2017-2018 Annual Report

2017-2018 Annual Report

Table of Contents Sections • Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii • Introduction & Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii • 2016-17 Activities and Goals – Classes and Curricula . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 – Faculty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 – Administration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 – Academic Staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 – Student Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 – Campus Messaging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 • Outcomes Matrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 • Proposed changes to the QEP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 • Areas of improvement and goals for 2017-18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Appendices • Summer Student Survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 • Fall Faculty & Staff Survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 • Participation Audit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 • Spring 2017 Focus Groups Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 • Digital Signage Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 • Cheat Sheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 • Portraits of Growth Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 • Growth Mindset Grant Updates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 • Admissions “Growth Mindset” Flyer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 • “How to Stay United in Today’s Political Climate” Opening Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 • “Arbor Day Celebration” Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

“Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It’s quite simple, really. Double your rate of failure.” – Thomas Watson 3

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Acknowledgements The following individuals were instrumental in preparing this report: •

Andrea Kennedy and Jay Lowery from the Office of Research and Planning

•

Brian McDonald and the Survey Research Center

•

Matthew Bryant

•

Michaela Mucha

•

The 2016-17 QEP Committee: – Meghan Blackledge – Jane Bowser – Rachel Callaway – Roger Clodfelter – Craig Curty – Kier Fogarty – Daniel Hall – Paul Kittle – Kelli McDowell – Martin Kifer – Stacey Lipowski – David Radanovich – Matt Schneider – Bradley Taylor – Laura Valle – Philip Wogatzke

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Introduction & Summary Our five-year QEP journey has begun. The fall 2016 semester began with a newly revised set of assessments and goals for the QEP. As the spring 2017 semester ended, we discovered we’re further along than we thought. In this first full year of our QEP we’ve learned: High Point University is very receptive to growth mindset. The outcomes matrix (jX`]) notes that our university-wide growth mindset rating is 4.25 on a six-point scale. This means our faculty, staff, and students are on average more inclined toward a growth mindset than a fixed mindset. Our benchmarks were more conservative that we expected. Although a growth mindset says there is always room for growth, mathematics sometimes says otherwise. Many of our goals assumed that our benchmark growth mindset scores would be lower, giving us significant room to show progress. But our benchmarks complicated some of our stated goals. For instance, we wanted to see our facul-ty’s growth mindset score increase by 40% over five years. However, their current score is 4.91 on a six-point scale; a 40% increase raises the score to 6.88. These high benchmarks do not mean our journey has ended four years early. Rather, they tell us we should revise our goals to better affect High Point University’s climate. This report covers the QEP’s work in the 2016-17 academic year. It addresses how we are meeting our goals, summarizes our activities, and recommends some future steps. It contains: • A progress report of our 2016-17 goals; • The current outcomes matrix covering our progress toward higher levels of growth mindset integration; • A set of proposed revisions to the QEP based on what we’ve learned this year; and • Proposed goals for the 2017-18 academic year. Personally, this has been a satisfying year watching the QEP spread across campus. I look forward to the next few years on this journey. Thank you for travelling with me. Jim Y. Trammell, Ph.D. QEP Director Associate Professor of Communication

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2016-17 Activities and Goals The following goals were established in the QEP and in the QEP Director’s 2016-17 annual report to the Provost. They are followed by a narrative on how we realized those goals.

Classes and Curricula Include growth mindset as a key academic component of High Point University’s 2024 Strategic Plan. As of May 2017, the drafting stage of High Point University’s 2024 Strategic Plan has been tabled. However, the most current draft includes growth mindset as a key academic component.

Sponsor development programs to train faculty in embedding growth mindset interventions in their class development, including: • CITL Ed Talks • Growth Mindset Technology Grants • Growth Mindset Pedagogy Grants The QEP and the university’s Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning (CITL) co-sponsored six “Ed Talks” in the 2016-17 academic year. These talks bring faculty and academic staff together for a lunch and discussion about how to implement growth mindset interventions in the classroom. They also include opportunities for Growth Mindset Grant recipients to present their projects to the university community. The six Ed Talks included: • “Growth Mindset and Student Feedback,” September 29. (Presented by Jenn Brandt) • “Growth Mindset Teaching: Celebrating Mistakes,” November 10 • Leah Schweitzer & Thomas Dearden Growth Mindset Grant presentations, February 15, 2017 • Cindy Sherrill & Craig Curty Growth Mindset Grant presentations, March 21, 2017 • Joanne Altman, Allison Walker, and Scott Wojcieowski Growth Mindset Grant presentations, April 3, 2017 • Preston Davis, Brittani Hunt, and Sadie Leder-Elder Growth Mindset Grant presentations, April 18, 2017 Additionally, as of May 2017 the university funded fourteen Growth Mindset Pedagogy Grants, and five Growth Mindset Technology Grants, each worth $1500.

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Also, High Point University hosted two faculty seminars featuring speakers who addressed the value of embedding growth mindset interventions in the classroom. Dr. Carol Dweck, author of Mindset, was the featured speaker of the fall faculty seminar; Dr. Saundra Yancey Maguire, author of Teach Students How to Learn, led the spring faculty seminar. Additionally, growth mindset was a foundational component of Dr. Barbee Meyers Oakes’ “Leveraging Diversity to Enhance the Classroom Experience” presentation to the HPU faculty. Include growth mindset as a key topic in President’s Seminar classes and capstone classes. Growth mindset was addressed during the fall 2016 President’s Seminar classes. It was also a dominant topic as part of the university’s Welcome Week event. Welcome Week was a series of activities for all incoming freshmen, each of whom would also take President’s Seminar in the fall semester. One of the notable activities included required roundtable discussions about how growth mindsets can help students succeed in college. These discussions centered on the “What’s the Point of College?” video, whose dominant theme was “The point of college is to grow your intelligence.” Growth mindset interventions were apparent in ten capstone classes, as noted in the 2017 Participation Audit. “Capstone classes” were defined as classes that either identified themselves as such in the course description or name, were identified as “Senior Seminar” classes, and/or were the highest-level required class for a major.

Include growth mindset as a key component in the newly-revised Honors Program. The new Honors Program launches in fall 2017. Every new student in the program will take an Honors Colloquium class (HNR 1100L), which will incorporate growth mindset strategies.

Embed growth mindset interventions in the Biology, Chemistry, and Math general education classes in the 2016-2017 academic year. Biology: The QEP states that growth mindset interventions will be included in gen-ed BIO classes in AY 2016-17. In consultation with the BIO department chair, we decided to postpone the inclusion of formal growth mindset interventions until AY 2017-18 to coincide with the second phase of a growth mindset study conducted by department chair Dr. Angela Bauer. From Dr. Bauer:

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The growth mindset interventions that were scheduled for gen-ed BIO classes in AY 2016-17 were actually piloted during fall of 2015. At the start of each week, instructors shared a growth mindset message with students (e.g., evidence from a recent study on neuroplasticity about how practice literally “changes the brain”) via PowerPoint slides. This message was then emphasized throughout the week during lecture, student discussions, and/or review of homework assignments. This preliminary work on the impact of weekly growth mindset messaging (in 14 sections of a foundation course in biology) indicated that the intervention eliminated a longstanding achievement gap that has been observed between majority and underrepresented minority students in the class, presumably by minimizing stereotype threat. This study will be resumed in the same courses during the 2017-2018 academic year in a total of 20 sections (18 students per section) of general education biology courses. Chemistry: Each of the AY 2015-16 Chemistry general education sections included once-a-week growth mindset messages as part of Dr. Angela Bauer’s research project noted above. Many of the Chemistry professors continued to embed growth mindset messages in their AY 2016-17 classes. Further, the Chemistry department reflected on how to best implement discipline-specific growth mindset strategies. Their internal discussions led to a revision of their Learning Lab experiences. The Learning Lab launched in AY 2013-14 as an informal tutoring opportunity for students in General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, and Biochemistry classes. At the time, students could drop-in to review homework and receive extra help from faculty and students. The Learning Lab had no formal agenda, and students were not required to attend, nor given any incentive from classes (e.g., extra credit) to attend. The faculty determined that the Learning Lab could be a better model for growth mindset. They also considered how the Learning Lab could reflect “deliberate practice,” a concept developed by Anders Ericsson. Both growth mindset and deliberate practice privilege the idea that people can develop their intelligence and aptitude through effective and regular training. As such, the Learning Labs began focusing on deliberate mentoring and more agenda-driven activities rather than relying on an informal setting. Each week, faculty developed a series of questions and workshops for students to work on during the labs, with the intention that they would reveal the areas that students need more training. The plan was for students to be able to leave each session having learned at least two new things. The faculty also incentivized students to attend the Learning Lab. For instance, in one Chemistry section, students who attended ten labs received 2.5 points toward their final grade (out of 100 points).

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Faculty

Math: Many of the growth mindset interventions used in the Mathematics department coincided with SOTL projects by Drs. Laurie Zack and Jenny Fuslier. They produced first-day activities for their colleagues to implement into any of their classes. They also specifically implemented first day growth mindset activities in half of the fall semester MTH 1310-Business Calculus Classes (with the other half serving as a control group). In the spring semester, all of the MTH 1310 courses had access to the growth mindset designed labs.

Faculty development programs sponsored by CITL & “Live. Learn. Grow.”

Embed growth mindset interventions in the MFL general education classes in the 2017-2018 academic year.

Additionally, the QEP co-sponsored the “Growth Mindset Faculty Forum” with Steve Wozniak. The event centered around a Q&A with the Apple co-founder focusing specifically on how growth mindset principles informed his experiences as both a student and as a teacher.

The QEP Director met with the World Languages, Literatures, and Cultures Department (previously the “MFL” department”) in April to address the goal of implementing growth mindset interventions in the 2017-18 general education classes, and brainstormed several strategies. The Director plans to follow up with the department chair over the summer.

Other Activities As an extra-curricular activity, the QEP co-sponsored the “How to be United in Today’s Political Environment” event with the College Republicans and College Democrats clubs. This event centered around students discussing the importance of understanding the perspectives of people who did not share their political views. Students shared stories of attending the Republican and Democratic National Conventions, and discussed what the two parties can learn from each other. The event concluded with a live viewing of the President’s first speech before a joint session of Congress. The opening remarks by the QEP Director are included in the appendix (page 93).

In addition to the Ed Talks and faculty seminars noted above, the QEP also hosted two webinars. The “Practical Tactics for Building Academic Grit” webinar occurred July 26; the “Develop Resilient Students: Foster Grit, Life Skills & Stress Management” webinar occurred November 17.

Incentives for faculty to include growth mindset interventions in the classroom through their syllabi, tests, assignments, lectures, or other materials, including: • Growth Mindset Scholars Grants • Growth Mindset Pedagogy Grants • Growth Mindset Technology Grants As of May 2017, the QEP awarded $139,000 in Growth Mindset grants to the university community, with $124,750 awarded to faculty. These grants include seventeen SOTL grants ($6500 apiece), nine pedagogy grants ($1500 apiece, one of which is split with a staff member), and five technology grants ($1500). Additionally, ninety-five faculty and staff reported in the Participation Audit that they received support from their administrators to embed growth mindset interventions in their work with students.

Regular presentations to the full faculty and staff regarding growth mindset scholarship As noted above, the QEP and CITL co-sponsored four Ed Talks in the spring semester that centered around the growth mindset projects and activities of our pedagogy and technology grant recipients. The first recipients of the SOTL grants will present their scholarship in the 2017-18 academic year as the two-year term of their grants expire.

“When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the action steps.” –Confucius 4

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Administration

Academic Staff

Administrative development programs sponsored by CITL & “Live. Learn. Grow.”

Staff development programs sponsored by CITL & “Live. Learn. Grow”

High Point University administrators, like all faculty and staff, attended and participated in the faculty seminars featuring Dr. Carol Dweck and Dr. Saundra Yancey Maguire, the CITL co-sponsored “Ed Talks,” the “Growth Mindset Faculty Forum” with Steve Wozniak, and the webinars as noted above.

High Point University academic staff, attended and participated in the faculty seminars featuring Dr. Carol Dweck and Dr. Saundra Yancey Maguire, the CITL co-sponsored “Ed Talks,” the “Growth Mindset Faculty Forum” with Steve Wozniak, and the webinars as noted above.

