Presentation Transcript

1. lessons from two states Scott E. Evenbeck, Ph.D. The New Community College at CUNY Indiana University February 13, 2012
2. The New Community College at CUNY Scott E. Evenbeck President The New Community College at CUNY 50 West 40th Street New York, New York 10018 Tel: (646) 313-8020 Email: scott.evenbeck@mail.cuny.edu Website: ncci.cuny.edu
3. Abstract Enhancing the academic achievement and persistence to graduation of entering (and transferring) students has received renewed attention as a central component of Complete College America. There has been a great deal of national attention to principles to inform good practice in supporting student achievement. A compilation of strategies and practices, including those implemented on one campus and those planned for another campus, is addressed.
4. Outline The National Picture Lessons Learned A New Model Assessment Discussion
5. The National Picture Liberal Education and America’s Promise
6. Principles of Excellence in Undergraduate Education
7. Principle One Aim High and Make Excellence Inclusive Make the Essential Learning Outcomes a framework for the entire education experience, connecting school, college, work, and life
8. Principle Two Give Students a Compass Emphasis on the importance of achieving the Essential Learning Outcomes and assessing their progress
9. Principle Three Teach the Arts of Inquiry and Innovation Immerse all students in analysis, discovery, problem solving, and communication, beginning in school and advancing in college
10. Principle Four Engage the Big Questions Teach through the curriculum to far reaching issues – contemporary and enduring – in science and society, cultures and values, global interdependence, the changing economy, and human dignity and freedom
11. Principle Five Connect Knowledge with Choices and Action Prepare students for citizenship and work through engaged and guided learning on “real-world” problems
12. Principle Six Foster Civic, Intercultural, and Ethical Learning Emphasize personal and social responsibility, in every field of study
13. Principle Seven Assess Students’ Ability to Apply Learning to Complex Problems Use assessment to deepen learning and to establish a culture of shared purposed and continuous improvement
14. Lessons Learned
15. What did We learn From Indiana
16. John Gardner says you need Support from the top A structure to do the work
17. Support from the top
18. Structure to do the work The New Community College
19. A Comprehension Approach
20. Preparing for College Work with students and family members as well as school districts and the community at large
21. Early Contacts with the Campus Campus Visits Websites Outreach Activities
22. Admissions Process Including deadlines Involvement of parents and family members Good information (cost, what does a syllabus look like?)
23. Orientation Involves parents and family members Balance critical information and bonding with campus and other students
24. Academic Advising Availability How structured? Pathways to graduation (four-year plans?) Electronic resources (degree audit, what if?, advance notice on courses and times – two years?)
25. Placement Testing Are they valid?
26. Bridge Programs Balance academic and social engagement
27. Focus on Careers From day one
28. First-Year Seminars
29. First-Year Seminars
30. Learning Communities
31. Curriculum Prerequisites Interdisciplinary How many hours? How many real hours? How many in first year? Are courses open for students – when the want to take them? Use of summer
32. Early Warning Systems
33. Academic Support Supplemental Instruction Structured learning assistance Support integrated with courses (and required?)
34. Co-Curriculum Wrap around the curriculum American Democracy Project Common reading / Common theme Newspapers Arts and culture in the community
35. Experiential Learning
36. George Kuh What did he and his colleagues say after the first 10 years of the NSSE? “I say make it possible for every student to participate in at least two high impact activities during their undergraduate program, one in the first year, and one later related to their major field. The obvious choices for the first year are first-year seminars, learning communities, and service learning. A common intellectual experience should be a non-negotiable organizing principle for these early college activities. In the later years of college, study abroad, internships and other field experiences, and a culminating experience are all possible.”
37. effect on engagement on fygpa by act scores Source: Kinzie & Evenbeck, “Setting up Learning Communities That Connect with Other High Impact Practices,”Washington Center, Learning Community Summer Institute.
38. Source: Kinzie & Evenbeck, “Setting up Learning Communities That Connect with Other High Impact Practices,”Washington Center, Learning Community Summer Institute.
