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STUDENT SUCCESS DIVISIONAchieving the Dream Title III Project SSSTRONG Volume 1 Issue 3

May

201

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InsIde thIs Issue

An Equal Opportunity Institution/Equalaccess to the disabled.

DECISION MAKING

he development of our Vision 2015 Strategic Plan marked the beginning of a huge

transformation at Tarrant County College. No longer are we focused solely on getting students in the front door. Our goals expanded to include, “supporting student learning and success; ensuring affordability, accessibility and diversity and promoting institutional effectiveness.” To reach these goals TCC needed to employ a number of strategies. The very first strategy was to join Achieving the Dream. This national initiative focuses on helping community college students (particularly low income students and students of color) stay in college and earn a certificate or degree.

ATD has helped TCC to begin using data to inform our decision making.

As a result of looking at data from the Texas Legislative Budget Board (LBB) on the success of Tarrant County College students in developmental education, the College made the decision to change practices related to developmental education and advising and implemented a student success course.

As a result of participating in Achieving the Dream and looking at data on the success of first-time-in-college students, TCC received its first Title III Grant which focuses on increasing the success of first-time-in-college students (with special focus on students of color) and increasing graduation and transfer rates.

After conducting focus groups, completing an inventory of institutional barriers, and looking at data on the success of TCC students, the College enacted several procedural changes to include the discontinuation of late registration and the implementation of an attendance requirement.

Each of the changes listed above were made based on data, and we are now beginning to collect data on the effectiveness of these changes. Thus far, the changes have contributed to increases in student completion of developmental education, student success, and retention. Our journey is not over, but clearly we are on the right path. It is an exciting time to be at Tarrant County College. We are transforming the institution with a focus not just on “access” but also on “success.”

Joy Gates BlackVIcE chAncEllOr fOr StudEnt SuccESSPrOjEct dIrEctOr tItlE III PrOjEct SSStrOnG

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2Success Strategies

Students Meeting tSI

Achieving Student Success

tutortrac update

Achieving the dream

Using Data to Inform Our

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during the fall 2011 semester the following areas completed program reviews:

• Academic Advising• Disability Support Services• Student Support Services (TRIO)• Student Conduct Programs• Career and Employment Services

UPDATE

STUDENT DEvElOPMENT & SUCCESS PrOGrAM rEvIEwSEach program was reviewed by a trained evaluation team comprised of faculty and staff from TCC, using the nationally recognized CAS Standards and Guidelines. In response to the reviews, each program has developed an Action Plan and a timeline for resolving any areas identified as needing improvement.

s a result of looking at data on the success of TCC students, the College elected to begin making changes designed to increase the success of first-time-in-college (FTIC) students.

In the fall of 2010 TCC implemented mandatory remediation (requiring students to immediately begin enrolling in any required developmental education courses upon entering the College), assigned case management advising for FTIC students requiring developmental coursework and a mandatory Transition to College Success Course for FTIC students requiring developmental coursework in two areas.

In the spring of 2011 TCC increased the number of advisors and peer tutors assigned to each campus through its Title III grant, and in the fall of 2011 the College expanded the assigned advising to all FTIC students, not just students requiring developmental coursework. TCC also began assigning advisors to Transition to College Success Courses as part of their advising load, and expanded the Transition to College Success course to include FTIC students who required developmental coursework in one area.

The results of these changes are starting to be visible. According to the 2011 Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE), the number of students self-reporting completion of a developmental education course increased in all three areas.

SUCCESS STrATEGIES YIEld POSItIVE rESultS

– Joy Gates Black

A review of survey data looking at the relationship between advising and retention of Fall 2010 FTIC students shows that the more times a student visited with his or her advisor, the higher the retention rate. NOTE: Only 12 students visited the advisor for the fifth visit.

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STUDENTS MEETING TSI OBlIGATIONS

ach year the Texas Legislative Budget Board (LBB) reviews the progress of Texas Community Colleges toward closing the gaps in academic achievement and overall student success.

The 2010 Texas Legislative Budget Board (LBB) report showed that Tarrant County College was ranked 8th and 9th in the completion of developmental education courses in a two-year timeframe. Since that time, TCC has implemented a number of success strategies designed to increase the completion of developmental education courses in a timely manner and to increase the overall success of students.

The 2011 Texas Legislative Budget Board (LBB) report (Table 1, 2, 3) shows that while TCC remains at or near the same ranking for each area, the number of students completing their developmental education requirements in a two-year period is increasing.

The number of students completing developmental math increased by 9%. The number of students completing developmental reading increased by nearly 18%, and the number of students completing developmental writing also increased by nearly 18%.

These are good indications that the College’s efforts to close achievement gaps and improve student success are having an impact.

