EXECUTIVESUMMARY

Introduction

AtPierceCollege,everystudentisvalued.ThePierceCollegeMission Statementservesasthe foundationforprogramsofferedandtheservicesprovidedtostudents.ThecollegeMissionStatement reads:"PierceCollegeisastudent-centeredlearninginstitutionthatoffersexcellentopportunitiesfor accessandsuccessinadiversecollegecommunity."IthashistoricallybeenpartofthePierceCollege missiontoreach outtoandservetraditionallyunderrepresentedcollegestudents.TheMission Statementfurtherreads:"Thecollegededicatesallofitsresourcestoassiststudents inidentifyingand achievingtheireducational,career,andpersonalgoals."TheMissionStatementisthefoundationfor

theparameterswhichthecollegeprovidesfortransfer,occupationalandbasicskillsprogramsaswellas studentservicestodiversepopulations.

TheEquityPlanisdesignedtoadvancethecollegemissionbyaddressingtheneedsofthosestudent groupsthathavebeenhistoricallyunderserved.TheEquity Planningprocessinvolvescollectingand analyzingstudentsuccessdatadisaggregated byethnicity,gender,disability,fosteryouthstatus, veteranstatus,andlowincomestatusinordertoidentifyareasofstrengthandneed.Fromthesedata, aworkplaniscreatedthatleveragesareasofstrengthandaddressesareasofneed.

TargetGroups

Basedonouranalyses usingthe"80%Rule"outlinedby theEquityPlaninstructions,theEquityTask Forceidentified severalstudentgroupswhoachievesuccessatsignificantlylowerratesthanthosewho are inthehighestperforminggroups.Theteamidentified equitygapsinmorethanone measureamong studentswhoidentifyasAfricanAmerican/Black,Latino,fosteryouth,men,andveterans,whilethe

teamidentified anequitygapinonemeasureamongstudentswhoareFilipino,studentswhoarelow income,andstudentswithadocumenteddisability.Wefoundthatthe"Transfer"measure hadmore

equitygapsthananyoftheothermeasures.Thechartbelowsummarizesthesefindings:

SuccessMeasure / UnderservedStudentGroups
Access / StudentswhoareFosterYouth,Veterans,male
CourseCompletion / StudentswhoareAfricanAmerican/Black,FosterYouth
BasicSkillsPathwayCompletion-ESL / StudentswhoareLatino
BasicSkillsPathwayCompletion-English / StudentswhoareAfricanAmerican/Black,Latino
BasicSkillsPathwayCompletion-Math / StudentswhoareAfricanAmerican/Black,Latino
DegreeandCertificateCompletion / Studentswhoaremale,AfricanAmerican/Black,Latino
Transfer / StudentswhoareAfricanAmerican/Black,Filipino,Latino, Veterans,lowincome,andstudentswhohavea documenteddisability
*Thesedataonlyincludegapsfordisaggregatedcohortsof30studentsormore.Forsmallercohorts,qualitative datawillbe usedtoidentify need.

Goals/Outcomes

Ouroverarchinggoalistoincreaseratesofsuccessineachareaby5%(orclosethegap)foreach underservedgroupwithin3years.Belowisalistofeachindividualgoalbrokendownbyareaofneed:

1. Access

a.Increaseaccessby5%by2017forstudentswhoaremen.

b.Maintainno equitygapinaccessforstudentswhoidentifyasfosteryouthand students whoidentifyasveterans.

2.Increasecoursecompletionby 5%by2017forstudentswhoareAfricanAmerican/Blackandfor studentswhoidentifyasfosteryouth.

3. Increasebasicskillspathwaycompletionby 5%by2017forstudentswhoareAfrican

American/BlackinEnglishand mathforstudentswhoareLatinoinESL,English,andmath.

4.Increasedegreeandcertificatecompletionby5%by2017forstudentswhoaremale,forthose whoareAfricanAmerican/Black,andforthosewhoareLatino.

5. Transfer

a.MaintainnoequitygapintransferratesforstudentswhoareAfricanAmerican/Black. b. Increasetransferratesby5%by2017forstudentswhoareLatino,Filipino,veterans, studentswhoare low-income,andforstudentswhohaveadocumenteddisability.

Activities

Oncethesegapswereidentifiedandgoalswerewritten,theTaskForceexploredexistingprogramsand servicesthatservedthesegroupsaswellasthoseactivitiesthatarecurrentlyunderdevelopment throughtheStudentSuccessandSupportPrograms,BasicSkillsInitiative,andAchievingtheDream initiatives.Then,thegroupcompletedagapanalysis,identifyingservices thatarenotunderwayor underdevelopment.Basedon thatgapanalysis,additionalactivitieswereaddedtotheEquityPlan.The activitiesvarywidely,butamongthoseactivities,severalthemesemerged.Thosethemesincluded:

•Activitiesaroundincreasingstudentengagement/mentoring/advising.

