1. The Faculty Role in Scaled and Sustained Community College Excellence
Josh Wyner
Founder & Executive Director, Aspen College Excellence Program
Vice President, Aspen Institute
August 30, 2017

2. The Aspen Institute College Excellence Program Framework for Student Success
Learning
Do colleges set expectations for learning, measure what is learned, and use that information in a process of continuous improvement?
Equity
Do colleges strive for equitable access and outcomes for underserved minority and low-income students?
Completion and Transfer with Bachelor’s Degree
Do students earn degrees and other meaningful credentials, and do those who transfer go on to earn bachelor’s degrees?
Labor Market Outcomes
Do graduates find strong employment opportunity in well-paying jobs?

3. Winners, Finalists with Distinction, and Rising Stars
Lake Area Technical Institute, Watertown, SD (2017)
Santa Fe College, Gainesville, FL (2015)
Santa Barbara City College, Santa Barbara, CA (2013)
Walla Walla Community College, Walla Walla, WA (2013)
Valencia College, Orlando, FL (2011) F
Broward College, Ft. Lauderdale, FL (2017)
Indian River State College, Fort Pierce, FL (2017)
Lake Area Technical Institute, Watertown, SD (2015, 2013, 2011)
West Kentucky Community & Technical College, Paducah, KY (2015,2011)
Kingsborough Community College , Bronx, NY (2013)
Miami-Dade College (2011)
Walla Walla Community College, Walla Walla, WA (2011)
Odessa College, Odessa, TX (2017)
San Jacinto College, Pasadena, TX (2017)
Kennedy-King College, Chicago, IL (2015)
Winners
Finalists w/Distinction
Three major challenges all community colleges are grappling with:
Low levels of completion for developmental education students – Largest part of low completion rates is underprepared students not attaining credentials
Budget Pressures – Decreasing state appropriations and local tax revenue
Accountability – Increasing expectations for student success from multiple stakeholders
Rising Star

4. Finalists
Anoka-Ramsey Community College, Coon Rapids, MN (2017)
Brazosport College, Lake Jackson, TX (2015, 2013)
Broward College, Ft. Lauderdale, FL (2013)
Chaffey College, Rancho Cucamonga, CA (2017)
College of the Ouachitas, Malvern, AR (2013)
El Paso Community College, El Paso, TX (2015)
Hostos Community College, Bronx, NY (2015)
Indian River State College, Fort Pierce, FL (2015)
Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, Perkinston, MS (2011)
Mott Community College, Flint, MI (2011)
Northeast Community College, Norfolk, NE (2017)
Northeast Iowa Community College, Calmar, IA (2011)
Olympic College, Bremerton, WA (2015)
Pasadena City College, Pasadena, CA (2017)
Renton Technical College, Renton, WA (2015)
Santa Barbara City College, Santa Barbara, CA (2011)
Santa Fe College, Gainesville, FL (2013)
Southeast Kentucky Community & Technical College, Cumberland, KY (2013)
Southwest Texas Junior College, Uvalde, TX (2011)
West Kentucky Community and Technical College, Paducah, WV (2017, 2013)
Finalists
Three major challenges all community colleges are grappling with:
Low levels of completion for developmental education students – Largest part of low completion rates is underprepared students not attaining credentials
Budget Pressures – Decreasing state appropriations and local tax revenue
Accountability – Increasing expectations for student success from multiple stakeholders

5. Outcomes of Prize Finalist Colleges
Exceptional improvements over time in completion
Increase in the number of credentials awarded at Valencia College, AA, AS/AAS Degrees and Certificates/Diplomas Awarded
84% increase over 6 years
46% increase over 6 years
66% increase over 6 years

6. Outcomes of Prize Finalist Colleges
Exceptional improvements over time in completion
Odessa College: Five-Year Trends

7. Outcomes of Prize Finalist Colleges
Exceptional improvements over time
San Jacinto College: Five-Year Trends

8. Outcomes of Prize Finalist Colleges
Completion/transfer rates that far surpass the national average
2011 Winner
2017 Winner

9. Outcomes of Prize Finalist Colleges
Exceptional transfer and bachelor’s completion outcomes
Rate of first-time in college students who successfully transferred to a four-year college in six years, and the rate of bachelor’s degree completion for those students who transferred
50% higher than avg.
29% higher than avg.
67% higher than avg.
24% higher than avg.
Transfer-Out Bachelor’s Completion Rate
Transfer-Out Bachelor’s Completion Rate
Transfer-Out Rate
Transfer-Out Rate

10. Outcomes of Prize Finalist Colleges
Exceptional labor market outcomes for graduates
Average salaries of recent graduates compared to the average for others in the region (top short-term and long-term performers)
28% above avg.
Regional average for All Workers
Regional average for New Hires
27% above avg.
2017 Winner
2017 Rising Star

11. Themes characterizing the institutions that achieve exceptional outcomes for students:1
Strong Leadership and Organizational Culture 2
Guided Pathways to Continuing Education and Well-Paying Jobs 3
Intentional Focus on Improving Teaching and Learning 4
Aspen Prize finalist colleges demonstrated intentional strategies for addressing the challenges of completion, budget pressures, and accountability, while always staying focused on student success. These strategies are evident throughout the five themes of exceptional practices that emerged from site visits.
Strategic Data Use to Improve Practice and Close Equity Gaps 5
Partnerships and Structures Aligned to Defined Student Outcomes

12. Themes characterizing the institutions that achieve exceptional outcomes for students:1
Strong Leadership and Organizational Culture 2
Guided Pathways to Continuing Education and Well-Paying Jobs 3
Intentional Focus on Improving Teaching and Learning 4
Aspen Prize finalist colleges demonstrated intentional strategies for addressing the challenges of completion, budget pressures, and accountability, while always staying focused on student success. These strategies are evident throughout the five themes of exceptional practices that emerged from site visits.
Strategic Data Use to Improve Practice and Close Equity Gaps 5
Partnerships and Structures Aligned to Defined Student Outcomes

13. West Kentucky Community and Technical College
Widespread development and use of assessments to improve instruction, driven by leaders engaging in multiple strategies to create urgency around the need to improve student learning.
Result: Strong graduation rates and dramatically improved reading scores.

14. Valencia College
Culture where faculty consistently invent new approaches to teaching and measure whether they improve student learning—part of the exceptional Teaching and Learning Academy and a new process of tenure and promotion.
Result: Graduation rates nearly double those of peer institutions; strong transfer and bachelor’s completion rates.

15. Result: Steadily increasing course completion and retention rates.
San Jacinto College
San Jacinto professionalized department chairs and trained them as instructional leaders.
Result: Steadily increasing course completion and retention rates.

16. What does this mean for Pathways work?
Transfer and Bachelor’s Completion
Align learning to what comes next.
Create strong transfer program maps.

17. What does this mean for Pathways work?
Employment with Family-Sustaining Wages
Align learning to what comes next.
Strategic engagement with employers.

18. More information The 2017 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence
What Excellent Community Colleges Do (Harvard Ed Press, 2014)
Crisis & Opportunity: Aligning the Community College Presidency with Student Success
Hiring Exceptional Community College Presidents: Tools for Hiring Leaders Who Advance Student Access and Success
Structural Equity: Big-Picture Thinking & Partnerships That Improve Community College Student Outcomes
The Transfer Playbook: Essential Practices for Two- and Four-Year Colleges
Online: