Student Success and Learning Support

The Student Learning Support and Gateway Success Quality Enhancement Plan focuses on strengthening student success in gateway math and English courses—key drivers of retention, graduation, and workforce readiness at Georgia Highlands College. By improving how learning support is coordinated, communicated, and embedded, this initiative builds on existing tutoring and instructional practices to help students develop foundational skills such as reading comprehension, study strategies, metacognition, and responsible use of AI. Grounded in GHC’s mission as an access institution and community partner, this QEP would aim to improve early academic momentum, support timely completion, and prepare students to contribute meaningfully to their professions and communities.

What is the proposed QEP topic? 

Strengthening the foundational learning skills and support structures students need to succeed in gateway math and English courses and persist toward degree completion.

What is the “big idea”? Why does this topic matter to GHC? 

The central idea of this QEP is that student success in gateway math and English is foundational to everything GHC seeks to accomplish—retention, graduation, workforce readiness, and community impact. Students who successfully complete these early courses are far more likely to persist, complete a credential, and move into meaningful work or further education, while students who struggle in gateway courses are at the highest risk of stopping out.

As an access-focused institution and a key contributor to the region’s workforce, GHC’s mission depends on helping students succeed early and build momentum toward completion. By strengthening learning support and foundational skills in gateway courses, this QEP advances GHC’s commitment to student success, supports timely degree completion, and helps ensure graduates are prepared to contribute productively to their communities and the local economy.

Why this idea & why now? 

GHC continues to see declining academic readiness in gateway math and English, particularly among recent high school graduates, while also serving adult learners and transfer students with widely varying preparation. These challenges are not going away, and early course failure remains a persistent barrier to retention.

At the same time, students and faculty often describe learning support structures as confusing or difficult to navigate. This moment presents an opportunity to rethink how learning support is coordinated, communicated, and integrated, ensuring that students understand both what support exists and how to use it effectively. Addressing gateway success now aligns with institutional priorities around retention, completion, and equitable student outcomes.

What problem or opportunity does it address? 

Many students struggle in gateway courses due to:

• Weak reading comprehension and study strategies
• Limited metacognitive awareness (learning how to learn)
• Difficulty managing time and academic workload
• Unclear understanding of available tutoring and learning support services
• Uncertainty about how to responsibly use AI as a learning tool

Currently, learning support is often fragmented, inconsistently communicated, or perceived as remedial rather than developmental. This QEP addresses the opportunity to make learning support more visible, coherent, and normalized, helping students engage with support early and effectively—without stigmatization.

How does it align with the mission and student success goals?  

This QEP directly supports GHC’s mission to provide high-value educational experiences that transform lives by addressing one of the most significant barriers to student persistence.

It aligns strongly with GHC’s strategic priorities, particularly:

• Strategic Priority 3: Student Success
  • Goal 1: Improved retention
  • Goal 2: Increased graduation
  • Goal 5: Gateway course success
• Strategic Priority 2: Community Impact
  • Goal 3: Strengthening local employment outcomes through degree completion

By improving gateway success, this initiative supports students across associate and bachelor’s programs and strengthens long-term workforce and transfer outcomes.

What impact do we expect on student learning or success? 

We expect students to demonstrate improved foundational learning skills, greater confidence using learning support resources, and stronger performance in gateway math and English courses.

Institutionally, anticipated outcomes include improved gateway pass rates, increased retention and progression, higher graduation rates, and clearer, more consistent understanding of learning support among students and staff.

At a high level, what might implementation look like? 

At a high level, this QEP could include:

• Redesigning how student/learning support is communicated and embedded in gateway courses
• Strengthening tutoring and supplemental instruction aligned with course needs
• Integrating skill-based supports such as study strategies, reading comprehension, and metacognition
• Exploring responsible uses of AI to support learning (e.g., comprehension, practice, feedback)
• Leveraging existing course structures (including special topics or pilot sections) rather than creating a traditional First-Year Experience model

The emphasis would be on supporting student learning without imposing prescriptive curricular changes or centralized control over gateway content.

Who would it affect most directly in terms of implementation? 

All students enrolled in gateway math and English courses would be directly impacted, with indirect benefits for students across all programs through improved persistence and progression.

Implementation would involve collaboration among gateway faculty, tutoring and learning support staff, advisors, and academic leadership. Faculty expertise in math and English would remain central, with learning support framed as complementary rather than directive.

At a very high level, what resources or support would be needed? 

Support would focus on:

• Better coordination and communication among existing learning support services
• Faculty collaboration and input on effective support strategies
• Professional development related to metacognition, study skills, and AI-supported learning
• Use of existing platforms and staffing rather than new resource-intensive structures

The goal is to strengthen what already exists, not to create parallel systems.

How would we measure progress? What are the intended outcomes? 

Progress could be measured through gateway course pass rates, retention and progression data, tutoring utilization, student feedback on learning support clarity, and persistence into subsequent semesters.

These measures align with existing institutional metrics and provide clear evidence of impact without relying on outcomes outside GHC’s control.

What challenges/downsides does this topic pose? 

One challenge is ensuring the scope is broad enough to impact institutional outcomes while remaining focused on gateway success. Students who transfer in gateway credit may not be directly affected, though they still benefit indirectly through improved institutional retention and support structures.

Another challenge is resource capacity. Faculty and staff have expressed concern about adding responsibilities or reallocating limited resources. This QEP must remain non-prescriptive, faculty-informed, and sustainable, avoiding centralized control over disciplinary content.

Finally, external factors such as USG policy changes may influence gateway course structures. The QEP must therefore focus on learning support and student success practices that remain adaptable over time.