October 2012 Taking into consideration other key engagement factors for first year students the college continues to drive improvements in connecting early with students and encouraging them to have high expectations and aspirations. Reported in Figure 3R3-4 half of the first year students report they had made early connections with faculty and staff. The Early Corrections and High Expectations and Aspirations survey scales are below other medium-size colleges and the SENSE cohort. A early alert program program targeted at-risk students with programs and services to develop academic planning and pathways to success. These services are the focus of the AQIP Figure 3R3 – 4 First Year Student Engagement Action Project currently underway. While building relationships with students are extremely important to the college, it also monitors if it is connecting with the local community creating Figure 3R3 – 5 BHC Partnerships with Community
partnerships that lead to economic development. Reported in 3R3-5, 75% of the respondents in a recent community college perception survey agreed that the college is connecting with the local community in building such partnerships. Improvements (I)
3I1. The current processes in place for Understanding Students’ and Other Stakeholders needs are both systematic and comprehensive. Data is collected at the learner, community, and internal stakeholder levels. Surveys and tools to gather input and data are administered on a scheduled basis and the data gathered is consistent and longitudinal. Analysis of the results is performed in a timely manner through committees/sub-committees, with findings and recommendations documented and shared with the BHC community. Actions put into place as a result of the recommendations are reviewed when the tool/survey is administered again to determine if the practice was effective, if there has been any significant impact on the results of the new cycle, and to what extent there have been any cursory factors that may have impacted the findings. A major change to the process for scheduling classes based on enrollment data resulted in the development of a Master Course Schedule. This improvement also supports long-term planning for students regarding course offerings and enrollments. Through reviewing the results and outcomes for identifying student needs members of the student services work system team first recognized the need to change processes, content, and delivery of services and implemented the “welcoming environment” campaign and in response to data collected in 2012 the focus switched to development and implementation of a First Year Experience program. Student feedback regarding the enrollment process resulted in the implementation of a wait list function. When the enrollment maximum is reached for a class, students are now able to put themselves on a wait list in the event a seat becomes available. Students are notified when a seat becomes available in a previously full class and are given an opportunity to enroll at that time.
AQIP Category 3
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Understanding Students' and Other Stakeholders' Needs