Presented by Learning Counsel Work Group on TFSS

President Obama’s has announced the goal to make America “the most educated country in the world” by 2020 Between 2008 and 2018, occupations requiring an associate degree will grow the fastest By 2025, California’s workforce will face a shortage of 1 million college degree and certificate holders Community Colleges nationwide called upon to produce more graduates and certificate holders

California Community Colleges 112 colleges and numerous off-campus centers make up the largest higher education system in the nation Gateway to higher education for nearly 2.6 million students annually Serving the most diverse population in the nation Quintessential “open access” college system supporting workforce development

Workforce Impact 70% of the California’s nurses and 80% of firefighters, law enforcement personnel, and EMTs were trained in Community Colleges 28% of University of California graduates and 55% of California State University graduates began their higher education at a community college. State’s largest workforce training provider and a critical pathway to four-year institutions

Workforce Impact Students who earn a California Community College degree or certificate nearly double their earnings within 3 years Associate degree holders earn 33% more than those with a high school degree only For associate degree holders, the unemployment rate is 30% lower than those with only a high school diploma Increased access to well-paying jobs

Challenges Facing Community Colleges Increased demand on the system. In the last 15 years, enrollment has grown 44% Substantially reduced resources. 47% of CCC students report they cannot enroll in needed classes, compared to 28% nationwide Unacceptable completion rates. Of the 18% of students who begin one level below transfer-level, only 42% ever achieve a certificate, degree, or transfer preparation Need for policies and practices that ensure student success

Taking Action Now Pursuant to Senate Bill 1143, the California Community Colleges Board of Governors (BOG) established the Student Success Task Force The Task Force Goal is to examine best practices and models for accomplishing student success and present recommendations The Task Force is composed of 20 members from a diverse group of internal and external stakeholders Creation of the Student Success Task Force

Timeline January – June 2011: The Task Force began analyzing and discussing topics such as college readiness and assessment, student services, basic skills instruction, and performance-based funding. July – September 2011: Developed recommendations. September 30, 2011: Released draft recommendations, currently being vetted statewide at conferences and public town halls. November 9, 2011: The Task Force meets to review feedback on draft recommendations. January 2012: Final report will be provided to the Board of Governors. 12-month strategic planning process to improve student success

Recommendations Overview This comprehensive plan to improve the System’s capacity to serve students: Would rebalance priorities within the community college system to better focus on the core missions of workforce preparation and transfer, while protecting access Would make community colleges more responsive to the needs of students and the economy Would increase student success rates for certificate and degree completion and transfer to four-year institutions Refocusing California Community Colleges toward student success

Recommendations Overview 1.Increase college and career readiness 2.Strengthen support for entering students 3.Incentivize successful student behaviors 4.Align course offerings to meet student needs 5.Improve education of basic skills students 6.Revitalize and re-envision professional development 7.Enable efficient statewide leadership and increase coordination among colleges 8.Align resources with student success recommendations 8 areas of focus with 22 recommendations

Increase college and career readiness: Rose Addresses the issue that 70-90% of first-time CCC students require remediation in English, math or both. Common Core State Standards implementation provides opportunity for collaboration with higher education and K-12 partners to define standards for college and career readiness and communicate them to students in the K-12 assessment process.

Require common, centralized and diagnostic assessment. –The college will begin to use Accuplacer during this academic year. It is believed that this is the system favored by the Chancellor’s Office if a common tool is adopted. The college is also enrolling in the Early Assessment program currently in use by high schools to assess readiness for college level English and math at the CSUs. Gavilan will be able to assess how well prepared local high school juniors are for college level coursework and then collaborate further to enhance readiness. Require students to participate in orientation and complete education plans; require students with limited “college knowledge” to participate in a student success course or other intervention. –Gavilan currently requires all new students to participate in orientation. Students who do not complete the orientation are blocked from participating in priority registration. The Orientation Task Force is in the process of additional incentives to increase orientation participation. Integrate student friendly technology to increase access to support services, while preserving face-to- face interactions. –Numerous student friendly technologies are in place and the college continues to explore additional possibilities: DegreeWorks, a degree auditing system has been fully implemented, including online education plans. Self Service Banner allows for online registration as well as access to student records. Online counseling service has been in place for several years. Online counseling appointments can be made with general counselors. Online courses as well as home pages for each course are available via iLearn Online library resources, including an orientation to online course are available. Online new student orientation. Computer based placement testing with the implementation of Accuplacer Online application is in process with the implementation of CCC Apply. Strengthen support for entering students: Arteaga, Tenney