Further, the QEP Director consulted with department chairs regarding creating messaging for administrators that addresses motivating seasoned faculty and staff to take their work to the “next level,” and to push themselves beyond their comfort zones. This initiative is in a planning phase, and its implementation is a future goal for the QEP.

Additionally, the QEP Director led growth mindset training seminars to the Success Coaches, Office of Academic Development, and Career Services.

Growth mindset components included in faculty assessment and evaluations This remains a goal for the 2017-18 AY.

Incentives for faculty to include growth mindset interventions in the classroom through their syllabi, tests, assignments, lectures, or other materials, including: • Growth Mindset Scholars Grants • Growth Mindset Pedagogy Grants • Growth Mindset Technology Grants As of May 2017, the QEP awarded $139,000 in Growth Mindset grants to the university community, with $4,500 in pedagogy grant funds awarded to five academic staff members. We want more academic staff representation among grant recipients. As such, the QEP Committee approved a July 10 deadline for the next round of grant application review with the belief that a summer deadline will better fit the academic staff’s schedule.

Training of tutors Dr. Craig Curty trained the student tutors in growth mindset messaging and interventions as part of the tutoring center’s efforts to reach Level II Advanced Level status as a part of the College Reading and Learning Association’s credentials.

Training of writing center tutors The QEP Director led a growth mindset seminar with the writing center tutors in the spring 2016 semester. Further, tutors applied growth mindset strategies when working with students as a component of Writing Center Director Dr. Leah Schweitzer’s Growth Mindset Pedagogy Grant.

Include growth mindset components in academic staff evaluations and assessments This remains a goal for the 2017-18 AY. 6

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Student Life Greek Life Include growth mindset messaging included in fraternity/sorority recruitment informational meetings Messaging regarding growth mindset and overcoming adversity and disappointment was included in the parent presentation during the fall 2016 Parents Weekend.

Pi Chis will be taught specific growth mindset messaging during training

Panther Chats All three Panther Chats included growth mindset language. There were nearly 9000 Panther Chat-interactions between RAs and students in the 2016-17 academic year.

Roommate workbooks This remains a goal for the 2017-17 academic year.

Student Life Staff Professional Development

This remains a goal for the 2017-18 academic year. StrengthsQuest Professional Development Pi Chis will use growth mindset messaging when working with Potential New Members during the recruitment process

StrengthsQuest was incorporated into two Office of Student Life staff meetings.

Pi Chis were encouraged to use growth mindset language with potential new members regarding choices.

Staff development programs sponsored by CITL & “Live. Learn. Grow.”

Office of Student Conduct Include growth mindset training for student justices This remains a goal for the 2017-18 academic year.

Residence Life & First-Year Residential Education

High Point University academic staff attended and participated in the faculty seminars featuring Dr. Carol Dweck and Dr. Saundra Yancey Maguire, the CITL co-sponsored “Ed Talks,” the “Growth Mindset Faculty Forum” with Steve Wozniak, and the webinars as noted above.

Growth Mindset Grants As of May 2017, the QEP awarded $139,000 in Growth Mindset grants to the university community, with $10,250 awarded to Student Life staff. These grants include one SOTL grants ($6500 apiece), and three pedagogy grants ($1500 apiece, one of which is split with a faculty member). We want more academic staff representation among grant recipients. As such, the QEP Committee approved a July 10 deadline for the next round of grant application review with the belief that a summer deadline will better fit the student life staff’s schedule.

Include growth mindset training for RAs Growth mindset training was integrated into the comment experience portion of RA training, especially with its Panther Chats and the September Community Meeting. 8

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Other Activities Interfaith Dinner Club In order to explore how a growth mindset applies within an interfaith context, the Chapel and Religious Life Office sponsored a monthly dinner and discussion group. The group was composed of nine students representing different beliefs and non-beliefs. These students were tested at the beginning and end of the year on an adapted Interfaith Youth Core’s Pluralism scale, an adapted Worldview Engagement Rubric, and a set of modified growth mindset scale questions items including “Someone’s worldview is part of them that they cannot change very much.” The Chapel and Office of Religious Life reported that “participants increased in their . . . appreciation toward pluralism . . . and in the belief that people can change in their moral traits.”

Campus Messaging Sponsor growth mindset installations and performances, such as photography exhibits or spoken-word performances that address shifts in mindset. The QEP partnered with Benita VanWinkle’s Digital Photography class to produce the Portraits of Growth exhibit. This week-long installation featured ten graduating seniors who shared their stories of growth during their tenure at High Point University. Each student was photographed by the Digital Photography class, and were interviewed by student Manning Franks. Their stories and pictures hung in the Wanek Center April 17-21, 2017. An example from the exhibit is included in the appendix (page 76).

Produce growth mindset digital signage on a weekly basis throughout the fall and spring semesters. This signage will be distributed to all faculty, academic staff, and students, and used as models for various printed materials (e.g., posters in dormitories, table tents in our dining facilities). As of May 2017, the QEP produced 32 growth mindset slides. Many of these slides were produced by QEP designer Michaela Mucha. These slides were shared around campus through Campus Concierge updates, kiosk screens, and as printed posters in Norton Hall. Examples of growth mindset slides produced in the 2016-17 academic year are included in the appendix (page 73).

Produce and distribute “cheat sheets” that promote best practices in modeling growth mindset to faculty and staff. In the beginning of the spring 2017 semester the QEP Director, with the assistance of administrative associate Matthew Bryant, produced a “Growth Mindset Comments” cheat sheet that was distributed to all faculty and academic staff. Produced in the style of IKEA instructions, the sheet suggested growth mindset responses to student work (e.g., “I can tell you have been practicing,” “You are on the right track”) that are more effective than fixed mindset responses (e.g., “You’re a good writer,” “You don’t understand this”). The sheet is included in the appendix (page 75).

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Include growth mindset themes in campus messaging, including press releases, magazines, President’s speeches, Tweets, and other official University messages. Such themes include:

Other Activities

• Success & failure – “Successful people know how to learn from failure.” – “By definition, to become a success, you must first overcome failure.” – “Every accomplishment is the result of experimenting with failure.” – “Don’t celebrate a person because of where they are; celebrate a person because of what they’ve overcome to get to where they are.”

Growth Mindset Faculty Forum with Steve Wozniak. The QEP Director was invited to host a “Growth Mindset Faculty Forum” in February 2017, and interview Steve Wozniak about how a growth mindset helped him develop the Apple I computer. The discussion addressed how Wozniak’s experiences as a student and a teacher shaped his mindset, and encouraged him to stay involved and resilient in engineering. The event was well attended—the Phillips Hall auditorium was full of High Point University faculty, staff, and students, as well as community members.

• Growing our intelligence – “We must never accept that we are ‘good enough as we are.’ Our intelligence, talent, and skills can always improve.” – “The most-talented person in the room has the same capacity to improve as the least-tal ented person in the room.” – “You are never as intelligent or as talented today as you can be tomorrow.”

Arbor Day Celebration Event. The QEP Director was invited to speak at the university’s Arbor Day Celebration Event in April 2017. The event recognized the efforts to establish and maintain the campus’ gardens, as well as receive honors from Tree Campus USA. The QEP Director addressed how gardens are oftentimes used as metaphors for personal growth and academic curiosity, and noted how a growth mindset, like a garden, requires intentional skill and effort. A copy of the QEP Director’s remarks are included in the appendix (page 93).

• College and grades – “Grades don’t tell you, ‘This is the type of person you are.’ Grades tell you, ‘This is where your work is right now.’” – “Your grades do not measure you. Your grades measure the quality of the work.” – “The only way your intelligence can grow is if you are challenged. If you take ‘easy’ classes, you’ll be no smarter than if you took no classes.”

Admissions Office Growth Mindset Flyer. In an effort to help communicate growth mindset principles to potential students and parents, the QEP Director consulted with the admissions office on the creation of a growth mindset flyer to be given at open house and other admissions events. The flyer addresses the value and virtue of a growth mindset, as well as noting High Point University’s commitment to modeling growth mindsets for its students. A copy of the flyer is included in the appendix (page 90).

We coded 574 items High Point University produced through the Office of Communication and included in High Point University publications (including the High Point University Magazine) and Twitter accounts. These items ranged from feature-length pieces to daily calendar messages. We then conducted a content analysis of these messages, looking specifically for the frequency of the following growth mindset “keywords”: “Grow”

“Succeed”

“Growth”

“Fail”

“Fixed”

“Failure”

“Mindset”

“Improve”

“Success”

“Talent”

“Successful” Out of 574 coded items, these words appeared 538 times in 212 messages. 12

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The following contains additional activities sponsored by the QEP that do not fit the categories above, but contribute nonetheless to promoting and cultivating a culture of growth mindset. •

•

• • • • •

The QEP purchased copies of Angela Duckworth’s Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance for the faculty and academic staff with unspent funds from the QEP budget. The books will be distributed during the fall 2017 semester. The QEP Director presented the university’s growth mindset initiatives to several groups, including: – Representatives from Trinity Presbyterian High School – A representative from Southern Methodist University – High school guidance counselors during HPU open house events – The Florida Communication Association The weekly “Friday from the Provost” email sent to all university faculty frequently included news clippings and short essays collected or composed by the QEP Director. Presidential Scholarship interviews included growth mindset questions. The High Point University library composed a 14-Day Learn Harder Challenge that centered on growth mindset principles. Dr. Tanjula Petty, Vice President of Student Affairs at Albany Technical College, agreed to serve on the QEP external review board. Dr. Petty has shepherded QEP initiatives at two institutions. Growth mindset was a foundational component of the “Leveraging Diversity to Enhance the Classroom Experience” presentation by Barbee Myers Oakes, Ph.D. in September. She referenced the QEP in her talk, and including “Live. Learn. Grow” and “growth mindset” in her slides.

Outcomes Matrix The following matrices cover the QEP’s program and community outcomes in the areas of Classes & Curricula, Faculty, Administration, Academic Staff, Student Life, and Campus Messaging. The tables on the left cover the 2016-17 benchmarks and the goals to reach higher levels of integration in the campus community. The tables on the right cover our progress toward those higher levels of integration through 2021. For more information about these program and community outcomes, and about the levels of integration, see the addendum to the QEP report at www.highpoint.edu/qep.

“Don’t tell me how talented you are. Tell me how hard you work.” – Arthur Rubenstein 14

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Classes and Curricula 5-Year Plan

Overview

PROGRAM & COMMUNITY OUTCOMES

BENCHMARK (2017)

LEVEL 1

LEVEL 2

LEVEL 3

2016-17

Increase among all class sections that include growth mindset interventions

17.42% of classes with growth mindset interventions1

17.59% (10% increase)

21.78% (25% increase)

24.39% (40% increase)

NA-Established benchmark

Increase among all general education class sections that include growth mindset interventions

24.41% of gen ed sections withgrowth mindset interventions2

31.73% (30% increase)

35.39% (45% increase)

39.06% (60% increase)


Increase in mathematics self-efficacy (identified as "subject confidence" in the QEP report)

TBD--See "Proposed Revisions to QEP"

10% increase

15% increase

30% increase

NA--See "Proposed Revisions to QEP"

Increase in biology self-efficacy (identified as "subject confidence" in the QEP report)


10% increase

15% increase

30% increase


Increase in foreign language self-efficacy (identified as "subject confidence" in the QEP report)


10% increase

15% increase

30% increase


Increase in writing self-efficacy (identified as "subject confidence" in the QEP report)


10% increase

15% increase

30% increase


Increase in chemistry self-efficacy (identified as "subject confidence" in the QEP report)


10% increase

15% increase

30% increase


Increase in pharmacy self-efficacy (identified as "subject confidence" in the QEP report)


10% increase

15% increase

30% increase


Increase in leadership self-efficacy (identified as "subject confidence" in the QEP report)


10% increase

15% increase

30% increase


Increase in writing multiple drafts

Campus average: 1.62 drafts

1.78 (10% increase)

1.86 (15% increase)

2.11 (30% increase)


Decrese in achievement gaps

Race: 0.05; gender: 0.353

Race: 0.045 Gender: 0.315 (10% decrease)




Increase in reviewing comments on papers, projects, and other work

99.71% of students report reviewing comments

10% increase (To be revised. See "Revisions to QEP")




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2017-18

2018-19

2019-20

2019-20

1: 535 sections with growth mindset interventions/3072 total sections = 17.42% of classes with growth mindset interventions 2: 226 gen ed sections with growth mindset interventions/926 total gen ed sections = 24.41% of gen ed sections with growth mindset interventions 3: Gap between undergraduate whites (based on cumulative GPA as of fall census 2016: 3.099) and ethnic minorities (3.049) = 0.05; gap between males (2.876) and females (3.226) = 0.35

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Faculty Overview

5-Year Plan


BENCHMARK (2017)

LEVEL 1

LEVEL 2

LEVEL 3

2016-17

Faculty recipients of Growth Mindset Scholar, Pedagogy, or Technology Grants

NA

50

65

80

31

Peer-reviewed and published works related to growth mindset scholarship

NA

10

15

20

2

Growth mindset-based research projects produced through faculty & student partnerships

NA

0

5

10

0

Increase in growth mindset among faculty

4.91




NA--Established benchmark

Increase among faculty who can articulate the mission and goals of the QEP, and define "growth mindset"


25% increase

40% increase

60% increase


2017-18

2018-19

2019-20

2019-20

2017-18

2018-19

2019-20

2019-20

Administration Overview

5-Year Plan


BENCHMARK (2017)

LEVEL 1

LEVEL 2

LEVEL 3

2016-17

Growth mindset interventions present in all academic departments

474





Incentivies provided by administrators to subordinates to increase growth mindset interventions


Incentivies by department chairs to faculty

Incentives by deans to department chairs

Incentives by the Provost and President


Increase in growth mindset among the administration


10% increase

25% increase

40% increase


Increase of administration who can articulate the mission and goals of the QEP, and define "growth mindset"


50% increase

65% increase

80% increase


18

4: To assess the increase of growth mindset interventions in academic departments, we are basing the numbers on the prefix of the class (e.g., ACC, ART, etc.). The benchmark indicates that 47 department prefixes were represented as including growth mindset interventions in at least one course.

