Technical College System of Georgia Complete College Georgia College Planning Form 1. This document should be first downloaded and saved as to your PC before entering data. 2. Following is a suggested naming convention example which will help greatly in sorting and tracking, when necessary: example: atlantatech_improveplan040412.docx (numbers represent the date of your plan) 3. Please notice that the file opens on your computer in the read only mode. You must change to the edit mode in order to enter data that will/can be saved. 4. After data is entered and completed file is saved, if you are comfortable and familiar with the process, please feel free to convert file to a PDF file type. The CCG Plans must be e-mailed to Dr. Marjorie C. Kuezi-Nke (mkuezi-nke@tcsg.edu), no later than June 29, 2012.
Complete College Georgia Improvement Planning Form By 2020, it is projected that over 60 percent of jobs in Georgia will require some form of a college education, whether a certificate, associate s degree, or bachelor s degree. Today, only 42 percent of the state s young adults, its burgeoning workforce, qualify. Georgia s level of higher education attainment is not expected to notably increase in this time period. Georgia s Higher Education Completion Plan, a joint effort between the University System of Georgia and the Technical College System of Georgia, defines a way forward (Georgia s Higher Education Completion Plan, 2012). Complete College America (CCA) is a national initiative that has garnered considerable attention from Georgia Governor, Nathan Deal. As a result, the State of Georgia has created a mandate for the Technical College System of Georgia and the University System of Georgia Complete College Georgia (CCG). Complete College Georgia will systemize and direct our efforts towards meeting the challenges and expectations established by Complete College America. The Complete College Georgia initiative includes common metrics, organized into three categories: 1. Context Metrics a. Enrollment b. Completion Ratio 2. Progress Metrics a. Enrollment in Remedial Education b. Success in Remedial Education* c. Success in Gateway College Courses d. Credit Accumulation e. Retention Rates f. Course Completion 3. Outcome Metrics a. Degree Production* b. Graduation Rates* c. Transfer Out d. Credit and Time to Degree *Improvement Plans written for specified metrics. Goal of Complete College Georgia: The overall goal of Complete College Georgia is to increase college completion by adding 250,000 individuals to normally expected graduate numbers. For TCSG, this roughly amounts to 49,500 additional graduates or approximately 1,100 per year through 2020. 1 Suggested Steps: These are a few essential steps that every college should take to improve college completion; Set campus-level completion goals Uniformly measure progress and success Reduce time-to-degree and accelerate success Transform remediation Restructure delivery for today s students The metrics used to evaluate performance are defined below. Familiarize yourself with the terminology as it relates to this process, and think about the metrics as they relate to student demographics and performance at your college. The Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) Data Center will provide 1 1 This assumes that the TCSG graduate count increases by an additional 1,100 graduates above the expected rate each year through 2020. (For example: Year one 1,100 additional graduates, Year two 2,200 additional graduates ) Page 1
raw data, relative to student enrollment, progress, and outcomes at your college. The definitions of all metrics are provided below. Definitions: Context Metric 1 Enrollment: Annual unduplicated number of undergraduate students enrolled over a 12-month period at public institutions of higher education, disaggregated by entry and attendance status during the 12-month period (first-time or continuing full-time, first-time or continuing part-time, fulltime transfer, or part-time transfer), race/ethnicity, gender, age, Pell recipient status during enrollment period, and remedial status. Enrollment should be reported for each public institution and aggregated by sector. Context Metric 2 Completion Ratio: Annual ratio of undergraduate degrees and certificates (of at least 1 and less than 2 years in length) awarded per 100 full-time equivalent (FTE) undergraduate students (disaggregated by institution type (two-year; four-year research, very high activity; all other fouryear). Numerator: Number of undergraduate degrees and certificates (of at least 1 and less than 2 years in length) awarded in a specified year. Denominator: Number of full-time equivalent (FTE) undergraduate students in the same year. Progress Metric 1 Enrollment in Remedial Education: Annual number and percentage of entering first-time undergraduate students who enroll in remedial math, English/reading, or both math and English/reading courses; by institution type (two-year; four-year research, very high activity; all other four-year), race/ethnicity, gender, age groups, and Pell status (at time of entry). Progress Metric 2 Success in Remedial Education: Annual number of entering first-time undergraduate students enrolled in remedial education courses who complete1 remedial education courses in math, English/reading, or both and complete a college-level course in the same subject; by institution type (two-year; four-year research, very high activity; all other four-year), by race/ethnicity, gender, age groups, and Pell status (at time of entry). Progress Metric 3 Success in Gateway College Courses: Annual number and percentage of entering first-time degree or certificate-seeking undergraduate students who complete entry college-level math and English courses