Access to College Excellence (ACE): A Learning Community/Seminar Hybrid

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Access to College Excellence (ACE) A Learning
Community/Seminar Hybrid

• Ann Ching
• Renita Cole

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Kapiolani Community College (KCC)

• Commuter campus in Honolulu, Hawaii
• 7,200 students
• 38 full-time students
• Majority of new students place into developmental
  Math or English classes

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Kapiolani Community College (KCC)

• 60 Liberal Arts majors
• Technical, Occupational and Professional
  programs Business, Culinary Arts, Hospitality,
  Nursing, Health Sciences, and Legal Assistant
  programs
• Attrition Rate 1st semester students 33

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KCC Student Diversity
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Evolution of FYE at KCC

• Faculty-driven
• FYE task force established in 2000
• Mandatory New Student Orientation (NSO) since
  Fall 2006
• Full-time FYE Coordinator hired in Fall 2006

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FYE Programs at KCC

• New Student Orientation
• ACE
• IS 103 Introduction to College
• Learning Communities

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History of the ACE Program

• Established in 1995 to increase persistence and
  retention of first-semester students
• 1995-2006
• Over 800 students participated
• Over 50 faculty members served as co-leaders
• 16 different types of clusters offered

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Goals of the ACE Program

• Overall Goal To increase access opportunities
  for first year students
• Guarantee enrollment in a cluster of courses
• Assist ACE students through informative weekly
  seminar
• Provide an informal, out-of-class environment
  among ACE students and faculty

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2 Categories of ACE Clusters

• Professional/Major-Based
• Culinary Arts, Hospitality, Pre-Health,
  Pre-Education, Pre-Art, Exercise Sport Science

• Underrepresented Student Groups
• ESL, Single Parents, Neighbor Islands,
  Developmental, Filipino, Native Hawaiian

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Unique Aspects of ACE

• Learning community model
• (2-3 shared classes weekly seminar)
• Shared classes comprised of ACE non-ACE
  students
• Voluntary participation
• 10 students, 2 faculty co-leaders per cluster

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The ACE Seminar

• Weekly, one-hour meetings,16 weeks
• No-credit
• Co-led by instructional counseling faculty
• No standard curriculum Tailored to meet needs
  and interests of each cluster population
• Allows for flexibility diversity

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Varied Activities of the Seminar

• Orientation campus, financial aid, library
  computer resources
• Academic Support tutoring, study skills
  workshops, class-related activities
• Academic Advising campus policies, major
  requirements, registration preparation
• Career Explorations guest speakers, field trips
• Counseling personal transitional issues
• Social Cluster and program functions

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Sample ACE Clusters

• Bilingual Immigrant
• ESOL 94 Advanced ESOL
• SP 151 Personal Public Speech
• ACE Seminar

• Culinary Arts
• FSHE 102 Intro to Culinary Arts
• FSHE 103 Safety Sanitation
• ACE Seminar

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Marketing Strategies

• Academic advising sessions
• Print advertising
• Brochures
• Inserts in Schedule of Classes
• Online promotion
• Class Availability website
• Online New Student Orientation - videoclip
• Classroom visits

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Incentives for Students

• Reserved spaces in core classes during
  high-demand times
• Early registration for the following semester
• Peer group network friendships

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Incentives for Faculty Co-Leaders

• Seminar curriculum encourages innovation
  experimentation
• Team-teach w/another faculty member
• Develop closer relationships with students
  outside of the classroom
• Service recognized as equivalent to a major
  committee assignment

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Program Evaluation

• Quantitative Data
• Student Success Measures
• Pre- and Post-Surveys (Community College Survey
  of Student Engagement CCSSE)

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Success Measures
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Pre-Survey
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Post-Survey (1A)
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Post-Survey (2) w/ CCSSE items
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Highest Scores Pre Post
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Largest Gains Pre vs. Post
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CCSSE Comparison Highest Lowest Figures
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Program Evaluation

• Qualitative Data
• Faculty Comments
• Student Comments

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Faculty Comments

• ACE provides the unique flexibilityto address
  the specific needs of our student ACE
  participants. If students are struggling to
  balance their academic, personal and job
  responsibilities, we are able to devote one or
  more sessions to discuss these important issues
  and feelings.
• ACE makes establishing and cultivating
  relationships with students much easier.