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Dr. Kimberly Beatty joined Tarrant County College as the new Associate Vice Chancellor (AVC) for Student Success. Dr. Beatty joins us after spending the last five years at another TCC, (Tidewater Community College) in Portsmouth, VA. She is a three-time graduate of Morgan State University receiving a B.A. in English, M.A. in English, and Ed.D. in Higher Education, Community College Leadership. She has served as an Associate Professor in English and maintained progressive leadership roles at Cypress College (California) and Tidewater Community College. With over 20 years of experience in higher education with 15 years at the community college level, she is a welcomed addition to the college.

TCC welcomes New Associate vice Chancellor for Student Success

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actIve apply admIssIons applIcatIon he TCC Admissions Processing Office and the campus Registrars are excited to announce that we are accepting new

student admissions applications through our new Active Apply (AA) Admissions Application. Our AA application takes approximately 10 minutes to complete, and it imports electronically into Colleague in less than 24 hours! Students have reported that the application is very user friendly and Admissions staff report that AA will dramatically improve our service to new students.

The AA application is available for new Credit and new Continuing Education students, it’s fast and it’s simple to complete. The following five easy steps are required to complete the application:

AChIEvING STUDENT SUCCESS ThrOUGh TEChNOl Gy

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ur campus Registrars are excited to announce that two new TCC VA Specialists

and a Department of Veterans Affairs, VetSuccess Counselor have been recently hired to support the success of our veteran student population.

new veterans affaIrs posItIons Two new Veterans Affairs (VA) Specialist positions, one assigned to Southeast that will also support the Northeast campus and one assigned to Northwest that will also support veterans at the Trinity River campus, were recently hired. Our

VA Specialists will serve as liaisons between the Registrar’s Office and other departments to better support the unique needs of veteran students. Effective fall 2012, the VA Specialists will launch a new Veterans Affairs Orientation to provide veteran students with admissions, registration, financial aid, and important Veterans Affairs educational information. Additionally, they will make appropriate veteran student referrals to campus and community agencies to promote student success.

AChIEvING STUDENT SUCCESS

davId XImenezASSOcIAtE VIcE chAncEllOr fOrEnrOllMEnt SErVIcES

ThrOUGh PEOPlEo vetsuccess counselor on campus

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has selected Tarrant County College as one of the 20 new colleges nationwide to participate in the expansion of the “VetSuccess on Campus” program. The selection allows for TCC to accommodate a full-time Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor (VRC) at our South Campus.

The VRC will provide assistance to veterans along with adjustment counseling leading to veterans completing their college education and preparing them to enter the labor market in viable careers. The VRC will ease the transition of service members to veteran status and ensure the coordinated delivery of benefits and services to TCC veteran students.

The VRC mission is to liaison with the VA certifying officials (campus Registrars). In addition to mirroring the functions of the new VA Specialists, the Counselor will perform outreach and communicate with veteran students about applying for other VA benefits as well as providing referrals for more intensive health services, including mental health treatment through VHA medical centers, Community-Based Outpatient, or Vet Centers.

I encourage the TCC community to visit your campus VA Specialists and Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors to welcome them to TCC and to learn more about how they can support your efforts.

• Personal Information

• Contact and Background Information

• Educational Information

• Residency Information

• Certification

Students can find Active Apply information and admission requirements online at www.tccd.edu/apply. Once the application

TCC’s Office of Enrollment Services endeavors to advance student success in everything we do. This month’s Student Success Newsletter provides a great opportunity to highlight some staffing additions we have implemented to better support veterans and a couple of technology enhancements that have been implemented.

TCC Enrollment Services Update

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utoring continues to be a vital component of success for students in the Tarrant County College District.

Each campus has established various learning environments for tutoring and supplemental instruction. The lab managers, instructional associates, and faculty working with students in the lab are a significant component to student success. Funds from Project SSStrong, the Title III Grant, were used to purchase TutorTrac Software to measure lab usage on each of the five campuses

during the 2011-2012 academic year. In the spring 2012 semester a total of 30 tutoring and learning labs are utilizing TutorTrac Software to monitor student usage. Across the Tarrant County College District there have been 270,000 student visits to labs recorded through the software.

Preliminary results from the fall 2011 semester indicate that visiting the tutoring labs positively impacts a student’s academic performance. The charts below demonstrate some of the data from the Southeast Campus. Students enrolled in any Math Course on the Southeast Campus who visited the Math Learning Lab during the fall 2011 semester experienced success (with a grade of A, B, or C) in their courses by 15% more than students who did not visit the lab. Students enrolled in the course Reading 0363 at the Southeast Campus, and visited the Reading Tutoring Lab experienced success (with a grade of A, B, or C) in that course by 22% more than those students who did not visit the lab.

At the conclusion of the 2012 spring semester the collected data for each of the labs using TutorTrac will be analyzed to examine the effectiveness and use of the tutoring and learning labs. This data will be shared with the college community.

