Overview
The Liberal Arts Gateway (LAG) program supports gateway course faculty in redesigning courses with a focus on equipping students for productive lives in a pluralistic society.
Accomplishments
- In three years, the program has grown from its original inception in spring 2020 with seven faculty to include more than 50 faculty who have redesigned over 60 of their individual gateway courses across four departments.
- Based on analysis of data from spring 2020 through fall 2021, students consistently complete courses at a higher rate of success in LAG courses than their traditional counterparts.
- The program has now served an estimated 9,000 students since the inception of the program.
Impact
Based on data from the first two years of the program, LAG course sections, specifically in the formative Composition I course, outpace traditional courses in student success and engagement, notably for students of color. An average of 87% of students rank LAG courses as “excellent” or “very good” (63% rank it as excellent) on end-of-semester surveys. Students rank a feeling of being included, the personal relevance of assignments, the ability to track their progress, and their ability to become a more effective writer as the top outcomes of their LAG courses. Surveyed faculty also report that the LAG program has allowed them to reinvigorate their curriculum and better engage students in their learning.
Next Steps
- The Liberal Arts Gateway program is expanding faculty involved in those programs to new departments and within the existing departments it currently serves.
- It is also expanding the use of LAG course principles to onboard and support both adjunct and full-time new faculty and will act as an incubator for innovative student-centered curriculum development as well as special projects in the liberal arts division of the college.