Incentivize successful student behaviors: Arteaga,Tenney The system is already rationing access to education, we must find better ways to ration. The community college system will adopt enrollment management policies that encourage students to follow delineated educational pathways that are most likely to lead to completion of their educational goal –Enrollment prioritization (Ed plan, GPA, Probation, Declaration of major) Further discussion is necessary to determine if using priority registration as an incentive would increase student success. –Require students to begin addressing basic skills deficiencies in first year The college is looking at course availability to ensure students have access to basic skills courses during their first year. As much as is possible, students take basic skills courses during their first term of enrollment. –Encourage students to consider attending full time Although students are encouraged to attend full time and are advised of the advantages of doing so, it is not practical for all students.

Require progress according to institutional standards towards an educational objective for BOG Fee Waiver eligibility: Martinez How do students qualify for BOG Tuition Waiver at Gavilan? Need based program for CA residents who: –Receive TANF, Supplemental Security Income, –Low income families –Middle income families Unlike Federal financial aid programs, BOG recipients are not required to demonstrate academic progress

Are Gavilan BOG students progressing academically?

Align course offerings to meet student needs: Arteaga, Tenney Currently, there is an imbalance between the supply and demand of basic skills, career and technical, and transfer classes. –Approximately 70% of incoming students are basic skills. However, basic skills course offerings are not meeting this need. The community college system must shift from using historical course scheduling patterns and instead make informed course schedules focused on needs of students to complete certificates, degrees and transfer. –In addition to reviewing course offerings to ensure that they are consistent with need, the college (Academic Senate) is examining possibilities for course schedules that extend up to two years, rather than on a semester-by-semester basis. In this way, students and counselors can plan accordingly.

Improve education of basic skills students: Sanidad Of students who begin a mathematics sequence four levels below transfer-level, only 25.4% ever achieve a certificate, degree, or transfer preparation. Similar range for students in basic skills English writing and reading, and English as a second language. –Programs such as Accelerated Learning and Supplemental Instruction, along with other “best practices” pedagogy, are being implemented at Gavilan College. –Gavilan College Statistics The community college system, with the legislature and K-12 education, should develop a cohesive statewide framework for the delivery of adult education. –In ESL, the ALLIES group brings together Santa Clara and San Mateo county credit/noncredit community college, adult school, and community based language programs to discussion articulation and transition. Gavilan College credit/noncredit programs meet with local adult schools and community-based language programs to do the same. Better target existing Basic Skills Initiative dollars for curriculum innovation and the scaling of best practices. –Both Basic Skills and Title V funds are being utilized to develop use of best practices.

Revitalize and re-envision professional development: Sanidad, Overson On-going professional development is a fundamental component of supporting systemic change that will improve student success The community college system should develop and support the continued and focused professional development for all faculty and staff through the targeted use of “flex days” and by focusing professional development on basic skills instruction and other high-priority statewide needs –A number of “Faculty Inquiry groups” (FIGS) have researched and are piloting project in the areas of First Year Experience, Technology, and Contextualized Learning. There are plans to start other groups, such as Reading Apprenticeship and Project-Based Learning next semester. These groups are slated to present their findings and model their project implementation in upcoming Staff Development days. The new Teaching and Learning Center aims to provide ongoing training both in online format and in face-face format with in-house experts. There is a growing library of current literature in education

Enable efficient statewide leadership and increase coordination among colleges: Rose Implement common goal-setting at the district and college level that includes equity measures, report progress towards meeting these goals in a public and transparent manner, and implement local “score cards.” Support stronger statewide coordination and a more robust Chancellor’s Office. Support a statewide longitudinal student record system.

Align resources with student success recommendations: Ratto, Sweeney Task Force does not support implementing Performance- Based Funding at this time –Outcome based funding has not demonstrated improvement in student success. The community colleges system needs to both redirect existing resources and acquire new resources to implement the Task Force recommendations –Consolidate categorical programs into three blocks has been dropped due to believe this would impact the most disadvantaged student populations with greatest need. – Score card- AARC

Questions and Feedback What are the strengths of the recommendations? What are we doing here at Gavilan College in regard to these strengths/recommendations? Are there common threads to create a standard set of goals and objectives? This is our call to action, so what are our next steps?

Join the dialogue We encourage your comments and questions