TUTOrTrAC SOFTwArE UPDATE

Visited the Center at least once

Did not visit the center

66%

51%

Success Rate (Grades A, B, C) in Mathematics Courses for Those Who Visited the Math Tutoring Center at Southeast

Campus at Least Once and Those Who Did Not Visit, Fall 2011

(Total Number of Math Enrollments = 5017)

Visited the Lab at least once Did not visit the Lab

74%

52%

Success Rate (Grades A, B, C) in RDNG-0363 Course for Those Who Visited the Reading Tutoring Lab at Southeast Campus at Least Once and Those Who Did Not Visit, Fall

2011(Total Number of RDNG-0363 Enrollments = 118)

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chrIstopher douGlastItlE III-PrOjEct cOOrdInAtOr

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is submitted, an email confirmation is sent to the email provided by the student. Applicants will also receive another email with their TCC acceptance letter, Colleague ID and information regarding required admissions documents (official transcripts, test scores, meningitis vaccination, etc).

Promotional materials including a brochure, poster, flyers and table tops have been developed to help market Active Apply. In addition, more than 325 TCC Faculty and Staff have attended AA 101 Training sessions hosted by Enrollment Services staff!

Please help us spread the word about our Active Apply Admissions Application!

colleaGue communIcatIons manaGement Another technological enhancement we have implemented that will help foster student success is the utilization of Datatel Colleague’s Communications Management (CM) Module. The District Admissions and campus Registrar Offices are implementing CM, which allows for electronic processes and workflows to be established within

Colleague to evaluate student records and electronically notify students through email when something requires their attention.

We plan to use CM to communicate with students about meningitis vaccination requirements, to request official copies of high school and college transcripts, to welcome veterans to TCC and inform them of the process to access their VA benefits, and to notify students when they should submit their graduation application. These are just a few examples; much more is planned.

We expect that both our students and our staff will benefit from this technological leap forward. Students will receive consistent and timely communication. Our staff will be able to easily access student specific records of correspondence on a screen in Colleague. The scope of our proactive communication to students will be greatly expanded.

We are very excited about implementing CM and are confident that it will positively contribute to the success of our students.

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arrant County College District has boarded the Achieving the Dream shuttle. We

are boosting student success through campus conversations that engage our students, faculty, administration, staff and community. We are reaching for the stars (our students) by implementing Mandatory New Student Orientations, Intentional and Appreciative Advising and Case Management (including faculty engagement in advising), Reviewing and Strengthening our Transition

to College Success course, implementing an Early Academic Alert System, and Strengthening and Aligning our Math Curriculum and Instructional Methods. The ATD teams are committed to data-driven decision-making to increase opportunities for student success.

Intervention teams are in the implementation phase and have submitted logic models and evaluation process plans. The following teams will be implementing their approved recommendations during the fall 2012 semester: Transition to College Success Course, Developmental Mathematics, and Intentional and Appreciative Advising. The New Student Orientation and Early Academic Alert teams will implement their recommended models during the spring 2013 semester. Training models and training manuals are currently being developed.

More than 50 faculty, staff, and administrators attended the Achieving the Dream’s Annual Meeting on Student Success. Attendees not only increased their understanding of policies and practices for increasing student success, but also deepened their understanding of program evaluation, data analysis and data-informed decision-making. Seventeen TCC students were engaged in ATD activities. Seven were tweeters, eight media specialists, one artist, and one journalist! Tarrant County College’s table at the Success Fair was tremendous. Kudos to the campus coordinators who designed and staffed the table! Our District’s table was one of the most visited tables at the fair. Our office was extremely excited to be a part of the art commission by the ATD national office. ATD selected the artwork presented by Brandon Tucker from Northeast Campus. He was offered a commission of $500 for his design. The ATD national office complimented Brandon’s design saying, “Your design is inspirational and beautifully conceptualized.” Five 11x14 prints and one 24x36 print (matted and framed) were commissioned. The larger print will be hung in the national office in Silver Spring, Maryland. Brandon was invited to present the smaller prints to two ATD board members and three ATD staff at the Dallas conference. The CEO of ATD presented the work alongside Brandon.

Thank you to the six campus coordinators, 96 faculty, and approximately 2,500 students who participated in the Community College Survey on Student Engagement (CCSSE) during the SP2012 semester! “This commitment is critical because CCSSE aims to be a

STUDENT SUCCESS NEwSlETTErAchieving the Dream Update SP2012

sherrI matadIrEctOr fOr AchIEVInG thE drEAM

reliable source of information, a catalyst for open discussion of quality and performance in community colleges, and a tool that community colleges can use both for public accountability and to improve their practices.” (Center for Community College Student Engagement) The CCCSE is used as a benchmarking instrument, diagnostic tool, and monitoring device. Tarrant County College is not only rising to the challenge of the increasing expectations of performance-based funding, but also preparing for accountability standards being set by state and federal governments and accreditation boards.