Presentation to the Michigan Career Education Conference Martin Finney, Career Advisor Antonio Riggs, Career Advisor
Delta College is a community college in the Great Lakes Bay Region with close to 12, 000 students attending on any given semester. Delta College is a member of the League of Innovation and Achieving the Dream. The Passport to Success program was started through a Title III grant to work with at-risk students.
Focusing on the strengths and abilities and focusing on the solutions. Based on “Positive Psychology” and “Appreciative Inquiry”
Disarm Discover Dream Design Deliver Don’t Settle Bloom, J. L., Hutson, B. L., & He, Y. (in preparation). The appreciative advising revolution. Champaign, IL: Stipes Publishing.
Disarm – Recognizing the importance of first impressions, create a safe, welcoming environment. Discover - Positive open-ended questions to draw out what they enjoy doing, their strengths, and their passions. Bloom, J. L., Hutson, B. L., & He, Y. (2008). The appreciative advising revolution. Champaign, IL: Stipes Publishing.
DDream - Formulate a vision of what they might become, and then assist them in developing life and career goals. DDesign –Devise concrete, incremental, and achievable goals
Deliver – The students follows through on their plans. The advisor is there for them when they stumble, believing in them every step of the way and helping them continue to update and refine their dreams as they go. Don’t Settle – The advisor challenges the student to proactively raise the student’s internal bar of self- expectations Bloom, J. L., Hutson, B. L., & He, Y. (2008). The appreciative advising revolution. Champaign, IL: Stipes Publishing.
Students who were returning to school after a 3 year period and had previously fallen under Financial Aid Probation, were only succeeding (keeping their financial aid) at a 17% rate. *Delta College guidelines require Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) in order to continue with financial aid eligibility. Students are on Financial Aid Probation if they have one or more of the following : GPA under 2.00 Completion rate under 67% To many credit hours without a degree
Assumption ◦ Students are technologically savvy Finding ◦ Not all students have technology skills ◦ Even those students who understand computers, do not necessarily know where to access helps ◦ Students may know where and how to access information, but do not read there s or know what questions to ask
Assumption ◦ Students understand the situation that they are in Finding ◦ Most students either do not read the information that is sent to them or do not understand it
Creation of the Passport To Success Program ◦ After a 3 year break in enrollment, students were referred to Passport after appealing for their reinstatement of financial aid
Attending a Passport to Success Orientation is required as a condition of being approved for a financial aid award Students are made aware of the conditions they must meet in order to continue receiving financial aid
Students are made aware of services that may assist them such as: ◦ Career Research ◦ Strength’s Finder Assessment ◦ Academic Advising ◦ Tutoring Services ◦ Delta Closet ◦ Food Pantry
Students are taken on a tour of campus to see key areas such as: ◦ Registrar’s Office ◦ Library/Tutoring Center ◦ Counseling/Advising ◦ Student Engagement ◦ Career Services ◦ E-Learning Center
Students meet with an Academic Advisor to go over scheduling/curriculum to ensure that they are enrolled in a schedule which will help them to have the best chance of success.
After the semester begins, students are sent reminders of all of the services available to help them be successful.
By the end of the semester, students must have made satisfactory progress in all registered courses. This requires that all grades must be of C or better. ◦ (No grades of C-, D+, D, D-, F, or NC, no Withdrawals, and no Incompletes)
Out of the 53 Students who attended the Winter 2011 semester, 40 met their academic and financial aid conditions (75.5%) Of the 13 who did not meet all the criteria, 6 passed 50% or more of their classes Average increase in Grade Point Average is 1.2
Out of the 64 Students who attended the Spring/Summer 2011 semester, 51 met their academic and financial aid conditions (79.0%) Of the 13 who did not meet all the criteria, 10 passed 50% or more of their classes and were able to attend the Fall Semester
Out of the 116 Students who attended the Fall 2011 semester, 83 passed all of their classes met their academic and financial aid conditions (79.0%) Of the 33 who did not pass all of their classes, 18 passed 50% or more of their classes.
Since the inception of the Passport to Success program, an average of 79% of students have passed all of their classes. 22 students have improved their standing academically to the point where they are no longer on Financial Aid probation status.
Passport to Success provides a formal but positive way to welcome students back and actively encourage their success. Students are informed, in person, of the expectations for continuation of financial aid.
Students do better when they are challenged and have a goal Students will use services if the services are explained in a way that they are a benefit and not a punishment.
Delta’s Counseling/Advising and Career Services staff become familiar to the students, which makes them more likely to use the staff as resources. Provides students with a re-orientation to the class selection and registration process as well as assistance with financial aid issues.
By sitting down with students and talking to them face to face, it helps students understand the situation they are in and the requirements that they need to meet to continue
Martin Finney Counseling/Advising & Career Services Delta College Antonio Riggs Counseling/Advising & Career Services Delta College