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 Students 232 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 Academic Support Services

Eastfield College WHAT MATTERS MOST: HIGH EXPECTATIONS AND ASPIRATIONS

High Expectations and Aspirations Percent 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

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

…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

Entering Students’ First Impressions of Their Colleges Center for Community College Student Engagement The very first time I came to this college, I felt welcome.

Eastfield College WHAT MATTERS MOST: COLLEGE KNOWLEDGE

What Students Say… …about Getting Started

Center for Community College Student Engagement Getting Started

Orientation 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 Pathway An advisor helped identify the courses I needed to take during my first semester/quarter (69% Agree or Strongly Agree) Center for Community College Student Engagement

A Plan, Please!

A Plan and a Pathway An advisor helped me to set academic goals and to create a plan for achieving them (31% Agree or Strongly Agree) Center for Community College Student Engagement

A Plan and A Pathway Center for Community College Student Engagement

A Plan and a Pathway A 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) 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 MOST Focused, 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 MOST Student 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 Strategies Mandatory 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

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 Video clips © Center for Community College Student Engagement