{"id":2547,"date":"2025-08-25T20:58:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-25T20:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/president\/?p=2547"},"modified":"2026-04-30T23:29:30","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T04:29:30","slug":"fall-2025-student-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/president\/fall-2025-student-success\/","title":{"rendered":"Fall 2025 Student Success"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Student success remains my No. 1 priority at MTSU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through the years, we have established a number of proven strategies to boost our students\u2019 ability to persist to graduation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are some recent updates on our many Student Success initiatives:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Scholars Academy is a program for first-time, first-year students that assists with a smooth transition to college and acclimation to MTSU. The program is designed with special emphasis on the needs of first- generation students and those who would benefit from enhanced support. Our Scholars Academy welcomed about 200 new students to the 2025 cohort this summer. The persistence rate for the fall 2024 cohort of 135 students was 97%. The Scholars Academy serves students year-round with support to promote persistence, retention, and graduation. In spring 2025, altogether there were 374 Scholars Academy students enrolled in colleges across the University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Office of Student Success partnered with the First-Year Experience Living-Learning Community and faculty members to deliver a series of targeted, in-class academic workshops to help students build essential skills for their first year at MTSU. By collaborating directly with faculty, we were able to embed these workshops into the classroom experience, enhancing relevance and student engagement. Sessions include \u201cMastering Your Minutes: Time Management for Success,\u201d \u201cTurn-It-IN: Your Academic Support Session,\u201d \u201cTailored Tutoring Sessions,\u201d and \u201cGoal Setting for College: The Things I Wish I Knew.\u201d These workshops provided practical strategies students can apply to manage their time effectively, avoid academic pitfalls, and connect with available support resources. Feedback indicated that students appreciated exploring these topics in a supportive, community-based environment, reinforcing the connection between academic success and classroom learning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During spring 2025, tutoring services supported students across 52 courses and 290 sections, with the Walker Library continuing to serve as the primary hub for tutoring. Supplemental Instruction (SI) was provided in nine courses with historically high rates of D\u2019s, F\u2019s, or withdrawals, covering 30 sections, to promote student success in challenging subjects. The Office of Student Success also expanded its academic support offerings by integrating the Learning Assistant (LA) program into its portfolio. The LA program grew to 19 learning assistants working alongside five instructors in CHEM 1110, BIOL 1110, and MATH 1000. These LAs facilitated active learning, encouraged student engagement, and provided instructors valuable feedback on student interactions with course content. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The MTSU Upward Bound program is dedicated to increasing college access and success for first-generation, income-eligible high school students through comprehensive academic support, enrichment experiences, and personal development opportunities. Our mission is to empower students to achieve their higher education goals by providing the skills, experiences, and confidence necessary to navigate college and beyond. Upward Bound students engaged in various experiences during the spring semester to foster growth in academic readiness, self-efficacy, and college awareness. Throughout the semester, students reflected on themes of perseverance and decision-making while strengthening their sense of community. Workshops such as \u201cTime Management for Success\u201d equipped students with practical strategies to balance academic, personal, and extracurricular responsibilities essential for high school achievement and future collegiate success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Experiential Learning (EXL) Scholars Program is preparing to celebrate 20 years in operation since its creation in fall 2005. EXL continues to set records in student participation, faculty participation, and number of course sections offered. In 2024\u201325, enrollment in EXL courses totaled 19,441, with 433 distinct faculty members with approved courses. Both qualitative and quantitative evidence show that experiential learning at MTSU has an overwhelmingly positive impact on student success and graduation rates. Students completing 3\u20135 EXL credit hours have a graduation rate of 73.6%; students taking 15 hours or more of EXL courses have a graduation rate of 98.4%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rebecca Oldham (Human Sciences) and Matthew Duncan (University Studies) led a faculty learning community to develop the University\u2019s first True Blue Core Blueprint. The Mind, Body, and Wellness Blueprint, launching in Fall 2025, offers students a coordinated set of courses from multiple colleges and departments that will explore the mind-body connection and examine how different academic disciplines approach the concept of wellness, preparing students to critically engage with complex issues and navigate the complexities of being human. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another strong, record-breaking class of dual enrollment students is expected for Fall 2025. New opportunities include an expansion of offerings at Rockvale High School to include a section of SPAN 1010 as well as BIOL 1030\/31. Additional dual enrollment online offerings include more sections in English, math, and history as MTSU\u2019s program expands to serve students throughout the state. An international dual enrollment initiative has been formed, beginning in Fall 2025, expecting to serve college-bound students from other countries. This is a promising program, made possible through collaboration with the College of Liberal Arts and the Office of International Affairs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2024\u201325 a total of 37 advisors earned Advisor Mastery Program (AMP) certification, with participation from each college across campus. Academic advisors engaged 88% of the undergraduate student population in 2024\u201325.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Student success remains my No. 1 priority at MTSU. Through the years, we have established a number of proven strategies to boost our students\u2019 ability to persist to graduation. Here are some recent updates on our many Student Success initiatives: The Scholars Academy is a program for first-time, first-year students that assists with a smooth […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":192,"featured_media":2548,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2547","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/192"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2547"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2547\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2943,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2547\/revisions\/2943"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2548"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mtsu.edu\/president\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}