Make It Personal: College Completion

1. Make It Personal: College Completion Faculty Webinar Thursday, September 13, 2012

2. Presenters • Bianca Bennett, Student, Georgia Perimeter College • Mike Flores, Vice President, Student Affairs, Palo Alto College (TX) • Tamra Ortgies-Young, Political Science Instructor, Georgia Perimeter College • Jodie Vangrov, Division Chair, Social Sciences, Chattahoochee Technical College (GA) Moderators • Andrea Kane, Senior Director, Public Policy, The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy • Gail Robinson, Director, Service Learning, American Association of Community Colleges

3. Sixty-one percent (61%) of women who have children while enrolled in community college drop out and do not return to school.

4. About The National Campaign Who we are Why community colleges

5. Unplanned Pregnancy Is High among Young Adults • 1.3 million unplanned pregnancies to unmarried women in their 20s. • 7 in 10 pregnancies to unmarried women ages 18–29 are unplanned. • 72% of unplanned pregnancies to unmarried women in their 20s are to women who have been pregnant before. • Unplanned pregnancy is on the rise, and is growing most steeply among those ages 20-24.

6. More than 90% of young adults say they don’t want to get pregnant right now…but • 1 in 5 say it is likely they will have sex in the next 3 months without using birth control. • 4 in 10 believe “It doesn’t matter whether you use contraception or not; when it is your time to get pregnant it will happen.” • 1/3 of unmarried women believe there is a “great birth control option for me; I just don’t know what it is.”

7. What Is MIPCC? Three-year national demonstration project Improve community college student retention and success by addressing pregnancy planning, prevention, and healthy relationships Funded by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy Managed by the American Association of Community Colleges

8. What Is MIPCC? • MIPCC Colleges Chattahoochee Technical College, GA Georgia Perimeter College, GA Mesa Community College, AZ Montgomery College, MD Palo Alto College, TX • Curriculum-based strategy: service learning • Replicable curricular content and materials developed for use by other community colleges • Pre/post-course surveys to track knowledge, attitudes, behavioral intent, retention

9. MIPCC Course Objectives • Understand how unplanned pregnancy can affect college completion • Understand the importance of healthy relationships • Know what campus and community resources are available to pregnant and parenting college students and their partners • Be familiar with a variety of birth control options and where to get them in the community (e.g., www.bedsider.org) • Be exposed to various online information sources (e.g., www.studentsexlife.org)

10. MIPCC Courses • Ethics • Health • Kinesiology • Mental Health • Political Science • Sociology • Statistics • Women’s History • College 101 • Communications • Counseling • Education • English • English for Speakers of Other Languages

11. MIPCC College Stories Mike Flores Vice President, Student Services Palo Alto College San Antonio, Texas

12. Palo Alto College’s MIPCC Project • Communications • Counseling • Kinesiology • Personal Health

13. Communications Course • Focus on news reporting and writing • Students researched unplanned pregnancy via www.bedsider.org, www.studentsexlife.org, and other sources • Students wrote press releases for community-based organizations • Students presented to high school students about preventing teen pregnancy

14. What Did Students Learn? • Elements of news writing and public relations • Familiarity with a wide variety of contraceptives • Knowledge about where to go for help should they become pregnant or get someone pregnant • Familiarity with resources to which they can direct others • Determination to make informed decisions about pregnancy and staying in school

15. MIPCC College Stories Jodie Vangrov Division Chair, Social Sciences Chattahoochee Technical College Marietta, Georgia

16. Chattahoochee Technical College’s MIPCC Project • Introduction to Sociology • Introduction to Literature • Introduction to College • Introduction to Public Speaking

17. CTC Intro to Sociology Academic Learning Objectives Objective #1: Learn about socialization through the life cycle, especially events in teenage years and young adulthood that revolve around pregnancy planning, prevention, and healthy relationships Objective #2: Learn about marriage and the family patterns in our culture, specifically including unwed motherhood, blended families, one-parent families, families with children, and issues regarding pregnancy planning, prevention, and healthy relationships Both objectives met via textbook readings, lectures, videos, movies • “The Baby Borrowers” • “16 and Pregnant” • The Pregnancy Pact • Juno, Push/Precious, “Glee” episodes

18. CTC Intro to Sociology Academic Learning Objectives Objective #3: Research appropriate websites related to the topic Met via reporting on and using online resources • www.thenationalcampaign.org • www.bedsider.org • www.studentsexlife.org • www.stayteen.org • The Fog Zone quiz Objective #4: Engage in service learning activities related to the topic Met via creating public service posters, college-wide student event Objective #5: Learn what resources are available in our local communities to assist young adults with pregnancy planning, prevention, and healthy relationships Met via class lectures, community partners at college-wide event

19. Service Learning Component • Students worked in groups to create public service posters • College-wide student event to share information on pregnancy planning, prevention, and healthy relationships • Posters from previous classes on display • Community partners shared information on planned and unplanned pregnancy • Reflection exercises included in each course and the college-wide event

20. What Did Students Learn? • Socialization, marriage, and the family through the life cycle • Specific events relating to teenagers and young adults regarding pregnancy planning, prevention, and healthy relationships • Resources in their communities • Where to go and where to refer others • Online resources sponsored by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy • www.bedsider.org • www.studentsexlife.org

