Scavenger Hunt 11.26.2023

S CAVENGER H UNT 1 H IGHER E DUCATION S CAVENGER H UNT S ARAH A THEARN L IBERTY U NIVERSITY , D EPARTMENT OF E DUCATION

S CAVENGER H UNT 2 H IGHER E DUCATION S CAVENGER H UNT I. Public Flagship : a. Institution name: The University of Geogia b. List ten co-curricular support services and their division (i.e. Student Affairs): i. Women Lead is a leadership development program for student leaders found within the Engagement, Leadership, and Service Department as a Division of Student Affairs . ii. Serve UGA is a program that provides connections of students to the Athens community through community service projects and civic engagement accessed through the Engagement, Leadership and Service Department. iii. Global Dawgs provides training workshops for faculty and staff to develop communication skills and learn about international student experience on campus. GD is found under the International Student Life . iv. Asian American Student Association was created in 1992 to raise awareness of Asian American Students enrolled on campus. This program is a part of the Multicultural Services and Programming offered at UGA. v. Alpha Delta Pi is a Panhellenic Sorority under Greek Life offered at UGA. It was one of the first sororities and is known for their national philanthropy: The Ronald McDonald House. vi. Cru Ministries are available on campus similar to a Hillel or a Student Baptist Union, UGA offers a plethora of religious organizations on campus under the University Religious Life Association . vii. Experiential Learning is provided to all students as an Experiential Learning Requirement within the School of Public & international Affairs . viii. Club Volleyball is listed under the Recreational Sports for students to take the initiative and lead through competitive play. ix. CURO Honors College, under Morehead Honors College , provides students within their first year at UGA with research opportunities. x. UGA StudyAway is for student opportunities to travel and learn abroad under the Global Education, Office of Global Engagement Division. c. Provide the title and description of any services specifically and overtly aimed at retention (i.e. Office of Student Success), if any. *Note – this type of office can be rare. i. Blue Key National Honors Society provides scholarships, leadership, and service for UGA students who are in their 2-4 th year at UGA. ii. In UGA’s Momentum Plan for 2022 it is reported that UGA created programing and surveys for measuring student success through Orientation Intake Survey, Holistic Program Maps, and The Seven Meta- Majors. This initiative is under the University Advising Services.

S CAVENGER H UNT 4 ii. Alexander Hamilton Society which is under the Undergrad Independent Org of Speech and/or Debate listed in the Student & Campus Life Division. iii. Laidlaw Undergraduate Leadership and Research Program at Cornell in the David M. Einhorn Center for Community Engagement under the Center for International Studies supports a culture where students, faculty, and staff can work together. iv. Multicultural Greek & Fraternal Council is within the Student & Campus Life. v. Intramural Sports under Recreational Services within Student and Campus Life. vi. Outdoor Odyssey in the Cornell Outdoor Education under Student & Campus Life. vii. Cornel University Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union under the Undergrad Independent Organization of Advocacy. viii. Cornell Veteran Colleague Network Group supporting Cornell’s Student Veterans. ix. Education Abroad is for study abroad within the Office of Global Learning. c. Provide the title and description of any services specifically and overtly aimed at retention (i.e. Office of Student Success), if any. *Note – this type of office can be rare. The Office of Academic Diversity Initiatives seems to be designed to support the engagement, development, and success of undergrad students, according to their page. d. Where are students directed for help? How many “clicks” are these resources from the homepage? When one is on the main school page, they can click on Life at Cornell, click on Health & Safety and have access to any and every type of need and support for almost every demographic type of student. There is access to Student Support and Advocacy under Student Life. Both are about 3 clicks from the main page and very accessible. e. What academic support services are offered? Are any of these academic supports required ? Cornell offers within the Learning Strategies Center supplemental courses that are taken alongside Chemistry, Economics, Math, Biology, and Physics classes. It is not required but offered for student success. It also seems that any academic support needed in a specific course is under the specific college of that course or within your majoring school within the university. f. What is the reported Freshmen retention rate? Cornell’s Freshmen retention rate is currently at 98%.

