Improving Student Success:

1
Improving Student Success Academic Advising
The Completion Agenda
Thomas J. Grites, Ph.D. Assistant
Provost Tom.Grites_at_stockton.edu
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Sample Audience Poll

• Using the chat feature, please let us know who is
  participating from your institution today.
• A. Academic Advising Administrator(s)
• B. Academic Advisor(s)
• C. Admissions/Enrollment Management Staff
• D. Student Affairs Staff (Orientation, Career
  Development, etc.)
• E. Faculty Members
• F. Other(s) (please specify)

3
The Big Picture

• Collaboration working together or
• too many fingers in the pie?
• Collision a clash among forces or
• a new Big Bang Theory?

4
The Big Drivers a.k.a. The Completion Agenda

• Obama - 2020 Goal US will return to 1st in the
  world in proportion of population (ages 25 34)
  with some form of post-secondary education
  assumes 90 high school graduation rate
• Lumina Foundation 2025 - The Big Goal
• 60 of Americans will hold some kind of high
  quality credential
• Current Status (age 25) 9.5 have Associates
  credential and 32.9 have Bachelors or higher
• Source US Census Bureau (2011)

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What do these goals mean?

• To meet the 2020 Obama goal we will need to
  double our current US college enrollments (to 40
  million students) by 2016
• To meet the 2025 Lumina goal we will need to
  produce an additional 166,000 US college
  graduates per year, each year
• - in New Jersey (now at 44.6) we will need to
• graduate 765,000 additional students, an
  increase
• of c. 5,600 per year, each year, for 14 years
• Sources Lumina (2010) Chronicle, Sept 20, 2011
  Duncan (2012)

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Yet

• Retention Rates and (5-Year) Graduation Rates
  have remained relatively constant for the past 40
  years defined in late 1980s, but still used
  today
• c. 75 and 52 respectively
  (4-year Schools)
• c. 56 and 28 (3 years 2-year
  schools)
• Source ACT Institutional Data
• AND
• Best Practices institutions only yield c. 71
  retention and 50 (6-year) graduation rates
• Source Primary Research Group (2013)

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and more

• Degree Completion Status after 7 years
• Bachelor's degree by year 4 35
• Bachelors degree year 5 to 7 30
• Associates degree only 4
• No degree, but still enrolled 10
• No degree, not enrolled 22
• Source ACT Information Brief 2012-18

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A good thing

• Transfer students and part-time students will
  now be counted in institutional success
  statistics, since both the Obama and the Lumina
  Completion Agenda goals are based on the number
  of graduates, not graduation rates.
• most students are now counted as
  failures (including President Obama)

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The Competing Forces

• VS.

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Enrollment Growth

• Most likely to be in the community colleges
• ( from the Federal government, Lumina,
  Gates Foundation, etc. are targeted for
  technical programs/careers, adult
  non-completers)
• Will there be a return to the original CC
  mission?
• But downsizing programs (athletics, adult ed.,
  remediation) Sources AACC, 2012 White House,
  2012 USA Today, 3/19/12
• More transfer students in the 4-year sector
• (vertical, lateral reverse transfers,
  swirlers non- traditional credit sources shift
  in course needs?)

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Legislative and Legal Action - Federal

• The credit hour vs. competency-based learning
• The state oversight rule (online students)
• The gainful employment rule
• The maintenance of effort requirement (states)
  
• (2 states have been sanctioned
• 20 others cited, but complied)
• Doubling the interest rate on student loans (July
  1, 2013)
• No (Senior) ROTC credit no Federal (HR
  2628)
• joint commission appointed to make
  recommendations (5/23/12)

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Legislative Legal Action - States

• Your State
• Statewide Transfer Agreements - ?
• Florida
• common Gen Ed curriculum, common course
  numbering, Junior status, no more CCs, no funding
  for liberal arts majors
• Texas
• some of the above the 10,000 Bachelors degree
  (2 created) the slacker law the 6-course
  withdrawal limit)
• California
• (proposed) potential outsourcing to unaccredited
  institutions New University of California
  exams only, no faculty, and free

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Legislative Legal Action - States

• Indiana
• create statewide core curriculum to reduce cost
  per degree, increase on-time completion limit of
  120 credits common course numbering more
  performance-based funding
• Michigan
• constitutional case re 2-year schools awarding
  4-year degrees
• Colorado and Tennessee
• Reverse transfer agreements PLA (CO)
• Idaho
• students to complete 2 years of college by end of
  high school via online courses in the junior and
  senior years

