ENHANCING THE STUDENT E XPERIENCE
Enhancing the Student Experience
ENHANCING THE STUDENT E XPERIENCE
ENHANCING THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE TABLE OF CONTENTS Faculty Service and Professional Development .... 5 FYE/Second Semester Experience ......................... 6 Care Teams ................................................................. 8 Pathways ..................................................................... 9 Prior Learning Assessment ................................... 10 DegreeWorks ........................................................... 11
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ENHANCING THE STUDENT E XPERIENCE
To Our Colleagues in the College Community: This past year was unprecedented in both its collaborative nature and the impact on students that several major projects made at the College. For example, a yearlong College-wide schedule went live April 4, as did the One Record software on June 27. Dozens of faculty joined the First Year Experience, Second Semester initiative in their classes. The College and the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) negotiated the faculty labor contract early, and then created contract language to permit the deployment of Care Teams. There are more accomplishments which are too numerous to list here, but you get the point – it was a very special year. These are not separate initiatives. These are interdependent pieces of the same strategic goal – enhancing the Tri-C student experience, which are designed to ensure that more of our students will progress and complete their academic journeys in a timely manner. Initial progress is evidenced not only by meeting initiative goals, but by the dramatic rise in graduation numbers and rates. Over the last three years we have graduated record numbers of students, tripling our graduation rate.
Ed Foley, Ed. D. Professor, Business Administration, President, American Association of University Professors (AAUP)
Given the significant progress made this year, we felt that it was important to keep the forward momentum in enhancing the student experience. It is not time to create new initiatives, but to build on our accomplishments. This summer, faculty and administration partnered in new ways as a set-up for the next year. As such, we have created six joint strategic teams around the following crucial work: • Faculty Service and Professional Development • Second Semester Experience • Care Teams • Pathways
Mary Hovanec Professor, History; Chair, Joint Faculty Senate; Faculty Chair, Scholars Programs
• Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) • DegreeWorks The faculty/administrative strategic teams designated for each area (outlined on the next page) met for eight weeks and were responsible for connecting with project stakeholders and communicating their progress to the College. The following pages contain the teams’ weekly updates that were communicated College-wide over the summer. We are confident that the momentum from this summer’s strategic work will lead to an even better year in 2016-2017.
Craig Foltin, D.B.A. Provost and Executive Vice President, Access, Learning and Success
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STRATEGIC TEAMS Care Teams
Pathways (AACC)
Anne Distler, Ph.D.
Mike Boyko, J.D.
Associate Professor, Chemistry Westshore Campus
Professor, Criminal Justice Western Campus
Phyllis Dukes-Hopson, Ph.D.
Suzanne Cox, Ed.S.
Professor, Counseling Metropolitan Campus
Associate Professor, Counseling Metropolitan Campus
Samantha Posey, Ph.D.
Jeff Tuma, J.D.
Assistant Professor, Counseling Eastern Campus
Assistant Professor, Philosophy Western Campus
Michael Schoop, Ph.D.
Lisa Williams
President, Metropolitan Campus
Vice President, Learning and Engagement
DegreeWorks
Prior Learning Assessment (PLA)
Ashlee Brand
Dave Bernatowicz
Associate Professor, English Westshore Campus
Associate Professor, History Metropolitan Campus
Karen Miller, Ph.D.
Matt Laferty
Vice President, Institutional Research and Enrollment Management
Assistant Professor, English Western Campus
Shawn Nickens
Terri Pope, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Counseling Western Campus
President, Westshore Campus
Bob Shirilla
Assistant Professor, Psychology Western Campus
Assistant Professor, Sociology Metropolitan Campus
Faculty Service and Professional Development Marianne Buccini
FYE/Second Semester Experience Ed Foley, Ed.D.
Associate Professor, Counseling Western Campus
Professor, Business Administration; President, American Association of University Professors (AAUP)
Lindsay English, Ph.D.
