Communications

Academic Enrichment is Growing!

August 2023

This past year the programming and services within the Academic Enrichment Department have grown. In August 2022, the Major Re-selection department began with a staff of one and now has three staff members assisting students with reevaluating their choice of current majors.

Sometimes on a student’s academic journey, they may run into some hurdles with their declared major. They may have a lower GPA than their declared major allows, too many withdrawals, Ds, and Fs, or didn’t get the required grades for their major. This is an important time for students to reflect on why they aren’t doing their best and explore if another major may be a better fit for them. The decision to change majors can help these students feel better about their academic journey and find the career path that better aligns with their interests, skills, evolving goals, and aspirations.

Major reselection support is offered at the Tampa, Sarasota-Manatee, and St. Petersburg campus and all three campuses will present on Major Reselection (is there a title of the presentation) at the NACADA 2023 Annual Conference in October 2023.

The Exploratory Curriculum Department (ECM) has also seen growth past several years and in Spring 2023 hired a second advisor to assist students. Many first-time-in-college (FTIC) students enter college with a lot of interests, talents, and skills but aren’t sure which career direction to take. At USF we have the option for students to take the U-Decide course which is focused on students exploring their interests and passions, a variety of academic disciplines, their strengths, connect with people in different career areas, and narrow down what is the best career journey for them. This course also builds a sense of community for the new students.

In addition to the U-Decide course, students can meet with an Exploratory Curriculum advisor for individual guidance tailored to each student’s unique strengths, goals, and unique situation. The advisor learns a lot about the student, they analyze personality and interest tests with the students and place them in several degree areas introductory courses. Advisors are equipped with a lot of information to pass on to the student, help them network, and meet professionals in the community. The advisor also provides encouragement and guidance helping the student to make informed decisions about their future paths.

The first ECM cohort was in 2017 on the Tampa campus and the preliminary data shows that the cohort has a 65 percent four-year graduation rate.*

 

The Summer Academic and Cultural Engagement (ACE) Program continues to grow in spirit and excitement in the summer of 2023 with 176 FTIC out-of-state students. This program facilitates a successful transition from high school to college in a new city and state. The students take two 3 credit courses over four weeks. Designed for each ACE summer cohort each course meets the general education requirement or can be used as elective credit. One course each student takes is Critical Thinking: Foundations of Interdisciplinary. Summer of 2023 had 20 courses in disciplines like leadership foundations, environmental science, education, social topics, public health, and others. All of the courses incorporate community engagement opportunities throughout the Tampa Bay area for a high-impact learning experience. Some of the experiences include visiting the African American and Holocaust museums, visiting MOSI, and learning about the local waters at Tampa Bay Watch.

In addition to the courses, peer mentors led the students in break-out sessions where students bonded, learn from each other, did fun activities like kayaking trips, rope courses at the USF Riverfront, and shared their experiences. The peer mentors have been through the ACE program in earlier cohorts and can relate to what the students are going through during this important life transition.

The academic enrichment programming at USF aims to create a well-rounded college experience that goes beyond traditional classroom learning. By offering a range of resources and support services for certain populations of students these programs can contribute significantly to the students’ success in their academic pursuits, professional, and personal development during their time in college.

*This is preliminary data and final figures from the Office of Decision and Support FTIC Student Success Suite will be available later in 2023.