19

Academic Staff 5-Year Plan

Overview


BENCHMARK (2017)

LEVEL 1

LEVEL 2

LEVEL 3

2016-17

Academic staff recipients of Growth Mindset Scholar, Pedagogy, or Technology Grants

NA

15

20

25

5

Increase in growth mindset interventions in academic staff initiatives


10% increase

25% increase

40% increase


Increase in growth mindset among academic staff

4.93

10% increase (To be revised. See “revisions to QEP)




Incresae of academic staff who can articulate the mission and goals of the QEP, and define "growth mindset"


25% increase

40% increase

65% increase


2017-18

2018-19

2017-18

2018-19

2019-20

2019-20

Campus Messaging Overview

5-Year Plan


BENCHMARK (2017)

LEVEL 1

LEVEL 2

LEVEL 3

2016-17

Growth mindset digital signage produced in an academic year

NA

15

20

25

15

Growth mindset-based intallations and/or performances

NA

1

3

5

1

”Cheat sheets" that promote best practices in modeling growth mindset to faculty and staff

NA

1

3

5

1

Increase in growth mindset messages embedded in official campus messaging, including press releases, magazines, President's speeches, Tweets, etc.

36.93% of campus press releases contained growth mindset messages5

40.62% (10% increase)

42.47% (15% increase)

44.32% (20% increase)


Increase in growth mindset among the University community (e.g., faculty, staff, and students)

4.25





Increase among the University community who can articulate the mission and goals of the QEP, and define "growth mindset"


25% increase

40% increase

65% increase


20

2019-20

2019-20

5: Growth mindset “keywords” appeared in 36.93% of HPU press releases (212/574)

21

Student Life Overview

22

5-Year Plan


BENCHMARK (2017)

LEVEL 1

LEVEL 2

LEVEL 3

2016-17

Growth mindset training included in Panther Chats

NA

1 Panther Chat

2 Panther Chats

3 Panther Chats

"Each of the three Panther Chats included a Growth Mindset question as part of the conversation guide."

Student life staff recipients of Growth Mindset Scholar, Pedagogy, or Technology Grants

NA

10

15

20

3

Descrease in withdrawals from the fraternity and sorority recruitment process

18% (114 withdrawals out of 634 participants)

17.1 % (5% decrease)

16.2% (10% decrease)

14.4% decrease (20% decrease)


Increase of students involved in conduct court cases saying the process results in positive behavioral change

Not yet assessed-See "2017-18 Goals"

10% increase

25% increase

40% increase

Not yet assessed-See "2017-18 Goals"

Increase of student justices who say their experiences in student conduct court helps them develop their leadership skills

100%

NA




Increase of roommate conflicts that engage in student life-sponsored conflict resolutions

Nine roommate moves in Blessing Hall





Increase of growth mindsets among the student life staff

4.71





Increase of student life staff who can articulate the mission and goals of the QEP, and define "growth mindset"


10% increase

25% increase

40% increase


Growth mindset messaging included in fraternity & sorority recruitment informational meetings

NA

Completed

Completed

Completed

"Messaging regarding growth mindset and over coming adversity and disappointment was included in the parent presentation”

Pi Chis trained in growth mindset messaging

NA

Completed

Completed

Completed

"Pi Chis were encouraged to use language with potential new members regarding choices.”

Pi Chis use growth midnset training during recruitment

NA

Completed

Completed

Completed

Not Completed

Growth mindset training for student justices

NA

Completed

Completed

Completed

Not Completed

Growth mindset traning for RAs

NA

Completed

Completed

Completed

“Growth mindset was integrated into the Common Experience potion of RA training.”

Growth mindset messaging included in roommate workbooks

NA

Completed

Completed

Completed

“This did not occur”

Use of StrengthsQuest

NA

Include growth mindset in the StrengthsQuest professional development programs

Incorporation of StrengthsQuest into monthly Office of Student Life staff meetings.

Incorporation of StrengthsQuest language in personal goals.

"The StrengthsQuest pre-test was conducted; the post-test was planned for May 2017.”

2017-18

2018-19

2019-20

2019-20

23

Proposed Revisions to QEP

Level 3 Community Outcomes

Classes & Curricula Program & Community Outcomes Community outcome “Increase in reviewing comments on papers, projects, and other work” requires revision. The Student Summer Survey found that 99.71% of students said they read comments on their work, and that 94.13% either use them to make changes or review the comments with the instructor. The QEP Committee will review whether to eliminate this item, modify it, or replace it with another outcome. Faculty Program & Community Outcomes The levels for the “increase in growth mindset among faculty” item must be revised. The benchmark for this figure was 4.91. A level one increase of 10% takes the figure to 5.40; a level two increase of 25% takes the figure to 6.14; a level three increase of 40% takes the figure to 6.87. The scale only goes to 6.00. As such, the QEP Director intends to propose the following change to the QEP Committee in fall 2017:


Assessment Tools

A 3% increase in growth mindset among the faculty

Fall Faculty & Staff Survey

Level 2 Community Outcomes A 5% increase in growth mindset among the faculty

24

A 7% increase in growth mindset among the faculty


This change would place the benchmarks for each level as follows: •

Level one: 5.06

•

Level two: 5.16

•

Level three: 5.25

The QEP identifies “Increase among faculty who can articulate the mission and goals of the QEP, and define ‘growth mindset’” as a measure of success. This is assessed through the Fall Faculty & Staff Survey, which asks faculty and staff to “Briefly define ‘growth mindset’” and “Briefly articulate the mission and goals of HPU’s QEP” as open-ended items. After reviewing the answers, we recognize a need to establish a clean and clear method of assessment to identify change in these categories across time. The QEP Director intends to review options for assessment with the QEP Committee in fall 2017. Administration Program & Community Outcomes The levels for “Increase in growth mindset present in all academic departments” item must be revised. The benchmark for this figure was 47 departments. A level one increase of 60% takes the number to 75; a level two increase of 75% takes the number to 82; a level three increase of 90% takes the number to 89. High Point University currently has 77 academic departments. As such, the QEP Director intends to propose the following change to the QEP Committee in fall 2017: Level 1

Assessment Tools Fall Faculty & Staff Survey

Assessment Tools

Community Outcomes A 15% increase of growth mindset present in all academic departments

Assessment Tools Spring Participation Audit 25


Assessment Tools

A 20% increase of growth mindset present in all academic departments

Spring Participation Audit

After reviewing the answers, we recognize a need to establish a clean and clear method of assessment to identify changes in these categories across time. The QEP Director intends to review options for assessment with the QEP Committee in fall 2017. The QEP identifies “Increase in growth mindset among the administration” as a measure of the QEP’s success. This information was to be assessed through the Fall Faculty & Staff Survey. The 2016-17 survey was anonymous, and did not include an item for participants to note whether or not they were an administrator. Therefore, this measure could not be collected. The 2017-18 survey will include an item allowing participants to identify themselves as administrators.

Level 3 Community Outcomes A 25% increase of growth mindset present in all academic departments

Assessment Tools Spring Participation Audit


Level one: 51

•

Level two: 53

•

Level three: 55

The QEP identifies “Incentives provided by administrators to subordinates to increase growth mindset interventions” as a measure of success. This is assessed through the Participation Audit, which asks faculty and staff the open-ended question, “How has your department chair, dean, director, or other administrator incentivized or supported your efforts to embed growth mindset interventions in your work with students?” After reviewing the answers, we recognize a need to establish a clean and clear method of assessment to identify change in these categories across time. The QEP Director intends to review options for assessment with the QEP Committee in fall 2017.

The QEP identifies “Increase among the administration who can articulate the mission and goals of the QEP, and define ‘growth mindset’” as a measure of success. This is assessed through the Fall Faculty & Staff Survey, which asks faculty and staff to “Briefly define ‘growth mindset’” and “Briefly articulate the mission and goals of HPU’s QEP” as open-ended items.

26

Academic Staff Program & Community Outcomes The QEP identifies “Increase among academic staff who can articulate the mission and goals of the QEP, and define ‘growth mindset’” as a measure of the QEP’s success. This is assessed through the Fall Faculty & Staff Survey, which asks faculty and staff to “Briefly define ‘growth mindset’” and “Briefly articulate the mission and goals of HPU’s QEP” as open-ended items. After reviewing the answers, we recognize a need to establish a clean and clear method of assessment to identify change in these categories across time. The QEP Director intends to review options for assessment with the QEP Committee in fall 2017.

The QEP identifies “Increase in growth mindset interventions in academic staff initiatives” as a measure of the QEP’s success. This is assessed through the Fall Faculty & Staff Survey, which asks faculty and staff to “List initiatives beyond one-on-one meetings with students” as open-ended items. After reviewing the answers, we recognize a need to establish a clean and clear method of assessment to identify change in these categories across time. The QEP Director intends to review options for assessment with the QEP Committee in fall 2017.