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Legislative Legal Action Institutions

• Return of the 4-year guarantee (even though it
  never worked beforeor always worked before)
• Reducing General Education requirements
• (e.g., Kansas U reduced by 50)
• Requiring Orientation and Advising (a CC lost 20
  of its enrollment, resulting in 800K loss in
  state funding)
• Steering (Columbia University) Civil Rights
  violation to/from courses or instructors

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Legislative Legal Action Institutions (Cont)

• Dartmouth AP now for placement only
• Union College last semester free
• Davenport University guaranteed job in major
• UC-Irvine free chemistry curriculum online
• Ohio State tuition-free summer session
• U of Iowa summer classes free (2014)
• U of Central Missouri 15 to Finish
  scholarship
• U of Akron Express to Success test-prep
  tutorials

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Whats Going On In Your World?

• Using the chat feature, please indicate in a
  few words what other kinds of actions are being
  considered, developed, proposed, or implemented
  in your state or institution that are in response
  to the goals of the Completion Agenda.

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Advances in Technology/Applications

• The Big Data phenomenon (analytics for
  marketing, policymaking, hiring, and
  instructional potential advising?)
• MOOCs and badges no cost, no degree, just
  skills

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Sources of Credit

• AP, IB, CLEP, DSST, ACE, etc
• Dual Credit, Dual Enrollment (high schools)
• Degree Completion Programs (at CCs)
• Degree Granting Programs (at CCs 465 in 2010)
• Reverse Transfer
• Work, Military, Life Experiences (PLA)
• Competency Based Learning/Credit

19

• versus

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Accreditation and SLOs

• Middle States accreditationatteststhat an
  institution has met the following criteria
• that it is guided by well-defined and
  appropriate goals, including goals for student
  learning and that it assesses both
  institutional effectiveness and student learning
  outcomes, and uses the results for improvement
  (p. iv).

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continued

• Lumina characterizes high quality degrees and
  certificates as those in which specific learning
  outcomes can be demonstrated.
• Luminas Degree Qualifications Profile -
  framework for SLOs in 5 areas of learning at the
  Associates, Bachelors, and Masters levels
• American Historical Association has begun this
  effort

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A word about Remediation

• Costs 2 3 billion/year, increases the
  time-to-degree, decreases the likelihood to
  complete, and increases student debt.
• Research is showing testing is not a good means
  for placement.
• At least 21 states either prohibit remediation or
  do not fund it in their 4-year institutions.
• Newest action the Higher Learning Commission of
  the North Central (accrediting) Association
  sanctioned a community college in AZ essentially
  for strengthening its admissions standards, which
  eliminated many students who would need
  remediation the change did not reflect the
  institutions mission of its role in serving the
  public good in its community.

23
Career Outlook

• Demand and focus clearly seem to be in the
  technical areas (STEM disciplines and job
  availability) where the are going
• Yet employers still complain about the
  character, interpersonal skills and comportment
  of the young people they encounter as well as
  such basic skills as writing a clear memo were
  called into question (i.e., the need for and
  value of a liberal education) (Farkas, Public
  Agenda, 2011)
• The good news demand for a degree has increased
  to
• over 50 with 44 demanding a
• 4-year degree (MoneyWatch, March
  28, 2013)

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Ability to Pay

• Student level
• average loan debt 26,600 (CNNMoney.com)
• gt50 are in default or deferment (insidearm.com)
• Question Approximately how much average student
  loan debt do baby boomers still owe?
• A. 33,000
• B. 23,000
• C. 13,000
• D. 3,000
• E. 0
• F. None of the above

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Ability to Pay

• Average Student Loan Balances
• Ages 50 59 23,183
• Ages 60 69 19,225
• Social Security Garnishments
• 2000 N 6
• 2012 N gt 122, 000

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Ability to Pay

• Federal level
• Federal Education Budget Project with scorecard
  includes costs, graduation rates, ability to
  repay loans, amount of debt, and earnings
  potential (gainful employment)
• Institutional level
• reduced state funding (11 in the last 5 years)
• over 300M since 2007
• accelerated programs using the new
• sources of credit provide more online
  education

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The Value of It All?

