2. Guided Meandering pathways to debt. success. 2

3. A Nice Thought “By engaging students more deeply on college choice and quality data, they will gain the knowledge and understanding they need to become informed and responsible decision makers.” Author. (March 17, 2014). Colleges Should Help Would-Be Students Make Responsible Choices [Letter to the Editor]. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Online. 3

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6. Guided Pathways Gen Ed courses guaranteed to transfer and APPLY to any Liberal Arts & Sciences degree. Helps prevent loss of credit from “swirling.” Meta-majors (e.g., business, health, STEM, or liberal arts) could feed into these discipline- specific programs. The trick to success: STRUCTURE o Limit choices. o Provide structured schedules/maps and directions. 6

7. AA History Degree Requirements General Education = 34 credits o Eng Comp I&2 (6) o Math (3) o 3 AHUM (9) o History (3) o 2 Social & Behavioral Sciences (6) o 2 Natural & Physical Sciences (7) 5 Required History & Other = 15 credits o HIS 102, HIS 201, HIS 202, HIS you choose, & COM 115 Electives = 11 credits TOTAL = 60 credits 7

8. Degree Requirements Are Confusing Students are given lots of options and very little guidance. 80 % of students entering community college say they intend to earn a bachelor’s degree. Only about ¼ of those end up transferring to a four-year institution. 20% of students who complete their bachelor’s degrees graduate with more than 150 credits. Average in Colorado is 136 credits. Community College Research Center at Columbia University. 8

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11. Simplify Degree Completion with Defaults We know: 1)People have a tendency to stick with their current (or default) situation; and 2)A very effective nudge is peer pressure. So why not: 1)Start them off with the best default suited to their career goals and interests? and 2)Use “most other students do this” messaging in structured schedules. 11

12. Guided Pathways: “Limiting” Choice Make students choose a guided pathway with a structured schedule. o Highlight the appropriate gateway math course for the discipline. o Force completion of English Comp I&II and gateway math within first 30 credits. o Prevents human (advisor) error. o Reduces burden on advisors. 12

13. YEAR 1 First SemesterSecond SemesterSummer English Comp I (3 credits)English Comp II (3 credits) You can use summer to get ahead and graduate in less than 2 years. Math (3-4 credits) GT-SS1 or GT-SS2 or GT-SS3 (3 credits) HIS 101 or 111 (3 credits)HIS 102 or 112 (3 credits) GT-AH1 or GT-AH2 or GT-AH3 or GT-AH4 (3 credits) COM 115 or COM 125 (3 credits) Elective (2-3 credits)Elective (3 credits) TOTAL CREDITS = 15 End-of-Semester Milestone: Successful completion of 15 credits with at least a C in each course. End-of-Semester Milestone: Accumulation of 30 credits with at least a C in each course. 13

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15. Important Structural Components, Pt. I All institutions use the same template. Transfer and other advisors should review these, not just faculty. Gateway math should be appropriate to the major: o Math for the Liberal Arts/Quantitative Reasoning (AHUM) o Intro to Statistics (Social & Behavioral Sciences) o College Algebra – preparation for calculus (STEM & Business) *College Algebra should not be the default math. 15

16. Important Structural Components, Pt. II Complete English Comp I&II and gateway math within first 30 credits. o Map out any pre-requisites needed to get to gateway math course. Focus on getting students on a path to a degree for which they have an aptitude and an interest within the first 30 credits. Encourage students to complete sequences before transferring. More info: http://highered.colorado.gov/Academics/Transfer s/Students.html http://highered.colorado.gov/Academics/Transfer s/Students.html 16

17. Quality & Transferability of Gen Ed Especially important for Dual/Concurrent Enrollment Measurable learning outcomes o Eng Comp I&II prepares for AHUM and Social & Behavioral Sciences o Math prepares for Natural & Physical Sciences LEAP Essential Learning Outcomes 21 st Century Skills (employers want) Passport Initiative (27% of transfers cross a state line). Discussions between faculty and HS math and ELA teachers (vertical alignment for college & career readiness) 17

18. The “Whole Student” Student Affairs provides intrusive, just-in-time advising, and student support services: o Guided pathways can benefit ALL students but the wrap-around supports can appropriately target different groups like veterans, students of color… Financial Aid folks provide financial incentives for completion: o Financial aid awards can increase as students accrue credits towards completion. 18

19. The Future: Data Analytics Identify risk within specific individual colleges and majors. Support s advising interventions with at-risk and off- path students. Analyzes all factors – courses, credit accumulations, grades and student demographics – to predict success or failure of individual students. Algorithms that predict students’ grades based on the performance of past students with similar histories and demographics – allows for individualized structured schedules/maps that direct students to those courses in which they are more likely to be successful. 19

20. In Conclusion The idea that students will make informed decisions if we only present them with pathways and information is bull. Students need fewer options and more structure with clear maps that lead to guarantees. This will increase degree completion and save everyone money. 20