The levels for the “increase in growth mindset among academic staff” must be revised. The benchmark for this figure was 4.93. A level one increase of 10% takes the figure to 5.42; a level two increase of 25% takes the figure to 6.16; a level three increase of 40% takes the figure to 6.90. The scale only goes to 6.00. As such, the QEP Director intends to propose the following change to the QEP Committee in fall 2017:

27

Student Life Program & Community Outcomes


Assessment Tools

A 3% increase in growth mindset among the academic staff


The levels for the “increase of growth mindsets among the student life staff” must be revised. The benchmark for this figure was 4.71. A level one increase of 10% takes the figure to 5.18; a level two increase of 25% takes this figure to 5.89; a level three increase of 40% takes this figure to 6.59. The scale only goes to 6.00. As such, the QEP Director intends to propose the following change to the QEP Committee in fall 2017: Level 1


Community Outcomes

Assessment Tools

Assessment Tools

A 5% increase in growth mindset among the academic staff


A 3% increase of growth mindsets among the student life staff


Level 2 Level 3 Community Outcomes A 7% increase in growth mindset among the academic staff

Community Outcomes Assessment Tools Fall Faculty & Staff Survey

Assessment Tools





Level one: 5.08

•

Level two: 5.18

•

Level three: 5.28


Assessment Tools Fall Faculty & Staff Survey

This change would place the benchmarks for each level as follows:

28

•

Level one: 4.85

•

Level two: 4.95

•

Level three: 5.04

29

Level 2 Community Outcomes The QEP identifies “Increase among student life staff who can articulate the mission and goals of the QEP, and define ‘growth mindset’” as a measure of the QEP’s success. This is assessed through the Fall Faculty & Staff Survey, which asks faculty and staff to “Briefly define ‘growth mindset’” and “Briefly articulate the mission and goals of HPU’s QEP” as open-ended items. After reviewing the answers, we recognize a need to establish a clean and clear method of assessment to identify change in these categories across time. The QEP Director intends to review options for assessment with the QEP Committee in fall 2017. The QEP identifies “Increase of roommate conflicts that engage in student life-sponsored conflict resolutions” as a measure of the QEP’s success. The benchmark collected for this item noted nine roommate moves in Blessing Hall (a freshman dorm) in 2017. We may wish to modify the item as “Decrease in roommate moves in Blessing Hall,” with an adjustment to the expected decreases in each level as appropriate. Community outcome “Increase of student justices who say their experiences in student conduct court helps them develop their leadership skills” requires revision. This was assessed through a Conduct Court Survey, which showed that 100% of student justices said their experience helped them develop their leadership skills. The QEP Committee will review whether to eliminate this item, modify it, or replace it with another outcome. Campus Messaging Program & Community Outcomes The levels for “Increase in growth mindset among the University community” should be revised to reflect the proposed changes in the increase of faculty, academic services, and student life program & community outcomes. As such, the QEP Director intends to propose the following change to the QEP Committee in fall 2017: Level 1

30

Community Outcomes

Assessment Tools

A 5% increase of growth mindset among the University community (e.g., faculty, staff, and students)

Summer Student Survey; Fall Faculty & Staff Survey

Assessment Tools




Assessment Tools




Level one: 4.46

•

Level two: 4.68

•

Level three: 4.89

The benchmark for the levels for the “increase in growth mindset messages embedded in official campus messaging” item is 36.93%. The current expectation for level three would increase this percentage to 44.32%. Although this change is mathematically possible, this seems to be an unrealistic goal: practically one out of every two messages would be expected to include one of the growth mindset keywords to hit this level. The QEP Committee may wish to revise the expected growth for each level. Summer Student Survey For the next Summer Student Survey, we intend to include the item, “What does it mean to ‘Be Extraordinary?’” This question can help us determine whether students are associating the idea of “being extraordinary” with growth mindset. 31

Goals for 2017-18 For the next Summer Student Survey, we intend to ask questions that address whether students believe faculty and staff have a growth mindset. These items will help us understand the gap between the perception of mindsets at HPU and what the data reveals about mindsets at HPU.

Based on a review of our accomplishments, needs, and data collected this year, we developed the following goals and strategies for next semester. They are prioritized as follows:

Fall Faculty & Staff Survey For the next Fall Faculty & Staff Survey, we intend to ask questions that address whether faculty and staff believe students have a growth mindset. These items will help us understand the gap between the perception of mindsets at HPU and what the data reveals about mindsets at HPU. Self-Efficacy Scales The QEP includes subject confidence scales as evidence of the program’s effect. However, we did not collect the benchmark for these scales in the 2016-17 academic year. Under consultation with the Director of Institutional Research and Assessment, and with the Vice President of Research and Planning, we decided that the benchmarks could be better set by assessing students at three points during the school year: at the beginning of the fall semester in the introductory courses of the specific subjects; at the end of the fall semester; and in the middle of the spring semester to assess if the self-efficacy continues when students are no longer taking those introductory courses. We believe the longitudinal shifts in self-efficacy throughout the academic year will help establish a stronger benchmark.

Top-tier Goals Goal Revise the QEP as noted in the “Proposed Revisions to the QEP” section.

The QEP Committee will meet early in the fall 2017 semester to discuss and vote on the proposed revisions to the QEP.

Collect benchmark data from self-efficacy scales.

We will assess students’ self-efficacy in math, biology, foreign language, writing, chemistry, pharmacy, and leadership at three points in the academic year: at the beginning of the fall semester when they take these introductory classes; at the end of the fall semester; and during the spring semester. The shift in self-efficacy throughout the academic year will help us establish the benchmark for self-efficacy in these subjects.

Implement growth mindset strategies in the World Languages, Literatures, and Cultures Department and the Biology Department.

Consult with the WLLC and BIO departments throughout the 2017-18 academic year on strategies to help embed growth mindset messages and activities in the classes.

The current QEP indicates that campus messaging and student life items will be collected via the Participation Audit. Those items will actually be collected through content analyses of campus press releases, and through data collected by the Office of Student Life.

“The greatest danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.”

Strategy

–Michelangelo 32

33

Increase the academic staff and student life recipients of Growth Mindset Grants.

Include a summer application deadline to encourage more academic and student life staff to apply for grants. It is believed by the QEP Committee that reviewing applications in the summer will encourage academic staff to compose proposals during the “slow” months.

Mid-tier Goals

34

Goal

Strategy

Include growth mindset strategies in capstone classes.

Advocate the need of including growth mindset strategies in capstone classes to the department chairs, focusing specifically on those departments that did not identify growth mindset strategies in their capstone classes in the 2017 Participation Audit.

Include growth mindset as a more apparent component in EXP 1101 assignments and/or lectures.

Consult with the Office of Student Success to develop assignments that more explicitly addresses the belief that intelligence can grow.

Include growth mindset components in faculty and staff assessment and evaluations.

The QEP committee will compose a recommendation on how to include growth mindset components in faculty assessment and evaluations.

Include growth mindset as a component of Pi Chi and Student Justice training.

Consult with the Director of Greek Life and the Assistant Dean of Students for strategies on how to best include growth mindset components in the Pi Chi and Student Justice training sessions.

Assess the increase of students involved in conduct court cases who say the process results in positive behavioral changes.

Consult with the Assistant Dean of Students for strategies on how to best collect this data.

Include growth mindset education in the residence life roommate workbooks.

Consult with the Director of First Year Residential Education for strategies on including growth mindset education in the workbooks.

Add three more members to the QEP external review board.

The QEP Director will continue to monitor current trends and discussions of growth mindset to identify potential leaders with the academic experience who can make a positive contribution to our QEP as an external review board member.

Strengthen on-campus communication about growth mindset activities to the university community.

The QEP Director will highlight how individual faculty and staff are incorporating growth mindset strategies in their work with students in the weekly “Friday from the Provost” messages.

35

Long-term Goals

36

Goal

Strategy

Create administrative messaging to encourage seasoned faculty and staff to take their work to the next level.

The QEP committee will develop a strategy to encourage department chairs to establish productive goals for tenured faculty.

Explore the need and value of creating formal growth mindset programs and/or curricula.

The QEP Committee will discuss the feasibility of creating set of programs for students, in the vein of ADV courses or “bootcamps” during freshmen orientation periods.

Explore growth mindset messaging for parents.

The QEP Director will discuss the viability of including a growth mindset presentation for parents during convocation, open house, Parents Weekend, and other similar events with the offices of Student Life, Admissions, and other relevant campus administrators.

Explore creating grants for students to engage in growth mindset activities

The QEP Committee will review the budget, and consider whether it is feasible to set aside funds to support SGA-sponsored growth mindset-related activities.

Compose a syllabus statement covering the university’s growth mindset initiative.

The QEP Committee will explore creating an ad-hoc group to draft and support a statement covering the university’s growth mindset-related expectations in the classroom to be included on syllabi.

APPENDICES

37

Summer Student Survey Views on Education / Growth Mindset Summer 2016 Q44 Views on Education - High Point University Students’ Perspective Study High Point University is interested in knowing what YOU, a current college student or soon-to- be college student thinks about education. What is it? What are YOUR specific insights into what makes up “education.” There are no right or wrong answers to these. We just want to know what your unique perspective is on education as a whole. Take a few minutes and share your insights with us. You may choose how your responses are used here: O If you choose to allow your responses to be used for both internal High Point University use and for the Growth Mindset Survey Database, click here. (1)

Q12 I receive the academic support that I need from HPU. O Strongly Agree (1) O Agree (2) O Mostly Agree (3) O Mostly Disagree (4) O Disagree (5) O Strongly Disagree (6) O I am an incoming, new student for the fall, so this does not apply to me yet. (7) QEP14 How confident are you in the following subjects?

O If you choose to allow your responses to be used only for High Point University use, click here. (2) O If you choose to allow your responses to be used only for the Growth Mindset Survey Database, click here. (3) Q28 Are you a new HPU student this fall or a returning student? O I am a new HPU student entering this fall. (1) O I am a returning student. (2) If “I am a returning student” is selected: QEP1 Estimate your current GPA: Q27 A quality education requires me to put just as much work into it as what is provided to me. O Strongly Agree (1)

Strongly

Agree (5)

Agree (6)

Mostly

Mostly

Agree (4)

Disagree (3)

Disagree (2)

Strongly Disagree (1)

Mathematics (1)

O

O

O

O

O

O

Science (2)

O

O

O

O

O

O

Writing (3)

O

O

O

O

O

O

Test Taking Skills (4)

O

O

O

O

O

O

Time Management (5)

O

O

O

O

O

O

Study Habits (6)

O

O

O

O

O

O

O Agree (2) O Mostly Agree (3) O Mostly Disagree (4) O Disagree (5) O Strongly Disagree (6) 38

39

Q29 Seeking help is not a sign of weakness, but a sign of strength.

Q13 My instructors are approachable outside of class time.

O Strongly Agree (1)


O Agree (2)

O Agree (2)

O Mostly Agree (3)

O Mostly Agree (3)

O Mostly Disagree (4)


O Disagree (5)

O Disagree (5)

O Strongly Disagree (6)

O Strongly Disagree (6) O I am an incoming, new student for the fall, so this does not apply to me yet. (7)

Q30 Problem solving is not as important as natural talent. O Strongly Agree (1)

QEP13 Learning new math is different from changing your math intelligence.

O Agree (2)


O Mostly Agree (3)

O Agree (2)


O Mostly Agree (3)

O Disagree (5)



O Disagree (5) O Strongly Disagree (6)

Q31 It is best to stick to the subjects you are best at so you know you will be successful. O Strongly Agree (1) O Agree (2) O Mostly Agree (3) O Mostly Disagree (4) O Disagree (5)

Q19 Einstein is considered to be intelligent. What is the basis for people thinking this way about him? O He was naturally intelligent. (1) O He worked hard to be that intelligent. (2) O It was a combination of natural intelligence and hard work. (3)


40

41

QEP7 You can learn new things, but you can’t really change your basic intelligence.

QEP4 You have a certain amount of intelligence, and you can’t really do much to change it.



O Agree (2)

O Agree (2)

O Mostly Agree (3)

O Mostly Agree (3)



O Disagree (5)

O Disagree (5)



Q20 I seek out my peers when I need additional help in a subject. O Strongly Agree (1) O Agree (2) O Mostly Agree (3) O Mostly Disagree (4) O Disagree (5) O Strongly Disagree (6)

Q22 When a homework problem is hard, I typically wait to finish the assignment until I can seek out some additional help. O Strongly Agree (1) O Agree (2) O Mostly Agree (3) O Mostly Disagree (4) O Disagree (5) O Strongly Disagree (6)

QEP9 Empathic and compassionate people are born, not made. O Strongly Agree (1) O Agree (2) O Mostly Agree (3) O Mostly Disagree (4) O Disagree (5) O Strongly Disagree (6)

Q32 Learning requires hard work, not basic intelligence. O Strongly Agree (1) O Agree (2) O Mostly Agree (3) O Mostly Disagree (4) O Disagree (5) O Strongly Disagree (6)

42

43

Q43 Do you think you are smart?

QEP5 Your intelligence is something about you that you can’t change very much.

