What began as an ambitious research oriented plan for\nstudent success in the fall of 2016 has now grown into McMurry\u2019s newest plan\nfor the future: Mindset for Success. The Mindset for Success, or also known as\nthe Quality Enhancement Plan for Academic Success (QEP), is the newest institutional\nprogram within McMurry to propel students for success while at McMurry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When the QEP began in the\nfall of 2016, it was composed of faculty, staff, and students whose goal was to\nassess a successful student experience at McMurry. However, as time progressed\nand the QEP grew, the mindset focused more on empowering students to focus on\ntheir own academic success, along with providing the tools necessary to achieve\nsuch success at McMurry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nMindset for Success campaign, spearheaded by Dr. Christina Wilson, has\nambitious plans for McMurry students, specifically in improving and adjusting\nacademic habits while still salvageable. The research conducted by the QEP\ncommittee concluded that students who achieve a GPA of 2.5 or above in their\nfirst year at McMurry are 2.7 times more likely to retain to the sophomore year\nand 3.7 times more likely to graduate than those who do not reach a GPA of 2.5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Within\nfinding such results that pave way for student retention and graduation, the\nQEP committee discovered some numbers that were vital to assess in order to\nmake noted changes. According to the QEP\u2019s data, students placed on academic\nprobation are most likely to leave the university within a year, and on average\nover 60 percent of students who are on probation leave the institution within\none year. Also, on average, over 40 percent of students with a midterm grade\nbelow C- leave the institution within a year and almost 60 percent of students\nwith a term GPA below 2.0 leave the institution within a year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A\nproblem that has left former McMurry students in limbo–transferring to other\nschools or dropping out–the Mindset for Success committee\u2019s goal is to tackle\nthat problem at its core and promote student retention with several incentives\nthat will allow students to obtain a degree, no matter how hard it may be to\nkeep up a certain grade point average. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the spring of 2017,\nthe QEP committee solely centered its work on retaining students who are\nstruggling academically. In the spring of 2018, extensive research and drafting\nbegan to create a literal mindset for success for students. Most of the data collected\ncentered on what makes a student successful at McMurry and what factors can\nattribute to low-academic performance. With such data, and by working closely\nwith students, the QEP was thus able to create an extensive and well-informed\nplan to promote student success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m\nreally excited about this,\u201d said Dr. Cindy Martin, professor of Mathematics,\nhead of the first year experience, and member of the Mindset for Success\nleadership team. \u201cWhat McMurry is able to do really well is build relationships\nwith its students. We work best when we listen closely to students and it makes\nit easier for students to come to us and easily ask for help. It [Mindset for\nSuccess] has the potential to have great impact, and personally, I thrive off\nof the success of my students.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\npurpose of the Mindset for Success campaign then is to enhance academic\nperformance and subsequent retention through three main types of targeted\ninterventions: frequent grade notifications, guided goal setting and action\nplan development, and well-timed schedule calibrations. By centering focus on\nthese three-targeted interventions, the Mindset for Success campaign will engage\nstudents to have the opportunities to improve their academic standing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Along\nwith giving students the resources they need for success and for retention, the\nMindset for Success campaign has set out to go beyond the classroom and assist\nstudents who are underperforming in the classroom with a financial aid\nincentive. Collaborating with the John N. Gardner Institute, the Mindset for\nSuccess program will provide the infrastructure necessary to support students\nand increase the likelihood of their success at McMurry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thus,\nthe Mindset for Success not only looks to keep students by engaging them\nacademically as best possible, but also by propelling them financially in order\nto push through college and obtain a degree. By reducing certain academic and\nfinancial barriers to success, even the most at-risk students will have a better\nchance to remain in college and graduate with a degree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As\nMcMurry prepares to celebrate its 100th<\/sup> anniversary, creating a\nMindset for Success that will breed successful McMurry graduates throughout the\nnation seems a great start to our next era as a university. With caring\nfaculty, staff, and students working hard each day to promote the sense of\ncommunity at McMurry, there is no doubt that the results for the Mindset for\nSuccess will be successful. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo\nstudent should be concerned about failing due to external factors,\u201d said student\nbody President Cody Kovar. \u201cEvery student has the capacity to excel, and the\nfact that McMurry is doing everything in its power to promote that success will\nenhance the student life experience for the next 100 years.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What began as an ambitious research oriented plan for student success in the fall of 2016 has now grown into McMurry\u2019s newest plan for the future: Mindset for Success. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":43,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","clearfix"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.mcm.edu\/herald\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Measuring-Success-EDT-MED-800px.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mcm.edu\/herald\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mcm.edu\/herald\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mcm.edu\/herald\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mcm.edu\/herald\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mcm.edu\/herald\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mcm.edu\/herald\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mcm.edu\/herald\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42\/revisions\/44"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mcm.edu\/herald\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mcm.edu\/herald\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mcm.edu\/herald\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.mcm.edu\/herald\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}