Flight Plan Reflection: Mid-Term What???

There may have been some confusion on campus as Flight Plan has nagged reminded professors about the Mid-Term Evaluation forms and their timely return to our office. Just in case you got Mid-Term Evaluations confused with the Mid-Term elections, let me reiterate what we are doing, and why.

It is likely true for all college students, especially freshmen, that staying in reality is difficult regarding one’s academic progress. The Flight Plan program finds this to be an ongoing struggle for our students, who often report to us that they are “doing fine” in their classes, that they “probably got a B” on a recent test, that a cumulative 4.0 GPA is on the horizon even though their previous semester grades consisted of C’s. Because of the inability for some students to see the endpoint of the path they are on, our job is to make sure the actual flight plan they “file” will get them to the landing strip intact; we want them to be successful and become college graduates, whatever it takes.

It is far too easy for a student to file a manageable plan for their journey, then get sidetracked by life’s circumstances. Too many flights get aborted or culminate in a crash-and-burn scenario that could have been avoided.

Do we realize what a nuisance our evaluations are for LCU professors? Yes, we do. It is a tremendous amount of work for us, too! But we stand firmly behind the purpose for doing them because we see how well it works for many students.

Thanks to all of you for coming through once again with the evaluations. Students are coming into our office in a steady stream to learn where they stand academically, and to make realistic plans to improve their strategy. Please continue to partner with us in future semesters as we create these “crash aversion” opportunities so our students can make the necessary course corrections.

Judy Bowyer
Flight Plan Office Manager