Hostos Operational Plan Executive Summary 2018-2019

2018-2019 College-Wide Operational Plan Executive Summary November 2018

2018-2019 Operational Plan Executive Summary November 2018 Building on Success; Focusing Efforts: Year 2 Hostos is embarking on Year 2 of our five-year Strategic Plan developed through an inclusive process that engaged students, faculty and staff across the campus. The Strategic Plan sets forth bold goals and reaffirms priorities that have guided the college since its inception. Year 1 set a foundation for these goals. In Year 2, we are focusing our efforts more intentionally, based on evidence and collaboratively-determined priorities.

The 2018-2019 Operational Plan homes in on the student experience in Phases I and II: Pre-Enrolled Students and Entering Students. Focusing on the first two phases allows us to build upon significant gains in gateway English and Math, and implement strategies to insure all students use the Degree Maps developed last year, for example.

The 2018-19 OP reflects a sustained commitment to implementing an Enrollment Plan that more seamlessly and effectively prepares students for college success, and a renewed effort to expand use of Succeed@Hostos. It also responds to an evaluation of key indicators and an acknowledgment that we must address our decreasing retention in order to achieve other Strategic Plan goals.

As an institution, we continue working together to improve outcomes. This year’s Performance Management Process Report (PMP) was well-received by Interim Chancellor Vita Rabinowitz, who commended us for our commitment to improving student outcomes. Specific mention included acknowledgment of our ongoing innovations in developmental education, and gains made due to co-requisite courses.

Also, she cited the importance of new program models like Construction Management that include industry credentials in high demand fields. It celebrated student accomplishments, and those of our faculty and staff.

As an institution, we continue to improve our planning process, learning as a community how to implement our ambitious Strategic Plan. Last year was an unusual year; we had a new Strategic Plan, and our Periodic Review Report was submitted on May 31, 2017

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to the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE)1. As a result, the 20172018 Operational Plan was presented to the college in May 2018, a document that better reflected what had been done than what would be done. 2018-19’s planning and implementation process is more closely aligned with the calendar included in the Strategic Plan.

Reading the Plan: The 2018-19 OP format has changed, a reflection of an evolution in how we approach the planning process, and how we communicate the results. Starting on the left, we are committed to two College-Wide Objectives: Evaluate and refine the Enrollment Plan, and Develop an evidence-driven, coordinated plan to radically increase retention.

The Enrollment Plan, first implemented in anticipation of the fall 2018 semester, is a cross-divisional initiative to move up the enrollment calendar and align the work of offices across the college in an effort to recruit, inform, test, award financial aid, prepare and orient students as early and as seamlessly as possible. The first iteration of the Plan will inform subsequent and ongoing work. Much was learned, including important changes in how offices work to support one another and our students. Outcomes included an increased percentage (59%) of students who filed their FAFSA by July 1st.

Next year we aim to build on these gains, and have 61% of students file by July 1st.

Declining retention is a concern across the University, and we are no exception. Our retention of first-time, full-time freshmen has decreased from 68% in 2015 to 57% in 2017. Our 2018-19 goal is to increase retention to 76%. Understanding when we can intervene, and how to intervene effectively to staunch the flow of students who don’t return for their second fall semester at Hostos is critical. Supporting our students’ academic progress and degree completion is our defining purpose. They cannot graduate if they don’t come back. There are no low hanging fruit when it comes to retention; it requires an evidence-informed college-wide effort to do this work. The 20182019 OP includes activities in support of this holistic effort. We will continue to support the Momentum Campaign and aim to increase the number of students who earn 20+ credits in Year 1 from 27.8% (2016 cohort) to 37.4% for the 2018 cohort.

We have a number of powerful technology platforms including Hobson’s Connect and Succeed@Hostos/Starfish, along with SharePoint and eLumen, that can support crossdivisional activities and help us track our progress. This year, ChatBots will be introduced in key service areas to improve the speed of customer service, and the effectiveness of our staff. We will design and launch a document repository in support of the Middle States accreditation process in spring 2019. These are investments that have the capacity to support our activities and help us track our process. It is incumbent upon us to use these tools to increase effectiveness and accountability.

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MSCHE defines, maintains, and promotes educational excellence across institutions with diverse missions, student populations, and resources. The accreditation process ensures institutional accountability, self‐appraisal, improvement, and innovation through peer review and the rigorous application of standards within the context of institutional mission.

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Aligning our priorities: The next section outlines the alignment of the 2018-2019 OP with the Strategic Plan and Mission, reminding us all that the work we undertake on an annual basis is aligned with, and guided by, our broader goals and purpose. This practice of returning to collectively-identified priorities and goals keeps us focused, and provides valuable guideposts as we do our daily work. Also, MSCHE requires us to align our Mission, Strategic Plan and Operational Plan, and to demonstrate that alignment as part of the accreditation process. Our next Self-Study will be submitted in 2021. Our work begins now to prepare ourselves for this college-wide process of documenting and evaluating what we do, and how we know it supports student success.

Remembering our commitments: The Strategic Plan’s five structural underpinnings (cross-cutting commitments)— Assessment, Communication, Community Engagement, Professional Development, and Systems Alignment—were included as reminders to always keep these commitments in mind as we plan our work, and that success will require us to address these commitments. The Senior Leadership Council (SLC) is charged with strengthening the underpinnings of our SP, reinforcing our operational infrastructure, if you will. We identified the cross-cutting commitments during the Strategic Planning process as areas for improvement in how we work, and to inform the questions we ask ourselves as we engage in planning.

What we are doing in 2018-19: The last section provides details about the Activities we will undertake this year in service of achieving our College-Wide Objectives. The Activities fall into five categories or “buckets,” which were identified through college-wide Open Forums in May 2018, and refined at the President’s Retreat in June 2018. Although specific activities continue to be the province of individual divisions, our emphasis on activity categories, underscores the necessarily cross-divisional aspect of successfully meeting student needs: 

Create clear paths from enrollment to completion

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Succeed@Hostos

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Create a student first environment

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Help students on probation

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Communicate effectively with students

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Use evidence-based decision-making

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Contextualizing our work: We do not do our work in a vacuum. In addition to the college-wide priorities that guide our efforts in 2018-2019, there are changes beyond our campus that create opportunities and challenges we will meet in the process of implementing the 2018-19 Operational Plan: The expansion of Summer Pell will allow qualified students to access financial aid, making summer enrollment more affordable, and helping accelerate credit accumulation and progress to degree. Taking advantage of these new opportunities requires alignment of communication to students about eligibility, available courses and timely registration. Financial support for summer courses could have an important and positive impact on student success.

CUNY is changing its enrollment process and eliminating the “phases.” We will be competing earlier and harder to meet our enrollment targets. The Enrollment working group has strategies in place that anticipate the new process, and is poised to respond to lessons learned on the ground.

We are focused on shared goals!

We continue to be motivated by past successes and by collaborating to achieve our shared priorities. As we work towards accomplishing the goals included in our 20182019 Operational Plan, we all have a role in improving student outcomes and facilitating completion. Thank you for doing your part.

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