Mary Hovanec
Associate Vice President, Academic Professional Development
Associate Professor, History; Chair, Joint Faculty Senate; Faculty Chair, Scholars Programs
Ed Foley, Ed.D.
Donna Imhoff, Ph.D.
Professor, Business Administration; President, American Association of University Professors (AAUP)
President, Western Campus
Mary Hovanec Associate Professor, History; Chair, Joint Faculty Senate; Faculty Chair, Scholars Programs
J. Michael Thomson, Ph.D. President, Eastern Campus
John Thomas, D.V.M. Associate Professor, Veterinary Technology Western Campus
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Donya Waugh
Anna Lauer Assistant Professor, Library Eastern Campus
Justin Miller Assistant Professor, Philosophy Eastern Campus
Janice Taylor Heard, Ph.D. Dean, Academic Affairs Western Campus
ENHANCING THE STUDENT E XPERIENCE
SERVICE AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT June 24, 2016 To Our Colleagues in the College Community: Last week we wrote to you regarding our historic success this year, and our desire to keep the momentum moving forward this summer. Our core student success processes are all tied to a central theme: enhancing the student experience. Each week, we will provide general information on our progress and focus on one of the six summer teams: Care Teams, Pathways, Degree Works, Prior Learning Assessment (PLA), Faculty Service and Professional Development, and FYE/Second Semester Experience. This week we are highlighting the Faculty Service and Professional Development team. This team has two areas of focus: • To provide more detail on the newly created service and development credit category entitled “Student Success.” The other five summer teams also have places in this new category. During the summer, these teams will map out how faculty can become involved in core student success processes, including incentivized credits. An updated service credit catalog will be available at convocation. • The Faculty Service and Professional Development team is charged with providing overall communications about our progress. The six teams are meeting regularly, and we also have summary report-outs at standing faculty and administrative meetings. The Fall Convocation on Aug. 23 is about enhancing the student experience, and will feature faculty engagement. We will present the six summer teams as well as three other key activities: online learning, outcomes and assessments, and scholars programming. Each team will address five questions: Q1: Q2: Q3: Q4: Q5:
What is this initiative about? Why are we doing this work? How does this work improve the student experience? What role do faculty play in the work? How do faculty get engaged in the work?
Finally, we encourage you to incorporate faculty engagement into your Campus Day programs. As an FYI, fall Campus Day dates are: • Wednesday, Aug. 24: Metro, West, Westshore • Thursday, Aug. 25: East We hope you find this information helpful as we keep the momentum going. Next week, our communication will focus on FYE and the Second Semester Experience.
Faculty Service and Professional Development Team Marianne Buccini | Lindsay English | Ed Foley Mary Hovanec | John Thomas | J. Michael Thomson 5
ENHANCING THE STUDENT E XPERIENCE
FYE/SECOND SEMESTER EXPERIENCE July 1, 2016 To Our Colleagues in the College Community: Last week we wrote to you regarding the areas of focus for the Faculty Service and Professional Development team. This week we are highlighting the FYE/Second Semester Experience team. This team’s focus is on clarifying what is meant by the Second Semester Experience and how the student experience is shaped through this activity. • The design of the second semester of the First Year Experience was born out of conversations and experiences of faculty regarding the value of career exploration and planning for our students. Faculty across the College creatively incorporated into their gateway courses a career exploration assignment connected to course outcomes. This experience has been meaningful for both faculty and students. • Why does this simple concept hold so much potential? Perhaps it reinforces what we know in a real and practical way – that the most powerful and transforming experiences for students occur not through initiatives, but through relationships with faculty and in-class discovery. • This is not a new initiative, but a natural extension of the first semester of FYE that flows through second semester and the learning environment designed and led by faculty. Once the first semester of FYE was launched and its value confirmed, the need to enhance students’ understanding of the connection between their academic coursework and career aspirations emerged. This connection is the critical step in students’ ability to confirm and solidify the academic and career pathway that will ultimately guide them through to completion. More specifically, the Second Semester Experience targets the gateway courses through embedded assignments that link course content with career exercises and activities. For Students: • The Second Semester Experience broadens and deepens students’ exploration of career possibilities and aids them in building confidence in their career choice and actualizing their goals. Students are challenged to think more critically and reflect upon their chosen career goals. Through this experience, students will further connect with valuable resources such as counselors, career center personnel and instructional faculty to move their goals forward.
