200 APSU undergrads to be part of the Main Event poll
Should Austin Peay State University implement a plus-or-minus system of grading or keep the traditional letter-grade method? Does the current model of advising need an overhaul?Only 200 APSU students will be the experts to answer these questions and others related to improving academic success at what is being hailed as the Main Event, scheduled from 2-6 p.m., April 17 in the Morgan University Center.
Should Austin Peay State University implement a plus-or-minus system of grading or keep the traditional letter-grade method? Does the current model of advising need an overhaul?
Only 200 APSU students will be the experts to answer these questions and others related to improving academic success at what is being hailed as the Main Event, scheduled from 2-6 p.m., April 17 in the Morgan University Center.
Snacks, drinks and a Subway dinner will be provided for the first 200 students who register for the event. Also, merchandise and other prizes from local stores and restaurants will be given away. In addition, 20 $50 gift certificates and 10 $100 gift certificates from Governor's Square Mall will be randomly awarded.
The Main Event is part of the Matters of Success Student Engagement Project. Recently, more than 1,500 full-time undergraduate students at APSU completed an online survey called Matters of Success. Of those students initially surveyed, only 200 will serve as the subsample for the deliberative poll.
The unique feature of Matters of Success project is the central role assigned to student participants, who are viewed as the experts in efforts to devise more effective strategies at APSU. At the Main Event, students will participate in three in-depth discussions or deliberations on specific ways to improve academic success at Austin Peay.
The project is led by APSU professors Tucker Brown and David Steele from the APSU Department of Sociology and Matthew Kenney from the APSU Department of Political Science. Their research focuses on student success at APSU and is primarily concerned with identifying strategies and policies to improve retention and graduation rates at the University, which rank at or near the bottom when compared to other four-year public universities in Tennessee.
The first 200 students to accept the Main Event invitation will be invited. To participate or for more information about the Matters of Success project at APSU, contact Matthew Kenney at 221-6424. -- Melony Shemberger