Stella and Charles Guttman Community College

Stuart Cochran

Dean of Strategic Planning

Why a New Approach?

• Paths to economic advancement for the majority of low‐income, traditionally underserved students are through community colleges

• About 2/3 of incoming community college students fail to meet institutional standards for college readiness (Bailey, et al. Redesigning America’s Community Colleges)

• Persistence and graduation rates of community college students are too low

Community College Research Center

Redesigning America’s Community Colleges

Research & Practice

Thomas R. Bailey

Shanna Smith Jaggars

Davis Jenkins

A Guided Pathway Model

• A multi-step informational admissions process helps students determine if Guttman is the right fit to address their educational needs and career aspirations while preserving an open access admissions policy.

• A mandatory two-week summer bridge program introduces students to the curricular model and the demands of college-level work.

• A first-year core curriculum contextualizes skills development in credit-bearing coursework, with embedded advisement from professional staff.

A Guided Pathway Model

• Full-time enrollment in the first year

• First-year learning communities in a house structure

(3 cohorts of 25 students each = house)

• Cohorts in a house share an interdisciplinary instructional team: faculty, advisors, peer mentors, librarians involved in curriculum development

• 12/6 semester: fall I (12 wks), fall II (6 wks), spring I, spring II

• Core curriculum: City Seminars and Ethnographies of Work

• Statistics (unstretched and stretched)

• High impact practices to scale: learning communities, service learning during community days

• Focus on assessment with DQP-informned student learning outcomes during assessment days

Pathway to Success

• A limited number of majors with well-defined pathways to degree, transfer and/or careers:

• Business Administration (A.A.)

• Information Technology (A.A.S.)

• Liberal Arts & Sciences (A.A.)

• Human Services (A.A.)

• Urban Studies (A.A.)

• Additional programs of study planned as the college grows to its full capacity of 5,000 students

Guttman Learning Outcomes

• Broad Integrative Knowledge: General Education

• Applied Learning

• Specialized Knowledge: The Majors

• Intellectual Skills for Lifelong Learning

• Civic Learning, Engagement & Social Responsibility

Guttman Learning Outcomes

• Applied Learning a. I build on content knowledge using research and analytical skills to provide creative solutions to real-world problems. b. I collaborate effectively with others to solve problems and complete projects.

Guttman Learning Outcomes

• Civic Learning, Engagement & Social Responsibility a. I identify and explain my own cultural background, including its origins, development and assumptions. b. I understand difference, respect diverse cultural perspectives and demonstrate how they influence interpretations of critical issues in society. c. I describe various historical and contemporary positions on democratic values or practices, and present my position on specific problems. d. I take an active role in a community context, such as work, service, or co-curricular activities, and examine the civic issues encountered with the insights gained from the community experience. e. I demonstrate integrity, honesty and ethical reasoning in academic and professional contexts

Who Are Our Students? Fall 2014

691 students

100% of freshmen are full-time

90% of all students are full-time

59% female and 31% male

Open admissions with average HS GPA = C

80% of FAFSA filers received Pell grants

Students from all boroughs: Bronx 30%, Brooklyn 25%, Queens 22%, Manhattan 20%, Staten Island 1%

Diverse student body: Hispanic 55%, African American 26%, White 13%, Asian/Pacific Islander 7%

Initial Outcomes Fall 2013 Cohort Tested Readiness

Fall to Fall Persistence Rate

Guttman First-time Full-Time Freshman Persistence

Fall 2012 Cohort as of Fall 2013 Fall 2013 Cohort as of Fall 2014

74% 69%

Graduation Rates

Entered

Graduated in Two Years

n / %

Graduated within Three Years

n / % Fall 2012 (n = 289)

80 / 28% 142 / 49%

Fall 2013 (n = 278)

83 / 30% --

Satisfaction and Engagement CCSSE

Guttman - Peer Comparison Spring 2014

What Is the Summer Bridge Program?