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For Faculty: • As an instructor in a gateway course, the use of an embedded career assignment adds value to the nature of the relationship with the student, encourages success and connects the student more intentionally to the subject area and its value to their career path. • It allows for faculty autonomy to creatively build into their course design opportunities for students to explore and identify future careers. For Adjunct Faculty: • For many of our adjunct faculty, the Second Semester Experience provides additional opportunities to partner with full-time faculty in promoting student success. As a reminder (from last week’s communication), the Fall Convocation on Aug. 23 is about enhancing the student experience, and will feature faculty engagement. We will present the six summer teams as well as three other key activities: online learning, outcomes and assessments, and scholars programming. Each team will address five questions: Q1: Q2: Q3: Q4: Q5:
What is this initiative about? Why are we doing this work? How does this work improve the student experience? What role do faculty play in the work? How do faculty get engaged in the work?
Finally, we encourage you to incorporate faculty engagement into your Campus Day programs. As an FYI, Fall Campus Day dates are: • Wednesday, Aug. 24: Metro, West, Westshore • Thursday, Aug. 25: East We hope you find this information helpful as we keep the momentum going. Next week, our communication will focus on Care Teams.
FYE/Second Semester Experience Team Ed Foley | Janice Taylor Heard | Mary Hovanec Donna Imhoff | Anna Lauer | Justin Miller 7
ENHANCING THE STUDENT E XPERIENCE
CARE TEAMS July 8, 2016 To Our Colleagues in the College Community: Last week we wrote to you regarding the areas of focus for the FYE/Second Semester Experience team. This week we are highlighting Care Teams. Care Teams are a way of wrapping our arms around our students by providing support to faculty. Each faculty member will be offered a personal Services Contact for the Enrollment Center and other support services to ensure student success. Last year, each of the four campuses developed prototypes for Care Teams to fit their specific needs. Each of those prototypes was presented at a College-wide town hall in November 2015. Subsequent work on the development of Care Teams temporarily paused while the contractual language regarding a related but distinct issue, faculty advising, was clarified and affirmed. We are now in the process of refining a College-wide Care Team concept and principles based on the work that has already been done at the campuses as part of the One Door Initiative. Care Teams • Embrace and enhance the organic faculty practice of referring students to existing support services • Encourage the Service Contact working with faculty to move from transactions to relationships with students One example of how a Care Team can work: Some students were dropped this summer due to the new attendance tracker. Because of a personal contact in the Enrollment Center and Dean’s Office, a faculty member at one campus had students re-enrolled within an hour or two. Colleagues on other campuses reported that their students were not re-enrolled for several days. What is this initiative about? A comprehensive student support model utilizing the support of faculty, counselors, enrollment center staff, and other direct services support staff to provide information to our students, with a designated key Service Contact person who will serve as the linkage between the student and faculty. Why are we doing this work? This work will support faculty in their daily responsibilities by engaging Enrollment Center staff in reaching out to students and providing additional support, information and follow-up to student issues. How does this work improve the student experience? The Care Teams will give students an additional layer of support through faculty engagement that will contribute to student success and completion. What role do faculty play in the work? Faculty will be assigned a Service Contact to address various student issues that may come up during the course of the semester. These Service Contacts will follow up with students to answer questions and supply the needed information. How do faculty get engaged in the work? Faculty will receive information on the services provided by a Services Contact. Each Campus Success Team, working with interested faculty, will take the lead in developing a campus-specific model that will support the mission of the Care Teams and create opportunities for faculty to determine how they would like to engage with their Services Contact. We hope you find this information helpful as we keep the momentum going. Next week, our communication will focus on Pathways.
