Academic Program Review and Action Planning – YEAR ONE

Division / Health, Physical Education and Athletics
Program / Dental Hygiene
Contact Person / JoAnn Galliano MEd., RDH
Date / 2-7-11

Section A – Data Review and Analysis

I. Basic Success and Equity (Data from 3 previous years)

Explain:
·  What trends are you seeing over time? How does the basic success data compare to the college as a whole and to statewide average success rates, if available? What might explain the differences?
The dental hygiene program continues to have a very high success rate with very low attrition. It is one of the college’s most successful programs. The students have for the past 8 years had a 100% pass rate on the National Dental Hygiene Review Exam and over an 85% pass rate on the clinical board exams (the statewide average is 80%).
·  What courses in your discipline show the greatest/least amount of success? What accounts for success in these courses? How could you improve success in the less successful areas?
Successful completion of all of the courses in the DH curriculum is mandatory. Development of clearly delineated student outcomes with measurable objectives that are available to the students as well as the faculty contribute to student success. The faculty dental hygiene faculty and staff work collaboratively to review and update all program policies and procedures as well as course content.
The clinical component of the program is where the students have the greatest challenges being successful. To complete their clinical requirements, the students must depend on the availability of patients. The program is constantly working with the students to find avenues for recruiting patients. One aspect of this process was to have additional information placed on our website. The program began that process over one year ago. The template for the new website was developed. Unfortunately, the program is still waiting for the college ITS department to implement the changes that are to be made to enhance the website.
Another component of student success is the ability to track the students’ completion of requirements. The program investigated a computerized tracking system that would allow the faculty and the students to track their successful completion of clinical outcomes. However, once again, due to the lack of support from the college’s ITS department; we have been unable to move forward with the new system.
·  What do you see in the comparisons between men and women and between different ethnicities? What accounts for differences? What concerns you? How could you strategically address the concerns?
The dental hygiene program typically has less male students than female students. This is a reflection of the profession as well in that less than 3% of the dental hygienists in the country are males. Therefore, the males in our program are largely outnumbered. We are tremendously diverse having students representing a variety of ethnicities.
The diversity of the students in our program leads to unique challenges. Faculty and staff have to be sensitive to the cultural differences that exist between students. Since the program provides services directly to the community which is also very diverse, having this unique blend of students allows us to serve all members of the community.
Cultural and linguistic competence needs to be an integral part of education healthcare professionals. Our accrediting agency is requiring the dental hygiene program faculty and staff show proof of competency in these areas. Unfortunately, the dental hygiene community has provided limited coursework in these areas. The challenge for the program, therefore, will be to find coursework and training in this area.
·  What inferences can you draw from the data correlating the highest level of Math/English completed and success in your discipline's courses?
The program requires that the students complete the math and English courses needed for an AA Degree. Completion of English 1A or its equivalent is also required by our accrediting agency. Being able to critically read and write are extremely important for a student to be successful in the dental hygiene program.
·  If you have online/hybrid/telecourse/CD-ROM courses, do the success rates differ from the same courses offered on-campus? If so, should the success rates be the same, why are they different, and is this a cause for concern? What areas of inquiry does this raise about online/hybrid/telecourse/CD-ROM courses?
Currently, the program does not have any online/hybrid/telecourse/CD-ROM courses. As a faculty, we are exploring the possibilities of doing some of the coursework for the program in an online/hybrid format.

II. Course Sequence (Data from 2 previous years)

Note: Answer this question if you have been provided data about course sequences in your discipline.

Explain:
·  Is success in the first course a good indicator of success in the second course? What are the curricular, pedagogical, and/or methodological implications of what you see?
·  Do your successful students in the first course enroll at a high rate in the second course within two years? What are the implications of what you see?
In order for students to progress from semester to the next in the dental hygiene program, they must successfully complete all the coursework each semester. The program is a two year program, and the students must complete all of the required coursework within the two year time frame.

