Information: uc.kennesaw.edu/programs/thrive.php or 470-578-3550.
Faith Mohr’s college experience was the sort other students often aspire to. To begin with, she earned her communications degree from Kennesaw State in four years. She made life-long friends as well as mentors among the faculty and staff she met. And she kept the HOPE scholarship, which left her with only one student loan that she expects to pay off in the next two years.
The 22-year-old May grad credits those accomplishments to Thrive, a free KSU program designed to support first-year HOPE students so they can keep the scholarship.
“If I had not had that starting point, I think I would have been lost,” admits Mohr. “Especially as a freshman, there are so many things to figure out. Thrive gave me a support system and a network of people I could go to for advice and help. I knew it was working because there were many people I knew as a freshmen who weren’t there after the first semester, no less the first year.”
According to a 2014 report by the ACT, colleges lose more than 30 percent of students between the first and second year. The number of students losing HOPE is higher: According to the Georgia Student Finance Commission’s study from 2008 through 2014, about 41 percent lost HOPE after the first year. KSU created Thrive in 2011 to help students overcome a mixed-bag of hurdles that block their ability to keep HOPE and stay in school.
“Frankly, we were a bit shocked by how much of an impact the HOPE variable made,” said Keisha Hoerrner, dean of KSU’s University College that houses Thrive. “Yet students who are HOPE eligible have usually done quite well in high school. They’re pretty confident in their academic skills, but they don’t realize that organization, time management and content expectations are distinct in college. We sort of assume that in the eight weeks between graduating from high school and taking their first college course, they gain the motivation and knowledge to handle the differences, and we know that does not happen.”
First-year students who accept the university’s invitation to join Thrive head to campus in April to meet with advisors and pre-register for fall. They come back again for tours, team-building exercises and leadership activities, as well as sessions on study skills and time management.
“The workshops are designed to enhance the student’s first-year experience both inside and outside the classroom,” said Hoerrner. “We know that some students can succeed academically, but they stumble because they don’t feel connected to the campus or aren’t aware of resources. They’re busy being in conflict with roommates and missing classes - issues that aren’t academic.”
Thrive students take most of their core classes as a group and are required to touch base with a graduation coach at least twice each semester. Coaches are the first-point of contact for a range of issues, said Hoerrner. “The coach is the first-point of contact for a range of issues, from resolving a financial aid problem or buying the right size of sheets for the dorm.”
Hoerrner said Thrive has made an impact. Since its launch, it has served 928 students and boasted first-to second year retention rates to 85 percent. Rates for HOPE students not in Thrive and the general first-year population hover around 78 percent.
“It’s doing everything we wanted it to do,” said Hoerrner. “Our first-year students are returning as sophomores who have completed 30 semester hours and with HOPE intact. Though we had been capping the number at 200, this fall, we’ve opened it up to 225 because it’s been so successful. And we hope to start raising that number even more.”
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