We Joined! We Planned! We Implemented!

What Worked Well! What We’d Change!Donna Dare, Ph.D., Vice Chancellor for Student and Academic AffairsKelli Burns, Director, Institutional Research and Planning Teresa Huether, Math Professor, Coordinator for Achieving the Dream

Objectives:

• Participants will learn:– What worked at STLCC– What STLCC would do differently

• Participants will DREAM BIG!– What will a GREAT year 3 look like?– What could interfere with this dream?

Mission Statement

St. Louis Community College expands minds and changes

lives every day.We create accessible, dynamic

learning environments focused on the needs of our

diverse communities.

Florissant Valley campus

South County Education and University Center

About the College • Largest community college

system in Missouri• Ranks among the nation’s top 25

associate degree-producing institutions

• District encompasses 718 square miles, includingSt. Louis City and County and portions of Franklin and Jefferson counties

STLCC is one of the nation’s top associate degree-producing institutions in the country.

About the College • Four campuses at Florissant Valley,

Forest Park, Meramec and Wildwood• Three education centers in

St. Louis County, north St. Louis City and downtown St. Louis

• Numerous satellite locations in area business, industrial, neighborhood and educational sites

• Corporate Center in Bridgeton• Administrative Center, 300 South

Broadway• 3,854 full- and part-time employees

Forest Park campus Meramec campus

Wildwood campus

Florissant Valley’s Emerson Center for Engineering and Manufacturing

Enrollment Profile (Fall 2012)• 26,613 students enrolled in credit courses • Median Age = 24• 60% Female• Race and culture

– Caucasian = 14,102 (53%) – African-American = 9,676 (36%)– Asian = 848 (3%)– Hispanic/Latino = 791(3%) – Multiracial/Other Ethnicity =

779 (3%)– Unknown = 417 (2%)– Represent nearly 120 countries

and 40-plus different language (top 5 are Spanish, Arabic, Russian, Bosnian, and African dialects)

STLCC has a diverse student population.

Goals“At its core, the initiative seeks to help more students reach their individual goals, which may include earning a community college certificate or degree, attaining a bachelor's degree, and/or obtaining a better job. Achieving the Dream colleges will maintain a high degree of access for historically underrepresented groups while working to increase the percentage of students who accomplish the following:

successfully complete the courses they take;

advance from remedial to credit-bearing courses;

enroll in and successfully complete gatekeeper courses;

enroll from one semester to the next;

earn degrees and/or certificates.” 

http://www.achievingthedream.org/ABOUTATD/GOALS/default.tp

What Worked Well!• Broad Engagement• New Student Registration Workshop

(NSRW)• New Student Orientation (NSO)• Smart Start: Student Success (STR:050)• The First Four Weeks (F4W)

New Student Registration WorkshopMandatory for all first time in college students where they• Learn how to be successful in a collegiate setting• Meet with an academic advisor to review test scores• Discuss appropriate coursework for the 1st semester in college• Learn how to build a class schedule• Register for classes and New Student Orientation using Banner

Self-Serve

New Student OrientationStudents• Navigate the campus and find their

classrooms• Obtain their Student ID and parking pass• Learn how to utilize campus resources

and services• Gain advice that will get them off to a

good start• Get connected through my.stlcc.edu

email, Banner Self Service, and Blackboard

Smart Start: Student Success Course• 3-credit hour course for students

placing into developmental reading or English

• Active learning designed to increase knowledge, strategies, and skills directly related to being a successful STLCC student

• Academic/Career planning• Guided experience with

technology

First Four Weeks• Recognizes the critical importance of the first few weeks of a

semester• Is an answer to a request by the faculty for ALL faculty to have a role

in Achieving the Dream• Is a compilation of time-honored classroom student success

strategies• Recognizes that even the most talented students need to know

specifically what it takes to be successful in each faculty member’s course

What We’d Change!• Better Use of our ATD Coaches• More Consistent Communication• More Aggressive Approaches to

Developmental Education• Quicker Progress in ONE of the Strategies

(Broad Engagement may have slowed us down.)

DREAM TIME!• Form small groups (hopefully all from the same college)

• Choose a leader/reporter (person with the next birthday?)

• Dream BIG! – What would your BEST year 3 look like?

• What advantages will help you achieve your dream?

• What challenges might get in the way?

Report Out!• The leader of each small group will:

– Succinctly share your dream for your year 3!– State one advantage that will help you achieve this dream!– State one challenge that might get in the way of this dream!

• The other small groups will:– Brainstorm ways to possibly way to head off that challenge– Write at least one of those ways on the supplied NCR paper

(The white part will go immediately to the small group and the yellow part will to the STLCC team to compile and e-mail to those interested!)

Questions?

DREAM BIG!

Donna Dare, Ph.D.Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairsddare@stlcc.edu

Teresa HuetherMath Professor ATD Coordinatorthuether@stlcc.edu

Kelli BurnsDirector, Institutional Research and Planningkburns@stlcc.edu

Tips and Lessons• Our District wide Student Success Team gatherings

were designed as learning experiences, not as meetings. We had almost 100% attendance and participation during our planning year.

• College data around the 5 Achieving the Dream goals and the top 10 courses with the highest enrollment and the lowest success rates opened eyes and got folks motivated!

Tips and Lessons• Using college data to drive decisions took the “personal”

out of them and lead to better decisions. The focus was simply on student success!

• Everyone working within our institution is an intelligent problem solver with unique important perspectives. Cashing in on this goldmine has reaped great rewards! The process of mining this information got a bit “dirty” at times, but was worth it!

• The realization that we and the students on our campuses are more the same than different!