Student Transfer Educational Pathways in Sociology (STEPS)

1. Faculty Participants Thea Alvarado, Ed.D., COC Marie Butler, Ph.D., Ventura Katie Coleman, M.A., COC MitraHoshiar, Ed.D., Pierce RoyaMavadatt, Ph.D., CSUN James McKeever Ph.D., Pierce Sally Raskoff, Ph.D., LAVC Laura Scott, M.A., LAVC Darby Southgate, Ph.D., LAVC Robert Wonser, M.A., COC Project leadership David Boyns, Ph.D., CSUN Anna Bruzzese, Ph.D., Pierce Herman DeBose, Ph.D., CSUN Tiffany Lanoix, Ph.D., LAVC Anne Marenco, Ph.D., COC • Program Description • Collaborative learning community between Sociology departments at California State University, Northridge (CSUN) and three local community colleges [College of the Canyons (COC), Los Angeles Valley College (LAVC), and Los Angeles Pierce College (Pierce)]. • Supports under-represented students and first generation college attendees. • Addresses: inclusion of high-impact practices in GE programs; use of student learning outcomes to facilitate GE completion; and development of cost-effective models to generate GE outcomes. • Two primary objectives: • Create and Implement Sustainable CCC-CSUN Learning Communities. • Make CSUN Connections between CCC and CSUN students. • Objectives met by implementing inter-campus, collaborative research courses that allow students to engage in service-learning internships and collaborate on common research projects. Student Transfer Educational Pathways in Sociology (STEPS) Activities  Creation of a framework for CCC-CSUN learning community  Planning and Implementation of Sociology Undergraduate Research Fairs (SURFs)  CSUN campus visits by CCC students  Implement CCC-CSUN learning community Create & pilot learning community Sociology Undergraduate Research Fair December 2012 • Promising Aspects • Students are doing primary research in collaborative groups across campuses. • Students present at Sociology Undergraduate Research Fairs (SURFs) • Demonstrates potential for building cross campus alliances. • Roadblocks and Challenges • Communication across campuses among students and faculty. • Geographic distance among students. • Cost of creating electronic learning community • Differences in curricular restraints and expectations at each school. • Differences in scheduling at each school. • Service Learning operates differently at each campus. • Service Learning programs are being reduced at many campuses • Faculty buy-in due to additional workload. • Ongoing cost of compensation for faculty. “Sociology and Activism” Conference March 2012 I P • Outcomes • Two large events that have served 450-500 students total. • “Activism in Sociology Conference” held at CSUN, served 325 students • Public lecture by Joe Loya, “Conversations with a Bank Robber” held at College of the Canyons, served 175 students. • First set of collaborative, inter-campus research projects served a total of 80 students: • 20 from CSUN • 30 from COC • 20 from LAVC • 10 from Pierce College • First SURF: • 18 projects. • Attended by 50 student research participants and 8 faculty. • In total, we have served over 600 students across our different events. Distinguishing Features “Conversation with a Bank Robber” November 2012 • High Impact Practices/LEAP • Common Intellectual Experiences • Learning Communities • Collaborative Projects • Undergraduate Research • Diversity/Global Learning • Service Learning, Community-Based Learning • Internships • Knowledge of human cultures • Critical and creative thinking • Written and oral communication • Information literacy • Teamwork and problem solving • Foundations for lifelong learning • Next Steps • Develop a student participant tracking method. • April 2013 public lecture by sociologist Karen Sternheimer, USC. • May 2013 SURF event. • Make the collaboration sustainable. • Preserve campus, dept. & instructor buy-in. • Overcome - Institutional constraints –e.g. scheduling challenges & service learning reductions.