AACC Conference

Washington, D.C., 2014

Steps to Systemic Reform: Reinvention at

Four Colleges from Two States

Thinking Through
Reinvention:
A Systemic Perspective
A presentation by
the Doctorate in Community College Leadership
program
Ferris State University, Michigan

The Challenge: Reclaim the

Dream
Rising

to the
challenge: reinventing
the community
college model
Complications:

Current practices
Funding limitations

Four

approaches to
reinvention

Presentation team
Trustee

Robin Smith, Lansing Community

College, Lansing, MI
Josh Myers, Monroe County Community
College, Monroe, MI
Pamela Lau, Parkland College,
Champaign, IL
Suzanne Jones, Southwestern Illinois
College, Red Bud, IL
Veronica Wilkerson Johnson, Lansing
Community College, Lansing, MI

Josh Myers
Coordinator of Development and External Affairs
Monroe County Community College, MI

Framing the Challenge

Rising Expectations and

Accountability
"In the coming years, jobs requiring at least an
associate degree are projected to grow twice as
fast as jobs requiring no college experience. We
will not fill those jobs or keep those jobs on our
shores without the training offered by
community colleges.
President Barack Obama
Obama

pledged community colleges will

produce an additional 5 million graduates by
2020
With greater focus comes greater accountability

Dismal Data in the

Completion Conundrum
1

in 5 students complete within 3 years

More than 60 percent of students take
remedial courses, and fewer than 1 in 10
complete
However
Baccalaureate rates substantially higher for
transfer students with a credential (72 % vs
56%)
60 percent of students who do transfer, the
majority of which do not complete, obtain
a degree at four-year institutions.

Changing Workplace
Landscape
The Double Helix of Education
and the Economy (1992) by Sue
E. Berryman & Thomas Bailey
The old: Mass production jobs
requiring low skill, poor quality
standards made up for with
large quantities, heavy
management oversight
The new: highly skilled, multidisciplinary empowered worker.
legacy.owensboro.kctcs.edu

A Broken Funding Model

The way in which America finances
public collegesis severely and
irreparably broken and needs to be
changed. (Greer & Klein, 2010)
The three-legged stool:
State aid has declined 28 percent since

2008
Plummeting property taxes

3 Leg: Affordability
Imperiled
rd

Tuition

has increased 150 percent

from 1980 to 2009
During the same period, median
family income has increased 15
percent. (Geiger & Heller, 2011)

Pamela Lau
Dean, Academic Services
Parkland College, IL

Improving Developmental
Student Outcomes

The State of Developmental

Education

Retrieved from http://www.redbubble.com/people/akeraios/works/6772947-broken-bridge

Reform.
begins with a different
perspective.
Parkland College: 3 perspectives
Looking forwards, not backwards
Making learning relevant
Talking with one voice

Looking forwards, not

backwards
RETROSPECTIVE

Repeat what should have

been learned in high
school
Repeat algebra until high
school-level skills
mastered
High attrition, low rate of
progression

PROSPECTIVE

Prepare for success in

college
Lay foundations for
success in general ed
math (non-STEM majors):
Math Literacy - new
curriculum and pedagogy
Results: 13% increase in
dev math pass rates and
completion of dev math
requirements in a
semester.

Making learning relevant

TRADITIONAL

CONTEXTUALIZED

Individualized stand
alone courses
Skills and drills
Low pass rates; lower
completions of
Composition I or
reading-focused
classes

Contextualized instruction
teaching skills in context
of other disciplines
Contextualized pilots
Health professions
Criminal justice
Business
Automotive technology;

diesel powered equipment;

Ford ASSET

Results from pilots: Higher

persistence

Talking with one voice

SMALL-SCALE
INITIATIVES
Multiple projects,
different voices
Learning
communities
Minority student
initiatives
Service learning and
the Homework Club
Fall convocation

SYSTEMIC CHANGE
Cross-campus one
message
Nurturing the whole
college student
Adjusting processes
to change behaviors
The On-Time
Registration
initiative

Suzanne Jones
Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor
Southwestern Illinois College (Red Bud ), IL

Redesigning Student
Educational
Experiences

The National Situation

Student

Expectations

Less than the students achieve their goals

90% expect meaningful academic advising; less than

33% report receiving those services

Limited

awareness of what the college

experience involves
Little understanding of employment opportunities
Resources and expectations

Inadequate

preparation for success

Next term persistence is less than 50%

Completion and persistence rates for non-white students

lag behind white counterparts (AACC, 2012)

