Guided Pathways Developments at Gavilan September 2017

  1. During 2015-16 two exploratory pathways retreats were held with representatives of campus programs and grants teams to develop “crosswalks” of student success efforts with the goal of increasing collaboration and integration. A joint division meeting in spring 2016 focused on faculty discussion ofpathways principles.
  1. The Guided Pathways FIG (Focused Inquiry Group) formed under the Learning Council in Dec. 2016. Regular attenders from all areas of the college have been participating in bimonthly meetings to learn about best practices and share current efforts. In addition, brown bag forums were held during college hour and attended by students, faculty, classified staff, administrators, and board members.
  1. Career Ladders Project began working with Gavilan in spring 2017, facilitating open forums anda summer workshop on Aug. 17-18, focusing on cross-area planning, data analysis, career and major exploration, metamajors, and program paths, with a special emphasis on STEM and Child Development and Educational Studies.
  1. Shared governance: in spring 2017 representatives of the Pathways FIG met with campus governing groups, including the Academic Senate, ASGC, Classified Council, Student Services, and the President’s Council.
  1. Chancellor’s Office and State Funding

$150 million in state funding has been allocated for guided pathways efforts, which will be locally-directed by each college. The grant funding process begins in fall 2017 with campuses assessing current efforts aligned with pathways principles (due 11/15/17) and funding proposals due in February 15, 2018.

  1. Pathways Task Force Proposal

The members of the Pathways FIG urge the Academic Senate to form a task group to guide this initiative at Gavilan. As each college determines how to structure its guided pathways, faculty should lead this effort, with participation from all areas of the campus, and the Academic Senate is our vehicle for doing so. State money will be allocated for this initiative, and faculty should help determine priorities related to that spending.

Recognizing the critical role of faculty in this work, the State Academic Senate has encouraged local campuses to be involved in pathways decision-making. See Resolution 9.12 F15 Support Local Development of Curricular Pathways and Resolution 9.03 F16 Investigate Effective Practices for Pathways Programs.

Possible next steps for a Senate pathways task force could include:

  1. Prepare to apply for state funding
  2. Develop a timeline and action plan
  3. Guide campus outreach, engagement, and discussion
  4. Identify needed resources

Gavilan Guided Pathways resources, state grant information, and updates about the FIG can be found here:

Guided Pathways State funding Overview 9-18-17

Why: In July 2017, the state chancellor’s office released a Strategic Vision for Success that identified key challenges and student success goals for the community colleges. The document identified five areas where problems persist, despite efforts to improve success rates through various state initiatives. These include:

  1. Most CCC students never reach a defined end goal.

After 6 years,only 48% leave with a degree, certificate, or transfer (not counting those who only took less than 6 units or never took math or English).

  1. CCC students who do reach a defined goal take too long and accumulate too many units along the way.
  2. Older and working CCC students are often left behind, lacking services and financial aid that meet their needs.
  3. CCCs are more expensive than they appear—both to taxpayers and students—because of the long time to completion and lack of financial aid for students’ living expenses.
  4. Serious and stubborn achievement gaps persist across the CCCs.

What: The 2017-18 California State Budget has provided $150 million in one-time grants to seed the expansion of the Guided Pathways framework across the California Community Colleges over the next five years. These funds will complement and augment existing financial support provided by various statewide initiatives such as the Student Success and Support Programs (SSSP), Student Equity Planning, the Basic Skills Initiative, and the Strong Workforce Program. For more information on the California Guided Pathways Award program, please visit

How: The application process includes three requirements:

1)Attendance at an IEPI workshop on the self-assessment process (Oct. 23, Oakland);

2)The completion of the Guided Pathways self-assessment(due 12/23/17):

This is a comprehensive self-assessment of the college’s capacity-buildingresources and pathways processes, which must be completed by representatives from all areas of the campus.

3)The completion of a Guided Pathways multi-year work plan (due 3/30/18). Funding will be allocated April 2018.This plan is intended to be for guided pathways planning rather than for implementation costs. This funding is expected to be a small portion of the overall costs of planning and implementation for the major redesign effort involved in developing guided pathways.

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