Michigan Community College Student Services Association
Your Role in Student Success: Doing More of What Works
Eastfield College
GETTING STARTED
Center for Community College Student Engagement
Welcome to College!
On the Other Hand…
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
Measuring Student Engagement
…the amount of time and energy students invest in meaningful educational practices
CCSSE data analyses include a three-year cohort of participating colleges.
The 2010 CCSSE Cohort includes more than 400,000 community college students from 658 institutions in 47 states, British Columbia, the Marshall Islands, Nova Scotia, and Ontario.
18 Michigan colleges (some new 2011, most multi-year)
CCSSE: A Tool for Community Colleges
7
Center for Community College Student Engagement
What We Know for Sure:
Helping students succeed through the equivalent of the first semester (12–15 credit hours) can dramatically improve
subsequent success rates.
SENSE & Starting Right: Listening to Entering Students232 colleges
Represents 1.6 million students
37 states, District of Columbia, Marshall Islands, Mariana Islands
8 Michigan colleges
Focus groups
Another Thing We Know for Sure…About Student Engagement:
It’s unlikely to happen by accident. It has to happen
by design.
Eastfield College
COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS
Center for Community College Student Engagement
STAND UP…
• If you ever attended a community/technical college.
• If you graduated from a community/technical college
• If you earned a degree while attending college as a part-time student; while working 20+ hours/wk
• If you ever, for any reason, stopped/dropped out of college
• If you were the first in your family to attend college
Center for Community College Student Engagement
STAND UP…
• If you ever had to choose between buying groceries and buying books for your college classes
• If English is your second language
• If in the course of your daily college life, you found yourself in the minority (race/ethnicity/gender) in most situations
• If you can name an individual who made a significant difference in your development and success in college.
Eastfield College
WHAT MATTERS MOST:Emphasis on Student and AcademicSupport Services
Eastfield College
WHAT MATTERS MOST:HIGH EXPECTATIONS AND ASPIRATIONS
High Expectations and AspirationsPercent of entering students who strongly or somewhat agree that they have the motivation to do what it takes to succeed in college:
90%
Percent of entering students who strongly or somewhat agree that they are prepared academically to succeed in college:
84%
Entering Aspirations
28%
19%
41%
22%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
Skipped class
Came to class unprepared
Did not turn in one or moreassignments
Turned in an assignment late
Percentage of students who, at least once during their first three weeks of college:
High Expectations and Aspirations
Entering students are highly motivated, are committed to achieving their academic goals, and sincerely believe they will.
Yet…
Center for Community College Student Engagement
Center for Community College Student Engagement
…of our students leave before the start of their second year.
50%
WHAT MATTERS MOST
In focus groups with students, what do they typically report as the most important factor in keeping them in school, persisting toward their goals?
Relationships matter
Eastfield College
WHAT MATTERS MOST:PERSONAL CONNECTIONS
Student Focus Groups
If students ran the college….?
Personal Connections
Personal ConnectionsEntering Students’ First Impressions of Their Colleges
Center for Community College Student Engagement
The very first time I came to this college, I felt welcome.
17.2
42.7
34.6
2
0.9 Strongly Agree
Agree
No Opinion
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Eastfield College
WHAT MATTERS MOST:COLLEGE KNOWLEDGE
What Students Say…
…about Getting Started
Center for Community College Student Engagement
Getting Started
Orientation
5.6
25.2
1.4
38.3
30.4
6.9
25.6
2.4
38.6
27.6
05
1015202530354045
Online On-Campus Orientation Course (part
of course schedule)
Unable to participate (scheduling
issues)
Not aware of orientation
Part-Time
Center for Community College Student Engagement
Center for Community College Student Engagement
Getting Started
Center for Community College Student Engagement
1. Is it mandatory? For whom?
2. What does your college data show about the impact of orientation on student persistence and first term academic success?
3. What are you doing to bring it to scale?
Discussion Questions - Orientation
Center for Community College Student Engagement
I thought I was ready…
Students don’t know what they don’t know…
but we think they should!
Center for Community College Student Engagement
What entering students are telling us:During their first 3 weeks…
• Fewer than one-quarter enrolled in a class designed to teach them the skills needed to succeed in college.
Student Success Courses Lead to… Student Success!
