Centralizing student success and support functions to accelerate organizational change at Georgia State University
Challenge
How might we centralize administrative and support functions to accelerate organizational change efforts focused on student success?
Strategy
Two-pronged effort:
- Began merging and centralizing the functions of the Office of Enrollment Management (admissions, registrar, first-year advising) with other student success functions (outreach, financial aid, student accounts, career services, etc.) under the newly appointed Vice Provost for The Office of Enrollment Management in 2008; by 2010, the charge to become more holistically-focused on students through greater cross-departmental collaboration led to consolidation of the financial aid and student accounts functions under The Office of Enrollment Management and the creation of The Office of Student Success
- Hired 42 new advisors to support the centralized advising function previously focused on first-year students only
Outcome
The impacts of centralization of functions and organizational change efforts have been evident in:
- A more collaborative and steadfast focus across departments towards retention, progression, and graduation goals (e.g., weekly managers meeting across student success to review progress, identify challenges, and address roadblocks)
- Continued growth of the centralized advising function now supporting all students with up to 90 credit hours until they are more stable in their major
- The addition of an embedded Institutional Research Associate to conduct analytics for student success
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Institution
Enrollment
36,343
Pell Recipients
53%
Students of Color
74%
Net cost of Attendance
$30,357 (in-state)
