Dr. Byron McClenney Community College Leadership Program University of Texas at Austin

1. Transformation for Student Success and Completion Dr. Byron McClenneyCommunity College Leadership ProgramUniversity of Texas at Austin

2. Sources • 33 Coaches in Achieving the Dream reflecting on over 1,200 visits to 130 colleges in 24 states • Bridges to Opportunity (Ford Foundation) working in six states (2003-2008) • California Leadership Alliance for Student Success (Current)

3. Completion College Board National Governors Association – Complete to Compete Lumina Foundation for Education Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Complete College America

4. RULE OF THE UNIVERSE Every course, every program, every college is perfectly designed to get the results it is currently getting.

5. RULE OF THE UNIVERSE We can’t get better at what we’re not willing to look at.

6. RULE OF THE UNIVERSE STUDENTS DON’T DO OPTIONAL!

7. “BETTER IS POSSIBLE…” “…It does not take genius. It takes diligence. It takes moral clarity. It takes ingenuity. And above all, it takes a willingness to try.” - Atul Gawande

8. WHAT MATTERS MOST (GOOD NEWS!) Focused, sustained efforts, targeted to significant numbers of students, can produce real improvements in student engagement, learning, persistence, and academic attainment.

9. PERSISTENCE: THE LIVES THEY’VE TOUCHED Large, multi-unit, complex, and diverse college settings. • Broward – F to S from 75% (04) to 85% (09) F to F from 58% (04) to 68% (08) • Valencia – F to S from 79.2% (04) to 85.1% (09) F to F from 60.3% (04) to 67% (08) • Houston – F to S from 69.8% (04) to 74.8% (09) F to F from 48.2% (04) to 53.6% (08)

10. Building a Culture of Evidence “Take nothing on its looks; take everything on evidence. There’s no better rule.” – Charles Dickens (1812 – 1870) Great Expectations

11. Top Ten: Reasons for Progress in Achieving the Dream Byron McClenney and the Coaches: November 2, 2010 Leaders, including board members and faculty, are engaged in, and pay continuous attention to, progress on the student success agenda. A sustained focus on student success is practiced by the institution and demonstrably influences the development of policies, procedures, and practices. There is broad and continuous faculty/staff/student/community engagement and collaboration in support of a student success agenda. Planning and budgeting (including reallocation of resources) are aligned with the vision, priorities, and strategies of a student success agenda. A culture of evidence and inquiry is pervasive in the institution (including cohort tracking of disaggregated data) with strong support from IR.

12. Top Ten, Continued A sense of urgency drives a shared vision and communications around a student success agenda with internal and external stakeholders. Professional development efforts (inclusive of board members, CEO, leadership throughout the institution, full-time and adjunct faculty, and staff) are aligned with the priorities and strategies of a student success agenda. A systemic student success agenda is integrated with other significant initiatives such as accreditation, strategic planning, and Title V. An equity agenda is integrated in the efforts to improve learning and college completion outcomes. Student success interventions are informed by and adapted from demonstrably effective practices.

13. Make Effective Practice Mandatory • Stop Late Registration • Math Refresher Before Assessment • Assessment • Placement • Orientation • Student Success Course For Those Not College Ready • Advising (Leading to a Plan) • Learning Lab Participation

14. Encouraging/Promising Practices • Learning Communities (Dev. Math Linked with Student Success Course) • Basic Skills Imbedded in Career Programs • Supplemental Instruction • Active and Collaborative Learning (Cooperative Learning) • Fast-Track Math/ Modular Math • Summer Bridge Programs (Boot Camps) • Case Management (Incorporated in Learning Communities?) • Course Redesign/Curricular Alignment

15. Making the Grade: How Boards Can Ensure Academic Quality • Active board interest in the reality behind graduation and retention statistics may help busy president’s keep student success near the top of their agendas. • Make reviewing evidence of academic quality and improvement a regular and expected board-level activity. • Expect and demand a culture of evidence. Peter F. Ewell AGB 2006

16. Transformation for Student Success • 1. Create processes to inform and involve constituent groups in planning and budgeting. • 2. Develop teamwork across organizational boundaries. • 3. Identify critical or strategic issues through a careful analysis of • appropriate data. • 4. Identify a limited set of priorities for 2011-2012 out of an understanding • of the strategic or critical issues.

17. Transformation for Student Success, Continued 5. Place student success priorities at the core of institutional priorities for 2011-2012. 6. Allow the priorities to inform and drive planning for operations in 2011-2012. 7. Allow operational plans to significantly influence the allocation and/or reallocation of resources for 2011-2012. 8. Create a way to learn from the assessment of outcomes and to apply the understandings to alter processes and practices. 9. Create an emerging collective vision about student success.