The S.I.N. of Dual Credit: Strategies, Innovation, and Negative Perceptions Presented by: Dr. Shasta Buchanan, Associate Vice President of College & High School Relations Dr. Melissa Biegert, Director of Advising & Completion for High School Programs NASPA Annual Conference 2019

ACC’s College & High School Relations Division The role of College and High School Relations is to enable students to experience college and potential careers by enrolling in courses at Austin Community College (ACC) while still in high school. Our commitment to students is to provide guided access to college through quality instruction, support, and guidance to ensure academic success.

ACC Dual Credit Programs Dual Credit. Partnership between higher education institutions and K-12 to partner and align high school courses to core curriculum college courses that will enable high school students to earn both high school credit and college credit simultaneously. Early College High School (ECHS). High School Designation through the State of Texas. Dual Credit partnership that enables high school students to earn an Associate’s Degree and High School Diploma simultaneously. P-TECH. Pathways in Technical Early College High school is a High School Designation through the State of Texas. This program is similar to an ECHS but includes an industry partner that will provide job shadowing, mentorship, internships, and a promise of an interview for employment post high school completion with an earned Associate Degree. ACC Career Academy. Partnership between ACC and K-12 to enable high school students interested in CTE/Workforce pathways to earn a college credential – Level I or Level II Certificate while earning their HS Diploma. Programs include internships or clinical rotations. We currently have: 25 School Districts (7 ISD’s in taxing district or 28%; 18 ISD’s out of taxing district or 72%) 105 total high schools +12 unique Early College High Schools + 6 PTECHs and counting (including public, private, and charter) 80 total middle schools that we provide outreach to in order to prepare students for dual credit opportunities 12 Early College High Schools 6 PTECH’s and counting 10 Career Academy Pathways for students to pursue Dual Credit Dual credit enrollment increased 34% over the last five years to Career Academy enrollment is 116 Adding two new pathways – Fall 2019 IT Application Development (San Gabriel, Highland, South Austin) Engineering Technology (Anderson HS) Early College High School Early college high school enrollments increased more than three-fold from 255 students in fall 2013 to 1,077 students in fall 2017. ECHS students were enrolled in an average of 7.0 semester credit hours in fall 2017 compared to 4.7 hours in fall 2013 P-TECH/Innovative Academies. Elgin Welding – 15; Crockett HS (AISD) = 12; Priority Charter – Cybersecurity, LBJ – Health(moving for PTECH designation), Reagan – Cybersecurity (redevelopment) TOTAL ENROLLMENT GROWTH Fall 17 over Fall 18: UP ~ 9% 3-year growth: 2015-2018 UP ~18% 5-year growth: 2014-2018 UP ~60% High School Sections - Fall 2018 544 Total Restricted High School Sections; 176 for ECHS (@ACC), 368 DUAL (@HS)   High School Student Enrollment – Fall 2018 5391 Students enrolled in at least 1 class at High School Campus 2426 Students enrolled in at least 1 class at ACC campus 456 Students enrolled at High School AND ACC Campus for fall 2018 7361 TOTAL Students enrolled in at least 1 class for Fall 2018

College & High School Relations Goals & Strategies Plans Organizational Changes Increased Student Support and Communication Community Engagement Increased Academic/Workforce Options Enhanced School District Partnerships Partnerships with 4-Year Institutions Goal I: Access & Enrollment College and High School Relations will increase access and enrollment of high school students into dual credit programs over the next three years by 5%. Goal II: Retention & Completion College and High School Relations will increase student success of high school students enrolled in college-credit programs over the next three years by 5%. Goal III: Matriculation College and High School Relations will increase successful matriculation to ACC, over the next three years by 5%.

Organizational Change. What do we do differently?

Need for Realignment More than 7,000 high school students take ACC courses each year, representing nearly 20 percent of the for-credit ACC student population. Previously, the division was organized by program – - regular Dual Credit (Jr./Sr.,), designed for limited course enrollments with university transferability - Early College High School (9th-12th, with goal of Associate degree completion) - Articulated credit (towards workforce certificate credit post-high school) Early College High School had highest representation of low-income, first generation, Hispanic and African American students. It also had the strongest student support system.

