The League for Innovation in the Community College 15 th Annual Conference Dallas. TX Baccalaureate Access & Completion: Creating Paths to Academic Success Tuesday, March 12, 2013, 8AM-9AM

Welcome! Dr. Joshua Smith, former chair of AACC Board of Directors; former Chancellor, California Community College System; former President, Manhattan and Brookdale Community Colleges Lisa LaVigna, Executive Director of Outreach & Access, Excelsior College Jacqueline McPhillips, Partnership Development Specialist, Excelsior College

Agenda  Introductions  Importance of degree completion  Transfer Process  Perceived barriers  Perceptions of 4 year schools  Perception of students  How to improve the problem?  3+1  Exams and OER  Real life examples

Degree Completion Why it matters…

Degree Completion  Retention tool  Earning power  Future employment  Job retention

The value of a Bachelor’s Degree

The Transfer Process What students face…

Perceptions of some four-year colleges  Quality of education at community colleges is not up to standard  Students are not ready for transfer to ‘real’ college work  Diversity of the community college student population is a barrier to quality education  Quality of faculty at Community Colleges is ‘inadequate’

Community College student perceptions of four year colleges Transfer process is complicated Scholarship support isn’t available Transfer students aren’t recognized as “real” students Faculty isn’t supportive of students 4 year schools won’t accept all my credits Student services will be difficult to navigate Students aren’t feeling the love

What can we do? Increasing baccalaureate completion…

What can we do about it?  Keep students at Community College longer  Have Community Colleges offer bachelor degrees  Implement programs  Promote prior learning assessment (PLA)  Offer alternatives such as assessment based credit earning options

What can we do about it?  Improve Transfer Process  Accept more credits  Recognize uniqueness of transfer students  Build stronger, seamless pathways between two and four year schools

Five Steps to Low Cost, High Quality Degree Completion Assess credit transferred Identify requirements to be completed Match work needed to available forms of assessment Prepare for assessments using OER, complete required coursework Complete Capstone course online

Criteria to Establish Ideal Transfer Agreements  Allow as many credits as possible to be taken at the community college before transfer  Seek opportunities for scholarships for deserving students  Provide students a breadth of credit earning options  Determine that the environment is welcoming  Let students know which colleges provide the best transfer agreements

Options to consider  Three plus one, allowing students to remain at the community college longer Three plus one  Credit by exam  Support in an online environment

How does this work? Student Examples…

Katherine  Began college education later in life  Howard CC Graduate  Completed Bachelor’s degree through articulation agreement

Ray  Attended four colleges  Acquired credit through ACE approved training  Utilized credit by exam and online courses to complete a Bachelor’s degree program

Questions? Contact: Jackie McPhillips Visit: ccpartnerships.excelsior.edu

Sources  eatures/tomorrows-college/dropouts/value- of-college-degree.html