Regardless of how the Program changes over the next four years, we are confident that our newest scholars will benefit from a transformational experience and supportive community. We will continue to make changes to better serve student needs by redeveloping GSP 250, adding new student programs and travel opportunities and improving our new student onboarding process. Looking ahead, we are excited to welcome our largest class of new scholars this fall with 50 incoming first-year scholars and 20 incoming transfer scholars. With 11 years of learning and growth, and the incredible support and vision of Jim and Ann Goodnight, we are certain that we have developed a model for scholarship programs in the 21st century. Simultaneously, we have strived to create an inclusive, supportive community and design a program that meets our students’ changing needs. For our selection process, we have taken steps to address bias, broaden our definition of merit, and expand outreach. This transformation was supported by a variety of deliberate strategies aimed to increase diversity and support student success. At the same time, persistence in our Program and degree completion is at an all-time high at 98%. For example, education majors now make up 10% of our community, compared to 3% in 2015. We are also enrolling scholars in previously underrepresented majors. 42% of our scholars are from rural counties and 30% are first generation college students. Since 2015, non-white students have increased from 20% to 45% of our scholar population. Our Program has become more inclusive as we serve greater numbers of low-income, first-generation, minority and rural students. Looking deeper, the Program has transformed in other important ways since the Class of 2019 arrived on-campus. In fact, Richard Trevorrow became the first transfer scholar to graduate this past May, completing his degree in just two years! Their tenure saw the introduction of many Program staples including our senior retreat, North Carolina: Mountains to Coast and Mayventure: Vancouver trips, new student leadership roles such as ambassadors and STEM coaches, our professional mentorship program and, most importantly, the expansion to include transfer scholars. They were also the first class to enroll in our first-year seminar: GSP 250. As high school seniors, they were the first cohort to participate in an interview day as part of our expanded selection process. Much of our evolution was experienced first-hand by the Class of 2019.
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