Texas Completion by Design

1. Texas Completion by Design June 2012 Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

2. CBD Panel Alamo Colleges – Dr. Jo-Carol Fabianke Dallas Co. Community College District – Audra Barrett El Paso Community College – Steve Smith Lone Star College System – Juanita Chrysanthou South Texas College – Kristina Wilson

3. What is CBD? Five year community college reform effort aimed to help more low-income young adults complete more quickly and with greater rates of success The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will provide nearly $40 million over five years to four states The largest investment to date in higher education for the Foundation

4. Who is CBD • After a rigorous application process, only four grants were awarded in the nation: • Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas • Lone Star College System is the Managing Partner for the Texas cadre

5. Texas CBD Cadre • Alamo Colleges • Dallas County Community College District • El Paso Community College • Lone Star College System • South Texas College

6. Collective Impact 289,000 Students = 1/3 of all TX community college students

7. State Partners

8. State Advisory Board - Policy • Transfer and Articulation • Outcomes Based Funding • Developmental Education • Financial Aid • Assessment/Diagnostics • Progress and Completion Best Practices

9. The Challenge of Completion For Colleges: For Students: • Financial • Incentives aligned with access, not completion • Under-resourced • Innovations tend to be isolated • Change is hard, even when the will is there • Easy to enroll, easy to drop out • Many enter without a clear plan, and need developmental education • Lack of confidence, financial resources and family support

10. Question How can a community college raise completion rates for large numbers of students while containing costs, maintaining open access and ensuring quality?

11. Answer Develop strong completion pathways, defined as integrated policies, practices and programs designed to maximize students’ progress from start to finish.

12. Gates Foundation Pathway Principles • Accelerate Entry into Programs of Study • Minimize Time to College-Ready • Ensure Students know Requirements • Customize/Contextualize Instruction • Integrated Student Supports with Instruction • Monitor Student Progress and Provide Feedback • Reward Completion Focused Behaviors • Leverage Technology to Improve Learning

13. Supporting Student Success:PREVENTING LOSS, CREATING MOMENTUMa system designed for student completion PROGRESS Entry into Course Study To 75% Requirements Completed COMPLETION Complete Course of Study to Credential with Labor Market Value ENTRY Enrollment to Completion of Gatekeepr Courses CONNECTION Interest to Application JOBS

14. How? • Analyze and understand the common barriers and milestones that students experience • Implement and integrate proven and promising practices to provide students with the quickest, straightest path to a degree • Create the conditions for change by empowering interdisciplinary, cross-campus delegations of faculty, staff and administrators • Build infrastructure for continuous improvement

15. Planning Phase • Interdisciplinary, cross-functional teams • Data Analysis • Target Student Groups • Applied Inquiry Framework • Engagement • Faculty, Staff, Students • Inventory of Promising Practices • Bubble Charts • Priority Strategies • Model Pathways

16. CCRC Pathway Analyses College “scoreboard” student completion rates Program of study entry/completion patterns Characteristics of concentrators vs. non-concentrators Program entry/completion rates by field Timing of program entry Pathways of program completers Courses most frequently taken by program completers “Stacking” of credentials 4) Trends in awards by field (IPEDS)

17. Student Groups

18. Applied Inquiry Framework CYCLE OF EVIDENCE-BASED IMPROVEMENT Stage 1 – Explore how to improve outcomes Stage 2 – Gather meaningful evidence Stage 3 – Discuss evidence broadly Stage 4 – Use evidence to inform change Stage 5 – Measure the impact of change

19. Sample Bubble Connection Entry Progress Completion Getting Students into a program of study Automatic Graduation Mandatory Education Plan Student monitoring system (milestones, early alert, audits) Early Placement Testing, Prep and Remediation Reverse Transfer Mandatory Orientation Accelerating Students through Developmental Education Streamlining programs, course options and core curriculum K-12 curriculum alignment University curriculum alignment Mandatory Student success course Alumni Development Accelerated learning Student Engagement: faculty advising, etc. College-going culture Packaged degrees aligned with transfer, dual enrollment, career Aligning programs and services with workforce, career and transfer pathways Priority registration; automatic scheduling Dual enrollment Using technology for a comprehensive advising, tracking and degree planning system (dashboard) Incentivizing completion at institutional and state level: engagement, communication and messaging Financial Planning and Incentives Institutional alignment of completion strategies and resources

20. Top 5 Priorities

21. Model Pathway

22. Lucky to cross the finish line after 5-years Underprepared, underfunded, enrolled part-time Undirected and barely “college ready” Stop-out risk • Attends a HS without college prep curriculum • Confused by FAFSA; family & school don’t help; doesn’t complete FAFSA • Graduates HS and gets a low-wage retail job; delays enrollment for a year; finally enrolls in local community college, but part-time • College placement test requirements force 3 semesters of developmental education courses • Lack of advising leads to unstructured, part-time enrollment • Lecture-based gatekeeper courses create disengagement , boredom, and surface-level learning at best • Self Advising leads to extra courses/excessive credits and inability to access needed college supports • Semester-based learning model constrains accelerated progression • Over-enrolled courses and heavy workload lead her to “stop out” for a semester • Loses job and re-enrolls, continues to struggle • Graduation fees present financial and administrative barrier to graduation • Lack of career advising leads to low-wage retail work again even after obtaining a credential Terry’s Current Journey • Tale of Two Terrys • 10th grade • B-student • Low-income family • Dreams of becoming a teacher • Starts at a community college CONNECTION ENTRY PROGRESS COMPLETION • Intrusive advising steers her into a coherent program of study • Learner Relationship Management system alerts her when at academic risk so she can course correct and enables a useful social network of support • Innovative competency-based learning options allow her to complete many courses at her own pace • Diagnostic assessment allows for targeted developmental education during the summer and supplemental instruction during the first semester • High-quality digital courseware in gatekeeper courses provides more diverse and deeper learning opportunities; results in higher student engagement and improved learning outcomes • Attends a PS aligned HS with college prep curriculum • HS supports student to complete FAFSA before graduation • Financial aid enables her to enroll full-time • Chooses to begin at a high-quality community college close to home at significantly lower cost • Contextual learning supports career relevant work experience • Degree audit system automatically confers credentials, including a certificate along the way to the degree • Intrusive advising helps her “match” to the right 4-year institution Terry’s Future Journey Prepared, supported, enrolled full-time Academically caught up and ready to roll On track in an accelerated program of study A well-connected graduate in 2-years ready to continue learning

23. Panel Discussion 1. What is different about Completion by Design, as compared to other completion initiatives you have been doing in Texas? How is it building on previous initiatives/successes? 2. How did you look at the data differently for CBD? 3. How difficult will it be to create a culture where all faculty and staff see themselves as Completion Advocates? What have you learned so far from the planning work? 4. What will be the main features of your pathways? How will the student experience be different as a results of the CBD work?

24. Inquiries Amy Welch State Director, Texas Completion by Design Government Affairs & Institutional Advancement Lone Star College System amy.m.welch@lonestar.edu www.texascompletion.com www.completionbydesign.org