Dear Panther Community,
I’m a true believer that student engagement is central to student success. In fact, my own transition from industry to academia was because of an amazing student engagement experience at my first institution. In addition to addressing faculty and staff compensation and creating new pathways for collaborative research, I am very interested in initiating a multi-year effort to further enhance the student experience. We’ve built an incredible national reputation for our work in ensuring students achieve academic success. We want to be known as top in the nation for their overall university experience as well.
An important first step is understanding how our students interact with others both inside and outside of the classroom. I’m personally asking students for their feedback and I am delighted to announce a more formal assessment as well. One immediate initiative that is currently in progress and will continue throughout the spring semester is to assess the student experience on every Georgia State campus, including the experiences of our online students.
Spearheading this initiative is Dr. Nancy Kropf, Senior Vice President for Strategic Initiatives, with Dr. Michael Sanseviro, Vice President for Student Engagement. They have assembled a diverse steering committee representing faculty and staff from around the university, along with graduate assistants and student leaders, who will be engaging in this important work throughout the spring semester.
This initiative will:
• Collect data about the student experience across all campuses and online both inside and outside the classroom through a series of focus groups, surveys and “roving reporters” directly engaging students in the spaces they most frequent and at select student events.
• Gain insights from faculty about their interactions with students and their perspectives on the student experience.
• Help inform strategic planning efforts related to the pillars of Student Success and Identity and Placemaking.
I look forward to sharing progress as this initiative moves forward. We can all do our part to enhance the student experience at Georgia State. Gathering data and feedback will help inform how we can best help students and make their Georgia State experience even better.
Thank you all,