Care Teams Team Anne Distler | Phyllis Dukes-Hopson | Samantha Posey | Michael Schoop 8
ENHANCING THE STUDENT E XPERIENCE
PATHWAYS July 15, 2016 To Our Colleagues in the College Community: Last week we wrote to you regarding Care Teams. This week we are highlighting Pathways. As you know, teams are meeting this summer to set the stage for our AY 2016‑2017 focus on enhancing the student experience at Tri-C. Our working group has been looking at the concept of Pathways and wanted to take this opportunity to give you some information on our progress to date. What is Tri-C’s involvement with Pathways? Cuyahoga Community College belongs to a thirty-member group working on the American Association of Community College (AACC)’s Pathways Project. According to the AACC, the Pathways model is: • An integrated, institution-wide approach to student success • Intentionally designed, clear, coherent, and structured educational experiences • A way of guiding students from their point of entry through to attainment of high-quality postsecondary credentials and careers with value in the labor market As our team delves into literature and practice, we find that this is a complex and potentially deeply impactful concept for student success. How does this work improve the student experience? The Pathways model focuses on the following four dimensions: 1. Clarifying paths to student end goals 2. Helping students choose and enter a pathway 3. Helping students stay on path 4. Ensuring that students are learning We believe the College has a number of programs and initiatives in place that logically fall under the Pathways model. These programs and initiatives include, but are not limited to: One Record, DegreeWorks, the College-wide Schedule, Meta Majors, Prior Learning Assessment, Centers of Excellence, First Year Experience, Care Teams, the restructuring of College-wide program review, and the new online catalog.We believe there is considerable overlap and synergy between Tri-C’s focus on Pathways and the goals of these initiatives. We are attempting to bring some of the current initiatives together so that we can both maximize their efficiency and enhance the student experience at Tri-C. At Convocation in August, you’ll have a chance to learn more about Pathways and how you can be involved in shaping the Pathways Project here at Tri-C. We look forward to sharing with you specific activities and ways you can make a difference.
Pathways Committee Members Mike Boyko | Suzanne Cox | Jeffrey Tuma | Lisa Williams | 9
ENHANCING THE STUDENT E XPERIENCE
PRIOR LEARNING ASSESSMENT July 22, 2016 To Our Colleagues in the College Community: We offer our apologies that, due to the activity surrounding the RNC last week, our weekly message was delayed. Last time we wrote to you regarding Pathways, and this time we are highlighting Prior Learning assessment (PLA). What is it that we are doing? The PLA team is working to understand, develop and implement policies and attitudes about Prior Learning Assessment. PLA is generally understood to mean the awarding of college credit for learning obtained outside of the College or university setting. This credit is awarded through several methods, including the College Level Examination Program (CLEP), the American Council on Education’s College Credit Recommendation Service (ACE/Military Service), credit by exam programs at individual colleges, and credit by portfolio. As such, the PLA team is working toward the following goals for the college: 1. Empowering faculty, through counterparts, to develop appropriate credit by exam tests for the courses in each discipline that the faculty find appropriate. We feel the faculty in each discipline should decide which of their courses require a credit by exam. 2. Developing a partnership with CLEP so that Tri-C becomes a place to take these exams. 3. Refining the policies about PLA at the College to align them with College goals toward completion and student access while preserving the academic experience for students. 4. Communicating the policies effectively so that all faculty, staff and students are aware of them. 5. Conducting research into PLA implementation and success at the College so that we may better understand our own (hopeful) success and share that success with the broader educational community. 