Recently, Pacific Crest and Grand Valley State University (GVSU) collaborated on a new application of the Learning to Learn Camp: A recovery course for students who were facing dismissal from the University. Instead of receiving dismissal letters, this group of students were given a chance to earn their way back into GVSU through performing in an one-week course, "Achieving Academic Success."

Grand Valley State University has been offering Learning to Learn Camps for five years now — first with the Honors College and then with the Academic Success Institute, targeting first-year students. The first-year retention data from 2014 for graduates from the Academic Success Institute was 88%; 18% higher than the control group's 70% figure and 6% higher than the campus as a whole.

20 faculty who have previously participated in Learning to Learn Camps were recruited to be coaches for this new Academic Recovery program and students who were in jeopardy of being dismissed were recruited. The course itself was held two days after final exams.

95 students registered for the course and 87 showed up on the first day

Of the 87 students who showed up, there were 3 withdrawals during the course: One because of a death in the family, another decided to attend a different college, and the third suffered a severe panic attack and withdrew from the course, on the advice of parents and the family physician.

With the exception of a single student who left the course twice, and therefore failed, the remaining students students ALL achieved the minimal standard to earn re-entry: an "A" or "B" in the course.

Two students earned between 4,000 to 5,000 points ("B" in the course) while the other 81 earned an "A". Of the "A"s 30 earned between 5,000 and 6,000 points (HONORS level) and the remaining were SUPERSTARS, with 17 earning more than 7,000 points.

To be readmitted to GVSU, in addition to earning at least a "B" in the course, students were required to produce a success plan detailing how they would retake their required courses successfully and achieve at least a 3.0 GPA this coming year (GVSU requires a minimum of 2.5 to be granted readmission).

These students MORE than met the challenges set for them. In spite of personal factors such as various illnesses and prior commitments that could not be rescheduled, every student who stuck with the course managed to make up any ground they lost and achieve at least the level of HONOR STUDENT.

The details of the Academic Recovery Course will be presented at the 2015 Process Education Conference in Petersburg, Virginia. Should you have any questions about the Recovery Course and how your institution can implement it, please don't hesitate to contact us.

To see exactly what these students experienced, we invite you to view the syllabus for the course.