The Completion Agenda Michigan Community College Association Traverse City, MI July 26, 2013 Terry O Banion obanion@league.org
Three Key Questions 1. What is the Completion Agenda? 2. Why is it important? 3. What really works to help students succeed?
Question One What is the Completion Agenda?
The Mission of Completion The mission of the Completion Agenda is to double the number of students who by the year 2020 earn a one-year certificate, associate s degree, or transfer to a fouryear college or university.
Completion Agenda President Obama: 5 million more CC grads by 2020 Lumina: 60% increase by 2025 Gates: double number of grads CC Org: 50% more by 2020 C&U Org: critical campus priority Utah: 66% by 2020 Anne Arundel: double by 2020
The Gates Foundation The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has identified the community college as a key player in education and is supporting its role in the national agenda to double the number of low-income young adults who earn a postsecondary credential. investing $475 million over four years in its Postsecondary Success strategy.
The Lumina Foundation--2013 In 2011, 36.8% of Michigan s 5.2 million working-age adults held a 2 or 4-year degree. By 2018, 62% of all Michigan jobs will require a postsecondary degree.
Measure of America 2013-2014 Michigan, the only state with a 2010 American HD Index score lower than its 2000 score, saw the greatest decline in human development over the past decade. June 19, 2013
Michigan Center for Student Success 1. Enhance student success communities of practice. 2. Promote use of data. 3. Develop a sustained studentsuccess research agenda. 4. Encourage state-level policy action and collaborative college efforts.
Student Success Initiatives Accelerated Learning Program Achieving the Dream Adult Completion Policy Project Aspen Prize Benefits Access for College Completion Breaking Through Consortium of Veterans Benefits Credentials that Work Degrees Qualifications Profile Michigan College Access Network Project Win-Win Talent Dividend
Question Two Why is the Completion Agenda important?
Why Important? Once first in the world, America now ranks 16th in the percentage of young adults with a college degree. The World Economic Forum ranks the U.S. s educational system 26 th in the world.
Why Important? The U. S. still ranks in the top 5 most-educated G-20 countries for its older workers but ranks 15 th among the 25-34 age group.
Why Important? For the first time in our history, the current generation of college-age Americans will be less educated than their parents generation. If your daddy was rich, you re gonna stay rich, and if your daddy was poor you re gonna stay poor. Esquire, January 2012
Why Important? 14% of CC students do not complete a single credit in first term Almost 50% drop out the first year 60% need remediation 33% recommended for dvlp. studies never enroll in those courses
Question Three What really works to help students succeed?
Magic Practices Learning Communities First-Year Experience Contextual Instruction Project-Based Learning Supplemental Instruction Student Success Course Dual Enrollment Early College High School
Best Practices While colleges will likely need to adopt some new practices and adapt some older practices, practice-based reforms cannot be the primary work undertaken by colleges participating in Completion by Design. Venezia, Bracco, & Nodine 2011
Best Practices Adopting discrete best practices and trying to bring them to scale will not work to improve student completion on a substantial scale. Davis Jenkins April 2011 CCRC
Guidelines Guidelines for Student Success Guidelines for Institutional Success
Guidelines for Student Success 1. Every student will make a significant connection with another person at the college as soon as possible. 2. Key intake programs including orientation, assessment, advisement, and placement will be integrated and mandatory.
Guidelines for Student Success 3. Every student will be placed in a Program of Study from day one; undecided students will be placed in a mandatory Program of Study designed to help them decide. 4. Every student will be carefully monitored throughout the first term to ensure successful progress; the college will make interventions immediately to keep students on track.
Guidelines for Student Success 5. Students will engage in courses and experiences designed to broaden and deepen their learning. 6. Students will participate as full partners in navigating college services and the curriculum and will take primary responsibility for their own success.
Guidelines for Institutional Success What do colleges need to do to ensure that the Student Success Guidelines are met?
Guidelines for Institutional Success 1. A leader or core of key leaders must champion the Completion Agenda and be able to rally a critical mass of faculty and staff to commit to the effort.
Role of Leaders There are many important aspects of the Student Success Agenda---But significant change will not occur and stick without visible, persistent leadership from the college president or chancellor. Byron & Kay McClenney 2010
Guidelines for Institutional Success 2. All decisions regarding policies, programs, practices, processes, and personnel will be based on evidence to the extent it is possible to do so.
Guidelines for Institutional Success 3. Colleges will realign current resources and identify potential new resources to support the goals of the Completion Agenda.
Guidelines for Institutional Success 4. Colleges will apply appropriate technological innovations to create, implement, and monitor student success to optimize efficiency and effectiveness.
Guidelines for Institutional Success 5. Colleges will create and implement guidelines for rapid, expansive scaling up of successful programs and practices.
Guidelines for Institutional Success 6. Professional Development for all college stakeholders will focus on student success and completion as the highest priority.
AACC 2012 Futures Commission Colleges need to find ways to make student success central to the work of everyone on campus. Effecting this transformation will require a clear and steady commitment to professional development across the institution, focused relentlessly on student success and completion.
The Aspen Institute In our work with high performing community colleges, we have learned that institutional transformation focused on student success always depends on substantive and sustained programs of professional development.
What Do We Need? In the words of poet T. S. Eliot we need leaders who are willing to disturb the universe.
The Completion Agenda Failure is not an option.
Terry O Banion Ancora Imparo Still I Am Learning. Michelangelo obanion@league.org
League for Innovation Access, Success, and Completion: A Primer for Community College Faculty, Administrators, Staff, and Trustees Terry O Banion 2013 Order from www.league.org