Annual Reflection Narrative

Due: May 15, 2013

Contents

1Introduction

2Stakeholder Engagement

3Submitting Annual Reflection Narrative

4Questions?

5Annual Reflection Narrative Instructions

1Introduction

All colleges(except forthe 2012 Cohortthat must submit anImplementation Proposal)are required to submit an Annual Reflection. The Annual Reflection,which provides an opportunity to consider your institution’s Achieving the Dream work over the past year and to plan for the coming year, replaces the previous requirement for an Annual Report.It comprises several components to guide institutions in this reflective process: the Principles Assessment Survey, Annual Reflection Narrative, Interventions Showcase Update, and Leader College Application (if relevant).

2Stakeholder Engagement

Prior to completing the following questions for the Annual Reflection Narrative, we suggest that you engage a representative group of stakeholders (faculty, staff, and others who have been involved in your reform work) to consider, review, and discuss the institution’s student success and equity work.

3Submitting Annual Reflection Narrative

Core Team Leaders will receive an email from Achieving the Dream by April 24thwitha link to submit the Annual Reflection Narrative. The Core Team Leader will receive a separate email in mid-April with instructions on how to complete the institution’s Interventions Showcase Update.

Colleges will receive feedback on their Annual Reflectionin the summer of 2013.

4Questions

If you have a question about the Annual Reflection please send an email or call 240-450-0075.

Annual ReflectionNarrative Instructions

Below is a narrative section consisting ofseven questions. This document serves as a template, so please write your responses directlyintothe spaces provided below.

*Note that the period covered by this Annual Reflection is May 2012-April 2013. Please reflect on activities during this time period throughout the narrative.

  1. Contributors to the Annual Reflection:

Institution Name: University of Hawai‘i Maui College

Names of Contributors to this Annual Reflection / Titles of Contributors to this Annual Reflection
Benjamin Guerrero / ATD Campus Team Leader/Title III Project Director
John McKee / Vice Chancellor Academic Affairs
Melissa Yoshioka / Staff, The Learning Center
Jeannie Pezzoli / Institutional Research
Samantha Bowe / Developmental Math Faculty
Elaine Yamashita / Early Childhood ED
Cathy Bio / Financial Aid Officer
Bradley Duran / Institutional Tech
Eric Engh / English Dept.
Tara Furukawa / Program Specialist-Title III
(Add more rows to this table as necessary)
  1. Progress Statement:
    Please describe in no more than one page your institution’s progress in improving student success and completion. In what ways is your reform work transforming the way students experience college?

Since our focus has continued to be “front loaded” with a targeted focus on improving Developmental Education at UHMC, we continue to dig deeper to see how we can improve student success. Our philosophy behind our strategy is that if we cannot find a way for students to complete their requirement in English and math, they will NEVER graduate. If they do meet these requirements, their college experience will be richer and they can graduate with a well-rounded education experience.

Since 2008, all students who have participated in the New Student Orientation have shown higher persistence rates a year after they are enrolled. (See 5. Student Success Data, d.)

Developmental Education

Developmental Math students are now able to get through courses in half the time due to the reduction of courses from 4 to 2. Math 18, our lowest level of math, two levels below college level had a 10 percent increase in success rates in fall 2012.

Fall 2012 data-Developmental math pulled from Banner, all students were included:

141/376 or 37.5%-math 18 in fall 2012 compared to 144/494 or 29.15% in fall 2011.

193/423 or 45.6%-math 82 in fall 2012 compared to 208/403 or 51.6 % in fall 2011

Math 82, one level below college level, showed a dip in success rates. Tutors are now being assigned to all developmental math courses.

Developmental math and English students now have the opportunity to takeaccelerated courses during the summer.Based on two years of summer data that showed nearly 50 percent increases in success rates for Developmental math and Developmental English, the ATD team developed and implemented a marketing plan to increase enrollment in accelerated Developmental math and English courses at a reduced tuition rate. This is an example of how the UHCC system has showed committed leadership toward increasing opportunities to help students move quicker to college readiness. Accelerated ENG 19/22-2 sections will be offered in the summer 2013, 2 sections to be offered in fall 2013 with incentives.

Another exciting development is the college’s plan to provide all students who enroll in these accelerated courses with free Chromebook laptops. This project is supported by a significant gift to the college earmarked to help students take advantage of educational technology. We believe that these laptops will deepen our students’ identification with the college while leveling the technological access “playing field.” It also expands instructional options and streamlines various aspects of teaching through computer-mediated instruction such as MyWritingLab and the Laulima course management system.

The English department continues to implement the developmental English re-design using MyWritingLab, tutors in the classroom, and teaching strategies that emphasize face-to-face instructor feedback and guided small group activities. Experiments with two acceleration course designs, one using the "Peter Adams" model and another that combines two levels of developmental writing with an emphasis on reading (loosely based on the California Acceleration model) have had promising results (though still too early for meaningful data analysis).