•Activitiesaroundstrengtheningcohortlearningmodels(e.g.learningcommunities,accelerated pathways,etc.).

•Activitiesaroundincreasingopportunitiesforongoing,cohesiveprofessional learning opportunities.

•Activitiesaroundcollecting,analyzing,anddisseminatingmoredataaroundsuccessindicators forunderservedstudentgroups.

•ActivitiesaroundconnectingPierceCollegewithexistingcommunityagenciesforresources, recruitment,partnerships.

•ActivitiesaroundadvertisingexistingPierceCollegeprogramstounderservedgroups.

•Activitiesaroundcreatingprogramstosupportstudentsincreatingeducationalplansandgoals.

Severaloftheactivitieslistedimproveorstrengthenactivitiesthatalreadyexistorarecurrentlyunder development.TheseactivitiesrepresentanalignmentoftheEquityPlanwithothercollege plans.For example,theteamalignedtheEquityPlanactivitieswithseveralothersthatarealreadyunderway throughtheBasicSkillsInitiativeandtheAchievingtheDreaminitiative;examplesofthisalignment includedevelopingaculturally-responsiveteachingandlearningprofessionaldevelopmentseries, strengtheningmathandEnglishpathwayssothattheyaremoreaccessibletounderservedstudent groups,developingarobustassessmentpreparationprogramtoassiststudentsidentifiedintheEquity

PlaninplacingintohigherEnglishandmathcourses,andincreasingtheamountofcourse-embedded tutoringofferedbythecollege.Activitiesarealsoalignedwithseveraloftheprogramsandservices associatedwiththeSSSP,suchasincreasedoutreachinitiativestoidentifyandcommunicatewithall studentgroups,extendingorientation servicestostudentgroupswhohaveidentified equitygaps,and increasingthenumberofactivitiesthatassistunderservedstudentsindevelopingeducationalplansand pathways.Theplanwillalsostrengthenfosteryouthandveteransservicesandexploreadditionaldata

tohelpthecollegecommunityunderstandtheseequitygapsinamorenuancedway.

Inadditiontoimprovingourexistingservices,thetaskforcehasrecommendednewactivitiesbasedona gapanalysis.Thetaskforcewillrecommendthatthecollegecreatea"StartingStudentsoffRight" handbook/website tohelp facultyidentifyandinterveneonbehalfofunderservedstudentsearlyinthe semester.Thecollegewillengageunderservedstudentsbyincreasingouroutreach/communication throughsocialmedialikeTwitterandlnstagram,andthroughstudentclubsandcampusofficeswhere studentgroupsthatarehighlightedintheStudentEquityPlanareoverrepresented.Thecollegewillalso continuetodevelopapeer-to-peermentorprogramwithanemphasisonrecruitingandmentoring studentswhobelongtogroupsthathaveanidentifiedequitygap.

Resources

Thetaskforcehaspreparedabudgetthatconcentratesmostoftheresourcesonclosingtwogaps:The basicskillscompletiongapandthetransfergap.Thisdecisionwasmadebecausethesetwoareashave thehighestnumberofgaps,andtheyalsohavethehighestnumberoflarge(overa60%)gaps.Among theremaininggaps,moreresourceswillbededicatedtoclosingthecoursecompletiongapthanthe othertwogaps;thereasonforthisisthatthecoursecompletiongapaffectsthelargestnumberof students.Resourceswillbesplitevenlybetweenclosingtheaccessgapandthedegree/certificate completiongap(SeeTable1).A1.0FTEfacultycoordinatorwillbehiredfromthesefundstomeetthe overallcoordination,institutionalresearch,andprofessionallearningneedsassociatedwiththisplan.

WhilethisplanrepresentsanestimationofhowthecollegewilldistributeEquityresources,thetask forcewillcontinuetoworkthroughthespring2016semestertocreateamorenuanced,integrated,and comprehensivespendingplanforactivitiesthatwereaddedinthisrevision.Collegestakeholderswho are interestedinleadingtheseactivitieswillcompletefundingrequestsinwhichdetailedspendingplans willbeoutlinedandintegrationtoothercollegeplanswillbeclearlydemonstrated.Thisfundingrequest isincludedasAttachmentA.

ContactPerson/StudentEquityCoordinator

AnEquityCoordinatorwillbegininspring2016.Untilthattime,thecoordinatorsfortheEquityPlanare: CrystalKiekel

Co-Chair,StudentSuccessCommittee

818-719-6414

EaricPeters

VicePresident,StudentServices

818-719-6418