Action Plan Template

Male Engagement Network of Scholars

The Community College of Baltimore County

Roadmap to Success Project

The Institute on High Impact Practices and Student Success June 11-15, 2013

BACKGROUND:

The Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC) has been tracking and documenting student achievement (disaggregated by gender, race, age, financial aid status, etc.) and noting gaps in student achievement since 2000. This data demonstrates significant gaps in achievement among racial and gender groups, especially between Caucasian and African-American students. African-American male (AAM) students in particular have significantly lower achievement on all measures when compared to Caucasian males, African-American females, and other groups.

CCBC has already instituted a number of ‘high impact’ practices, including special sections of the required college-wide academic development course (ACDV101) for African-American males (ACDV+), professional development in culturally responsive teaching (CRT), and accelerated developmental education courses including Academic Literacy (ACLT), Accelerated Learning Program (ALP) and Accelerated Math Program (AMP). CCBC’s participation in Achieving the Dream has helped the college implement interventions that have had significant impact on student success, such as a streamlined and accelerated approach to developmental education. These measures, while showing good success with students as a whole, are not significantly impacting the gap between African American male learners and other groups of learners. As demographics at CCBC have shifted in the last few years, we have noted an increasingly more complex set of needs in this group (less academically prepared, increased levels of poverty, etc.).

We note that many of the interventions directed at improving student success at CCBC take place at the beginning of the student’s life at the college. We hypothesize that these interventions, while improving success among the general population at CCBC, are not potent enough to push the African American male group’s success closer to the overall college norms.

The MENS program seeks to link, target and extend some of CCBC’s existing high-impact practices, continuing and increasing African American Male classes in ACDV101 (dubbed ACDV+ for this report), and adding program elements including skill-building workshops, space for MENS program students to study and collaborate together, intrusive academic advising each semester, mentoring by African American teachers and peer mentors, learning communities of students needing developmental reading and/or English and service learning projects during the critical winter and summer semesters to improve student engagement and retention.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION AND GOALS

·  Provide a coherent program that directly targets African-American male students at CCBC (Male Engagement Network of Scholars) that:

o  Increases the number of AAM students served in ACDV101+ cohorts.

o  Establishes mentoring relationships between faculty, staff, peers and AAM’s.

o  Provides a pre-college institute that targets the needs of AMM and includes placement testing preparation, advising, orientation to college and to the MENS program.

o  Increases the number of African American faculty, staff and advisors who can act as role-models and teachers of ACDV101 to these students.

o  Establishes AAM learning communities, especially those involving students needing the Academic Literacy developmental course ACLT052 (5 credits) and ACDV101+ (1 credit)

o  Creates campus activities that connect and engage AAMs in intentional purposeful learning activities, including discussion groups, seminars and service learning opportunities.

o  Imbeds and directly teaches CRT concepts of mindset and social capital in all activities.

o  Provides peer support through mentoring and learning partnerships for AAM students.

o  Increases success measures of AAM students at CCBC, including semester-to-semester and year-to-year retention, successful completion of developmental sequences, successful completion of college level courses with a “C” or better and persistence to degree/transfer.

POTENTIAL BARRIERS TO ACCOMPLISHMENT

·  Lack of College engagement (lack of understanding for the need)

·  Lack of Culturally Responsive Teaching training

·  Low enrollment for ACDV101 AAM cohorts

·  Inadequate dedicated space for meetings

·  Lack of time to plan pre- college institute

·  Testing below the floor (exam prep)

·  Funding for service learning

·  Keeping students actively engaged (winter, summer)

·  Partnering academic coaching and tutoring (PACT program) may end

·  Transportation/monetary needs getting back in forth for meetings

·  Adequate staff to support the larger population

·  Budget/ resources

OPPORTUNITIES FOR SUPPORT

·  MENS program design

·  Early alert system

·  Peer, faculty and staff engagement

·  Referral from peers, faculty and staff

·  Use of social media

·  Culturally Responsive Teaching training opportunities

·  Academic advising being the first point of contact

·  Pre-testing techniques

·  Financial coaching

·  Student success center tutoring

·  Financial literacy (Financial aid, scholarships)

