Academic Performance Center
Annual Report 2019–2020
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Goals and Accomplishments
- Report progress on goals identified in last year’s report
- 2. Summarize department and faculty highlights. (Provide a brief account of this year’s significant happenings and department accomplishments. Include faculty recognitions, honors, publications, presentations, etc.)
- 3. Complete the table below for faculty (excluding part-time instructors) as of May 2020, then provide part-time instructor information below the table.
- Department Effectiveness
- 10. Please add any other performance data you might like to include here that will help inform an accurate snapshot of your department.
- 11. Conduct SWOT Analysis—Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats (Identify internal strengths and weaknesses, and external opportunities and threats. Analysis of facilities, resources, administration/staff, budgets, outside influences, competition and stakeholder satisfaction.)
- Chair’s Response—Planning for the Future
- 12. Based on the above data, list specific goals your department/unit will target to accomplish during the coming academic year. Note: In next year’s report, follow up reporting on these goals will be covered in #1 as in this report.
- 15. What are department’s projected needs for the next 3–5 years? Include staffing, space, budget, etc.)
- Dean’s Response
- 17. Provide your overall response to the degree of success this department achieved last year relative to student learning outcomes. Consult with Assessment Coordinators to review the action plan and insights they have entered in TaskStream—they can print out a report for you.
- 18. Provide your general assessment of the accomplishments and needs, including budget allocation needs (particularly address # 14 & #15).
- Summary of Meeting with Provost
2020 Annual Review
Introduction
Department Name: Academic Performance Center
College Name: Library & Learning Services
Department Head: Rob Gray
Department Mission Statement (required for NWCCU):
The mission of the Dixie State University Academic Performance Center is to facilitate an active learning environment wherein all students can engage in peer-to-peer instruction and excel in their coursework. Our focus is high-enrollment, high DWF rate lower-division courses. We aim to create a community of academic collaboration, both at Dixie State University and in southern Utah.
Goals and Accomplishments
1. Report progress on goals identified in last year’s report.
LLS Goal 2: Expand Resources and Enhance Services
Strategy: Increase total student visits this academic year.
- We more than accomplished our desired outcome of a 10-percent increase. Our total consultations for 2019–2020 were 12,696, up from 7,511 visits the previous year, which is a 69 percent increase; however, we were on track for 15,625 appointments before the transition to remote learning. This would have put us at a 108 percent increase over 2018–2019. We accomplished this goal through two strategies:
- We hired a marketing intern to increase awareness of the Writing Center. Some of her marketing strategies are below:
- Dixie Announce faculty and staff emails
- Campus A-frame advertising
- Trailtracker Student newsletter
- Email to parents
- Faculty information flyers
- Canvas announcements
- Social media campaign
- Campus TV monitor ads
- Blazer Digest ads
- We held an open house the first week of fall semester and invited all faculty and staff to attend. Although we had fewer than 100 attendees, those who did attend got a first-hand look at our learning centers and our strategies for success.
- We hired a marketing intern to increase awareness of the Writing Center. Some of her marketing strategies are below:
Strategy: Increase subject tutoring.
- We completed our desired outcome of adding two more tutors to our staff for 2019–2020, and we added tutoring in some biology and chemistry courses, accounting, economics, and business statistics.
Strategy: Begin a proposal to acquire a Title III SIP grant.
- We completed our desired outcome of beginning the grant proposal by…
- Making a process plan
- Recruiting committee members and forming a committee
- Gathering data
- Beginning the writing process
Strategy: CRLA certification.
- We completed our desired outcome of marketing CRLA certification across campus and acquiring certification for the Peer Coaching program and Supplemental Instruction program.
LLS Goal 3: Contribute to Campus-Wide Retention Efforts
Strategy: Create a study to show that tutoring of biology students correlated with higher student success.
- We attained our desired outcome of correlating Academic Performance Center visits with student success in anatomy and physiology classes.
- Students in BIOL 2320 classes (anatomy) were incentivized to work with tutors in the APC. In those study courses, the average final grade was 3.02 compared with a 2.61 average for control classes that did not have their students visit the APC.
- Students in BIOL 2420 classes (Physiology) were incentivized to work with tutors in the APC. In those study courses, the average final grade was 3.44 compared with a 2.76 average for control classes that did not have their students visit the APC.
LLS Goal 4: Remove Barriers to Access and Improve Efficiencies
Strategy: Increase department efficiency.
- We attained our desired outcome of making the Academic Performance Center more efficient by adjusting our tutoring hours. We lowered our number of tutors at certain times of the day and increased numbers at other times to better match student demand.
2. Summarize department and faculty highlights. (Provide a brief account of this year’s significant happenings and department accomplishments. Include faculty recognitions, honors, publications, presentations, etc.)
Director of Learning Services:
Rob Gray applied for and received CRLA program certification for the Academic Performance Center, the Writing Center, the Peer Coaching program, and the Supplemental Instruction program. He is heading a committee to pursue a Title III SIP grant for five-year funding for supplemental instruction, expanded tutoring, and first-year experience. He co-wrote an article on mandatory tutoring that was published in Curiosity, DSU’s online research journal.
Student Coordinators:
Hailey Faiola is our Academic Performance Center coordinator. Hailey received her AA degree in the fall and was accepted into DSU’s ELED program.
Catarina Prisbrey was our marketing coordinator for learning services. She graduated last fall with a marketing degree from DSU and has obtained employment with Wilson Electric as their marketing director.