High School Programs Enrollment Dual Credit Dual credit enrollment increased 34% over the last five years to Early College High School Early college high school enrollments increased more than three-fold from 255 students in fall 2013 to 1,077 students in fall 2017. ECHS students were enrolled in an average of 7.0 semester credit hours in fall 2017 compared to 4.7 hours in fall 2013 TOTAL ENROLLMENT GROWTH Fall 17 over Fall 18: UP ~ 9% 3-year growth: 2015-2018 UP ~18% 5-year growth: 2014-2018 UP ~60%

High School Programs Enrollment HS Students account for 16% of the Total ACC Population White = 16% of the White total population are in a high school program Black = 11% of the Black total population are in a high school program Hispanic = 13% of the Hispanic total population are in a high school program Asian = 13% of the Asian total population are in a high school program *African-American males are approximately 1% of dual credit population **Hispanic males are approximately 5% of dual credit population Dual Credit: African American increased by 86% (but still only 5% of dual credit population; which is less than the traditional population) Hispanic students increased by 105% (33% of the population; which is still less than the traditional Hispanic population) ECHS: African American credit hours increased 266% (is 13% of the population; which is higher than the traditional and dual credit hours) Hispanic student credit hours increased by 531% (which is 65% of the population; which is higher than the traditional and dual credit hours)

COLLEGE & HIGH SCHOOL RELATIONS STRUCTURE College and High School Relations Associate Vice President Dr. Shasta Buchanan HS Enrollment Director Ms. Mison Zuniga HS Advising and Completion Dr. Melissa Biegert HS Program Operations and Outreach Manager Naomi Garza Upward Bound Program Ms. Trissi Johnson Executive Assistant Ms. Tina Lynch Senior IT Project Manager Priyam Gorti Dual Credit Recruitment Middle School Outreach Dual Credit Enrollment Advising Dual Credit New Student Orientation Instructional Department – Section Requests Developing New Program Partnerships Advising/Interventions Student Academic Progress Mid-Term Advising Student Issues/Concerns Early Alerts Final Grades Student Success/Equity Report College/Career Advising High School Recruitment/Outreach Data Processing Data Entry Enrollment Reports Reagan HS/Travis HS College/Career Support High School Success Advising Weekly Tutoring Academic Saturdays Six (6)-week Summer Bridge

Impact - Success Rates (Fall 2017) All Courses Combined HS PROGRAM STUDENTS Overall 87% success rate of all HS PROGRAMS students as of Fall 2017 African American students = 19 percentage points higher than traditional students who identify as African American (create an opportunity for students to transition to post-secondary education ready to continue to persist and complete degree on time). Hispanic students = 14 percentage points higher than traditional students who identify as Hispanic (create an opportunity for students to transition to post-secondary education ready to continue to persist and complete degree on time). ALL PROGRAMS African American Males = 84% Hispanic Males = 83% *African-American males are approximately 1% of dual credit population **Hispanic males are approximately 5% of dual credit population Dual Credit White Males = 88% Black Males = 83% Hispanic Males = 84% Asian Males = 91% Other Males = 86% ECHS White Males = 80% Black Males = 85% Hispanic Males = 81% Asian Males = 100% Other Males = 83%

Analyzing Dual Credit at Your Institution Activity #1- SWOT analysis: Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats Activity #2 - Assessing Rigor and College Readiness in Your Dual Credit Program Activity #3 - Data inclusion Activity #4 - Action Plan Shasta leads

Action Plans for Dual Credit Programs Action Plans. Plans of work for each of your key strategies. Each strategy must be supported by one or more specific activities necessary to successfully accomplish the strategy/objective. The activities, taken in total, comprise the action plan. This will be the most detailed and time-consuming part of the planning process. The action plans represent the “guts” of the plan. ~Ruffalo Noel-Levitz BREAKING NEWS LIVE Responsibility Who will be held accountable for the action plan. This will include internal and external stakeholders. Timetable When will you start, what are the itemized tasks (with dates), and when will activity be completed? Budget How much will the action plan cost. The budget should include total and itemized projected costs. Activity What do you plan to complete? Evaluation & Assessment Process How often will reports on progress be made? How will success be defined?

Sample Strategic Plan Go forth and plan!!!

Questions??? Melissa Biegert, Ph.D. melissa.biegert@austincc.edu Shasta Buchanan, Ed.D. shasta.buchanan@austincc.edu #ACCFirst