O Yes, I consider myself naturally intelligent. (1)


O Somewhat, but I work hard to increase my intelligence. (2)

O Agree (2)

O Yes, but not as intelligent as I would like to become. (3)

O Mostly Agree (3)

O To be honest, not really. (4)

O Mostly Disagree (4) O Disagree (5)

Q41 My instructors encourage me to pursue opportunities outside of the classroom (e.g. internships, research). O Strongly Agree (1) O Agree (2) O Mostly Agree (3) O Mostly Disagree (4) O Disagree (5) O Strongly Disagree (6) O I am an incoming, new student for the fall, so this does not apply to me yet. (7) Q26 It is best to ask a question in class rather than try to figure it out on your own. O Strongly Agree (1) O Agree (2) O Mostly Agree (3) O Mostly Disagree (4) O Disagree (5) O Strongly Disagree (6)

44

O Strongly Disagree (6) Q33 Failing is learning. O Strongly Agree (1) O Agree (2) O Mostly Agree (3) O Mostly Disagree (4) O Disagree (5) O Strongly Disagree (6) Q25 Taking harder courses makes you smarter than taking less challenging ones. O Strongly Agree (1) O Agree (2) O Mostly Agree (3) O Mostly Disagree (4) O Disagree (5) O Strongly Disagree (6)

45

QEP10 I can improve my math intelligence through hard work. O Strongly Agree (1) O Agree (2) O Mostly Agree (3) O Mostly Disagree (4) O Disagree (5) O Strongly Disagree (6)

QEP2 When writing a paper for a class, how many drafts do you typically write before handing it in? O No drafts. I just write the paper and it is good as is. (1) O 1 (2) O 2 (3) O 3 (4) O 4 (5) O 5 or more (6)

Q24 Being intelligent is not the only component to being successful in a subject. O Strongly Agree (1) O Agree (2) O Mostly Agree (3) O Mostly Disagree (4) O Disagree (5) O Strongly Disagree (6)

QEP8 Difficulties and challenges prevent you from developing your intelligence. O Strongly Agree (1) O Agree (2) O Mostly Agree (3) O Mostly Disagree (4) O Disagree (5) O Strongly Disagree (6)

Q35 My overall experience with educators is they are intelligent and knowledgeable in their field. O Strongly Agree (1) O Agree (2) O Mostly Agree (3) O Mostly Disagree (4) O Disagree (5) O Strongly Disagree (6)

Q21 I seek out my instructor when I need additional help in a subject. O Strongly Agree (1) O Agree (2) O Mostly Agree (3) O Mostly Disagree (4) O Disagree (5) O Strongly Disagree (6)

46

47

QEP12 Math intelligence is mostly genetic.

QEP11 You have a certain amount of math intelligence and you really can’t do much to change it.



O Agree (2)

O Agree (2)

O Mostly Agree (3)

O Mostly Agree (3)



O Disagree (5)

O Disagree (5)



Q36 Not succeeding the first time at something new is just another form of learning.

Q38 Good writing requires practice, but math requires skills you already possess.



O Agree (2)

O Agree (2)

O Mostly Agree (3)

O Mostly Agree (3)



O Disagree (5)

O Disagree (5)



Q37 Learning new vocabulary is a skill that is developed throughpractice, not a predisposition to a good memory.

QEP3 When an instructor gives you feedback on a paper, what do you do with the comments provided?


O I don’t typically read them. (1)

O Agree (2)

O I read them, but don’t really use them. (2)

O Mostly Agree (3)

O I read them and use the comments to make changes. (3)


O I read them and meet with my instructor to understand them more clearly. (4)

O Disagree (5) O Strongly Disagree (6)

48

49

Q39 Being intelligent and smart is the same thing. O Strongly Agree (1) O Agree (2) O Mostly Agree (3) O Mostly Disagree (4) O Disagree (5) O Strongly Disagree (6) QEP6 To be honest, you can’t really change how intelligent you are. O Strongly Agree (1) O Agree (2) O Mostly Agree (3) O Mostly Disagree (4) O Disagree (5) O Strongly Disagree (6)

Faculty and Academic Staff Growth Mindset Survey (Fall 2016) Q44 Consent Form The following survey serves two purposes: to supply High Point University with information about student life, and to contribute to the Growth Mindset Survey Database, a collection of student surveys that help researchers explore the effectiveness of growth mindset interventions. This database will be used for publishable and presentable scholarship. Faculty and staff involved in research projects based on this survey will have access to the responses of individuals, but they will not have access to respondents’ names, student IDs, or other personal identifying information. Personal information will be protected and stored electronically through password-protected servers managed by the High Point University Office of Research and Planning and the Office of Information Technology. There are no direct benefits for completing the survey, nor are there any punishments for refusing to complete the survey. If you have any questions about the study, you may contact Jim Y. Trammell, Ph.D. at [email protected]. If you have any questions regarding your rights as a subject in this study, you may contact Kimberly Wear, Ph.D., IRB chair at [email protected] “Next” to agree to participate. Q1 Which best describes your position at High Point University? O Faculty O Academic Services

Q46 What five words come to mind when you think of “High Point University?”

O Student Success

___________________________________

O Student Life QEP1 You can learn new things, but you can’t really change your basic intelligence. O Strongly Agree O Agree O Mostly Agree O Mostly Disagree O Disagree O Strongly Disagree

50

51

QEP2 You have a certain amount of intelligence, and you can’t really do much to change it.

QEP5 To be honest, you can’t really change how intelligent you are.

O Strongly Agree

O Strongly Agree

O Agree

O Agree

O Mostly Agree

O Mostly Agree

O Mostly Disagree

O Mostly Disagree

O Disagree

O Disagree

O Strongly Disagree

O Strongly Disagree

QEP3 Your intelligence is something about you that you can’t change very much. O Strongly Agree O Agree O Mostly Agree O Mostly Disagree O Disagree O Strongly Disagree

Q11 A quality education requires students to put just as much work into it as what is provided to them. O Strongly Agree O Agree O Mostly Agree O Mostly Disagree O Disagree O Strongly Disagree

QEP4 Difficulties and challenges prevent you from developing your intelligence. O Strongly Agree O Agree O Mostly Agree O Mostly Disagree O Disagree O Strongly Disagree

Q12 Students receive the academic support that they need from HPU. O Strongly Agree O Agree O Mostly Agree O Mostly Disagree O Disagree O Strongly Disagree

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Q13 Seeking help is not a sign of weakness, but a sign of strength. O Strongly Agree O Agree O Mostly Agree O Mostly Disagree O Disagree O Strongly Disagree

Q18 I encourage students to pursue opportunities outside of the classroom (e.g. internships, research). O Strongly Agree O Agree O Mostly Agree O Mostly Disagree O Disagree O Strongly Disagree

Q15 It is best to stick to the subjects you are best at so you know you will be successful. O Strongly Agree O Agree O Mostly Agree O Mostly Disagree O Disagree O Strongly Disagree

Q19 It is best for a student to ask a question in class rather than try to figure it out on his/her own. O Strongly Agree O Agree O Mostly Agree O Mostly Disagree O Disagree O Strongly Disagree

Q17 Learning requires hard work, not basic intelligence. O Strongly Agree O Agree O Mostly Agree O Mostly Disagree O Disagree O Strongly Disagree

Q20 Failing is learning. O Strongly Agree O Agree O Mostly Agree O Mostly Disagree O Disagree O Strongly Disagree

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If “Faculty” is selected: Q21 I am very conscious of how my teaching style could influence my end-of-semester course evaluations. O Strongly Agree O Agree O Mostly Agree O Mostly Disagree O Disagree

Q40 I fear that teaching a more rigorous course that requires more time and effort from the students will generate unfavorable department chair evaluations. O Strongly Agree O Agree O Mostly Agree O Mostly Disagree O Disagree O Strongly Disagree

O Strongly Disagree

Q22 I fear that teaching a more rigorous course that requires more time and effort from the students will generate unfavorable student evaluations. O Strongly Agree O Agree O Mostly Agree O Mostly Disagree O Disagree

Q23 I might be overly conservative when trying more innovative teaching methods because I feel that I do not have the time or resources to do them well. O Strongly Agree O Agree O Mostly Agree O Mostly Disagree O Disagree O Strongly Disagree

O Strongly Disagree

Q39 I fear that teaching a more rigorous course that requires more time and effort from the students will generate unfavorable peer evaluations. O Strongly Agree O Agree O Mostly Agree O Mostly Disagree O Disagree

Q24 I worry that the first iteration of teaching novel material or using educational techniques could generate student blowback. O Strongly Agree O Agree O Mostly Agree O Mostly Disagree O Disagree O Strongly Disagree

O Strongly Disagree 56

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Q25 I do not consider end-of-the-semester student evaluations when creating course assignments. O Strongly Agree

O Strongly Agree

O Agree

O Agree

O Mostly Agree

O Mostly Agree

O Mostly Disagree

O Mostly Disagree

O Disagree

O Disagree

O Strongly Disagree

O Strongly Disagree

Q26 I would grade more rigorously if performance reviews and job security weren’t tied to course evaluations.

Q29 Tenure and promotion are dependent on receiving primarily positive course evaluations from students.

O Strongly Agree

O Strongly Agree

O Agree

O Agree

O Mostly Agree

O Mostly Agree

O Mostly Disagree

O Mostly Disagree

O Disagree

O Disagree

O Strongly Disagree

O Strongly Disagree

Q27 Pushing students too hard in class is risky because their complaints could cause me to lose my job.

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Q28 I do not feel there is institutional support for me to challenge a student who is not devoting the time and effort required to be successful in my course.

Q30 It does not impact me in a negative way when students comment on the difficulty of my courses.

O Strongly Agree

O Strongly Agree

O Agree

O Agree

O Mostly Agree

O Mostly Agree

O Mostly Disagree

O Mostly Disagree

O Disagree

O Disagree

O Strongly Disagree

O Strongly Disagree

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Q42 In order for my students to adopt a growth mindset, they will have to work harder in my courses.

Q32 I feel that students view me primarily as a cheerleader, and that they do not respect my authority.

O Strongly Agree

O Strongly Agree

O Agree

O Agree

O Mostly Agree

O Mostly Agree

O Mostly Disagree

O Mostly Disagree

O Disagree

O Disagree

O Strongly Disagree

O Strongly Disagree

Q43 I believe I am demanding an appropriate amount and level of work from students in my courses. O Strongly Agree O Agree

Q33 I feel that my job performance would improve if faculty knew more about what I do O Strongly Agree O Agree O Mostly Agree

O Mostly Agree

O Mostly Disagree

O Mostly Disagree O Disagree

O Disagree O Strongly Disagree

O Strongly Disagree If “Academic Services” & “Student Success” is selected: Q31 I am concerned that if I honestly discuss a student’s bad habits when it comes to their coursework, it will generate complaints concerning my job performance. O Strongly Agree O Agree O Mostly Agree O Mostly Disagree O Disagree

Q36 Students expect me to do their work for them, and I am worried that if I challenge them, it will generate complaints concerning my job performance. O Strongly Agree O Agree O Mostly Agree O Mostly Disagree O Disagree O Strongly Disagree

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Q37 I feel that students expect me to be perpetually available, and that if I don’t drop everything to help them, I will receive negative feedback.

Q35 I am worried that students’ possible misinterpretation of information I give them will generate complaints.

O Strongly Agree

O Strongly Agree

O Agree

O Agree

O Mostly Agree

O Mostly Agree

O Mostly Disagree

O Mostly Disagree

O Disagree

O Disagree

O Strongly Disagree

O Strongly Disagree

Q41 I do not feel there is institutional support for me to challenge a student who is not devoting the time and effort required to be successful in college.

For all selections: Q8 In the space below, briefly define “growth mindset.” ___________________________________

O Strongly Agree O Agree O Mostly Agree

Q10 In the space below, briefly articulate the mission and goals of HPU’s QEP.

O Mostly Disagree

___________________________________

O Disagree O Strongly Disagree If “Student Life” is selected: Q34 I am worried that student expectations concerning my job are unrealistic, and this generates negative feedback. O Strongly Agree O Agree O Mostly Agree O Mostly Disagree O Disagree O Strongly Disagree 62

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Participation Audit Colleagues,

Email + Opening Statement

To help measure HPU’s profess toward our QEP goals, please complete the attached form. This QEP audit will help us discover: • How many classes include growth mindset interventions, • The growth mindset scholarship produced by staff and faculty, • The reach of our QEP-sponsored programs, and • The support that staff and faculty receive to model growth mindset. This audit contains five main items, and will take most users fewer than three minutes to complete. If you have any questions, contact the QEP Director Jim Y. Trammell at [email protected].

User Identification Which of the following best describes your department at High Point University? • Academic Services • Student Life • Student Success • (All academic departments listed by school)

Class Sections

(if the user is a faculty member) Which class sections did you teach in fall 2016 or spring 2017 that included at least one growth mindset intervention? If none, leave this section blank.