III. Course Review (Data from 5 previous years)

Explain:
·  Ed. Code requires that all courses are updated every five years. Are all of your courses updated? If not, do you want to maintain or continue these courses? Please indicate your plans in terms of curriculum. Have all of your courses been offered recently? If not, why? Are students counting on courses to complete a program or major when these courses are not being offered?
The Dental Hygiene Program meets annually to review student learning outcomes, assessment data and curriculum. Course outlines are updated yearly and submitted in the division curriculum packet each fall. The Program will continue to monitor the need for each course in the curriculum and make changes as needed.

IV. Budget Summary (Data from 3 previous years)

Explain:
·  What budget trends do you see in your discipline? What are the implications of these trends?
As with other programs on campus, we are seeing an increase in the costs of supplies for the program. The program has a fully functional dental hygiene clinic that serves over 1500 patients/year. With the changes in the economy, we are also seeing a decrease in the price breaks that were traditionally given to the dental hygiene programs statewide. Both of trends make it of paramount importance that the program investigates alternative avenues of funding whenever possible, and that strict budgetary measures are used to support cost containment.
·  What projected long-term (5-10 years) budget needs do you see?
The cost of supplies for the program will continue to increase. We will have to evaluate the feasibility of increasing the fees that we charge for dental hygiene services as well as investigate alternative avenues of obtaining funding for supplies and equipment.

V. Enrollment Data (Data from 2 previous years)

Explain:
·  Please provide a brief description of: overall enrollment trends; enrollment trends by course; and enrollment trends by time of day and Saturday.
·  Describe plans or strategies that you have for the near future in terms of curriculum or scheduling that could impact your enrollments.
·  Lastly, look closely at whether the schedule you currently offer provides access to the broader community that your discipline serves at Chabot College—day time, night time, Saturday, distance education, special or targeted communities that would or do enroll in your courses.
The dental hygiene program has a stable enrollment. Twenty students are accepted into each class. The program has begun discussions regarding having some of the dental hygiene course work being offered as online and/or hybrid courses to meet the needs of our student population.

VI. Student Learning Outcomes Inventory

Acronym Key:

SLO = Student Learning Outcome is a general term, for the following three levels of outcomes:

CLO = Course-level Outcome, i.e. what a student can do after completing a course

PLO= Program-level Outcome, i.e. what a student can do after completing a sequence of courses

CWLG = College-wide Learning Goal

·  Percentage of courses in your discipline that have CLOs and rubrics developed: 100%

·  Percentage of courses in your discipline that have had all the CLOs assessed within the past three years, as per Chabot’s Assessment policy: 100%

·  Percentage of courses in your discipline that have had all the CLO assessments reflected upon, or discussed with colleagues, within the past three years 100%

Explain:
·  What questions or investigations arose as a result of these reflections or discussions?
As a result of our yearly curriculum review process, the program has begun discussions as to the feasibility of offering some of the course curriculum in online and/or hybrid formats. The program continually reviews program goals and objectives and makes revisions as needed.
The program has completed its investigation of the equipment needed to move from our current processes in radiology to the digital format and will be seeking funding to support the purchase of the equipment in this budget cycle.
The need to be able to better track the CLO’s for the clinical component of the program is paramount. Our accrediting agency’s requirement for program to be able to demonstrate how CLO’s are measured , tacked and evaluated has led the program to investigate computerized tracking systems. As was stated above, the program indentified a system that we felt would enhance our ability to successfully monitor students completion of CLO’s. A request for funding is predicated on the ability of the program to obtain ITS support. Unfortunately, the program has not been able to get the college ITS department to lend assistance to make the changes that are needed to utilize the system.
One avenue of expansion that the program has discussed and will be implementing is to develop a continuing competency component to the offerings that we currently provide. The continued competency aspect of the program will be directed at providing dental hygienists that are currently licensed avenues for taking clinical course to improve their skills.
Another area of expansion will be through partnerships with public health and the community. The program m is investigating the feasibility of using the clinical facility for the provision of dental services.

