Dr. Susan English*, former Director of Instructional Support and Special Projects at GTCC, said, “Through a process of continual improvement, the college has a collaborative focus to optimize scheduling practices that are aligned with national completion initiatives. The guidance of these industry leaders has fueled a powerful movement on campus.”
GTCC used strategic scheduling and elements of design and optimization to create pathways and roadmaps. Ad Astra’s Platinum Analytics™ and Higher Education Scheduling Index (HESI™) dashboard metrics were foundational in tracking enrollment ratios, class fill rates, and schedule effectiveness.
“We have more students who are taking more classes because we are offering a more comprehensive selection of courses across all campuses,” said Dr. English. In Fall 2015, 45% of students were full time. This number rose to 47% in fall 2016. Additionally, course fill rates had a 5.2% increase from 78.5% to 83.7%. Thoughtful design, utilizing the analysis, and changing the culture... all point to improved completions,” Dr. English said. “Implementing many of the researched best practices that advance student completions has increased success at GTCC.”
