MINUTES

Student Success and Achievement Committee

Whatcom Community College

November10, 2016, at 9:30-10:30 a.m.

LDC203

Present:Sherri Winans,Christina Choi, Ed Harri, Carrie Muir, Jason Babcock, Michael Singletary, Anne Marie Karlberg, Faith Fancke (student), Chris Eder, Kristina Blake

Absent:Curt Freed, Luca Lewis, Edward Chatterton, Shannon Dunn, Evelyne Mugabe, Carla Gelwicks, Betsy Hasegawa, Leah Thompson

Called to order:9:32a.m.

I.Introductions

Members introduced themselves and welcomed new student member, Faith Fancke.

II.Committee charge and goals
Ed reviewed the committee charge.

III.Guided pathways update and next steps using SSAC

Ed reviewed guided pathways and broke it down into 4 pillars:

  1. Using meta-majors– Institutions would take a collection of degrees and look at how they could make it easier for students to get on track.
  2. Development education reform and change– Modules and accelerated modules.
  3. Targeted advising– There are a lot of holes in the current process.
  4. Entry experience– What they do first and where they go first.

Groups from instruction and student services attended two workshops in the last month.Ed asked for volunteers from the committee to meet with those who attended the workshops to discuss next steps. Christina, Jason, and Faith volunteered.

IV.Work plan update

The work plan has been reviewed by cabinet and is located on the AIRwebsite. According to the feedback from the campus climate survey, staff felt there is a disconnect with the work they do and how it fits into the College’s strategic plan. Nate and Ed will meet with committee chairs next week to identify items that could be supported by committees across campus and play a role in helping move it forward. The following work plan goals relate closely to the SSAC’s charge:

2.4.1 Initiate long-term planning for establishment of teaching and learning center.

4.3.1 Promote and increase student access to programs.

4.3.2 Provide targeted support for underrepresented populations.

5.4.1 Implement campus-wide institutional effectiveness activities.

Ed would like to take a field trip to Pierce College in winter quarter to look at their learning and teaching center (center for academic success).

V.Update from Chris Eder

Chris Eder reviewed the College’s partnership with Bellingham Technical College and the Title III CAD grant. The goals of the grant include increasing retention, increasing completion, improving our transfer rate, and increasing transition rates of students in developmental education courses. Ways to achieve these goals include the AIM program, faculty professional development and peer mentoring. Currently, there are 70 students actively receiving coaching through the AIM program. Ten employees were trained in a coaching model at the College. The program is currently taking referrals for students who might need the support. Those referrals are being referred to Christina Choi.

VI.Early alert update (Christina)

Fall 2016 marked the launch of early alert using the new Starfish technology platform.

The retention and completion team (student completion coach & AIM staff) worked together to outreach to students receiving early alerts.

They coordinated an early alert faculty outreach pilot group consisting of five faculty members who used Starfish to reach out to their students and track their progress.

Next steps include:

Implement the “comments” feature for everyone with training and potentially have the early alert emails come directly from instructors

Break down the “academic” and “attendance” concerns into individual flags that directly address the concerns that faculty are seeing in their classrooms.

VII.Community college survey of student engagement (CCSSE)
Anne Marie distributed ahandout on CCSSE for the committee to review.In winter 2017, the College will participate in the CCSSE survey, which asks questions that assess institutional practices and student behaviors correlated with student learning and student retention. The CCSSE survey will be administered to students in randomly selected classes (credit courses only) and requires 50 minutes of class time. This reports provide WA state and national comparable data. The College participated in the CCSSE survey in 2010.

In addition to the CCSSE survey, IR will also conduct the faculty survey of student engagement (FSSE). FSSE is an online companion survey to the CCSSE. It elicits information from faculty about their teaching practices,the ways they spend their professional time both in and out of class,and their perceptions regarding students’ educational experiences.

Anne Marie asked the group to think about additional questions to include in the survey. She encouraged members to connect with colleagues in their service areas to gather more input. Finalized additional item selections are due to CCSSE by December 2nd.

Faith, Christina, Kristina and Anne Marie will review the set of submitted questions. Nadine Hensley later requested to be part of this group.

VIII.Online graduation application process
Mike shared the graduation application is now live on the website. The hope isit will be easier for students to apply and easier on advisors as they can now refer students to the website instead of having to send them to registration. Anne Marie will meet with Mike and Carrie to discuss the 2015 and 2016 graduation survey results and propose next steps.

Meeting adjourned:10:30a.m.

Submitted by:Kristina Blake