ATHENS — Georgia college students delivered a clear message to faculty and administrators Monday: Help us succeed.
Students said they need more advisers, flexible scheduling and academic support if they are to earn a degree. Older students encouraged college leaders to find a way to give them credit for life and work experiences. Traditional students said they often start college without a specific plan and need to be exposed to different areas of study.
These suggestions come as college leaders in Georgia and nationwide are looking at eliminating the roadblocks that prevent many students from succeeding. Gov. Nathan Deal said the state’s economic survival depends on more adults earning a degree. Projections show about 60 percent of all jobs will require education after high school by 2020, but only 42 percent of Georgia’s adults have postsecondary education.
The students kicked off a two-day summit at the University of Georgia where teams from the 60 colleges in the university and technical college systems are developing ways to improve graduation rates. About 20 students spoke at the summit so college representatives could see life through their eyes.
About 55 percent of University System students earn a four-year degree within six years, according to 2011 graduation rates. Rates vary widely, with more than 80 percent graduating within six years from the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech, compared with less than one-third at Augusta State and Clayton State universities.
College presidents have until September to deliver their plans to Deal. These plans are one part of Deal’s “Complete College Georgia” initiative, which has a goal of increasing college graduates in the state by 250,000 by the year 2020. This includes people who earn a one-year certificate, an associate’s or a bachelor’s degree.
To reach that goal, colleges must dramatically change the way people go to school in Georgia, said Stan Jones, president of Complete College America, the national group under which Georgia and other states are working.
“This is a system redesign,” Jones said. “It needs to be bold.”
Georgia’s two public college systems already submitted a plan that would allow students to earn a degree faster by taking more courses online.
That’s exactly the kind of thinking Cotina Howard suggested. She is studying welding at Georgia Piedmont Technical College, but the single mom said it would be difficult for her to attend college if not for the flexibility of online courses.
Students also said they want more guarantees their credits will transfer from the Technical College System to the Univeristy System. Colleges already are working on this.
Matthew Mitrovich graduated from Georgia Gwinnett College and hopes to go to law school. He said he never liked school, but succeeded because of support from professors. Once, after he missed a class twice, the professor called to see where he was. He overslept and said he would be there the next day.
“She said, ‘No, you’ll be here in 20 minutes,’ ” he said, “and I was.”
While colleges strive to provide this type of support, they must maintain high standards for what students are expected to learn for a degree, said David Morgan, interim chief academic officer for the University System. The goal is to design programs that get more students through the pipeline while preparing them for life and the work force, he said.
Jones suggested colleges create a “road map” that specifies which courses students must take to earn specific degrees. This guarantees students take the correct classes in the right order, instead of just selecting one because of a friend’s recommendation, he said. If students want to take different courses outside of what is needed for their degree, they’d be required to meet with an adviser or faculty members first.
If students are to graduate in four years, they must take 15 credits a semester. To encourage this, some states have created incentives such as preferred parking on campus, he said.
Georgia and the nation have “won the battle of providing access” to college, but now Jones said colleges must take more responsibility for the success of these students.
“It’s a huge task and an important one,” he said.
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