·  What actions has your discipline determined that might be taken as a result of these reflections, discussions, and insights?

Actions planned:
·  Supplement exisitng radiology equipment with digital radiology technology
·  Obtain funding for and continue to attempt to work with the college ITS department to successfully implement a computerized system for tracking successful completion of clinical CLO’s.
·  Work with ITS to implement the changes needed to enhance the program website
·  Develop and provide access to continued competency courses
·  Network with public health and the dental community to find funding to support the expansion of services provided in the clinical facility to include a dental component

·  What course-level and programmatic strengths have the assessment reflections revealed?

Strengths revealed:
·  Faculty works collaboratively to ensure that PLO’s and CLO’s meet the program needs, support the college’s strategic plan and enhance student success
·  Program works with the community to provide dental hygiene services that reflect a high caliber of teaching and learning
·  Student success supported by 8 years of 100% passage of the Dental Hygiene National Board Exam and an 88% passage rate for the state clinical exam (state average is 80%).

·  Percentage of programs within your discipline that have established at least two PLOs, and mapped appropriate CLOs to them:___100%_____

For this information, please see the Program-level Outcomes progress page from the Assessment Progress and Plans webpage:

http://www.chabotcollege.edu/sloac/progress.asp

·  Which of the CWLGs do your discipline’s CLOs address? All of them.______

·  In which if any of the College-wide Learning Goals Faculty Inquiry Groups have discipline member(s) participated? _none______

______

Insights gained: NA

VII. Academic Learning Support

What kinds of academic learning support does your discipline use or require to help students succeed (e.g., tutoring, learning assistants, student assistants, peer advisors, lab support, supplemental instruction, peer-led team learning, peer advisors)? How many hours per semester do you use and/or how many hours per semester do you need?

Explain:
The dental hygiene program is unique in that accreditation requires that enrollment is limited to allow for a 1:5 ratio of students to faculty. This allows the faculty to work directly with students that need additional help. The program also has a student mentor component with each first year student being paired with a second year student. This mentor program provides the beginning students with access to students that have already advanced to the next skill level. The mentor students are able to then provide advice and support for the beginning level students.

VIII. External Data

·  Cite any relevant external data that affects your program (e.g., labor market data, community demand, employment growth, external accreditation demands, etc.).

The dental hygiene program has to meet very strict accreditation standards in order to continue to offer a degree in dental hygiene. The program is accredited every 7 years with the next accreditation visit scheduled for 2015.
Our accrediting agency is continually monitoring the program’s ability to evaluate the success of students in the program. The accrediting agency requires the program to develop systems that will continually assess PLO’s and CLO’s. In order to meet the accrediting agencies requirement to track the successful completion of clinical CLO’s, the program has requested the funds to implement a computerized tracking program.
One notable change for the program is the change in the employment statistics for our graduates. With the addition of two proprietary dental hygiene programs in the south bay, the employment market for new graduates has been greatly reduced. These programs graduate 60 dental hygienists every 18 months flooding what has become due to the economy a reduced market. Dental hygiene continues to be one of the top careers for individuals in healthcare, but we are finding that our graduates have to move out of the area to find jobs and/or find multiple days of employment with multiple employers.
Due to the poor economy, the average dental hygienist who is currently employed is working more days and working longer. This trend also reduces the number of jobs available for the new graduates.
With dental hygienists working longer and a saturated job market, the need for avenues to obtain clinical continued competency has become important. The Chabot College Dental Hygiene Program will be working to develop programs to meet this need.
Finally, the need for increased access to dental hygiene and dental services has reached catastrophic levels. Adult denti-cal which funded much of the dental and dental hygiene care for a large part of the population that is dentally uninsured has left millions of individuals with no moneys to pay for dental/dental hygiene care. The program is actively working with public health to secure avenues of funding that will allow us to expand the level of services that we currently provide.

Academic Program Review and Planning for 2011-14