39. Capstones Pulling it all together
40. What Other Areas Merit Attention
41. Keep in Touch with Students
42. Faculty and Staff Development
43. A Structure to do the Work Who is responsible? Should be on office / person and everyone
44. Attendance Policies Administrative withdrawal
45. Collaboration Collaboration between community colleges and four-year campuses
46. Retention, Probation and Dismissal Policies and Practices
47. The Involvement of Peers The Culture of Learning
48. Embracing Diversity
49. Globalization
50. Learning Spaces Formal and Informal
51. Bursar Policies and Practices
52. Financial Aid Policies and Practices
53. Financial Literacy Successful financial literacy and retention practices must provide students with the tools the need to survive – before they know they need them
54. And We Learned From Assessment
55. SI doesn’t work with math (measure – low attendance) We added SLA
56. TLC’s really matter (impact on engagement) Expansion of Program
57. TLC’s with Bridge Heightens the Impact (outcomes data) Expanded the Combination
58. Orientation is about Connecting (surveys, program review) Reformed approach to Orientation
59. Advising is about Connecting (program review, survey) Reinstated Appointments
60. Out of Class really matters (nsse data, surveys) Strengthened out of class Added rise
61. Space makes a difference (use of building) Renovated to provide Informal learning inside and out
62. Diversity has to be at the core (student feedback, faculty survey data) SAAB, SAAS Participation in Bridge Multicultural Center Sankofa Room
63. It takes a Team (student feedback) Changed work pattern for advisors Added Peer Mentors Implemented and Refined Participation of Librarians
64. options don’t work
65. do a pilot and then ramp up the commitment to assessment and improvement is key go to scale
66. incentives matter
67. retention over time
68. graduation rate
69. ANewModel The New Community College
70. Vision Statement Founded in the CUNY tradition of access to excellence, The New Community College will support student achievement in a dynamic, inclusive and intellectually engaging environment. We will be recognized for the contributions of our students, faculty, staff and graduates to our communities and to a thriving, sustainable New York City.
71. Mission Statement TheNEW Community College at CUNY is an urban public institution that offers associate degree programs in an environment that nurtures student success. Based on extensive research, NCC integrates excellence in teaching, proactive and responsive student supports and external partnerships. Our primary objective is to increase the number of students, especially those not effectively served in higher education, who persist in their programs of study and attain a degree in a timely manner. We offer a clearly defined educational pathway including an integrated first-year curriculum that is inquiry-based and majors that prepare students for careers and baccalaureate study. NCC programs are academically rigorous, multidisciplinary and experientially based. COMMUNITYis at the center of NCC’s mission, and students are at the center of the NCC. NCC fosters an environment of cooperation and collaboration, where students, faculty and staff respect and appreciate each other’s perspectives, commonalities, differences and contributions. Students address compelling urban issues and move into the wider community through experiential learning and internships. Graduates will have the intellectual tools and confidence to be engaged citizens and responsible leaders. COLLEGEis a time and a place and an idea –an opportunity to cultivate the knowledge and experience required to meet intellectual, creative and professional goals. NCC supports students in developing the capacity to interpret and evaluate ideas they encounter both in and out of the classroom and to make informed judgments. Students will learn to express their ideas effectively and know that their voices are valued. They will graduate with a greater sense of responsibility for their academic success and personal growth,  prepared to pursue additional  studies, a career and lifelong learning.
72. What we will do to Help Students Learn
73. What We Will Do To Help Students Learn Precollege Recruitment & Summer Bridge Program Precollege Program Specialized Outreach Collaborative Programs: College Now, At Home in College CUNY Prep CBO Partnerhips Summer Bridge Program Learning how to learn Building Effective Teams: Team Project with Math, Reading, Writing & Self Reflection (ePortfolios) Community Building Recruitment Programs and schools relevant to each major offered at the NCC have been identified as potential sources of recruitment. NCC will work with CUNY Collaborative Programs to build on their existing relationships with the New York City public high schools. Admissions will include: Required Information Session, Next Step Meetings and FAFSA Completion (for eligible students)
74. New Community College Model Requires fulltime enrollment in the first year Extensive Learning Communities with contextualized skills instruction Embeds student support with the academic program Is centered on student learning outcomes assessed via rubrics Information technology is central with ePortfolio and digital library resources First-year Core Curriculum City Seminar - case study, reading/writing, quantitative reasoning (10.5 hours/week) Statistics (6 hours/week); Ethnographies of Work (4.5 hours/week) Curricular links to programs of study & careers Context & Connections Theme of sustaining a thriving New York City An Office of Partnerships to coordinate experiential & career connections A Center for College Effectiveness (Faculty Development & Assessment)
75. The New Community College
76. Markers for The New Community College
77. Clear Pathways from High School and GED Programs to The New Community College
78. Information Sessions
79. Bridge
80. Integrated Developmental Education
81. Full-time Enrollment in The First Year
82. Learning Community Including City Seminar Ethnographies of Work
83. Integration of Curriculum with Co-Curricular Activities and Experiential Education
84. Team Approach to Instruction Faculty Across Disciplines Advisors and Mentors on the Teams Librarians Integral To Curriculum Development
85. Focus on Assessment and Evaluation
86. Centered on Student Learning Student Learning Outcomes andAssessment via Electronic Portfolio
87. IT central to the work electronic resources library eport
88. Integration of School With Work Preparatory to Work
89. Focus on Both: Getting A Job and Finishing a Baccalaureate Degree
90. Centered on the City
91. Taking things to scale
92. Catalyst Paper Full Participation: Building the Architecture for Diversity and Public Engagement in Higher Education Sturm, S., Eatman, T., Saltmarsh, J., & Bush, A. (2011). Full participation: Building the architecture for diversity and public engagement in higher education (White paper). Columbia University Law School: Center for Institutional and Social Change.