within the first two consecutive academic years; by institution type ((two-year; four-year research, very high activity; all other four-year), race/ethnicity, gender, age groups, Pell status (at time of entry), and remedial status (at time of entry). Progress Metric 4 Credit Accumulation: Number and percentage of first-time degree or certificateseeking undergraduate students completing 24 semester credit hours (for full-time students) or 12 semester credit hours (for part-time students) within their first academic year by institution type (two-year; four-year research, very high activity; all other four-year), student entry status, race/ethnicity, gender, age groups, Pell status (at entry), and remedial status (at time of entry). Progress Metric 5 Retention Rates: Number and percentage of entering degree or certificate-seeking undergraduate students enrolling from fall-to-spring and fall-to-fall at an institution of higher education by institution type (two-year; four-year research, very high activity; all other four-year), student entry status, race/ethnicity, gender, age groups, Pell status (at time of entry), and remedial status (at time of entry). Page 2
Numerator: Number of students in cohort (denominator) enrolling in the next consecutive spring and the next consecutive fall semester, or who have been identified as transferring to another institution or graduating from the institution. Denominator: Number of entering first-time degree or certificate-seeking undergraduate students enrolling in the fall semester of a specified academic year. Progress Metric 6 Course Completion: Percentage of credit hours completed out of those attempted by entering degree or certificate-seeking undergraduate students annually and disaggregated by student entry status. Numerator: Number of credit hours awarded to entering undergraduate students at the end of a specified academic year. Denominator: Number of credit hours degree or certificate-seeking entering undergraduate students enrolled in during the same academic year. Outcome Metric 1 Degree Production: Annual number of certificates or diplomas of less than 1 academic year (of economic value, with industry certification or licensure), at least 1 academic year but less than 2 academic years, and at least 2 academic years but less than 4 academic years in length, associate s degrees, and bachelor's degrees awarded; disaggregated by institution type (two-year; fouryear research, very high activity; all other four-year), age group, gender, race/ethnicity, Pell status (at any time), remedial status (at any time), and discipline. Outcome Metric 2 Graduation Rates: Number and percentage of entering undergraduate students who graduate from a degree or certificate program within 100%, 150%, and 200% of normal program time. Disaggregated by degree/credential type, institution type (two-year; four-year research, very high activity; all other four-year), and by race/ethnicity, gender, age group, Pell status (at time of entry), and remedial status (at time of entry). Outcome Metric 3 Transfer Out: Annual number and percentage of students who transfer from a twoyear campus to a four-year campus by enrollment status at entry, number of credits or credential completed prior to transfer, race/ethnicity, gender, age group, Pell status (at time of entry), and remedial status (at time of entry). Outcome Metric 4 Credits and Time to Degree: Time to degree. Average length of time in years a student takes to complete an associate s degree, a bachelor's degree, or a certificate of greater than 1 year but less than 2 academic years. Start with the degrees/ certificates awarded in a specified year and determine how many total years and months elapsed from the first date of entry to the date of completion. Partial years should be expressed as a decimal. Average the number of years across students and report by degree type. Page 3
TCSG COMPLETE COLLEGE GEORGIA IMPROVEMENT PLANS College Name: Athens Technical College Instructions: Create and submit an improvement plan on the one pre-selected progress metric and two pre-selected outcome metrics. Each metric will require an analysis of data and a summary of activities that each college will implement to improve completion goals. Colleges have the option to select any other metric that may help meet the completion goal for additional graduates. Analysis of data: To get a meaningful understanding of college s performance on the metrics, review disaggregated data by various characteristics (program, campus, time of offering, age, gender, race etc.) You re answering basic questions such as, what do these data tell you and what factors are likely to have contributed to these results for each metric. This analysis should involve all critical divisions engaged in the planning and evaluation process at the college. Summary of Activities: List specific activities the college will engage in to improve performance on the metrics. Outline activities that are relevant to the issues addressed in the analysis of data section. Individuals responsible for implementing, and monitoring the improvement activity should also be identified. A timeline of completion of the activities is required. Metrics: Context Metrics 1. Enrollment 2. Completion Ratio Progress Metrics 1. Enrollment in Remedial Education 4. Credit Accumulation Outcome Metrics 1. Degree Production 4. Credits & Time to Degree 2. Success in Remedial Education 5. Retention Rates 2. Graduation Rates 3. Success in Gateway College Courses 6. Course Completion 3. Transfer Out Page 4