·  Funding mentors

·  Use of Blackboard

·  Learning communities ACLT052/ACDV101+

·  Judicial affairs

·  Intuitional knowledge (various programs)

·  Partnering academic coaching and tutoring (PACT program)

ENGAGEMENT PLAN FOR STAKEHOLDERS / COMMUNICATION STRATEGY

Enrollment trends- numbers / Structural/Procedural changes / Before/After - Goal / Information on the MENS Program
Executive staff / X / X / X / X
Leadership - Academic Advising / X / X
Academic advisors / X / X
Department Heads / X / X / X / X
Faculty / X / X
Administrative Assistant in each department / X
Coordinator of Academic Outreach / X
Student Success Center / X / X
Coordinators of Developmental Education / X / X
Counseling / X
Academic coaches / X
ACDV Instructors / X / X
Student Life / X
Research and Planning / X / X / X
Financial Aid / X
Career Services / X
Students / X
Communication methods
Meeting
Email / Mail
Social media / email
Brochure
Meeting / Email
Email / brochure

TEAM ACTIONS AND TIMELINE

Action / Purpose/Details / When
Finalize plan for submission to AACU/presentation to CCBC constituents / Design action plan for program development / Summer 2013
Present plan to larger community / Vetting plan for consensus / Fall 2013
Incorporate suggestions and address concerns / Develop college-wide buy-in and support to proposed project / Fall 2013
Develop action plan for implementation / Assess viability of plan versus barriers / Fall 2013-Spring 2014
Implement plan / Improve retention/success on minority students (African American Men) / Fall 2014

RECOMMENDED TIMELINE FOR CAMPUS WORK

Action / Who / When
Provide overview of presentation to college community / AAC&U HIPS Team / Summer 2013
Determine structure of managing program / *Roadmap to Success team / Fall 2013
Develop communication/ marketing strategy / Roadmap to Success team / Fall 2013
Develop budget / Roadmap to Success team / Fall 2013
Determine process for engaging potential candidates for program / Roadmap to Success team / Fall 2013
Develop calendar of events / Roadmap to Success team / Spring 2014
Identify formal space / Dean McKusick and Dean Archer / Spring 2014
Identify staffing needs / Roadmap to Success team / Spring 2014
Train Staff / Varies by training needed / Summer 2014

*CCBC Roadmap to Success Team members: McKusick, Donna; Mince, Rose; Williams, Mark D.; Archer, Lillian P. Little, Derrick R.; Dolan, Dallas; Delker, Susan R.; Truscello, David K.; Stone, Precious B. Coleman, Larry ; Bogage, Nancy E., Barnes, Johari.

EVIDENCE OF SUCCESS

Evidence of success for the MENS program will include both quantitative and qualitative measures, including data on retention, completion of developmental sequence, retention rates, and course and program completion, as well as focus groups with MENS program participants and faculty.

·  Comparison of participants in MENS program with African-American men who are not in MENS program on measures of retention, successful completion of developmental sequence, successful completion of college-level courses will show improved success on all measures when MENS program participants are compared to similar AAM’s not in MENS program.

·  Gaps in achievement between AAM and other groups on all measures will begin to close.

·  Data obtained from focus groups of AAM’s in MENS will show satisfaction with the program and support gained in the program.

·  Focus group data will show that participants in MENS program can articulate the concepts of mindsets and social capital, and can identify relevant examples from their own lives.

·  Number of sections of ACDV+ (for AAM’s) will increase over time

·  Number of African American male faculty and staff able to teach ACDV+ sections and provide role-modeling and mentoring for MENS program participants will increase.

·  Participation in MENS program will increase over time.