93. Catalyst Paper Full Participation: Increasing student access and success, particularly for underrepresented, first-generation, and low-income students; Diversifying higher education faculties, often with separate projects for hiring, retention, and climate; Promoting community, civic, or public engagement for students; and, Increasing support for faculty‘s public or engaged scholarship.
94. Catalyst Paper Often, the kind of change occurring on campus aimed at addressing diversity, inclusion, retention, college completion, improving teaching and learning, or community engagement (Saltmarsh, Hartley, & Clayton, 2009) is associated with what Larry Cuban (1988) has described as “first-order change,” which aims to improve “the efficiency and effectiveness of what is done...to make what already exists more efficient and more effective, without disturbing the basic organizational features, [and] without substantially altering the ways in which [faculty and students] perform their roles” (p. 341). First-order changes do not address the core culture of the institution. They do not get at the institutional architecture. They do not require what Eckel, Hill, and Green (1998) refer to as changes that “alter the culture of the institution,” those which require “major shifts in an institution‘s culture – the common set of beliefs and values that creates a shared interpretation and understanding of events and actions” (p. 3).
95. Catalyst Paper “Second-order changes introduce new goals, structures, and roles that transform familiar ways of doing things into new ways of solving persistent problems” (p. 341). Second-order changes are associated with transformational change, which “(1) alters the culture of the institution by changing select underlying assumptions and institutional behaviors, processes, and products; (2) is deep and pervasive, affecting the whole institution; (3) is intentional; and (4) occurs over time” (Eckel, Hill, & Green, 1998, p. 3). Most importantly, for these efforts to be transformative, there needs to be integration of change efforts focused on cultural change: “Institution-wide patterns of perceiving, thinking, and feeling; shared understandings; collective assumptions; and common interpretive frameworks are the ingredients of this ‘invisible glue’ called institutional culture” (p. 3). An architectural approach is aimed at culture change that creates more welcoming environments that respond more fully to the needs of diverse students, faculty, and staff, allowing campuses to more fully achieve their public mission.
96. Catalyst Paper An architecture of full participation thus results from a long-term yet urgent “campaign” animated by a shared vision, guided by institutional mindfulness, and sustained by an ongoing collaboration among leaders at many levels of the institution and community. The process of building this architecture will better equip higher education institutions to make good on their stated commitments to diversity, publicly engaged scholarship, and student success. It will also cultivate vibrant and dynamic communities that build multi-generational knowledge and leadership capacity, in collaboration with communities, to revitalize communities and democratic institutions.
97. what do they have in common? First Generation Low Income Commuter Under-prepared (changing at IUPUI) Diverse (more at NCC)
98. elementsto strengthen academic achievement
99. October 2011: Summit and Academy Remediation is not working: put students in gateway courses with enhanced support. Performance funding (at state level and perhaps individual level – Hawaii considering a $300 book stipend the next semester when student completes 15 hours). Pathways to graduation. Limit the options—provide pathways. Structured, prescribed pathways. Instructional pathways with well defined learning goals. Support for students where the students are—in time and place. Build the curriculum around what students need to take. Protocols to support students in pathways (eadvisor at ASU a model)
100. October 2011: Summit and Academy Start with statistics (the calculus sequence should not be the default). What math for what program. Get students to certificates or associate or baccalaureate degrees in timely fashion (a credential with economic value). Block-schedule classes. What are the skills students need for employment—attend to them. Placement tests are not working except at the extremes. Students should get some prep for placement tests and understand the stakes.
101. Source:“The inconvenient truth … Family Income and Educational Attainment 1970 to 2010.”Postsecondary Education Opportunity 235 (January 2012) <http://www.postsecondary.org>
102. DISCUSSION
103. REFLECTION How will your students have clear pathways to degree completion? Will your campus have mandatory: Orientation? Bridge? First-Year Seminars? Learning Communities? Thresholds for taking courses? Attendance? Homework? How will peer mentors help define the culture of the campus? How Will you use assessment to change programs? Will your changes be Level I change or Level II change?