1. Andrew K. Koch Catherine F. Andersen June 4 and 5, 2012 Copyright, Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate Education, 2012.

2. The purpose of this event is...  To put Michigan's Community Colleges’ approach(es) to new student success in a broader national context of relevant theory, research, and best practice.  To undertake a thoughtful analysis of the effectiveness of the beginning college experience at Michigan's Community Colleges.  To develop a faculty call to action in supporting first- year student success.

3.  What We Learned About You  From Theory to Practice  The Context  High Impact Strategies  The Current Situation – From National Studies  We Know that Faculty Matter  What We Know (and Don’t Know) About New Student Programs  Moving from Tactical to Strategic – Considerations for Faculty

4. Please complete an index card anonymously.

6.  You have a strong vision to support Michigan’s 28 community colleges.  You have goals that stress communities of practice, professional development, use of data, research and collaboration.  You have a strategic plan that outlines specific strategies for faculty in this plan.

7. TOTAL CREDIT ENROLLMENT (2010-2011) Total: 294,960 Enrolled full-time: 39.02% Enrolled part-time: 60.98% With an estimated 35 % enrollment increase from Fall 2006:

8.  STUDENT DEMOGRAPHICS (Fall 2010)  Average age: 26.4 18-24 years old: 52% 25-34 years old: 21.62% 35-49 years old: 16.24% Over 50 years old: 5.16% Women : 56.08% Men: 43.92% Minorities : 21.97% White/Non-Hispanic: 62.60% Black: 15.39% Hispanic: 2.81% Asian American: 0.77% Native American/Pacific Islanders: 0.08% Non-U.S. citizens: 1.27%

9.  62% placed in one or more developmental courses:  36% enrolled in one or more developmental courses  49% completed ≤ 3 terms in 4 years*  31% receive Pell Grants  73% retained fall 2010 to spring 2011  33% of CC students transfer at least once  * from 14 ATD schools from 2008-2010

11.  Question as we begin:  Do the major theories that serve as a foundation for student success and retention apply to your students?  Which one(s) are most relevant?

12.  Institutional fit (a state of being) (Tinto)  Can the student’s needs be met at the institution?  Can institutional fit be developed?  Social and academic integration (learning the culture) (Tinto with replication)  Differences in preference by age and life stage

13.  Campus involvement (student behaviors) (Astin with replication)  How important for adults or commuters?  Engagement in learning (Kuh and others)  Links affective and cognitive dimensions of learning  Is both a means to learning outcomes and an end in itself

14.  Commitment and motivation (Tinto and others)  To the institution  To completion of a degree  To a career or life goal

15. Novice Professional Practitioners Prospective Students Personal Communities Professional Communities Michigan Experience EntrySemester 1 Semester 2Transfer/graduateMajor

16. In your opinion, which of these theories best explains student success and retention at your institution? (Or propose your own ideas)

17. X

19.  First-Year Seminars  Common Intellectual Experiences  Learning Communities  Writing-Intensive Courses  Collaborative Assignments and Projects

20.  Undergraduate Research  Diversity/Global Learning  Service Learning, Community-Based Learning  Internships  Capstone Courses and Projects

22. The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly...

23.  WICHE  Decline in Most States  When There is a Rebound...  Non-College Going  Low-Income  First-Generation

24.  Research  Tinto  Braxton  Padilla  Bean & Eaton  Astin  Kuh

25.  1/3 of all students  AA/AS  Not Quite 40%  The Norm – Not the Anomaly

26.  Institution (culture, policy and practice – early alert)  Department (pedagogy, expectations)  Course (triggers -points where students struggle – curriculum – add SI and modify)  Instructor Reduce size or pace of assignments -- but not expectations or standards. If there are large numbers of failing students allow greater opportunity for success. i.e. larger assignments with high percentage grades become several smaller sequential assignments. Are they available?

27.  Adjusting Students' Expectations  Calibrating Your Expectations  Being Approachable  Getting Students to Office Hours  Enhancing Large Lectures  Improving Attendance  Engaging Students in Meaningful Learning  Helping Students Manage and Monitor their Learning

28.  Challenging Talented Students  Assuring Quality in Teaching  Maintaining Cohesiveness Across Multi sectional Courses  Addressing Academic Integrity Issues  Helping Students Who are Experiencing Difficulty

29.  http://www.cmu.edu/teaching/resources/Publicatio nsArchives/InternalReports/BestPractices- 1stYears.pdf http://www.cmu.edu/teaching/resources/Publicatio nsArchives/InternalReports/BestPractices- 1stYears.pdf

30. 1.Embrace undergraduates & their learning. 2.Set and maintain high expectations for student performance. 3.Clarify what students need to do to succeed. 4.Use engaging pedagogy for approaches appropriate for course objectives and students’ abilities and learning styles.

31. 5.Build on students’ knowledge, abilities & talents. 6.Provide meaningful feedback to students. 7.Weave diversity into the curriculum including out- of-class assignments. 8.Make time for students. 9.Hold students accountable for taking their share of the responsibility for their learning.

32.  What faculty do makes a difference.  Basic theoretical models are sound but developed primarily for white, male students  Question: How well do these models apply to all of today’s students?  Research today focuses on program outcomes that can be easily counted (e.g., retention, grade point average)  How can we better understand the short-term and long- term learning that does or does not result from common first-year programs ?