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NOTE: A “growth mindset intervention” includes any exercise, lecture, discussion, or other message that says students’ intelligence, aptitude, and talent can always improve. These messages can include, but are not limited to: • Tests are supposed to make students struggle. • Ignorance is okay at the beginning of the semester. • Difficulty with a topic is to be expected in college. • Improvement requires hard work. These messages can be delivered in any way during the class, including, but not limited to: • Class emails. • In-class lectures. • Comments on student work. (We should consider making the following a table, with six blank rows and the following as column headings): • Department (e.g., ENG) • Course number (e.g., 2200) • Number of sections taught (e.g. Did you teach one, two, or three sections of ENG 2200?) • Semester (drop menu: Fall 2016; Spring 2017)

Growth Mindset Exercises (If the user is not a faculty member)

In which work-related initiatives—above and beyond one-on-one meetings with students—did you include at least one growth mindset intervention in fall 2016 or spring 2017? If none, leave this section blank. NOTE: A “growth mindset intervention” includes any meeting, exercise, lecture, discussion, or other message that says students’ intelligence, aptitude, and talent can always improve. These messages can include, but are not limited to: • College work is supposed to make students struggle. • Ignorance is okay at the beginning of the semester. • Difficulty with a topic is to be expected in college. • Improvement requires hard work.

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These messages can be delivered in any way during your work with students, including, but not limited to: • Emails. • Exercises or training seminars. (Radio button): I only included growth mindset interventions this year during my one-on-one meetings with students. Initiatives that included growth mindset interventions: (We should consider making the following a table, with six blank rows and the following as column headings): • Name of initiative (e.g., “Ropes Course Leadership Training”) • Semester (drop menu: Fall 2016; Spring 2017) • Brief description of the initiative

Scholarship Which published or presented scholarship related to growth mindset did you produce this year? If none, leave this section blank. (We should consider making the following a table, with six blank rows and the following as column headings): • Author • Title • Journal or Conference • Was this work co-authored with a student? (Drop menu: Yes; No)

Incentives How has your department chair, dean, director, or other administrator incentivized or supported your efforts to embed growth mindset interventions in your work with students?

Such incentives or support can include, but are not limited to: • Encouragement to experiment with new teaching strategies that model growth mindset. • Support when students challenge you when you deliver growth mindset messages. • Grants or bonuses (unrelated to QEP-sponsored growth mindset grants) to support growth mindset initiatives. (We should consider making the following a table, with six blank rows and the following as column headings): • Supervisor (drop menu: Department Chair, Dean, Director, Provost/President, Other) • Summary of support

Growth Mindset Events Which QEP and growth mindset-related events did you attend (or intend to attend) during the fall 2016-spring 2017 academic year? If none, leave this section blank. Click all that apply: • Carol Dweck dinner—August 17 • Carol Dweck/Nido Qubein interview during fall faculty seminars—August 18 • CITL Ed Talk: Growth Mindset Comments (lead by Jenn Brandt)—September 29 • CITL Ed Talk: Growth Mindset Teaching: Celebrating Mistakes—November 10 • Grit Webinar—November 17 • CITL Ed Talk: Growth Mindset Strategies (Thomas Deardon & Leah Schweitzer)—February 15 • Growth Mindset Faculty Forum with Steve Wozniak—February 21 • CITL Ed Talk: Growth Mindset Strategies (Cindy Sherrill & Craig Curty)—March 21 • CITL Ed Talk: Growth Mindset Strategies (Preston Davis, Brittani Chavious Hunt, Sadie Leder-Elder, Scott Wojciechowski)—April 3 (intend to attend) • Spring Faculty Seminar with Saundra Yancy McGuire—May 8 (intend to attend)

Closing Statement That’s it. Thank you so much for your help.

If you have received no such incentives or support, leave this section blank.

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Spring 2017 Focus Groups Summary

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Faculty Focus Groups (4/19/2017 - 4/27/2017) Demographics • Gender Male: 3; Female: 11 • Ages: 35-44 (8); 45-54 (2); 55-64 (3); refused (1) • Fields of study represented: Accounting, Economics, English, Interior Design and Housing, Neuroscience, Nonprofit Management, Organizational studies, Pharmacy, Physician Assistant, Psychology, and Special education • Races represented: Asian, Multiple/Other, White or Caucasian Themes • Intelligence is not fixed, but rather something that is flexible and possible of growth over time with practice, effort, and a growth mindset. There are a lot of different types of intelligence - from creative to academic. • Even if there are some limits, you can change how intelligent you are by developing skills and changing your process of learning. • People all start at different places with their skills, such as writing and math skills, but eventually you hit a point where talent is not enough. The starting point for these skills may be innate, but motivation is the key factor in determining how far your skills can expand. Others stated that genetic component is not great but that environment plays a huge factor in these skills. The written language is a taught behavior. Some “teacher” bias may impact these skills. • Our current society puts a lot of pressure on students to not fail- from home to employers, making it hard to accept failure. It is all about resilience and willingness to re-engage in the challenge. Failure is an opportunity to learn, however people must be careful to not just use your time failing as your opportunity to grow. It is important to learn from successes and have the growth mindset idea of “what could I have done better even though I succeeded.” Students lack confidence, which turns into anxiety. Also, are afraid of failure and risk adverse.

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If you create a rigorous course in a caring and supportive environment, it will not affect your course evaluations. You cannot create your course material based on the evaluations. However, it can be scary and there is a lot expected of professors at this university from the students, but you want to keep the learning environment slightly uncomfortable for students or they will not have room to grow. Some HPU students tend to have incorrect expectations of undergraduate level courses. They almost are in this safety net they have always been in and lack self-sufficiency, but have too much entitlement. When we say, “At High Point University, every student receives an extraordinary education,” we allow them to expect something from faculty; however, there is a reciprocal relationship in the co-production of knowledge that can hurt your evaluations if you don’t create it in the best way. If growth mindset is implemented in courses across the board, then it will be successful; however, if one professor attempts to do this alone, it will not work well for them. It is important to really re-define effort for students. A way to implement growth mindset is to not necessarily focus on changing course material, but your interactions with students in the classroom. One lesson for students using growth mindset is: what abilities or resources might be fixed right now, those can be expanded. So, you could possibly have higher grades and better leisure if you know how to use your resources effectively, you learn how to apply them efficiently. For a student to adopt a growth mindset, they do not necessarily have to work harder, but instead have to work different. This is a new idea that they are not used to, so it can be uncomfortable. However, if they are willing to try new strategies and techniques, they might find it to be more effective and efficient. Some words use to describe growth mindset were adaptable, open, risk taking, encouraging, effective, life changing, continuous learning, perseverance, great work ethic, challenge, process, reflection, abilities, change, risk, stretch, possibility, innovative, lifelong, and effort. For those who are interested and have time to go to sessions, they understand the initiative, but there doesn’t seem to be widespread knowledge. Faculty seem to want to see the implementation and better understand the goals. Just because it’s something we cannot see happening, doesn’t mean it’s not worth doing; however, the last QEP was a lot more tangible and you can still see the lineage of it. Faculty want to see more of the evaluative component of the QEP. The way we are measuring this is anti-growth mindset. Job requirements expanding and this seems like one more thing to do. The concept of positivity emphasized in growth mindset is strong on our campus, but the idea of choosing to be extraordinary could be viewed as fixed and our selling point of “caring for your children” almost contradicts the initiative.

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Staff Focus Groups (4/26/2017)

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Demographics • Gender Male: 4; Female: 3 • Ages: 25-34 (5); 45-54 (2) • Fields of study represented: Disability support, Higher Education Community College and University Leadership, Professional staff, Student Affairs, and Student Success • Races represented: White or Caucasian

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Themes • Growth mindset means or has the idea that intelligence doesn’t have to stay the same, once you learn and push through some of these barriers, you can increase your intelligence. With the QEP you are being intentional, but some of it’s intentional and some of it’s not. • Older staff members recall learning that intelligence was fixed and IQ was set, but coming to realize how it could change and develop. We all have certain things we can grow, develop, and learn easiest and things we are weak in. If you think your intelligence can only reach a certain level, you create a ceiling. Student in the fixed mindset would have that ceiling applied and they wouldn’t see that they can increase it- whereas your grow mindset student might need some encouragement and motivation to continue to increase that ceiling, but they do recognize that there are still opportunities there are still ways to learn, grow, and develop. It is about students having a will to change and staff encouraging them that they can do it. • We normally do have either math or writing skills, this could be because of the sides of our brains or from early learning. Or we could be good at neither or better at something else, such as science. We are pushed to do what we are good at skills wise. • Growth mindset is involved in the entire process of growing in your academics, career interests, housing, conduct, etc. Students have these staff members in different departments to help them realize what they need to do. A lot of picking the direction and following the growth mindset path is knowing why you are motivated to do what you can do. Sometimes, staff even struggle because the parents of students might not have a growth mindset- and they are the ones who were with the students for the first 18 years. The students have to take the leap and start the path, the staff are there support, guide, and walk with them. • There is a lot of institutional support, in general. Within departments, there is a lot of support for the QEP. Staff hope to see results and actions being taken by other departments, maybe creating a list of what everyone is doing. A lot of the needs of creating a growth mindset environment when things seem “fixed” is giving people options in their learning.

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It is the responsibility of both the students and staff for the students to develop a growth mindset; the students have to be fully willing and the staff have to meet them halfway. One important way for staff to meet them halfway and to increase student willingness is to share with them resources. We want to move towards students maturing and being more responsible for this, but everyone needs to hear “you can do this.” The words used to describe growth mindset and the QEP were: forward, challenged, positive, challenge, critical thinking, problem solving, learn, explore, grow, embedded, not fixed, possibilities, take change or chance, movement, improvement, resiliency, strive, and push. Challenge was a theme meant in different ways: this mindset is hard, challenging authorities and learning how to, and challenging students directly. Another theme was movement, forward, or growth. There is a concern about how this QEP is tangible and can be measured. Staff members want to know what other people in different departments are doing and suggested a comprehensive list. Possibly allowing student involvement would be helpful to the students and the university as a selling point as to what makes HPU unique.

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Student Focus Groups (4/26/2017)

Digital Signage Examples

Demographics • Gender Male: 1 • Ages: 18-24 (1) • Fields of study represented: Religion • Races represented: White or Caucasian Themes • Growth mindset means or has the idea that intelligence is something that you can cultivate. Intelligence encompasses more than just academic knowledge, insight into other issues as well. • To say that you can’t change your intelligence would be to put you in a box that is limiting, some people are going to be better at changing their intelligence. • Just because you’re born with an aptitude for math or writing doesn’t mean you don’t have to work at it. • Being committed to actually wanting to change that; background is important. • Pick classes to learn a lot, because if you’re not learning, you’re not being challenged. • Growth mindset isn’t necessarily working harder in your courses; be more open to the possibilities that could be wrong, open to the possibilities that you don’t know everything. • You’re going to be best at the things you are passionate about but it’s important to be exposed to other areas. • A teacher going up and talking about the values of growth mindset isn’t going to change anything until you recognize the need for change. • Humility, patience and gentleness. • QEP is advocating for a growth mindset not sure what they do beyond that. Didn’t know that it stood for Quality Enhancement Plan.

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Cheat Sheet GROWTH MINDSET COMMENTS

FIXED GROWTH

FIXED MINDSET COMMENT “You’re a good writer.” This comment inflates “natural ability.”

GROWTH

Comments on student work can promote either a fixed mindset or a growth mindset. Framing our feedback in growth mindset language can encourage our students to reframe failure, develop persistence, and work harder on future assignments.

GROWTH MINDSET COMMENT “This paper is very strong.” “You make some clear effort in your writing.” “I can tell you have been practicing.” These comments praise the progress, not the person.

“Well done.” This comment suggests students should settle for satisfactory work.

“To take it to an even higher level, consider . . . ” “There is some clear effort in this revision.” “You are on the right track.” “I want you to try something more challenging for the next assignment.” These comments encourage students to make their good work better.

“You don’t understand this.” This comment does not offer any opportunities to help students understand the material better.

“You don’t understand this yet.” “Let’s figure out together what you’re missing.” “This is going to take some effort, and that’s fine, because this is supposed to challenge you.” These comments encourage students to try again with new strategies.

“This needs to be revised.” This comment does not give specific advice, making the comment practically useless.

“To take it to the next level, make stronger connections between the paragraphs, compose a more compelling thesis statement, take more care in your citations, . . . .” “Quality work sometimes takes more time and effort than we think.” These comments show students what they can specifically do to strengthen their work.

