Program Information
Edge Works!
Assessment of the program during the 2018-2019 academic year revealed that EMU Edge students who attended our early orientation earned 34% higher GPAs. Also, students who completed at least 100 of the 130 required study table hours earned an average 3.31 GPA, compared to those who completed about half (2.96). Students who failed to complete at least half of the required hours earned an average 1.85 (below Good Academic Standing).
For the most recent academic year 2020-2021, Edge students on average earned a half-letter grade higher than their counterparts admitted on Academic Plan and were 22% more likely to return for a second semester at EMU.
Edge Benefits
Along with our students' demonstrated academic results, the Edge program helps students form a community of support on campus consisting of peers, faculty, and staff. Edge helps students learn to become self-regulated learners, with the skills and habits to manage their time, tasks, and responsibilities.
Edge Guidelines
Students in the EMU Edge program have specific guidelines to meet in their first semester. Edge students have a 2 1/2-day early orientation on campus that addresses the most common challenges students face in making the transition to college (currently planned for mostly in-person small group activities for Fall 2021).
Edge students must:
- successfully complete UNIV 101L3,
- meet with their Success Coach and Peer Academic Coach (PAC) alternating bi-weekly (6+ meetings over the course of a 15-week semester, 30 minutes each),
- and complete a total of 10 hours of structured study time (in-person and virtual opportunities are planned for Fall 2021)
- Eagle Study Tables (check in and out, 3 hour maximum per visit)
- Virtual Study Rooms (1 hour minimum)
- Skill Workshops (1 hour)
- Math Lab in Pray Harrold (request to scan in and out)
- Tutoring (check in and out)
- SI (1 hour, your professor will tell you if SI is available for your course)
Students may also earn study time and Eagle Rewards points by attending drop-in tutoring virtual sessions, Skill Workshops, Virtual Study Groups, Supplemental Instruction sessions, tutoring in the Math Lab (face-to-face or virtual), or by visiting the University Writing Center.
Structured Study guidelines for the second semester are individualized to the student's fall performance. These requirements will be communicated to students following the publication of official semester grades by the registrar's office, just before the beginning of the winter term.
In the winter semester, we offer workshops in deep learning strategies to help students continue their habits and reinforce skills. We also offer workshops on finding and applying for scholarships for the coming academic year(s).
All in all, these guidelines for services help students learn to become self-regulated learners and hold themselves accountable for their own academic performance. These are the behaviors that create successful students, and establishing these habits early is key to student persistence and progress to graduation.