Engaging Community Colleges A First Look

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Angela Oriano-Darnall, Ph.D.Assistant Director,
Survey of Entering Student Engagement
(SENSE)Community College Center for Student
Engagement (CCCSE)Community College Leadership
Program (CCLP)University of Texas at Austin
Focus Up Front Engaging Entering Students
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Why focus on entering students?

• Community colleges typically lose half of their
  students prior to the second year
• Achieving the Dream Round One colleges (41,008
  students) 14 earned NO credits during first term
  
• Helping students succeed through the equivalent
  of the first semester (1215 credit hours) can
  dramatically improve subsequent success rates

Survey of Entering Student Engagement
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• CCSSE data show students typically described as
  high risk are more engaged in their college
  experience than their low-risk peers.
• Why?
• Highly-engaged students are the students who
  survive to the second term!

• When there are differences in engagement
  between low- and high-risk students.

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SENSE A Tool for Improvement

• SENSE provides data that
• are grounded in research about what works to
  retain and support entering students
• identify and help colleges learn from practices
  that engage entering students, and
• identify areas in which we can improve.

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CCSSE SENSE Comparison

• CCSSE

• SENSE

• Sampling Frame All credit courses excluding ESL
  Distance Learning
• Drawn from Course Registration File Actual
  Enrollments
• Administration Throughout Spring Semester
• Paper Reports End of July

• Sampling Frame All developmental courses and
  first college-level English and math course(s)
  excluding ESL Distance Learning
• Drawn from Course Schedule File Projected
  Enrollments
• Administration 4th and 5th weeks Fall Semester
• Electronic reports via SENSE Website- End of
  February

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SENSE Overview

• Qualitative companion project MetLife
  Foundation Initiative on Student Success
• Special-Focus Modules (up to 2 per college)
• Piloted in fall 2007 with 22 colleges
• Launched Entering Student Success Institutes
• Field Test fall 2008 with 89 colleges
• First national administration fall 2009
  registration open through April 3rd at
  www.enteringstudent.org

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2008 Selected Findings
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Overview of Field Test Respondents
Race/Ethnicity of 2008 Field Test Respondents
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Field Test Respondent Characteristics
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Selected Findings Entry Processes They do
have information available, but I found that
trying to navigate their Web page is like trying
to figure out a calculus problem when you have
no clue what calculus is. --Female
Student
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First Impressions

• Entering Students First Impressions of Their
  Colleges

The very first time I came to this college, I
felt welcome.
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Getting to Know You
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Orientation
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One Colleges ResponseReorganize and Improve
Orientation

• Although Durham Technical Community College had a
  pre-enrollment orientation program, its SENSE
  data led college to revise program. 67 of
  entering students indicated they were not aware
  of orientation and only 22 actually attended.
• Durham focused on two goals increase
  participation and maintain quality by developing
  learning outcomes for orientation.
• Resulted in a 350 increase in new student
  attendees over the previous year. 92 indicated
  (based on end-of-program assessment) they learned
  the skills needed to get a good start at the
  college.

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Selected Findings Financial Assistance They
say our parents make too much, but really they
dont. So, maybe we can pay the tuition, but
then they want another 200-300 for
books Thats the reason a lot of students drop
out they just cant afford the
books. --Male Student
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Financial Assistance

• 17 disagree or strongly disagree they will have
  money to pay tuition required to meet their goals
• 15 disagree or strongly disagree they will have
  money to pay for books and supplies required to
  meet their goals
• YET.

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Financial Assistance

• How often did you use Financial Aid advising?
  (Never)
• Never 56.5
• I applied for financial assistance. (Yes/No)
• Yes 68.4 No 25.0

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Special Focus Module Financial Assistance If
you did not complete the FAFSA, what was the MAIN
reason you did not?
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Special Focus Module Financial AssistanceHave
you submitted the form for financial assistance
known as FAFSA to pay for your expenses at this
college?
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Special Focus Module Financial Assistance
Students who completed the FAFSA report The
financial assistance office staff members were
available to help me complete my application.
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One Colleges Response Take Pre-enrollment
Services to High School Campuses