Student Tutors:
Dagny Hunt graduated with a degree in biology. She was nominated for Biology Student of the Year. She presented a poster at the Dixie Symposium and is the primary author of a paper currently undergoing peer review for publication.
Kurtis Hinton graduated with a bachelor’s degree in biology and minors in chemistry, health psychology, and psychology. He accepted a Health Professional Scholarship from the US Air Force and has been commissioned as an officer. He will attend Rocky Vista medical school next year.
Camila Arevalo went on a service-learning trip to Mexico last year and was accepted into a study abroad program in Columbia.
Erin Atkinson was accepted into DSU’s Physical Therapy Assistant program and was voted copresident for the Physical Therapy Assistant Club.
Jadely Cartagena was Miss Dixie Second Attendant last fall and served on the Utah Youth Council.
3. Complete the table below for faculty (excluding part-time instructors) as of May 2020, then provide part-time instructor information below the table.
Name and Degree | Tenure Status T = Tenured TT = Tenure Track NTT = Non Tenure Track |
Rank | Faculty FTE | Released Time in Credit Hours |
---|---|---|---|---|
Rob Gray, MFA | NTT | Director | 1.0 | N/A |
Department Effectiveness
10. Please add any other performance data you might like to include here that will help inform an accurate snapshot of your department.
Department Highlights:
A. During the 2019–2020 academic year, the Academic Performance Center had 12,696 student visits, a 69 percent increase in total visits over the 2018–2019 academic year (7,511 visits).
B. Between the 2018–2019 academic year and the 2019–2020 year, the number of synchronous online tutoring sessions that the APC completed increased by 619 percent, from 42 online tutoring sessions to 302.
Additional Department Effectiveness Data:
A. Last year, we analyzed data from an incentivized tutoring study we conducted with biology classes in the Academic Performance Center. The summary is below.
“I received a database of grades for all DSU classes with students’ names redacted (my request). From the information, I was able to average the grades as follows:
BIOL 2320-04 (study class)- 3.02 average GPA
BIOL 2320-01, 02, and 03 (control classes)- 2.61 average GPA
*I did not use BIOL 2320-05 and 06 in the study as these sections used supplemental instruction as additional tutoring in the classes.BIOL 2420-04 and 50 (study classes)- 3.44 average GPA (combined)
BIOL 2420-01, 02, and 03 (control classes)- 2.76 average GPAI did not use the few pass/no credit grades in the classes toward the GPA.”
B. In an online survey administered to students on their perceptions of the Academic Performance Center, we found that most students believe that the APC is effective in helping them with their coursework. Between 75 and 88 percent of respondents agree or strongly agree in various areas of student satisfaction (see below).
11. Conduct SWOT Analysis—Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats (Identify internal strengths and weaknesses, and external opportunities and threats. Analysis of facilities, resources, administration/staff, budgets, outside influences, competition and stakeholder satisfaction.)
Strengths
- We have excellent tutors
- We have strong relationships across campus (athletics, department chairs, etc)
- We are growing at a phenomenal rate
- Our dean allows us to try new ideas
- We have strong management software that creates reports that allow us to make decisions based on data
- We have a very modern, inviting work space
- Many divisions, departments, and programs are willing to collaborate with us
- We have adequate funding
- We have a computer replacement rotation schedule (adequate technology)
- We have an excellent assessment plan
Weaknesses
- As we continue to expand, we will run out of space soon
- We rely mainly on student fee funding instead of permanent institutional funding
- Part-time, student coordinator makes turn-over inevitable (new coordinator this summer)
- Our reputation will take more time to repair
- Some faculty and staff still have misconceptions about our services
Opportunities
- We have funding to expand services
- Many departments wish for tutoring in their subject areas
- We can create a stronger marketing plan to alleviate misconceptions
Threats
- Outsourced tutoring is always a threat
- Lack of permanent funding
- New athletic department requirements might create challenges
- Some of our new service overlap other areas on campus and these areas may want to “claim” our programs and work
Chair’s Response—Planning for the Future
12. Based on the above data, list specific goals your department/unit will target to accomplish during the coming academic year. Note: In next year’s report, follow up reporting on these goals will be covered in #1 as in this report.
LLS Goal 2: Expand Resources and Enhance Services
Strategy: Increase total consultations next academic year
- This goal is not being carried over from the previous year.
- Action Plan: Work with our intern to increase social media marketing and other forms including brochures and radio ads. Promote our services to faculty.
- Desired Outcome: Five percent increase in total appointments from last year.
- Timeline: One year
- No additional resources are needed.
Strategy: Increase tutoring of underserved populations
- This goal is not being carried over from the previous year.
- Action Plan: Work with the Multicultural Inclusion Center and the Structured Enrollment program to increase at-risk student visits.
- Desired Outcome: Increase minority and structured enrollment student visits by five percent over the previous year.
- Timeline: One year
- No additional resources are necessary.
LLS Goal 3: Contribute to Campus-wide Retention Efforts
Strategy: Show Writing Center Effectiveness
- This goal is not being carried forward from a previous year.
- Action Plan: Survey faculty to discover their perception of tutor effectiveness.
- Desired Outcome: Eighty percent of faculty who send students to the APC agree that tutors are effective in helping their students.
- Timeline: One year
- No additional resources are necessary.
15. What are departmental projected needs for the next 3–5 years? Include staffing, space, budget, etc.)
The Academic Performance Center’s biggest need in the next few years will be additional space. As our program continues to grow and as the Athletic Department will require more tutoring to meet Division 1 standards, Learning Services will need additional room.
Another need will be additional funding, and we plan to address this with a Title III grant.