Southwestern Illinois College

Responds to Challenges
High School to College initiatives
for seamless transitions
Running

Start Program
Regional School Leadership Council
Presence in regional secondary schools

Relationships with local employers

to improve curricular relevance
Technical

Program Advisory Councils

Running Start
Modeled

after Rock Valleys

Community College program
SWIC is in 2nd year
1st year: 1 high school, 10 students
2nd year: 4 high schools, 43 students

May 2014, 8 of the original 10 will graduate

Fall 2014, 90% return of current students
Fall 2014, 6 schools have signed up to
participate

Focus on Clear and Coherent

Pathways
Proactive

and intentional career

counseling effort

Improved

academic advisement

model
Support

the transfer process

Specific Interventions
Project

Success faculty referral system

for at-risk students

SWIC

101 college success workshop

focusing on culture of college and
support resources

Mandatory

Student Performance Reports

Collaboration

of Departments

Project Success

Table 8
Project Success Referrals

Semester

Fall 2012
Spring 2013

Total FY13

All
Campuses

Belleville Campus

Numb
er of
Referr
als

Numb
er of
Interventio
ns

Numb
er of
Referr
als

779

391

830
160
9

Sam Wolf
Granite City
Campus

Red Bud
Campus

East St. Louis

Center

Number of Interventions

Numb
er of
Referr
als

Numb
er of
Interventio
ns

Numb
er of
Referr
als

Numb
er of
Interventio
ns

Numb
er of
Referr
als

Number
of Interventions

691

334

34

16

10

43

33

428

737

374

31

14

17

46

33

819

142
8

708

65

30

27

16

89

66

Project Success
Table 10

Project Success - Early Alert System All Campuses

Fall 2012 - Spring 2013
Number of Classes in which
Students were Referred

1,609
(1,629-20 dropped retained)

Number of Students

Successfully Completed Class

Retained 1 semester

Retained 2 semesters
(2 sem retention only for Fall 12 students)

1,534

Number of Referrals with Interventions

Number of Referrals with NO

Interventions

N=819 (51%)

N=790(49%)

39%

31%

(319/819)

(241/790)

65%

55%

(496/759)

(415/753)

49%

38%

(174/359)

(138/359)

Veronica Wilkerson Johnson

Adjunct Faculty
Lansing Community College, MI

Redesigning the
Learning Environment

Physical Environment Innovations

LANSING COMMUNITY
COLLEGE

Building Collaborative
Settings

LANSING COMMUNITY
COLLEGE

Creating Learning Spaces

LANSING COMMUNITY
COLLEGE

Meeting Student Needs

LANSING COMMUNITY
COLLEGE

Josh Myers
Coordinator of Development and External Affairs
Monroe County Community College, MI

Finding the Funds

Community College
Fundraising 101
Community

colleges lag our 4-year

counterparts in fundraising sophistication
Fundraising is nothing more than building
meaningful relationships
Savvy donors require institutional
investment
Emotionally connect with alumni
Show ROI to business stakeholders

Vibrant

fundraising operations require

resources

Redesign, then Reset

Scholarships

and capital campaigns are easy

Vertically integrate foundation and
instruction
Align academic advisory boards with fundraising

objectives
Embed development officers within academic
divisions
Adapt instruction and curriculum to meet
employer specific demands
Enable faculty passion to drive fundraising focus

Questions and
Discussion

References

American Association of Community Colleges. (2012). Reclaiming the

American Dream: A report from the 21st- Century Commission on the
Future of Community Colleges. Washington, DC: Author. Available
from http://www.aacc.nche.edu/21stCenturyReport

Bailey, T. (2014). Educational equity and the promise of

comprehensive reform. CCRC Currents. NY: Community College
Research Center, Columbia University.

Berryman, S. &Bailey, T. (1992). The double helix of education and

the economy. NY: Teachers College, Columbia University.

Complete College America. (2012). Remediation: Higher educations

bridge to nowhere. Retrieved from http://
www.completecollege.org/docs/CCA-Remediation-summary.pdf

National Student Clearinghouse. (2013). Press release, August 6,

2013. Retrieved from
http://www.studentclearinghouse.org/about/media_center/press_relea

References

Perin, D. (2013). Teaching academically underprepared students

in community college. In J. S. Levin & S. T. Kater (Eds.),
Understanding Community Colleges. New York, NY: Routledge.

The Century Foundation. (2013). Task force: Community colleges

on path to separate and unequal. Retrieved from
http://tcf.org/work/education/detail/task-force-community-college
s-on-path-to-separate-and-unequal
/