Student voices put on the map

     Mapping a student’s progress and satisfaction has been a complex issue to gauge for many institutions throughout the nation. GCSU is looking to simplify this problem by instituting a program known as MAP-Works by fall of 2008.
     MAP-Works, an acronym for making achievement possible, is a Web enabled, next generation approach to improving students’ transition to the college environment.
     “Roughly half of first year students, whether it is transfer students or incoming freshmen, feel adjustment is a huge issue,” Counseling Services counselor Susan Spencer Hendley said. “Some experience it worse than others, but it is hard to predict who will have more problems. You just cannot predict it.”
     MAP-Works is an optional online survey given to GCSU freshmen the second or third week of their first semester to narrow down those who do need help.
     “It is a 90 item electronic instrument given only to freshmen,” Paul Jahr, associate vice president for Student Affairs, said.   “That is roughly 1,200 students that will take the survey. They will be asked all sorts of questions about their past experiences, current experiences and future expectations.”
     The focus of the survey is to examine students’ progress in four areas: academic success, retention, student development and student involvement. The key areas’ survey questions are based upon learning, health choices, connections and knowing yourself.
    As far as the details of the survey go, each student will have an online profile, to which they will have access at all times. It takes 20 minutes to complete and an outside instrument makes the questions.
     “The instrument is a commercial product that has been tested and sophisticated for over 20 years by the Educational Benchmarking Incorporation (EBI),” Jahr said. “Questions are predetermined and altered specifically for GCSU.”
     The information compiled will be sent to EBI, and sent back to the university. From there, the survey will be available to not only students but also to the appropriate staff members such as freshman seminar instructors, advisors, coaches and the resident hall directors.
     “There is no right or wrong answer, it is strictly self-reporting,” Jahr said. “You, as a respondent, can choose whether or not you want to take the survey and moreover, if you take it, which questions you want to report.”
     Students will receive feedback within two weeks after taking the survey, which is a valuable asset according to SGA secretary and MAP-Works student committee member Alissa Torchia.
     “At the fourth or fifth week in the semester, students will get a report back,” Torchia said. “They will actually get feedback, which is nice because many students just take surveys and forget about them, but this will let you know your progress and any improvements you may need to work on.”
     The results available to students and staff will be broken down into sections such as problem indicators, goals, self-assessment, learning, on-campus living and connections.
     Each section is a composite of the scores divided into corresponding areas. Above each section, is a meter ranging from red to yellow to green gauging the student’s progress and concerns. Red represents areas of concern while green represents solid performances, and yellow shows the middle ground problems forming.
     “These are just parameters to give a reference to students,” Jahr said. “It serves as a way to see early on indicators of some areas of concern, small ‘c’ of course. The first three to six weeks are critical for student success.”
Moreover, the information will be compared to the freshman class as a whole so that students can get a good understanding of any adjustments students need to make.
     “The survey will compare students to their colleagues as a class in general, no direct comparisons,” Jahr said. “Just to show they are not an entity of one but part of a whole group.”
GCSU has never implemented a survey like this before and will be the first school in Georgia to utilize this tool. Jahr affirmed that the program has had success among other universities being piloted by ten schools around the nation last year.
     “Ball State University developed the product and has seen significant improvements in success and retention,” Jahr said. “They partnered up with EBI to take the instrument to a whole new level. They refined it and marketed to other universities including us because of our close relationship with them.”
MAP-Works will cost the school approximately $9,000, absorbed through the student affairs budget, but it is a cost that GCSU believes is well worth it.
     “There is no cost to students,” Jahr said. “This is just a fee required to participate that student affairs will cover. If you look at it by the big picture it will give us all sorts of data and direct feedback to the students.”
     Torchia believes this gives new students a better understanding of college but explains it is just an experiment.
     “This will help students think realistically in expectations in regard to what students expect of their first year and what actually happens,” Torchia said. “This is just a piloted session. We will go for a year and see how it goes and if we want to continue with it.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Apr 18 2008. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry