes as requested by faculty for course assignments and projects.

The Budgets are Reasonable and Cost Effective: The pilot projects are designed to

70

personalize the college experience for first-year students in need of extensive developmental coursework, personal growth and development, and acclimation to the academic environment. Adequate and qualified staffing is essential to this enterprise. Therefore, the majority of the funds are designated for faculty, staff, and student personnel. Each activity supported by the budget has been carefully considered in terms of cost. The pilot coordinator's salary complements a 9-month faculty position, and responsibilities would run through May 31, 2009. The administrative assistant will provide support throughout the year for the 2008-2009 pilot project. The resident assistants will support both academic and personal development of participants. Supplemental Instructors and part-time Instructional Counselors will be assigned to Math 095, English 089, and English 088. The larger 2009-2010 pilot begins in the summer of 2009.

The Budget is Adequate to Support the Project: This QEP pilots are intentionally designed to promote holistic student development while relating all activities and services to classroom performance. Professional development and training for CSI assessment and the SI program are essential to best practices. The SAGE electronic early warning system will direct students to appropriate support services; Advisor Trac will document students' participation in advising/counseling services; Survey Trac will gauge students' perceptions of their academic progress and associated services. Each of these software applications works in conjunction with Tutor Trac, already in use in the Academic Center for Excellence. All activities have been considered in terms of the budget's ability to implement the objectives. Salaries, travel, supplies, and all other budgeted items are calculated at a cost that can adequately and effectively achieve each objective of the QEP pilot. (The Director's salary is provided through other University funding sources.) The roles of personnel, coordination of activities, and implementation schedule were described in Sections VI-VII of this report. A detailed breakdown of estimated costs for the 2009 summer pilot can be found in Appendices VI ("Pilot Project Budget, Summer 2009") and VII ("QEP Project Budget, Academic Year 2009-2010"). The pilot budgets breakdown as follows:

Personnel $126,047

Professional Development $2,975

Office Supplies $2,000

Social & Cultural Events $6,908

Other (CSI forms, books, room, board) $207,434

Total $345,364

Cost per student

(120 students) $2,878

Beginning in the summer of 2010, the AWA project reaches its maximum number of new freshman students at 240 each year. A detailed breakdown of estimated cost can

71

be found in Appendix VIII ("QEP Project Budget, 2009-2014").

72