In fall 2013, the department is expanding its accelerated offerings with six sections of combined, six-credit courses. Four sections will combine ENG 100 (transfer-level) with ENG 22 (developmental level), and two sections will combine ENG 22 with ENG 19 (two steps below college-level). Both of these accelerated course designs incorporate developmental reading SLOs in the aim of fostering a high level of college-readiness in less time and through fewer credit hours. (By comparison, some sister colleges in the UH system require students who place at the ENG 19 level to take twelve credits of English over two semesters to achieve college-readiness.) Through these new courses, we aim to improve our students’ success rates through high expectations, engaging learning activities, vigorous instructor feedback, and “teachable-moment” tutorial assistance.

  1. Institution Context:
    Please consider both the positive and negative factors affecting the student success efforts at your institution and provide a brief (no more than one page) summary of the impact each has had on your progress this year. This summary may include aspects related to the institution’s culture and environment such as leadership changes, engagement of full- and part-time faculty, staff additions or lay-offs, state or federal influences, budget reductions, and reaffirmation of accreditation efforts.

POSITIVE IMPACT:Increased Broad Engagement

One representative attended the 2013 DREAM Institute in Anaheim. 30 faculty and staff attended the 2013 ATD Hawai‘i Strategy Institute (HSI) this year as they have for the last four years. UHMC Administration had to pay for travel and related costs this year because funding from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and Kamehameha Schools had run out.Seven faculty and staff who attended this institute have now become new members of the UHMC ATD Campus Team.

Diane Meyer-Faculty Coordinator

Kari Luna-math 18 Task Force, HS Advisory Board

Tim Marmack-English

Derek Snyder-English

Melissa Kunitzer-CareerLink

Juli Patao-CareerLink

Kealani Cook, History

UHCC Systems office continues to provide funding for innovations related to ATD, Developmental Education and Financial Aid at the campus level and has added funding for innovations to increase part-time student success. Total funding is approximately $1.2mil.

Math and English depts. were able to have “summit” meetings at the HSI have improved program coordination across campuses. After meeting with colleagues from other campuses, the UHMC math dept. agreed to make curriculumand a textbook change and agreed to rearrange course topics to benefit students and hopefully improve student success.

A Math 18 Task Force was convened by the VC Academic Affairs.

UHMC Reading Across the Disciplines (RAD) and Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) workshops were introduced at the HSI, have become popular, have gained UHCC system-wide interest from faculty to attend and are under consideration for these projects on their own campuses. Incentives are also being made are being made available to some participating students.

As a result of Financial Aid dept.’s participation at HSI, they are looking into developing financial incentives for successful completion of Developmental and college level courses.

NEGATIVE IMPACT:

We have been unsuccessful getting faculty support to mandate enrollment into developmental math and English courses in student’s first year. Faculty are concerned, especially for math, that UHMC does not have enough instructors, or available space, to accommodate the high numbers of students who place there. HonoluluCC continues to support this policy and we are awaiting a second year of data to show its effectiveness.

Approximately 62 percent of students did not pass math 18 in fall 2012. Approximately 54 percent of students did not pass our second lowest level of developmental math, math 82.

Union contract staff furloughs effected student success when all campus offices were shut down during Christmas and spring breaks because it reduced time required for students and staff to complete testing, admissions and educational planning activities for the subsequent semester.

  1. Principles Assessment:
    For each principle listed below, provide a brief summary of your institution’s aggregate observations regarding the Principles Assessment Survey(see below). Please be sure to include recognition of achievements and challenges your college has experienced as well as a description of future plans. This summary should be no longer than 3 paragraphs for each principle and may also include a synopsis of your institution’s group discussions.
  1. Principle 1) Committed Leadership

The Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs has identified that the low number of full-time math faculty members as a barrier to student success. For the past several years UH Maui College has employed four full time math faculty members with only one of this group teaching at the developmental math level, despite over 700 developmental math student enrollments each semester. To date the VCAA has successfully hired a second full-time developmental math faculty member and has a goal of finding the resources to hire one to two more thereby increasing the number of Developmental Math faculty from one to four. He is also pursuing hiring additional college level math faculty with the overall goal of growing the size of the math department from four to nine or ten full time faculty members.

The UHMC VCAA is also the VCAA representative to the system ATD leadership team. In this role he attends system meetings and serves as a liaison between ATD and the System VCAA group.

Administration from UHMC and the UHCC Systems Office of the VP have continued their commitment of funds for professional development to attend, national and local ATD institutes, reduced summer tuition rates for DEV Ed math and English, Developmental Ed and Financial Aid innovation proposals at all campuses.

  1. Principle 2) Use of Evidence to Improve Policies, Programs, and Services

The college is currently developing a new Strategic Plan and is being informed by challenges identified by ATD consultant evaluator feedback, CCSSE and SENSE data, and the recent accreditation report prepared for the Western Association of Schools and Colleges to help define goals and tactics for the next year and beyond. The following areas of concern that are being addressed through this process:

  • How can we improve first semester retention rates?
  • What are some steps we can take to improve student career planning when students first enroll?
  • How can we strengthen our student data management systems to understand student intent and improve graduation rates?
  • How can we infuse student life with faculty toward helping students make connections to faculty outside of the classroom?
  • How do we set the bar higher to increase student expectations? How do we help our students meet those increased expectations?
  • How can streamline/accelerate our degree programs?
  • How can we improve alignment with our K-12 and University partners?
  • How do we continue to engage communities of interest to help us to evolve, stay relevant and improve student success?