• A preview of Guttman’s City Seminar • An introduction to college-level reading,

writing, and mathematics • A group research project and presentation

focused on New York City neighborhoods • Creation of an electronic portfolio where

students showcase and reflect on their work • Multiple field experiences that explore New

York City as an extended classroom and build on students’ prior knowledge and lived experience

Summer Bridge Program Learning Outcomes

• Apply basic critical thinking and research

practices to investigate an iconic New York City neighborhood.

• Use an ePortfolio to share work and reflect on learning.

• Read, analyze, and discuss texts with an

understanding of how details and structure contribute to meaning.

Summer Bridge Program Learning Outcomes

• Gather information helpful for making an

estimate and use that information to estimate a quantity, time, or distance.

• Identify and reflect on personal strengths and

growth areas as a new college student. • Demonstrate what it means to belong and

contribute to Guttman’s academic community.

What is Ethnographies of Work?

Ethnographies of Work I introduces students to sociological and anthropological perspectives on work as they investigate a range of careers. The course approaches work as a cultural system invested with meanings, norms, values, customs, behavioral expectations, and social hierarchies.

• 3 credits, 3 hours plus LABSS 1.5 hrs.

What is EoW?

• Students explore dimensions of work life in the context of contemporary dynamics of disruption, uncertainty, innovation, and diversity, and draw connections between the self and work through readings, films, interviews, and fieldwork.

• The centerpiece of the course is for students to compose and present ethnographic accounts of workplace relations and vocational pathways as they contemplate their own career journeys.

Learning Outcomes

• Identify and apply fundamental social science concepts and methods to explore the relationships between the individual and the world of work.

• Begin to use a range of ethnographic methods to research and compose written and oral presentations on the behaviors and experiences of individuals in diverse work contexts.

Learning Outcomes

• Begin to analyze and evaluate ethnographic texts and data about work through the lens of social science perspectives and concepts.

• Examine how an individual’s place in society affects experiences, values, and choices, identifying how one's own life story promotes and constrains vocation and career decisions.

• Articulate and apply responsible work habits in academic and field projects

What Is LABSS?

Learning About Being a Successful Student • A mandatory 1.5 hr. weekly group advising activity

associated with EoW I & II

• Facilitated by the instructional team’s Student Success Advocate (SSA)

• Helps students explore themselves as learners, and their interest in a possible career and program of study

• Helps students develop soft skills necessary for higher education and the workplace

• Provides opportunities to identify and reflect upon various aspects of work

What is EoW II?

Ethnographies of Work II guides the student in an ethnographic investigation of an occupation of interest.

Students conduct fieldwork at a work site of their choice, using observation, interviewing, and artifact analysis as methods to learn to identify and reflect on personal, cultural, social, structural, and economic aspects of the work experience.

• 3 credits, 3 hours plus LABSS 1.5 hrs.

What is EoW II?

• Students also research quantitative data on occupations and employment trends to better understand the depth of particular careers.

• Throughout the semester, students add more in-depth ethnographic writings to their body of ethnographic works and continue to reflect on their own journey toward deciding on a career path.

Learning Outcomes

• Demonstrate the ability to use diverse ethnographic methods and concepts to research and compose a reflective, multifaceted analysis of the experience of individuals working in specific occupations.

• Identify work trends and organization in the larger society and within the New York City context to understand their influence on occupational choices and pathways for individuals and social groups.

Learning Outcomes • Show evidence of scientific knowledge about specific

occupations and the entry-level requirements, employment trends and conditions, and career potential for individuals within those occupations.

• Demonstrate a growing understanding of the complexity and range of factors that link self to work, particularly career choice.

• Show enhanced understanding and practice of responsible and ethical work habits gleaned from ethnographic accounts of people at work in their research sites.

Stella and Charles Guttman Community College

guttman.cuny.edu

Stuart Cochran

Stuart.Cochran@guttman.cuny.edu