• Houston Community College System
• Florida Community Colleges
Center for Community College Student Engagement
Creating an On-Ramp to College
Center for Community College Student Engagement
1. Is it mandatory? For whom?
2. What does your college data show about the impact of student success courses on student persistence and first term academic success?
3. What are you doing to bring it to scale?
Discussion Questions:Student Success Courses
Center for Community College Student Engagement
What do students say is the most important college service?
Academic Advising & Planning
Eastfield College
WHAT MATTERS MOST:A PLAN AND A PATHWAY
WHAT MATTERS MOST:A Plan and a Pathway
A Plan and a PathwayAn advisor helped identify the courses I needed to take during my first semester/quarter (69% Agree or Strongly Agree)
23.00%
46.00%
16.00%11.0%
5.00%
0%5%
10%15%20%25%30%35%40%45%50% Strongly
AgreeAgree
No OpinionDisagree
Strongly Disagree
Center for Community College Student Engagement
Center for Community College Student Engagement
A Plan, Please!
A Plan and a PathwayAn advisor helped me to set academic goals and to create a plan for achieving them (31% Agree or Strongly Agree)
9.00%
22.00%
29.00% 28.0%
11.00%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35% Strongly AgreeAgree
No Opinion
Disagree
Strongly Disagree
Center for Community College Student Engagement
A Plan and A Pathway
Center for Community College Student Engagement
A Plan and a PathwayA college staff member talked with me about my commitments outside of school to help me figure out the number of courses to take (22% Agree or Strongly Agree – 58% Disagree or Strongly Disagree)
6%
16%20%
40%
18%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45% Strongly AgreeAgree
No OpinionDisagree
Strongly Disagree
Center for Community College Student Engagement
Center for Community College Student Engagement
1. Is it mandatory? For whom?
2. What does your college data show about the impact of academic planning on student persistence and first term academic success?
3. What are you doing to bring it to scale?
Discussion Questions:Academic Planning
SENSE BENCHMARKS:• Early Connections
• High Expectations and Aspirations
• Clear Academic Plan and Pathway
• Effective Track to College Readiness
• Engaged Learning
• Academic and Social Support Network
Center for Community College Student Engagement
Eastfield College
WHAT MATTERS MOST:AN INTEGRATED NETWORK OF ACADEMIC & SOCIAL SUPPORT
Center for Community College Student Engagement
WHAT MATTERS MOST
• Intensive student engagement
• High expectations
• Focus on the front door
• More structure, fewer options
Center for Community College Student Engagement
WHAT MATTERS MOSTFocused, sustained efforts, brought to scale, can produce real improvements in student engagement, learning, persistence, and academic attainment.
“The compensatory effect”
i.e., where there are differences in engagement between “high-risk” groups and their comparison groups (academically under-prepared students, students of color, first generation students, nontraditional college age students) --- the high-risk students are more engaged.
Center for Community College Student Engagement
WHAT MATTERS MOSTStudent Engagement By Design
• Richland College/San Antonio College
• Kingsborough/Skagit
• Valencia
“The compensatory effect”
i.e., where there are differences in engagement between “high-risk” groups and their comparison groups (academically under-prepared students, students of color, first generation students, nontraditional college age students) --- the high-risk students are more engaged.
Encouraging Student Success StrategiesMandatory
Assessment and placement
Orientation
Success course for students in dev ed
Participation in learning lab, tutoring and/or supplemental instruction
Stop late registration/ create late-start classes
Early advising / development of academic plan
Early alert systems“Students don’t do optional.”
Center for Community College Student Engagement
Encouraging Student Success Strategies
Supplemental instruction
Case management / success coaches
Summer bridge or “boot camp” programs; short/ intensive skill refreshers
Contextualized dev ed
Cooperative/collaborative learning – at scale
Linked courses/ learning communities…
Learning communities required for FTIC
Learning communities linking student success course and dev ed
Counselors and advisors in learning communities
Center for Community College Student Engagement
Center for Community College Student Engagement
1. Mandatory Orientation?
1. Mandatory Student Success Courses?
2. Mandatory Academic Planning?
Next Steps
Center for Community College Student Engagement
The Road to College Completion!
Center for Community College Student Engagement
A REMINDER
Center for Community College Student Engagement
Eastfield College
Kay McClenney, Ph. D.Director, Center for Community College Student Engagement
Senior Associate, Achieving the Dream
The University of Texas at Austin
www.ccsse.org
www.enteringstudent.orgVideo clips © Center for Community College Student Engagement