S CAVENGER H UNT 5 g. What is the reported six-year graduation rate (as defined by IPEDS)? The 6-year rate is at 94.8%. h. Who appears to be in charge of student success and retention, and on what information are you basing this assertion? Student Success and retention seem to be under the Office of the President in the Initiative of the Presidential Task Force on Undergraduate Admissions. It is a university-wide undergraduate admissions policy found on the Office of the President’s page in Cornell University . III. Faith-based : a. Institution name: Covenant College b. List ten co-curricular support services and their division (i.e. Student Affairs): Student Activities i. Alkebulan Student Association ii. Campus Stewardship Committee iii. Economics Club iv. McRae Zellner v. Spanish Club vi. Robotics Club vii. Planted Student Leadership Program viii. Intercultural Program ix. Student Senate x. Campus Activities Board c. Provide the title and description of any services specifically and overtly aimed at retention (i.e. Office of Student Success), if any. *Note – this type of office can be rare. N/A d. Where are students directed for help? How many “clicks” are these resources from the homepage? If one is on the homepage of Covenant College and clicks on the upper right corner where the 3 block lines are located, it brings a dropdown box of options, click on Resources, then click on Student Wellness . In all its about 3 clicks from the home page. e. What academic support services are offered? Are any of these academic supports required ? Academic Advising through the Center for Student Success seems to be where the services are offered. There isn’t a lot of information regarding required academic support classes. f. What is the reported Freshmen retention rate? Covenant’s freshman retention rate is at 87%.

S CAVENGER H UNT 7 f. What is the reported Freshmen retention rate? CAU’s retention rate is at 70% according to the latest report from 2021. g. What is the reported six-year graduation rate (as defined by IPEDS)? The 6-year graduation rate at Clark Atlanta is 44% according to IPEDS . h. Who appears to be in charge of student success and retention, and on what information are you basing this assertion? It appears that the Retention and Graduation Specialist in the Center for Academic and Student Success but this information found is dated from 2016. V. Community College : a. Institution name: Georgia State University-Perimeter College, Clarkston Campus b. List ten co-curricular support services and their division (i.e. Student Affairs): Panter Involvement Network i. Clarkston ASL Club ii. Clarkston Campus Earth Club iii. Clarkston Computing and Engineering Club iv. Drama Club v. Future Medical Professionals club vi. History and Politics Club vii. Japan Society Club viii. Math Club ix. Muslim Student Association x. Nurses Christian Fellowship c. Provide the title and description of any services specifically and overtly aimed at retention (i.e. Office of Student Success), if any. *Note – this type of office can be rare. GPS Advising for a university wide retention initiative. d. Where are students directed for help? How many “clicks” are these resources from the homepage? One can click on the home page, click on the 3 vertical dots on the top right of the page, select students when it pops up, click on Perimeter, then student services and all the academic to health support a student needs is located 4 clicks from the homepage. e. What academic support services are offered? Are any of these academic supports required ? Advisors are assigned from the start of freshman year across the 4-year Atlanta campus to the 2-year Perimeter Campus around Atlanta. There is also an advisement app available to students. f. What is the reported Freshmen retention rate? According to IPEDs , it is listed at 64%.

