Georgia State University (GSU) is at the forefront of higher education in innovation and ranks second according to U.S. News & World Report (Most Innovative Schools, n.d.). The university is home to six campuses spread throughout downtown Atlanta and because of the dozens of Fortune 500 companies, GSU students and faculty get urban labs that let them draw creative inspiration (Most Innovative Schools, n.d.). Additionally, a remarkable system has been put into place that tracks students and alert student advisers of issues, so they can intercede before students get off track and drop out.
GSU’s web page demonstrates a university that is adapting to digital natives and includes a virtual tour that exceeds expectations. They offer an honors college within the college and are home to the oldest business college in the state. Partnered with Delta Airlines, the business college offers many high-tech solutions to their business students and bridges the gap between business education and the business world. The Helen M. Aderhold learning center is equipped with the latest audio-visual and distance learning and instructional technology. Additionally, the Collaborative University Research and Visualization Environment (CURVE) within the library is a “technology-rich discovery space supporting the research and digital scholarship of GSU students, faculty, and staff” (CURVE, n.d., para. 1). The library also houses the InteractWall a 24-foot touch-enabled video wall that can render complex models and respond to multiple touch users at the same time. Students can also sync the wall to their mobile devices.
The university is nationally recognized as a leader in creating innovative approaches that foster the success of students from all academic, socio-economic, racial and ethnic backgrounds. GSU is also one of only a few large universities using technology to track students from the moment they arrive on campus through graduation. The early warning system gets students the intervention needed to stay on track and has aided in increasing GSU’s graduation rate to 54% from 32%. One student adviser starts his morning checking to see if any of the undergraduates have tripped one of the 800 alerts that could signal potential academic trouble (Fausset, 2018).
GSU has become a beacon of hope for undeserved populations and is being sought after for its innovative approach to student success and management. They changed their model and mission to not just take underprivileged students but to actually work to see them graduate and succeed. More and more colleges and universities could take a page or two from GSU’s success in their students and the massive increase in graduation rates.
References
CURVE. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://library.gsu.edu/services-and-spaces/spaces-and-technology/curve/
Fausset, R. (2018, May 15). Georgia State, Leading U.S. in Black Graduates, Is Engine of Social Mobility. Retrieved from https://www-nytimes-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.nytimes.com/2018/05/15/us/georgia-state-african-americans.amp.html
Georgia State University. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.gsu.edu/
Most Innovative Schools. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/innovative
Dr. Hanifen's Education Blog 
Michael,
I am a Georgia Peach! I was born in Georgia, and therefore, I am bias when it comes to Georgia State University. Selingo (2013) states that Georgia State University is one of the institutions that is well prepared to sustain the changes in higher education. One of the reasons for this statement is likely because Georgia State University has partnered with Perimeter College in order to offer both face-to-face and on-line only tracks of study. The on-line component offers 27 pathways of study, such as business administration (Georgia State University, 2017b).
By partnering with the on-line Perimeter College, Georgia State University is prepared for whatever the future of higher education may bring; or more appropriately stated, whatever the future consumers of higher education demand. Currently there is a trend toward technology and convenience. On-line and blended program address this need. However, it is possible that in the future students want to go back to the ‘good old days’ of higher education where students sat in classrooms and learned in a face-to-face format. I suspect that future face-to-face classroom would incorporate quite a bit of technology when compared to the face-to-face classrooms of today’s institutions of higher education.
Dr. G
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