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Post-Survey Open-Ended Questions

• What helped you most in your first semester at
  KCC?
• What do you wish you had during your first
  semester at KCC?
• What did you like best about your ACE cluster?
• How could the ACE program be improved?
• Would you recommend an ACE cluster to other new
  students? Please explain.

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What did students like best about ACE?
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What did students like best? Relationships
w/peers faculty (47.4)

• the people who are in my cluster. I feel Ive
  made good friends.
• Someone / people to talk to about my concerns
  and thoughts
• the friendships I made and having people to help
  me with class

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What did students like best? Cluster Activities
(18.5)

• I could ask questions that I couldnt ask in
  class. Also, ACE party was fun!
• Meeting different speakers every week. Able to
  discuss various topics.
• The presentations helped a lot too. We were
  able to learn about the art fields.

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What did students like best? Extra Help Received
(14.1)

• Teachers were good and we can help each other in
  the class.
• I like the good explanation for my English
  course from the ACE cluster.
• I could react with accidents that new to the
  school and I could get help with things that I
  had hard time with.

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What did students like best? Learning Useful
Information (8.1)

• Co-leaders give us a good information. Im
  sure ACE program help us to success our first
  semester.
• The instructors had really great info as well as
  the speakers.
• The career information we got from all the
  speakers about the fitness field.

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What did students like best? Affective
Reasons(7.4)

• It was a very fun and interesting seminar.
• I felt relax and had so much fun to meet with
  the ACE students.
• My ACE clusters are nice and helpful

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What did students like best? Other Comments
(4.4)

• It disciplined me to participate
• I liked it that we were able to register early
• The opportunities given to us is what I liked
  best about the ACE cluster

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Would you recommend ACE to other students? Please
explain.

• YES 98

Building relationships 27.7
Helpful / Extra Help 24.1
Adjust/Transition to KCC 14.3
Affective Reasons 9.8
Benefit for Major / Career 8.9
Other Benefits 6.3
Learning Experience 6.3
Cluster Activities 2.7
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Would your recommend ACE?Student Quotes

• Yes. Because being a first semester student,
  especially out of high school, I was kind of
  nervous and lost when I entered college. The ACE
  group made me feel a little less lost and more at
  ease.

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Would your recommend ACE?Student Quotes

• I think that these programs build relationships
  and provide help support for future
  achievement.
• Yes, its very effective for students who are
  confused/lost about college. It helped me learn
  more quickly about KCC, college, major, art, and
  people.

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Summary of Where We Are

• Success on a small scale
• Qualitative feedback is overwhelmingly positive
• Quantitative data seems to support ACE
  effectiveness
• Faculty support is strong, yet limited to a small
  number of faculty

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Current Challenges

• Unfamiliar concept to new students
• Inconsistent enrollment patterns
• Administrative resistance
• Need for greater faculty support
• Online registration

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Immediate Responses to Current Challenges

• Work w/ new FYE Coordinator and peer mentors to
  fill the offered ACE clusters
• Communicate results of program assessment to
  administration, faculty, students
• Create more opportunities for professional
  development among faculty co-leaders
• Continue refine program assessment

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Responding to Current Challenges Future
Considerations

• Offer ACE seminar for credit?
• Involve peer mentors in ACE?
• Design a more structured ACE seminar?

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Contact Information

• Ann Ching Renita Cole
• annching_at_hawaii.edu rcole_at_hawaii.edu
• [phone] [phone]
• Kapiolani Community College
• 4303 Diamond Head Road
• Honolulu, Hawaii 96816