6. Educating students about the benefits and drawbacks of PLA, so that older students with more work and life experience will find success using PLA and other students will not miss out on essential education experiences by using PLA. Why become involved in Prior Learning Assessment? Becoming involved in Prior Learning Assessment is a necessity for faculty in the coming years. As a result of current State of Ohio funding for higher education, state money for the College will be based more on completion. PLA becomes an important aspect of this scenario. The State is currently undergoing a review of the CLEP exams and working on a statewide program for the development of PLA portfolios. Several Tri-C faculty members are already involved in this project. As faculty, we need to be proactive in the development of PLA assessments. In the past, we have developed assessments for individual students when there was a need for it. Many disciplines do not have an updated PLA procedure. It is essential, given the changes on the state level, that counterparts in the various disciplines begin to develop and maintain assessments which they think reflect the outcomes and objectives of the course for which the student wants credit. Fall 2015 data show that less than 10 percent of students seeking PLA use Credit by Exam or CLEP. How can PLA benefit our students? 1. Students are able to accelerate through to completion. 2. Students are able to enroll in courses that interest and challenge them rather than repeat courses and concepts. 3. Students can begin Tri-C with college credit. The majority (51 percent) of credit granted as PLA is AP coursework completed by high school students. We hope you find this information helpful as we keep the momentum going. Next week, our communication will focus on DegreeWorks. Prior Learning Assessment Team Dave Bernatowicz | Matt Laferty | Terri Pope | Donya Waugh 10
ENHANCING THE STUDENT E XPERIENCE
DEGREEWORKS July 29, 2006 To Our Colleagues in the College Community: Last week we wrote to you regarding Pathways. This week we are highlighting DegreeWorks. The DegreeWorks team has been working diligently throughout the summer. The team has engaged in constructive dialogue about faculty roles and how these relate to the implementation of DegreeWorks, and sought to identify approaches to resolve emerging challenges that are emerging during scale-up of this technological tool at an institution of our size. We continue to work collaboratively with members of the DegreeWorks advisory team to identify and refine our use of DegreeWorks and the institutional processes that have emerged as challenges during the transition from DARS to DegreeWorks. Despite having to tackle tough issues, the team has worked well together through open dialogue, honesty and collegiality as we worked collaboratively with the success of students at the forefront. What is DegreeWorks? DegreeWorks is Tri-C’s comprehensive degree audit system that will help students and their counselors monitor progress towards graduation. Students can use DegreeWorks to: • Run “what-if” audits to explore how earned credits may apply to various programs of study • Calculate a projected GPA • Work with counselors to plan for graduation While counselors have received and will continue to receive training as superusers of the system, additional informational sessions will be available in fall 2016 to enable instructional faculty, librarians and support staff to become advocates for this new tool. Why are we using DegreeWorks? DegreeWorks, our program completion audit system, compares academic program requirements against a student’s academic history. The resulting report lists courses taken that apply toward graduation, courses yet to be taken, and courses that do not apply to the program major so that they can stay on track. How does this work improve the student experience? Students, with the help of their counselors and the support of faculty and campus teams, will be able to identify their academic path early in their student journey, stay on the most direct path to completion, save unnecessary dollars by not taking courses they may not need to graduate, and get the support and encouragement they need to finish. The ability of students, counselors, faculty and program managers to use this information to support students is part of an effective and comprehensive support system to enhance the student experience and impact student success. What role do faculty play in DegreeWorks? A faculty member’s role in DegreeWorks is dependent on their responsibilities at the College. Instructional faculty and librarians serve as advocates to raise awareness of the benefits and values of DegreeWorks. Noninstructional counseling faculty serve as DegreeWorks powerusers with expanded knowledge and expertise of the tool and its use during their direct work with students. How do faculty get engaged? Instructional faculty and librarians can get engaged in DegreeWorks by attending a One Record and DegreeWorks information session, encouraging students to utilize DegreeWorks tool and to see counselors to review DegreeWorks audits and reports, and being familiar with the Frequently Asked Questions to best be able to direct students. Non-instructional faculty and counselors are engaged in DegreeWorks daily through their regular responsibilities and meetings with students.
DegreeWorks Team Ashlee Brand | Karen Miller | Shawn Nickens | Robert Shirilla 11
ENHANCING THE STUDENT E XPERIENCE
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