Accreditation and Completion: A Dynamic Roadmap for Student Success

About MCC• A comprehensive community college founded in 1961

in Rochester, NY• Four campus locations• Annually, serves over 35,000 credit/non-credit students

in 94 degree and certificate programs• 71% of our students enroll in transfer programs• 2013-14 Budget: $122,309,000

The Challenges• In his first joint address to Congress in 2009, President Obama asserted that

America would once again have the highest proportion of college graduates (25-34) in the world. Community colleges need to increase graduates by 50% -- 5,000,000 additional degree holders by 2020.

• 39 states are active in Performance Based Funding (PBF) 22 have PBF systems in place 7 have approved a PBF model but have not yet implemented it 10 are in formal discussions

• College readiness remains an urgent crisis for the community college sector. 33% of the 1.8 million ACT test trackers didn’t meet any of the readiness benchmarks in English, reading, science, or math. A 2013 CCRC study revealed that 59% of all entering community college students needed at least one developmental math course. BPS data shows that 68% of all entering students registered for at least one developmental course. Of that cohort, only 28% go on and earn a certificate or degree within 8.5 years.

The Challenges at MCC

P

Fall-to-Fall Retention(First-time Full-time Matriculated Students)

• 2008-09 61.3% • 2009-10 59.7%

• 2010-11 54.4%

• 2011-12 58.8%

Course Success Rates – Transitional Studies

2009 2010 2011 2012

Transitional Studies Overall

60% 63% 65% 66%

TRS Math 60% 61% 63% 69%

TRS English 60% 64% 68% 63%

ESOL 81% 83% 80% 82%

Rate of Transfer to a Degree Program from Transitional Studies

2007 2008 2009 2010

Transitional Studies Overall

37% 30.7% 27.5% 31.3%

ESOL 50% 38.1% 23.5% 36.1%

Graduation Rates of First-time Full-time Cohorts

Entering Fall Semester

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

After 2 years

10.4% 10.8% 11.6% 10.1% 9.8%

After 3 years

23.8% 23.1% 24.8% 22.8%

After 4 years

29.6% 28.7% 30.3% *** ***

Two Assertions

• That whatever we have done to achieve success at our institutions will likely not be the kind of work to advance our colleges in the next decade. We must celebrate our rich legacy, yet imagine a new college.

• That access alone cannot define the community college – it must be access to individual success.

The Standards as a Framework for Change

• For many of us, the standards are used as a rubric to assess institutional strategies and not as a starting place for change.

• For many of us - the standards are viewed as a series of discrete, standalone categories and not a comprehensive whole.

• For many of us - the first seven standards are separate from the final seven and not as connected to student learning.

• For many of us - the standards are only most vital during periods of intense scrutiny and not as an ever-present framework for urgent reform.

The Standards Define the Intentional College

The Standards that talk about

• Institutional Context (mission)• Planning, Resource Allocation and Institutional Renewal• Institutional Resources• Administration• Student Admissions and Retention• Student Support Services• Educational Offerings• General Education

all contribute to the idea of a college that has a singular purpose -- to support student success.

Standard Institutional Context Planning, Resource Allocation, Institutional Renewal

Key Elements

• Assert mission• Express goals as outcomes

that define institution

• Develop goals and design strategies

• Incorporate assessment

The Emerging Intentional College

• Mission should express student success as a singular purpose

• Goals should focus on student learning

• Mission and goals are of college-wide, shared values

• Each strategy supports student success

• Collectively, the strategies create an “intentional college”

• Planning becomes an organic, student-centered process

• Resources are allocated to the students rather than on the basis of divisional competition

Roadmap • Connect • Connect (Re)Engage

Standard Institutional Resources Administration

Key Elements

• Allocate resources to support mission

• Structure to support mission

• Assessment of effectiveness of structures and services

The Emerging Intentional College

• Use data to reveal where students lose momentum

• Allocate resources to strengthen the individual roadmap

• Resources, then, support a student-centered, intentional college (integrated and vertical student supports)

• Form to serve function (student success)

• Data to inform structural effectiveness and administrative reform

Roadmap • Enroll • (Re) Engage

Standard Student Admissions and Retention

Student Support Services

Key Elements

• Practices should ensure opportunities for success

• Enable each student to achieve the institution’s goals for success

The EmergingIntentional College

• Align all student interventions around student roadmap

• Incorporate technology to track progress and to provide insight on student learning

• Support services informed by data and resourced accordingly

• All services integrated• Key services/

interventions are mandatory (to support mission or success)

Roadmap • Connect• Enroll

• Engage• Persist

Standard Educational Offerings General Education

Key Elements

• State clear learning outcomes• Provide multiple opportunities

to demonstrate mastery• Measure student learning• Document continued

improvement

• Provide a general education program to promote intellectual success

• Provide skills and ability to be applied in programs

• Promote values, ethics, and diverse perspectives

• Practice authentic assessment

The EmergingIntentional College

• Allow students to map completion plans in 2, 4, or 6 semester sequence

• Provide seamless interaction of classroom and co-curricular activities

• Promote a high impact learning college to support engagement and deeper learning

• Highlight the continuities among courses

• Support a global perspective • Assess exposure to one or

more high impact practices• Celebrate achievement

Roadmap • Engage • Persist

The standards, then, suggest that we build an intentional college that promotes a global education and that is defined by a high impact learning culture.

The intentional college…

provides a seamless pathway for students to navigate college and to achieve their goals. It might be best understood as a dynamic and integrated roadmap.

In our version, it has five major steps.

CONNECT

Connect• Students make a significant connection with someone

at the college

• Students are placed in a defined program of study

• Students design an initial “completion plan” (a 2, 4, or 6 semester sequence)

ENROLL

Enroll

• Key intake programs are integrated and mandatory, including financial aid, health services, advising, registration and records, student support services, and technology

• Orientation/First Year Experience begins, ideally, in a cohort or academy model

ENGAGE

Engage• Students begin class

• Students will engage in courses and experiences designed to broaden and deepen learning

• Within the general education program, students will be exposed to at least one high impact experience

• Students will reconnect with “mentor/advisor” during first weeks of class

• Early alert system is operational and student is monitored todocument progress; interventions will be immediate to keepa student “on track”

PERSIST

Persist• Mandatory advising helps students register for second

semester

• Review completion plan, making any needed adjustments

• Celebrate milestones (course, semester success)

(RE)ENGAGE

(Re)Engage• Students return for second semester

• Students experience a second high impact experience

• Transfer and career pathways are reviewed and completion plan updated

• Support programs are integrated and mandatory

Real Strategies, Real Reform

• MCC’s efforts to use the standards as a roadmap for

student success • Building an intentional college

Roadmap MCC StrategiesCONNECT In the K-12 space:

• East High College Readiness Project (JP Morgan Chase)

• Rochester Early College International High School

• P-Tech (Pathways in Technology Early College High School)

• Dual Enrollment Initiatives

Roadmap MCC Strategies

CONNECT On Entry:

• Academy for Collegiate Excellence

Roadmap MCC StrategiesENGAGE • Title III / Academy Project

• Transitional Studies Redesign

• Individual department strategies

• 2, 4, 6 semester sequences

Roadmap MCC StrategiesPERSIST Creating a high impact learning culture:

• How do we help students apply their learning?• How do we promote deeper learning?• How do we let students synthesize their

learning across all disciplines?• How do we extend learning beyond the

classroom?• How do we let students create their own

content?• How do we use technology to allow faculty to

reinvent their roles?• How do we help students better navigate

content?

Questions and Comments

Michael McDonoughmmcdonough@monroecc.eduValarie Avalonevavalone@monroecc.edu