33.  High School Student Graduating Class Sizes Decreasing  First-Year Students Mobile  Transfer Students the Norm  “Atypical” Subpopulations Become the Typical

35.  First-Year Seminars  Do credit hours matter?  Is there a perceived difference between required and elective courses?  Should courses be pass/fail or letter graded?  Do peer leaders have an impact?  Is it a good idea to link seminars into a block or “learning community”?

36.  First-year seminars, cont’d.  Does section size influence effectiveness?  Does the “type” of instructor make a difference?  Does impact relate to a particular textbook?  What’s the bottom line on first-year seminar impact on learning, academic achievement, and retention?

37. Seminars that  Are elective  Are graded  Use peer leaders  Carry sufficient credit hours to achieve objectives  Are linked into a learning community Produce better student outcomes!

38.  Learning communities –institution-specific findings  Impact on retention  Impact on academic achievement  Impact on student satisfaction  Insufficient evidence about impact on student learning  Insufficient evidence about impact on faculty and student leaders  Need clarity about desired learning outcomes

39.  Academic advising  Strong anecdotal evidence about the influence of advising, especially intensive/intrusive advising  Weak statistical evidence  Lack of clarity about goals for advising – Retention? Speed of declaring major? Satisfaction? Time to graduation?  The inherent research difficulties  Issues of student expectations of advisors and experiences

40.  Supplemental Instruction  Strong evidence to support link with retention  Strong evidence to support link with academic achievement  Orientation – a means of early socialization  Strong (but dated) evidence linking two-day pre-term orientation with retention  Research lacking that compares different modes of pre-term orientation

41.  Early Warning  Many models  Some Local Examples  Labor Intensive  Grades – Not Retention  Analytics

42.  Learner Analytics (A Form of Early Warning)  Big Market – Some Promising Data  Retention correlation is spotty a best  Grades

43.  Financial Aid  Combining Support with Aid  Lead Them to Water and Pay Them to Drink  MDRC – Performance-Based Scholarships  Employment on Campus  On-Campus Employment  10-20 Hours a Week

44.  Service Learning  Strong impact on expected involvement in civic affairs and improved life skills  Limited-to-no direct impact on retention  Developmental Education  A necessary, but challenging, service on a number of levels  Impact is mixed on student outcomes  Do developmental courses prepare students for success in regular courses?  How is developmental work best delivered? The ongoing debate.

45.  Basic theoretical models are sound but developed primarily for white, male students  Question: How well do these models apply to all of today’s students?  Research today focuses on program outcomes that can be easily counted (e.g., retention, grade point average)  How can we better understand the short-term and long-term learning that does or does not result from common first-year programs ?

46.  What are their desired outcomes (apart from retention)  What do you know about the degree to which outcomes are realized?

47. Considerations

48.  Context  Scale  Coordination  A Plan

49. X

50.  Many Single Pockets of Excellence?  All, Most, or Some?  Critical Mass

51.  The Benefits of Coordination  Exponential Combinations  Explicit role of faculty  Downsides to Coordination?

52.  “Coordinated Coordination”  Application of Evidence to Action  Do You Have One?  Do You Need One?

56.  What are the College’s greatest strengths in serving beginning students?  What policies, practices, programs are “okay” but could use improvement?  What is not working well and needs to be changed?

57. 1.. Your website: how user-friendly is it for prospective students? 2. Use of social media – Facebook, and/or Twitter, etc.? 3. Summer bridge programs 4. Incentives for early registration 5. Placement testing 6. Focused outreach to high school students

58. 7. “College success” class for high school students 8. Collaborative networks with h.s. faculty to align competencies 9. Campus visits by prospective students and families 10. Pre-term orientation/welcome week 11. Involvement of upper-level students as orientation leaders 12. Parents’ or family programs 13. Pre-term advising

59. 14. Admissions process: setting accurate academic expectations 15. Firm admission/registration dates (late start options) 16. Encouragement of full-time enrollment 17. Enforcing course pre-requisites 18. Probationary/readmit programs 19. Attention to transfer-bound students 20. What’s missing? (College initiatives not listed)

60. 1. First-year seminars (ACA courses) 2. Learning communities 3. Supplemental Instruction 4. Information literacy/library skills 5. Special attention to first-year courses with high DFWI rates 6. Special focus on math 7. Early alert programs/attendance monitoring 8. On-campus student employment

61. 9. Honors programs 10. Learning/study skills centers 11. First-year advising (including for “exploratory” students) 12. Special programs for underrepresented students 13. TRIO Student Support 14. Undergraduate research 15. Service learning

62. 16. Developmental coursework 17. Utilizing upper-level students as mentors, peer leaders, etc. 18. Opportunities for out-of-class interaction with faculty 19. Encouraging/requiring assistance seeking 20. Creation of student study groups 21. Encouraging joining behaviors (campus activities) 22. Introductory course redesign (especially in terms of pedagogy) 23. Career counseling/planning 24. What’s missing? (College initiatives not listed)

63. Discussions, questions, feedback

64.  Feedback Cards  Question #1: One thing that I enjoyed today was..  Questions #2: One thing I would like to change for tomorrow is ….  Questions #3 I would recommend the following as one key focus for a first-year action plan:

65. What ideas for new or improved first-year programs, practices, policies would you like to explore for your community college? What ideas for new or improved first-year programs, practices, policies would you like to explore for your all community colleges in Michigan?