• The ROI financial and social
• The debate about necessity
• "pro- college credentials help people's
  employment prospects, and the country will need
  more workers with degree-certified skills in the
  years to come, not fewer
• (Anthony Carnevale in Lederman)
• "con" - the rapid upturn in the number of
  Americans with degrees has resulted in many of
  them taking jobs that don't require advanced
  skills, inflating the requirements for those jobs
  and squeezing many non-degreed people out of
  jobs, which leads to too many Americans going to
  college, especially in pursuit of bachelor's
  degrees and higher
• (Richard Vedder in Lederman)

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Whats the (Big) Result?

• We will likely have
• more students
• more remediation (or less)
• more transfer students
• more degree options
• more means to earn degrees and certificates
• more scrutiny
• more legislation
• less financial support

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Where Are We Headed?

• On a collision course
• more degrees awarded, in shorter time, with
  fewer credits, in more convenient modes, from new
  sources
• QUALITY OF THE DEGREE
• similar retention and graduation rates (now
  reported over 8 years), with accreditors and
  employers requiring more and better demonstrable
  skills, more student debt

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What Do We Do?

• Our jobs, as academic advisors and
  administrators
• Recognize and anticipate the competing forces
• Adhere to the NACADA Concept Statement,
• Core Values, and the CAS Standards
• Use the Advising as Teaching philosophy
• and strategies
• Help create an experience through which each
  student obtains a high quality degree

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In Fact

• Academic advisors just might be the only ones
  who will have the ongoing opportunities to
  develop and preserve the quality of education
  that we espouse in our mission statements, our
  Bulletins and Program guides, our recruitment
  efforts, our rankings, and even our accreditation
  reports.

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In Fact

• The quality of higher education, as reflected in
  all these degrees and certificates to be awarded
  in the next decade, rests in our hands.

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References/Resources

• ACT Retention/Completion Summary Tables (2012)
  and 1991 2012 trends.
• http//www.act.org/research/policymakers/pdf/12ret
  ain_trends.pdf
• American Association of State Colleges and
  Universities. (April 2010). Maintenance of
  Effort An Evolving Federal-State Policy Approach
  to Ensuring College Affordability. Policy Matters
  brief available at http//www.aascu.org/policy/pub
  lications/policymatters/2010/maintenanceofeffort.p
  df
• California Community Colleges Student Success
  Scorecard (2013) Retrieved April10 from
  http//scorecard.cccco.edu/scorecardrates.aspx?Col
  legeID000
• College Affordability and Transparency Center
• http//www.whitehouse.gov/issues/education/higher-
  education/college-score-card

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References/ Resources (cont)

• Duncan, A. (2012, July 12). New state-by-state
  college attainment numbers show progress toward
  2020 goal. USDOE.
• http//www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/new-state-st
  ate-college-attainment-numbers-show-progresstoward
  -2020-goal
• Lederman, D. (January 28, 2013). The College
  Grad/Employment Mismatch. Inside Higher Ed.
  http//www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/01/28/are-
  college-graduates-underemployed-and-if-so-why
• Lumina Big Goal 2025 (contains interactive map
  for states and link to related article) (2010)
  
• http//chronicle.com/article/Interactive-Ma
  p-States-Must/124550/

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References/ Resources (cont)

• National Conference of State Legislatures, 2012
  Higher Education Legislation http//www.ncsl.org/i
  ssues-research/educ/higher-education-legislation-2
  012.aspx
• Oliff, P., Palacios, V., Johnson, I., Leachman,
  M. (2013, March 19). Recent deep state higher
  education cuts may harm students and the economy
  for years to come. Center on Budget and Policy
  Priorities
• http//www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?faviewid392
  7
• Primary Research Group. The Survey of Best
  Practices in Student Retention, 2013 Edition
  (2013). www.PrimaryResearch.com
• Shapiro, D. Dundar, A. (2013). Signature
  report State supplement (4) Completing
  college A state-level view of student attainment
  rates. Herndon, VA National Student
  Clearinghouse Research Center.
• http//www.studentclearinghouse.info/signature/4st
  ate/

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THANK YOU!

• Thomas J. Grites, Ph.D.
• Assistant Provost
• Richard Stockton College of New Jersey
• 101 Vera King Farris Drive
• Galloway, NJ 08205
• Phone [phone]
• Tom.Grites_at_Stockton.edu