*Adapted from Mindset Works, Carol Dweck, Mary Cay Ricci, Savanna Flakes

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Portraits of Growth Examples PORTRAITS OF GROWTH Portraits by Benita VanWinkle’s Digital Photography class Interviews by Manning Franks

Growth Mindset Grant Updates As of May 2017, High Point University has awarded $57,125 to faculty and staff in the form of Growth Mindset Grants to support scholarship, pedagogy, and technology that help us cultivate a culture of growth mindset. At least $139,000 will be awarded to recipients through Spring 2019. Updates from the current grant recipients are noted below.

College is not easy. It challenges our minds and stretches our abilities. It demands perseverance and effort and time. It forces us to grow, and growth is hard. Practically every student faces some life-altering encounter between 18 and 22-years-old. The sudden illness of a parent, for instance. Or the trauma of an abusive relationship. A shift in academic interests. Homesickness. Bullying. Failing grades. Self-doubt. These experiences hurt, and if we are not careful we can let them define us as beaten, damaged people. But that’s not our destiny. We have the capacity to grow. No matter who we are when we enter college, we can become stronger, healthier, more resilient, and better prepared for the real world by the time we leave. We aren’t stuck with our current set of trials—we possess the capacity to become better. It is easy to think we are the only ones facing difficulties because we don’t hear how others overcame similar struggles. We oftentimes don’t get to see how others have faced the same trials we are facing, and learn from their experiences. This exhibit tries to change that. In Portraits of Growth, the class of 2017 shares stories of personal growth during college. These students changed their majors and relationships, and found their passion and purpose. They faced the trauma and drama, and lived to tell their tales. They grew from loners to leaders, from seeking help to serving others, and from being fearful to being fierce. In other words, they made it through college. These portraits of growth show us that no matter what we are facing, we can overcome. We can change. We can grow. That’s what it means to do college right.

Hailey Parry

(Portrait by Miriam Webster, Interview by Manning Franks) I was bullied a lot and I very much felt like an outcast all through both middle school and high school in my hometown of Sanford, Connecticut. So, coming down to High Point University, I knew absolutely no one and it was a journey where it was sink or float. I felt like you had to be successful or you weren’t going to do well. I thought I was starting out really well, you know. You move in, you meet your roommate, all is going well with classes. And then rush happened. I was teased about not wanting to join a sorority and not wanting to be one of the “typical girls.” I felt very lonely by the time my Freshman year was over. It made me feel inferior, and I hated that feeling because it reminded me so much of what my early school life was like. I wasn’t as outgoing as I am now. It was very hard for me to reach out and wanna make friends. I couldn’t go up to someone and say, “Hi, my name is Hailey, where are you from?” That wasn’t me. Freshman year ended and I was really hesitant on if I wanted to come back and maybe instead transfer. I decided to give it one more semester and decide after that. Little did I know I would meet my best friend that very semester, the girl who sat next to me in Calculus the previous year. We studied Chemistry and Calc together. We went to College Life. I have always been the nerd and I started to find friends who were also nerds, and I connected with professors who genuinely wanted to be there and see us succeed. It was their fostering and care that pushed me into my love of science. It was Junior Year when I was asked to be a Supplemental Instruction Leader (SI), and it was then I realized, I had a thing for learning. I will put it this way: no one wants to study a subject for nine-hours straight no matter what it is, but I enjoy the material and I always have my friends who love to learn with me. I stayed in on those Friday nights and I learned about the joy of teaching others and having others teach you. It’s hard work, but it’s worth it. I went over sixteen different drafts on my final lab report because I was dying to get an A. I needed it. And I’ve always struggled with scientific writing, yet professors like Dr. Sunderland and Dr. Srougi invested time into my life to make sure I have the skills and confidence needed in not just finishing the paper, but perfecting it. To someone who has been bullied throughout her grade-school level, to be told that your uniqueness is what’s made you successful is a beautiful boost of self-confidence. And this is coming from the girl who is known throughout the science department as the girl who tutors a ridiculous amount. I’m a nerd and I’m proud of it.

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Jenn Brandt—Spring 2016 SOTL grant recipient Charmaine Cadeau—Spring 2016 SOTL grant recipient Cara Kozma—Spring 2016 SOT grant recipient (From Cara Kozma): We have been conducting research on ways to integrate growth mindset interventions within service learning classes. This past academic year we taught a combined total of four growth mindset-focused SL classes. These included a freshman seminar, two sections of general education literature, and a general education composition course. We gave a presentation on this work, “Mindset and Service Learning: Community and Classroom Interventions,” on March 31 at the SOTL Commons conference in Savannah, GA. We now aim to publish an article based on our conference presentation. Our plan is to write a collaborative piece that offers a literature review of relevant research in growth mindset and service learning, including three sections written from each of our first-person perspectives in which we describe how we developed and implemented growth mindset interventions within our SL classes, and a concluding discussion section in which we reflect on the effectiveness of various interventions in the context of SL. At this point in the process, because we plan to collect survey data for an additional year, we want to compose a piece that focuses just on the process of integrating growth mindset into SL courses rather than on a specific data set with analysis.

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means in the fall and spring also in the direction of improved levels of anxiety. A few specific growth mindset interventions were introduced in spring and I plan to increase the interventions during fall semester. The plan is to collect data in fall 2017 and then perform the analysis during spring 2018.

Jenny Fuselier—Spring 2016 SOTL grant recipient This semester, Laurie Zack and I piloted the “learning labs” in the MTH 1310 courses. There were 5 SI’s who hosted evening learning labs for students in these sections. We collected attendance data as well as pre-post growth mindset related data for all students in general education math courses. In the fall, we will broaden the scale of these sessions, particularly changing our efforts at how to get students “in the door” to the sessions, and we will collect our last semester of data.

Heather Miller—Spring 2016 SOTL grant recipient My Growth Mindset project on peers influencing mindset was initiated in 4 sections of general chemistry II lab this spring. We implemented formative peer assessments in our experimental sections that stressed learning from our mistakes. My colleague and I collected mindset survey data (pre/ post) and are currently analyzing that, along with assessment data to see if mindsets shifted as a result of regular feedback from peers. After the data is analyzed, we will determine if we’d like to collect data for an additional semester, modify the experiment, or prepare for publication.

David Radanovich—Spring 2016 SOTL grant recipient I have run the pre- and post-survey in COM 1110 for fall 2016 and spring 2017 semesters and have a total of 548 cases. I did a quick means analysis between the groups. There was a statistically significant difference between the pre- and post-tests, which indicated an improvement in public speaking anxiety. In addition, there was a statistically significant difference in the differences be78

Tara Shollenberger—Spring 2016 SOTL grant recipient My project has passed all three parts through IRB. This has resulted in starting to collect survey data for this semester. We have also been giving alcohol and controlled substance student a paper to write after watching Carol Dweck ‘Not Yet’ TED talk as an alternative sanction. This has been assigned to 49 students of which 41 completed the assignment. Finally, I did have my first focus group set up for the end of April and we had 19 express interest but sadly no one showed up on the day of the focus group. The hope is to try and have these earlier in the semester in the fall as I think the one in the spring was too close to finals. We will continue to collect data in these three areas for the fall and next spring.

Melissa Srougi—Spring 2016 STOL grant recipient The growth mindset in Biochemistry project seeks to use metacognitive strategies as a means of altering student perceptions about themselves as learners as well as the material they seek to master. We hypothesize that these student-centered strategies will improve grit, which will translate into higher achievement of student learning outcomes and positive attitudes about the course material. Data generated after one semester suggest that student learning outcomes improved for students who were exposed to growth mindset interventions (n=44) as assessed by in-class examinations and a pre/post biochemistry assessment, compared to students who were not exposed to these same interventions (n=35). Attitudinal data has yet to be analyzed. Since this course is only offered once per year, this study will be implemented again in the Fall 2017 to increase the study population size. 79

(this is a service learning class). This experiential work was partnered with repeated growth mindset messaging in which I reminded students that empathy isn’t a static and finite trait, but that it can be cultivated through practice and perseverance.

Cindy Vigueira—Spring 2016 SOTL grant recipient I have collected another semester worth of data this spring. I am still working on analyzing both Fall and Spring semesters for impacts of mindset on student performance in BIO1399 labs. As a quick update, we again see significant increases in the Test of Scientific Literacy Skills in the spring semester (we had similar gains in the fall). I plan to do a significant amount of analysis on my collected data this summer.

Allison Walker—Spring 2016 SOTL grant recipient Dr. Cara Kozma and I will be presenting some of our findings at the Conference on Community Writing in Boulder, CO, this October. My data collection is complete, and I will analyze it this summer. I’m obviously hoping for statistical significance! Data was collected via a Qualtrics survey in ENG 2230 this spring through a pre- and post-test protocol designed to measure student empathy. The results from the experimental spring section will be compared to results gathered in a control section last fall. I added a survey question about socioeconomic status to my original IRB protocol because recent research in the field of empathy has demonstrated some startling trends in relation to correlations between empathy and economic wealth. Studies have shown decreasing levels of empathy as net worth increases. From an evolutionary standpoint, this makes sense. Those with a lower SES must rely more on others for support, and thus higher levels of empathy would prove advantageous, while those with a higher SES don’t need “help” from others and thus may not “grow” empathic behavioral patterns because they don’t need them to survive. I implemented a series of growth mindset and empathy lessons with my students this semester in an effort to make empathy instruction explicit. I used several TED Talks that demonstrate the neuroplasticity of the human brain and its ability to “grow” behaviors such as empathy with practice. We also practiced empathy through role playing lessons that were then applied to interactions between students and community partners 80

Laurie Zack—Spring 2016 SOTL grant recipient This semester, Jenny Fuselier and I pushed again using GM activities on the first day of class in our lower-level courses. I sent out a 3-page list of GM quotes to be used on tests, quizzes, activities, etc. if an instructor wanted. We aren’t tracking how many faculty are doing this though; this is more of just a push to increase GM into the classes. In MTH 1310 (Business Calc.), we introduced Learning Labs for the semester. We also had all of the data analyzed from last semester. In terms of grades, there was no statistical difference in classes that had a GM activity and those that did not. We also didn’t have enough people complete both a pre- and post-survey to make valid statistical conclusions to the two groups. We did do some other analysis on the data in terms of gender and class level though.

Craig Curty—Spring 2016 pedagogy grant recipient My pilot study is complete. I plan to analyze data this summer looking for trends. I plan to run the same study in the fall with procedures in place to increase validity. My overall goal is to make this research a longitudinal study and follow the 2017-18 tutor training cohort as they move through training levels.

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Sadie Leder-Elder—Spring 2016 pedagogy grant My goal at the outset of this project was to examine the application of Dweck’s Mindset paradigm to the context of romantic relationships in an effort to ascertain whether individuals can reframe their thinking about relationships to incorporate lessons that would encourage perseverance and ultimately yield better physical and psychological wellbeing. Over the course of the 2016-2017 academic year I was able to collect and analyze data investigating this hypothesis. At the current time, data provides preliminary evidence that relationship growth mindset can be cultivated in an undergraduate sample.

Leah Schweitzer—Spring 2016 pedagogy grant recipient The second set of surveys about students’ attitudes about what makes a “good” writer were completed during finals week this spring and are currently being analyzed. The hope is to use the data to help change student attitudes about activities like revision, seeing revision as part of what “good” writers do rather than as something that negatively characterizes the writing process.

Scott Wojciechowski—Spring 2016 pedagogy grant recipient The Common Experience integrated Growth Mindset concepts into three of the program’s components: What Matters in College panel discussions, Panther Chats, and first-year Community Meetings. During Academic Orientation, new students attended panels comprised of one professor, one staff member, and one student. These small sessions opened with the “What’s the Point of College” QEP video and the talking points spoke to Growth Mindset-focused questions. Each of the three Panther Chats (one-on-one guided conversations between Resident Assistants and students) included a Growth Mindset question as part of the conversation guide. September’s Community Meeting focuses on Community and Conflict and paired a conflict styles inventory with an introduction to Growth Mindset concepts, as many roommate issues often stem from a fixed mindset. During the November Community Meeting, students write a letter to themselves that they then receive in April. This activity allows students to reflect on their experiences and identify how they’ve worked through and overcome challenge (or not).

Thomas Dearden—Spring 2016 technology grant recipient I completed the project in the Fall of 2016 by integrating this new digital assignment in CRJ 2000, Criminology. The students liked the assignment, and it did appear to have a small impact (though the individual effect is compounded by other QEP initiatives that my students may have experienced across the semester). I plan to continue to refine and utilize the assignment in the coming semester.