• Austin Community College Districts (ACCD)
  College Connection Program provides
  pre-enrollment services (including financial aid)
  to 15,000 seniors on high school campuses
• Day evening information sessions for parents
  students to help understand process, deadlines,
  materials needed for financial aid application.
  Provide one-on-one assistance for students and
  parents to complete the FAFSA 
• FAFSA completion continues to increase
• 2007-08 1,423 seniors completed the FAFSA by
  April, 2008. 
• 2008-09 (through January 2009) 2,007 seniors
  have file FAFSA, for an increase of 29

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Selected Findings Academic Advising
Planning Students have their dreams and goals in
hand, but their action plan is blank. We, as
professor, educators, and staff, should be able
to help them fill in the blanks. --Facult
y Member
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Please Advise Me!
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Academic Advising Where Do Entering Students
Turn?
What has been your primary source of academic
advising (academic advising, course
recommendations, graduation requirements, etc.)?
Survey of Entering Student Engagement
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Academic Advising PlanningAn Advisor helped me
to select a course of study, program or major
(65 Agree or Strongly Agree)
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Academic Advising PlanningAn Advisor helped
identify the courses I needed to take during my
first semester/quarter (76 Agree or Strongly
Agree)
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Academic Advising PlanningAn Advisor helped me
to set academic goals and to create a plan for
achieving them (39 Agree or Strongly Agree)
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Selected Findings Student Success Courses The
class was mandatory for financial aid. They
should put a class like this in high school.
Weve learned about note taking, how to handle
stress and time Management. Lots of different
things. Its very helpful and useful. --M
ale Student
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Motivation and Goal Commitment

• 51 Strongly Agree and 37 Somewhat Agree they
  are prepared academically to succeed in college.
• 68 Strongly Agree and 24 Somewhat Agree they
  have the motivation to do what it takes to
  succeed in college.

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Academic Advising PlanningA college staff
member talked with me about my commitments
outside of school to help me figure out the
number of courses to take(28 Agree or Strongly
Agree 36 Disagree or Strongly Disagree)
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Academic Preparedness

• Based on placement tests entering students
  report
• 25 needed developmental reading
• 26 needed developmental writing
• 51 needed developmental math
• 13 needed remediation in all 3 areas
• 84 of developmental students were required to
  take courses indicated by placement tests during
  first term

Survey of Entering Student Engagement
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Its About Time
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Student Success CoursesIntegrating Support
Services

• Students Responding to the Special-Focus Module
  on Student Success Courses Indicate Agree or
  Somewhat Agree This course
• Helped me to be a better student 63
• Helped me to feel more connected to the college
  51
• Should be mandatory for new students 74

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Student Success CoursesSpecial-Focus Module
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Student Success Courses Special-Focus Module
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One Colleges Response Wrap Advising and
Planning into the Classroom

• Houston Community Colleges Student Success
  Course requires students to explore careers,
  learn about HCC program offerings, work with
  academic advisors to declare a major, and to file
  a degree plan.
• Positive effects for student retention.
  Strongest gains have been among Hispanic and
  African American Students. HCC reports retention
  increases over previous year of
• Hispanic African American
• Fall-to-Fall 14.4 5.3
• Fall-to-Second Spring 26 13.1
• Course is now required for all new students with
  fewer than 12 credits and who have not declared a
  major and filed a degree plan.

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SENSE Helping Your College Focus Up Front

• Students dont know what they dont know
• Sometimes we dont even know what our entering
  processes really are
• Our advising needs to become more holistic
• Students want us to mandate experiences that we
  know they need
• Too many students are avoiding things that are
  critical to their success - Students dont do
  optional

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SENSE Helping Your College Focus Up Front

• Systematically collect data on
• First Impressions, expectations and goal
  commitment
• Entry processes
• Orientation and student success courses
• Classroom experiences and academic support
• When combined with other institutional data
  course completion rates, retention and focus
  groups can help to target the areas most in
  need of attention and where the pay off can be
  the greatest
• Entering Student Success Institutes Develop a
  strategic action plan

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Imagine Success

• How many times have we hear (or said ourselves),
• We cant afford to do that
• Or, That would be great, but we would have to
  hire more counselors
• Or, Our faculty will never go for that its not
  in the master contract.

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Imagine Success

• Imagine all the extra resources that would be
  available at our institutions if we simply
  retained 5 or 10 more students semester after
  semester!
• Imagine how our communities and our nation
  might be transformed if most, or all, of our
  students started right and finished what they
  started?