Georgia State University, a leader in the use of data analytics to improve graduation rates, used to focus on having as many students as possible come in knowing what they wanted to major in.
Studies have shown, though, that students who make that decision during their first year are more successful than those who come in with their minds already set, said Timothy Renick, vice president for enrollment management and student success at Georgia State, which offers both two- and four-year degrees.
Although it isn’t one of the 30 colleges participating in the inaugural project, Arapahoe Commu -nity College is creating pathways based largely on the principles the community-colleges association is promoting.
Some faculty members have reacted with alarm to the possibility that their own courses would be cut and that the pathways might give short shrift to the liberal arts. Lisa Matye Edwards, vice president for student affairs, described a typical reaction: “You’re blowing the liberal arts, Lisa — you’re not letting them wan-der and choose the way I could when I was in college back in the day.”
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