“Improve by 1% a day, and in just 70 days, you’re twice as good.” –Alan Weiss 82

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Sara DeNicolas—Fall 2016 SOTL grant recipient I have completed several of the materials needed for my project in the SPN 1020 courses. I have designed two out of the four Spanish grammar units, adding Growth Mindset messaging, editing Spanish advertisings and guidelines for the final grammar project. In addition, I’m have written 10 out of the 15 questions for the surveys that will help me collect the data.

Randy Moser—Fall 2016 SOTL grant recipient Miquel Sahagun—Fall 2016 SOTL grant recipient (From Randy Moser): Eight marketing sections (6 MKTG 2110 and 2 MKTG 4400) were asked to complete a survey at the beginning and end of the semester. Four sections (3 MKT 2110 & 1 MKT 4400) were taught utilizing Growth Mindset methodologies developed by both professors while the remaining 4 sections were assessed under the individual instructor’s teaching format. We are currently analyzing data captured with expectations being minimal this round since this is a multi-year project which determines Growth Mindset retention over a two-year period and observes Growth Mindset changes between marketing 2100 and 4400 (cap stone) as well as within each semester’s class Growth Mindset change.

“Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfills the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things.” –Winston Churchill 84

Veronica Segarra—Fall 2016 SOTL grant recipient BIO3000 Service Learning, an upper-level Cell Biology course with a science outreach component, was successfully implemented as a new course. In the lab component of this course, students were tasked with the creation of lab modules for science outreach at the nearby school Penn Griffin School for the Arts. Feedback from students was very positive. Out of the work the students generated this semester, there is at least one short paper that can be published. I will be working on this during the summer as well as looking at gains in growth mindset from student data.

Elizabeth Jeter—Fall 2016 pedagogy grant My Growth Mindset Pedagogy Grant is applied to my HRE 3600, Intercultural Competency in the Workplace course. Growth mindset theories have informed the design of course materials, lesson plans, activities, and assignments. Spring 2017 brings an end to the first semester of two for my grant project. I have reviewed course evaluations and the observation data I collected from semester to draw conclusions about my progress. The following is a summary of successes and lesson learned that will inform the progression of the project into fall 2017. Successes included the weekly breakfast collaborations on a group project as well as a creative project based nonfiction intercultural novels. Every Friday throughout the semester, we held class in the Café to apply the week’s course materials into a group project where students built an international organization from mission statements to organizing overseas operations. The relaxed atmosphere and good food during the early morning class period was motivating for many students and paired well with a project that developed over a five-week period. As a result, students produced unique, applied projects through guided teamwork. Students also enjoyed engaging with intercultural theories through the nonfiction intercultural novels. Students used their chosen novel’s content and additional research to produce white papers, magazines, blogs/websites, cook books, and professional training manual using a variety of practical skills students had gained throughout their undergraduate career. I also have 85

lessons learned from this semester that will inform changes in the next semester. I assigned a traditional annotated bibliography in stages that allowed students to develop research questions, research academic journals, and produce a synthesis paper on the literature students reviewed. While the literature reviewed and skills gained by students are valuable, I believe I can continue to redesign this traditional academic assignment using growth mindset theories to further engage students and help them better understand dense journal content. There are also accountability methods that can be added to the weekly group projects to challenge students’ equally participation in the final project.

sion statements to organizing overseas operations. The relaxed atmosphere and good food during the early morning class period was motivating for many students and paired well with a project that developed over a five-week period. As a result, students produced unique, applied projects through guided teamwork. Students also enjoyed engaging with intercultural theories through the nonfiction intercultural novels. Students used their chosen novel’s content and additional research to produce white papers, magazines, blogs/websites, cook books, and professional training manual using a variety of practical skills students had gained throughout their undergraduate career. I also have lessons learned from this semester that will inform changes in the next semester. I assigned a traditional annotated bibliography in stages that allowed students to develop research questions, research academic journals, and produce a synthesis paper on the literature students reviewed. While the literature reviewed and skills gained by students are valuable, I believe I can continue to redesign this traditional academic assignment using growth mindset theories to further engage students and help them better understand dense journal content. There are also accountability methods that can be added to the weekly group projects to challenge students’ equally participation in the final project.

Frank Freeman—Fall 2016 pedagogy grant recipient This semester I hope to refine and focus my messaging, and I am looking to incorporate into that some of the rich content offered by Dr. Saundra Yancy McGuire. I am now sorting through the semester-ending instruments, and I am already looking at how to improve upon that instrument for the coming semester.

Elizabeth Jeter—Fall 2016 pedagogy grant My Growth Mindset Pedagogy Grant is applied to my HRE 3600, Intercultural Competency in the Workplace course. Growth mindset theories have informed the design of course materials, lesson plans, activities, and assignments. Spring 2017 brings an end to the first semester of two for my grant project. I have reviewed course evaluations and the observation data I collected from semester to draw conclusions about my progress. The following is a summary of successes and lesson learned that will inform the progression of the project into fall 2017. Successes included the weekly breakfast collaborations on a group project as well as a creative project based nonfiction intercultural novels. Every Friday throughout the semester, we held class in the Café to apply the week’s course materials into a group project where students built an international organization from mis86

Amanda Mbuvi—Fall 2016 pedagogy grant recipient This semester I introduced “teams” in my REL 2001 Pentateuch courses as a way to target the four key areas I identified in my proposal: students can examine themselves and their backgrounds, they can share their process of self-discovery with classmates, they can ask questions to try to better understand people coming from a different social location, and they can give and receive constructive feedback. The teams were extremely successful at cultivating community in the classroom and laying the foundation for having challenging discussions. However, as a new faculty member still getting used to HPU students and the population of Gen Ed courses, I found that progress in discussing diversity looked very different from what I had anticipated. At the beginning of the semester, students regarded religion as a taboo topic and were reluctant to discuss it at all or to disagree with one another even in what I thought were low-risk ways. By the end of the semester we had broken through those barriers, but we did not get to the hot topics I had envisioned tackling. For the second semester of my project, I will introduce teams in two sections of REL 2003 Hebrew Prophets and I will use what I learned this semester to develop a pedagogical plan that better fits the HPU Gen Ed population. 87

Bradley Taylor—Fall 2016 pedagogy grant recipient For my “Toolkit for Success” grant, I have been working to develop the workshop curriculum during the Spring 2017 semester for implementation during the Fall 2017 semester. A colleague suggested I take a look at Donna Berger and Ed O’Keefe’s work: Self-Management for College Students: The ABC Approach. I had a great conversation with Dr. Berger and have ordered the book to use in developing some of the workshop exercises. Recently, I attended the Life Design Catalyst Coach Training Program, which afforded me a multitude of resources in helping students to answer their WHY, fostering individual self-efficacy, and developing a growth mindset.

Michael Grider—Fall 2016 pedagogy grant recipient I believe that the use of the clicker technology was beneficial to the students this semester. I have some data that I still need to crunch numbers on for student growth mindset and value of clickers, but the basics are: 1) students who expected a grade of A/B were much more likely to indicate that the clicker helped them focus on important concepts, compared to student expecting a C/D grade; 2) end of year student evaluations indicated students were more likely to indicate a higher score for instructors “use of technology”, and 3) compared to all other students, the students expecting a D grade significantly more often disagreed that “any student can learn any subject with sufficient effort.”

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Daliang Wang—Fall 2016 technology grant recipient Dr. Wang’s work on applying growth mindset to teaching Chinese with technological tools will be presented at the 14th International Conference on Chinese Language Pedagogy in Macau, China in June, 2017.

Allison Walker—Spring 2016 pedagogy grant recipient Joanne Altman—Spring 2016 pedagogy grant recipient (From Allison Walker): Dr. Altman used SWAY technology to target a growth mindset message within an academic journal article about growth mindset research within the K-12 educational field. The exposure of Research Rookies to this growth mindset message was not explicit, as Dr. Altman wished to determine whether or not the overall growth mindset messaging of the University at large would influence the Research Rookies as they completed this online educational task embedded within the online Research Rookies curriculum. Results have been, at best, mixed. The students had difficulty determining the research question of the academic journal article they were asked to analyze, and few were able to recognize the focus on growth mindset within that research article. Dr. Altman will be analyzing the QEP data once this cohort of Research Rookies has completed (or not completed) the Research Rookies program.

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Admissions “Growth Mindset” Flyer

“How to Stay United in Today’s Political Climate” Opening Remarks

A growth mindset says the intelligence, the talents, the aptitudes and the skills we are born with are not fixed. With the right training and effort, we can always improve. Just because we are bad at math today doesn’t mean we cannot get better tomorrow. Likewise, just because we are pretty good singers today doesn’t mean we can’t lose those skills. People with a growth mindset recognize there are always gaps in their knowledge, and they try to close those gaps. We all have gaps in our knowledge, whether we recognize them or not. I’m a college professor, which means I’m expected to know a lot. But I’ll admit that there are many, many things I don’t know.

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If you graduate from High Point, your college degree is going to open you up to experiences and opportunities that most other Americans will never have. You’ll have access to higher-paying jobs that your peers won’t have. You will live lives that will separate you from the experiences of people less education, and less wealthy, than you. These differences are not bad at all. But when it comes to politics, we should recognize how our actions affect others in ways we don’t understand. When we support a candidate, or a party, or a policy, we do so with the belief that they will be beneficial to us. But what is beneficial to you may not be beneficial to me. And the law that you support could affect me in a detrimental way that you do not, and cannot, understand. Democracy should remind us that we are all in this together. To be a better citizen—hell, to be a better human being—we should do two things: acknowledge that there are things we just don’t know, and try to learn from people who live lives different from our own. All of us have something to teach to someone else. All of us have something to learn from someone else.

“Arbor Day Celebration” Remarks My name is Jim Trammell. I’m an associate professor and the university’s QEP Director, and I work on a college campus covered with beautiful gardens. Or, to put it another way, I work in beautiful gardens surrounded by a college campus. I’m not sure which it is sometimes. Either way, it’s a great place to work. The campus is incredibly beautiful. But this beauty has a purpose. I think these gardens can teach us some valuable lessons about growth. We look at landscaping like this and praise the flowers and trees for their beauty, as if they just became beautiful on their own. But really, this degree of beauty takes professional and meticulous care. It takes a passion, a vision, support, and most importantly hard work by people who know what they are doing. Planning, and seeding, and feeding, and weeding, and watering. It takes a lot of work to create this kind of beauty. Gardens don’t happen by accident. Gardens take effort. It makes sense for a college campus to house gardens. It is not uncommon to connect the growth of a garden with education and intellectual curiosity. I’ll give you two examples. Our first experience in school was probably in kindergarten. Do you know where that word comes from? It’s a German word which means, literally, “a garden of children.” Our first exposure to education gets roots from the language of the garden. The other example comes from Candide. It’s a French satire that many students taking ENG 2200 have worked their way through. The book asks what it means to live well. Do we rest on our successes and pass judgement on the world as a detached observer, or do we engage with the world even though that means uncertainty and effort? Gardens are used throughout Candide as paradises that demand care and work, effort needed to create a life well lived, and a life well-examined. “Let us cultivate our gardens,” Candide says. Let us engage and create, even if the work is hard. Perhaps even because the work is hard. It’s a lesson we give our students. Our freshmen arrive as seedlings, full of potential but not yet mature. College cultivates and nourishes them, and if all goes right—if the conditions are good and the seeds are sturdy—we will see our students blossom.

“The only true failure lies in the failure to start.”

We want our students to recognize that growth—intellectual, spiritual, personal—like creating and maintaining a garden, requires work.

–Harold Blake Walker 92

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We want them to know that success does not start looking as beautiful as a lily. We want students to understand that becoming a success starts by working in the dirt. One final point. Trees, flowers, bushes—they don’t get to choose whether or not they grow. They don’t have a choice. But students do have that choice. They get to choose whether or not they grow. But when they make that choice to grow, they are choosing to do the work. I think that’s the lesson these gardens teach. It’s a lesson about the necessity, and the virtue, of the hard work required for growth. High Point University—the garden with a school, or a school with a garden—is a nice place to work. It’s a nice place to learn. And it’s a great place to grow.

“Things don’t go wrong and break your heart so you can become bitter and give up. They happen to break you down and build you up so you can be all that you were intended to be.” –Samuel Johnson 94

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