UH administration have also used data to improve policies re: (reverse credit transfer; COMPASS Retake, automatic admissions to transfer to UHH, UHM, UHWO); programs (FYE; math; English, gateway courses); and services (online orientation; NSO)

  1. Principle 3) Broad Engagement

The ATD Campus Team Leader from UHMC attended the 2013 DREAM Institute in Anaheim, CA.

There are 37 members on our ATD Campus Team, including our Chancellor, VC Academic Affairs and VC Student Affairs and a representative from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

30 faculty and staff attended the 2013 ATD Hawai‘i Strategy Institute this year as they have for the last four years.

Participants in the strategic planning process outlined above will include students, faculty, staff, community members, colleagues from other University of Hawaii campuses and administration.

UHCC VP, John Morton does a presentation once a semester to our campus to discuss our progress toward achieving ATD goals.

  1. Principle 4) Systemic Institutional Improvement

Described in the answer to principles 2 and 3.

Improvement by UH’s Institutional Research & Analysis Office of ATD data website.

Improvements in STAR, UH’s Student Progress database.

UHCC’s course overlay project completed for UHCC’s courses with UH Mānoa. Working on courses with UH Hilo and UH West O‘ahu.

  1. Principle 5) Equity

*You may access complete definitions of each of the Five Principles here

Inclusion of support of Native Hawaiians is included in the Board of Regents mission statement: As the only provider of public higher education in Hawai‘i, the University embraces its unique responsibilities to the indigenous people of Hawai‘i and to Hawai‘i’s indigenous language and culture. To fulfill this responsibility, the University ensures active support for the participation of Native Hawaiians at the University and supports vigorous programs of study and support for the Hawaiian language, history, and culture. See: http://www.hawaii.edu/offices/bor/policy/borpch4.pdf

The VP of Student Affairs, Lui Hokoana, introduced Hawaiʻi Papa O Ke Aoat the ATD Hawai‘i Strategy Institute which is the name chosen for this group tasked with developing a plan to make the University of Hawaiʻi a leader in indigenous education.

A group of system wide representatives and community leaders was formed under the guidance of University of Hawaii Vice President for Student Affairs and University/Community Relations,

Dr. Rockne Freitas. They are tasked with the responsibility of mapping a plan for the university to become the model indigenous-serving institution in the state and the nation.

This report sets forth goals & objectives to address the higher education needs of our indigenous people - Native Hawaiians - by creating a model indigenous serving institution. Characteristics of a model indigenous serving institution in Hawaiʻi are as follows:

  • Hawaiian enrollment at parity with Hawaiians in the Hawaiʻi state population.
  • Hawaiian students performing at parity with non-Hawaiians.
  • Qualified Native Hawaiian faculty are employed in all disciplines at the University.
  • Native Hawaiian values are included in its decision-making and practices.
  • Hawaiians hold leadership roles in the UH administration.
  • The University of Hawai’i is the foremost authority on Native Hawaiian scholarship.
  • The University is responsive to the needs of the Hawaiian community and, with communityinput, implements programs to address the needs of Native Hawaiians and otherunderrepresented groups.
  • The University fosters and promotes Hawaiian culture and language at all its campuses.

This report has three thematic goals with objectives listed under each goal. The three goals are:

Leadership Development, Community Engagement and Hawaiian Language, and CulturalParity.

The objectives of this plan are purposefully broad to allow for campuses to use this plan as a

framework to create individual plans that are respectful of each campus and the communities

they serve.

Please use the link to access the full report:http://www.hawaii.edu/offices/op/hpokeao.pdf

UHMC administration has been supportive of successful strategies in Title III cohorts that focus on Native Hawaiian Success. For example, Title III cohorts have been successful in summer bridge programs that focus on Developmental math and English courses. The ATD Campus team with support from administration put together a concerted effort with the Learning Center, Admissions and Records, English and math departments, the marketing department to:

“Strongly Recommend” enrollment in 2013 summer courses for Developmental math and Developmental English to increase college readiness of students, especially new, fall 2013 students prior to the first day of school in August.

Once students take their Compass and results place them in Developmental math and/or English, they receive a flier for the summer Developmental ED course offerings. These courses are offered at reduced rates that are $250 less per credit hour than other summer course offerings.This could potentially help 220/400 new UHMC students.

Each summer the Faculty Development Coordinator organizes a New Faculty Institute. This three day event is designed to introduce new faculty members to UH Maui College and Maui County. Beginning with a blessing, the first day includes a bus tour led by a Hawaiian Studies faculty member who introduces new faculty to several important Maui island cultural sites.