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Adult Learner 360 Review:

Metropolitan Community College - KC

Barry L. Nickerson, MBA

Council for Adult and Experiential Learning

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Ten Principles for Effectively Serving Adults

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Ten Principles for Effectively Serving Adults

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The Ten Principles are…• Integrated—They work

together

• Indivisible—They form a

whole

• Imperative—Not just a

“good idea”

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• Institutional Effectiveness Assessment

– Your faculty, staff, and administrators completed a comprehensive assessment

• Student Satisfaction Survey

– Your adult students completed a similar, shorter survey

Assessment Process

5

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Reading Results

Strong

Student

Satisfaction+

Strong

Institutional

Effectiveness= Strength

Lower

Student

Satisfaction+

Lower

Institutional

Effectiveness= Challenge

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Reading Results

Strong

Student

Satisfaction+

Lower

Institutional

Effectiveness= Disconnect

Lower

Student

Satisfaction+

Strong

Institutional

Effectiveness= Disconnect

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Principle Classifications

8

Principle Principle

Outreach Adaptivity

Life & Career Planning Technology

Financing Strategic Partnerships

Student Support Systems Transitions

Assessment of Learning

Outcomes

The Teaching-Learning

Process

Strengths: Challenges: Disconnects:

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Considerations

• Consider your own report, your results,

and individual survey items

• Regional issues may be addressed

communally

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Individual Principles – Results

STRENGTHS

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Strength: Student Support Systems

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Student Satisfaction: 3.9/5 Institutional Effectiveness: 3.3/5

Student

Satisfaction

Range:3.4 – 4.0

Institutional

Effectiveness

Range:2.9 – 4.6

Strengths

8Challenges

1Disconnects

2

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Strength: Student Support Systems

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• Referrals to wraparound services

• Disability services*

• Developmental resources

• Timeliness, flexibility in response to adult students’ requests for help

• Availability of dependent care services

• Primary contacts for supporting adults?

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Strength: Transitions

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Student Satisfaction: 3.8/5 Institutional Effectiveness: 3.2/5

Student

Satisfaction

Range:3.4 – 4.5

Institutional

Effectiveness

Range:3.2 – 4.7

Strengths

8Challenges

0Disconnects

4

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Strength: Transitions

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• Ease of transferring to other institutions

• Understanding completion requirements

• Transcribing military experience, prior

experiential learning as college credit

• Admissions staff adequately supported

and trained to serve comebackers?

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Strength: Financing

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Student Satisfaction: 3.7/5 Institutional Effectiveness: 3.2/5

Student

Satisfaction

Range:3.1 – 4.2

Institutional

Effectiveness

Range:2.8 – 4.4

Strengths

4Challenges

5Disconnects

7

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Strength: Financing

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• Tuition bills and payment systems

• Satisfactory service from financial aid

office, bursar/student accounts

• Online tools for parsing scholarships for

which adults are eligible

– Rarely done well at peer institutions

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Individual Principles – Results

DISCONNECTS

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Disconnect: Outreach

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Student Satisfaction: 3.9/5 Institutional Effectiveness: 3.0/5

Student

Satisfaction

Range:3.4 – 4.7

Institutional

Effectiveness

Range:2.4 – 4.5

Strengths

3Challenges

0Disconnects

4

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Disconnect: Outreach

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• Institutional mission concerning

supporting a diverse student body

(including of age)

– Internal values?

– Cultural resistance?

• Proactive outreach to adults in danger

of falling behind in their studies

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Disconnect: Technology

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Student Satisfaction: 4.1/5 Institutional Effectiveness: 2.7/5

Student

Satisfaction

Range:3.7 – 4.6

Institutional

Effectiveness

Range:2.5 – 4.7

Strengths

4Challenges

0Disconnects

11

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Disconnect: Teaching-Learning Process

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Student Satisfaction: 4.1/5 Institutional Effectiveness: 3.0/5

Student

Satisfaction

Range:3.8 – 4.5

Institutional

Effectiveness

Range:2.8 – 4.4

Strengths

11Challenges

0Disconnects

5

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Disconnect: Teaching-Learning Process

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• Multiple methods of instruction

• Active feedback → Active learning

• Availability of learning resources

• Flexible academic pathways

• Proactive outreach to adult students who fall behind– Predictive analytics?

• Faculty professional development on andragogy

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Disconnect:

Assessment of Learning Outcomes

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Student Satisfaction: 3.9/5 Institutional Effectiveness: 2.9/5

Student

Satisfaction

Range:3.6 – 4.5

Institutional

Effectiveness

Range:2.5 – 4.5

Strengths

8Challenges

0Disconnects

5

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Disconnect:

Assessment of Learning Outcomes

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• Readiness assessments for placement in

appropriately rigorous coursework

• Fairness of assessment methods

• How can assessments allow adults to reflect

upon their work, life experiences?

• Faculty professional development: Designing

and circulating assessment criteria in

student-friendly formats

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Individual Principles – Results

CHALLENGES

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Challenge: Strategic Partnerships

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Student Satisfaction: 3.5/5 Institutional Effectiveness: 2.7/5

Student

Satisfaction

Range:2.9 – 4.2

Institutional

Effectiveness

Range:2.4 – 4.3

Strengths

0Challenges

11Disconnects

3

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Challenge: Strategic Partnerships

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• Ease and convenience of accessing

networking experiences with employers

• Marketing internships to adults

• Interactions with working professionals

in programs of study (e.g., guest

speakers)

• Tuition assistance programs with

employer partnerships

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Challenge: Life & Career Planning

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Student Satisfaction: 3.5/5 Institutional Effectiveness: 2.7/5

Student

Satisfaction

Range:3.0 – 4.2

Institutional

Effectiveness

Range:2.6 – 4.3

Strengths

0Challenges

13Disconnects

3

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Challenge: Life & Career Planning

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• Engagement with career services early and often throughout pathways of study

• Is prior learning assessment (PLA) available/marketed to adults?– Promotion vs. Policy; Pathways to PLA

• Landing page for PLA-related communication

• Availability of distance education

• Availability of courses at convenient times

• Up-to-date academic pathways, including online?

• Flexible academic pathways

• Labor market information in the classroom

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Challenge: Adaptivity

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Student Satisfaction: 3.6/5 Institutional Effectiveness: 2.8/5

Student

Satisfaction

Range:3.3 – 4.3

Institutional

Effectiveness

Range:2.2 – 4.6

Strengths

1Challenges

13Disconnects

2

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Challenge: Adaptivity

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• Include adult students’ feedback when planning course schedules

• How is feedback collected, both internally and from adult students?

– What happens to that feedback once it is collected?

– Are adult students informed upon how their feedback is used to make decisions?

• Change management methodologies

• Utilize economic, workforce, and socioeconomic data to make strategic decisions

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PORTAL DEMONSTRATION