S CAVENGER H UNT 8 g. What is the reported six-year graduation rate (as defined by IPEDS)? According to IPEDs , the 150% graduation rate is at 22%, but Perimeter College is a 2 year college and degreed students who are pursuing a full bachelor’s degree automatically matriculate into the Atlanta Campus which is a 4 year institution. h. Who appears to be in charge of student success and retention, and on what information are you basing this assertion? GPS Advising for a university wide retention initiative. VI. Online, For-profit : a. Institution name: American Public University b. List ten co-curricular support services and their division (i.e. Student Affairs): Student Organizations i. Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society ii. Alpha Phi Sigma Honor Society iii. Alumni Advisory Council iv. American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics v. Anthropology Club vi. Association for Women in Science vii. Campus Leadership Service Opportunities viii. Better World Books ix. A Million Thanks x. Clearpath Mentoring c. Provide the title and description of any services specifically and overtly aimed at retention (i.e. Office of Student Success), if any. *Note – this type of office can be rare. N/A d. Where are students directed for help? How many “clicks” are these resources from the homepage? On the homepage to the top right there is an area to click for a sliding drop down of options, Support is listed at the bottom, then click support again to receive options for help navigation and FAQs. Mental Health Resources seems to be located under Student Success—about 3 clicks from the main page. APU offers support in an array of fields for mental health needs. e. What academic support services are offered? Are any of these academic supports required ? There seems to be an advisor assigned to every student, but there is nothing clear about a required academic support service or course offered. f. What is the reported Freshmen retention rate? Reportedly it was at 90% for Fall 2022.

S CAVENGER H UNT 10 Summary Researching co-curricular, academic support, and retention data among several different types of institutions, it is clear how much each institution differs across the higher education system. Higher Education must engage its learners deep into the academic environment while equipping students with lifelong skills and knowledge within their specific fields. Retention is present where engagement is thriving among campuses or available to students. Without retention, universities lose funding and the students to fill desks both physically and virtually. There are many similarities between the researched colleges and universities in the Higher Education Scavenger Hunt such as the availability of student life, activities, and student resources as well as some visible contrasts when looking into required academic courses that offered student support but also what was available online to research. When researching the institutions, it was very apparent that all six of the institutions researched shared the same qualities of providing student activities, clubs and organizations, and adequate advisement for students which results in engagement and retention among enrolled students. The student life for all schools seems to be thriving and attended based on the data pulled from the websites. Student resources for academic support and mental health support were readily available and quickly accessed through each website. While there were some major contrasts between the IPEDs retention and graduation rates, it seems that the mission and vision of all the schools seemed to be very similar in providing quality higher education no matter the type of students enrolled. Comparatively, the University of Georgia and Cornel University seemed to be well endowed financially and student body-wise as they were the most thriving in terms of well-established and well- resourced. Their retention and graduation rates were extremely high, especially for the University of Georgia being a very popular state institution and somewhat competitive school, and Cornell University

S CAVENGER H UNT 11 being highly selective, prestigious institution while both being academically advanced. They thrive on student engagement opportunities that go beyond the classroom for their students which helps with the retention and graduation rates. They both offer required programs for students to engage in. The community college, Georgia State University Perimeter College offered a plethora of student clubs and organizations as well, but the graduation rate was much lower due to it only being a 2-year college where not every student will graduate with a 4-year degree. This school is unique in that its student body is a commuter school where students tend to show up for classes either before or after work and there is no available on campus housing. The HBCU, Clark Atlanta; the Faith-based institution, Covenant College; and the Online, For-Profit University, American Public University can be compared to UGA, Cornell, and Georgia State in that all the institution missions are centered around student engagement. Contrastingly, Clark Atlanta, Covenant, and American Public University all had very low graduation rates. This could be due to the lack of leadership or follow through in making a personal connection on campus, but there is not any explanation as to why the graduation rates are lower at these institutions. Some of the data may conclude the demographic of students that attend each institution can affect the student graduation rate among each institution due to personal barriers as previously learned through retention theories. It is reported as well that the schools that had the highest graduation and retention rates also offered required first year programs to freshmen and offered other required credits that involved student engagement all throughout a student’s four years like studying abroad and research opportunities. In conclusion, institutions with high graduation rates clearly offer an abundance of opportunities of engagement to students. This is what makes an institution successful in higher education. Offering students opportunities in and out of the classroom provides them with the skills necessary to succeed in post-graduation. Offering the student life opportunities on campus in the form of clubs and organizations, advocacy programs, athletics, mentoring and advising programs, and providing leadership

S CAVENGER H UNT 13 References American Public University Clark Atlanta University Cornell University Covenant College Georgia State University-Perimeter College, Clarkston Campus The University of Geogia