21. MIPCC College Stories Tamra Ortgies-Young Political Science Instructor Georgia Perimeter College Dunwoody, Georgia

22. Georgia Perimeter College’s MIPCC Project • Intro to Public Administration • Intro to American Government • English Composition • History of Women • Personal and Community Health

23. GPC Intro to Public AdministrationAcademic Learning Objectives Objective #1: Learn how to apply core course concepts including leadership, communication, and budgeting on a personal level to challenges in young adulthood that revolve around pregnancy planning, prevention, and healthy relationships Objective #2: Learn about the impact of unplanned pregnancy on educational outcomes Course objectives met via • textbook readings, lectures, Internet research, group projects, and journaling • assignments designed to require students to investigate the Bedsider.org and StudentSexLife.org websites

24. GPC Intro to Public AdministrationAcademic Learning Objectives Objective #3: Learn how to research a public policy issue using reputable sources to discover the various approaches to the social problem of teen and unplanned pregnancy from both governmental and nonprofit programs Objective #4: Learn core competencies in group work and media skills with an overlay of pregnancy prevention as the content Course objectives met via • textbook readings, lectures, Internet research, group projects, and journaling • assignments designed to require students to investigate the Bedsider.org and TheNationalCampaign.org websites

25. Service Learning Component • Students worked in groups to create short videos designed to spread the message about the consequences of unplanned pregnancy • Public dissemination of the work: • Videos are hosted on GPC’s YouTube channel • One class video was selected to be posted on the National Campaign’s website • Reflection exercises included a weekly journal to connect course content to the project and a final group class reflection

26. GPC Student Videos • “9 Months” • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gUZU1I5BSU • “Think Smart” • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iOusnwVNOg • “The Talk” • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSTC2wn8S1c

27. What Did Students Learn? • An introduction to public policy (one of five key course content areas) • Group and media skills that can be applied to future courses and the workplace • Specific information regarding pregnancy planning, prevention, and healthy relationships • Online resources sponsored by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy • www.bedsider.org • www.studentsexlife.org

28. MIPCC College Stories Bianca Bennett Student Georgia Perimeter College Clarkston, Georgia

29. Georgia Perimeter CollegeQuality Enhancement Plan Office The impact of MIPCC on students

30. Co-Curricular Integration • Student leadership programming • Students hosted four discussion panels connected to a viewing of an episode from “16 and Pregnant” and video clips from Bedsider.org • Students hosted three more intimate conversations with smaller groups of their peers

31. What Did We Learn? • Better understanding of academic course objectives • Familiarity with a wide variety of contraceptives • Knowledge about where to go for help should they become pregnant or get someone pregnant • Familiarity with resources to which they could direct others • Determination to make informed decisions about pregnancy

32. National Campaign Resources • Research and background • Videos of students and faculty • Student success curriculum • Quarterly Community Colleges Update • StudentSexLife.org • Bedsider.org • Online lessons • www.thenationalcampaign.org/colleges

33. StudentSexLife.org

34. Bedsider.org

35. Preventing Unplanned Pregnancy and Completing College: Online Lessons • Lesson 1: Why should you care about preventing unplanned pregnancy? • Lesson 2: How much do you know about sex and birth control? • Lesson 3: Make a plan and take action Available free at www.thenationalcampaign.org/onlinelessons/facultypage.aspx

37. MIPCC Course Templates • Several different courses and disciplines • Pick and choose what will work for you • Focus on learning objectives and outcomes for students • Available online at www.aacc.nche.edu/mipcc

38. MIPCC Faculty Reflection • “I found that having a topic to work toward enhanced my class and was well worth any extra time on my part. My goals for this project were for students to learn the pitfalls and benefits of survey research. Each student contributed to our knowledge base. I could not have asked for better collaboration. I would strongly suggest to all stats instructors to incorporate service learning into your course. It brings the course to life so much more than having students gather data on random topics.” - Kari Taylor, Mesa CC Statistics Instructor

39. MIPCC Student Reflections • “I now have resources to help someone who has issues or questions.” • “[The project] helped bring real-life events into our learning.” • “The survey really made me think about how making the choice of using or not using birth control can affect my life in a huge way.”

40. Replication Tips • Use popular culture to get students excited about the topic in their course work • Encourage students to present in a variety of formats (posters, videos, music, blogs, skits) • Don’t reinvent the wheel—use National Campaign websites for videos, contraception information, and links to local resources • Plan a college-wide event for information dissemination, including student stories

41. Lessons Learned • Know your facts up front so that you can present accurate information to potentially skeptical administrators, faculty, and students • Start with faculty who already use service learning in their courses; expand to others later • Start with existing service learning partners; expand after a pilot period • Be prepared to get embarrassed occasionally

42. Questions?

43. Contact Us Bianca Bennett – bennet63@student.gpc.edu Mike Flores - r.flores@accd.edu Andrea Kane - akane@thenc.org Tamra Ortgies-Young – tamra.ortgies-young@gpc.edu Gail Robinson - grobinson@aacc.nche.edu Jodie Vangrov – jvangrov@chattahoocheetech.edu Resources and data www.thenc.org / www.studentsexlife.org www.bedsider.org Course templates and information www.aacc.nche.edu/mipcc