Metric: Graduation Rate Analysis of Graduation Data: The graduation rates for full- and part-time students enrolled in certificate/diploma and associate degree programs at Athens Technical College (ATC) were higher than the rates reported for the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG or system) as a whole; however, students who transferred to ATC graduated at a pace that was lower than the system total (See Table 1). Table 1 Graduation Rates Student Cohort Full-Time Students Part-Time Students Transfer Students Certificate/Diploma (at least 1 but less than 2 years) (Fall 2006 Cohort) Graduated in 100% of Time (Percent of Cohort) Graduated in 150% of Time (Percent of Cohort) Graduated in 200% of Time (Percent of Cohort) ATC TCSG ATC TCSG ATC TCSG 29.8% 20.1% 34.8% 25.0% 36.6% 26.3% 11.7% 8.2% 15.8% 12.2% 19.2% 14.0% 15.5% 20.1% 17.8% 22.4% 18.6% 23.5% Student Cohort Full-Time Students Part-Time Students Transfer Students Associate Degree (Fall 2005 Cohort) Graduated in 100% of Time (Percent of Cohort) Graduated in 150% of Time (Percent of Cohort) Graduated in 200% of Time (Percent of Cohort) ATC TCSG ATC TCSG ATC TCSG 4.9% 5.4% 19.6% 13.4% 22.5% 16.5% 3.1% 3.0% 12.5% 7.7% 15.6% 10.2% 16.6% 28.2% 22.7% 35.1% 29.4% 38.1% To understand why transfer students to ATC graduate at a rate that is lower than the system-wide graduation rate, student-level data was reviewed to identify the majors of all transfer students. As is explained in detail in the section on Analysis of Degree Production Data, ATC annually enrolls a large number of applicants seeking admission to Nursing, Physical Therapist Assistant, and the other Life Sciences programs offered at the college. Because the applicant pool is larger than the number of slots available for those programs, the college must utilize selective admissions processes to accept students each year. Upon initial entry to the college, the applicants to the different Life Sciences programs are placed in either the Healthcare Assistance certificate program (for the Fall 2006 cohort applicants to diploma-level Life Sciences programs) or the Health Science associate degree program (for the Fall 2005 cohort of applicants to associate degree-level Life Sciences programs). The student-level data revealed that 60 of the 129 transfer students included in the Fall 2006 Cohort of certificate/diploma students were classified as Healthcare Assistant majors. This equates to 46.5 percent of the total population of transfer students enrolled in a certificate/diploma program. Only 11 of the 60 transfer students graduated from the Healthcare Assistant program. The student-level data showed that 42 of the 163 transfer students included in the Fall 2005 cohort of associate degree students were enrolled in the associate degree program in Health. This accounted for 25.8% of the total population of Page 5
transfer students enrolled in an associate degree program. Only 9 of the 42 students eventually graduated from the Health program. Students who do not gain admission to their first choice often seek opportunities to enroll in their program of choice at other colleges; they leave without earning a credential. ATC could assist these students by implementing intervention measures to counsel students about (1) what they would need to do to become more competitive in the selection processes used by the program they are seeking admission to at ATC, (2) other Life Sciences programs available to them at ATC, and (3) about the benefits of completing a credential at ATC before transferring to another institution to seek admission to their program of choice. ATC involved faculty, staff, and students in identifying why students depart the institution without having earned a college credential as part of its participation in Achieving the Dream, a national movement to improve persistence and graduation rates at community and technical colleges, and as part of the reaffirmation of accreditation process established by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. Data collected for Achieving the Dream on all first-time students to ATC during Fall 2009, Fall 2010, and Fall 2011 indicated that approximately 40 percent of all students leave during or immediately after their first term of enrollment. A core committee appointed by the college s president held community conversations with faculty, staff, and students and reviewed initiatives undertaken at other Achieving the Dream institutions to identify roadblocks to success. The committee reported that the following roadblocks to success accounted for why students left college so soon after gaining admission: Being unprepared to enter college (as evidenced by having to enroll in multiple levels of learning support coursework and poor performance on credit-bearing gatekeeper courses) Unclear career and academic goals A lack of understanding of what it takes to be successful in college A mismatch between student educational goals and the college s mission (as evidenced by the number of comments recorded in the 2011 administration of the Student Satisfaction Survey complaining about the lack of programs that transfer into bachelor s programs at public four-year colleges and universities in Georgia) To identify initiatives to address unclear career and academic goals and a lack of understanding of what it takes to be successful in college, the core committee invited faculty, staff, and students to submit proposals designed to enhance the student completion experience. The committee received 28 proposals. The proposals were posted online for members of the college community to review and provide feedback. Over 1,800 people reviewed the proposals and 78 people posted feedback. Further research revealed that 20 of the 28 proposals combined to form what is known as the freshman year experience. Central to the freshman year experience is the need to connect students to the institution. Retention theories by Astin (1989) and Tinto (1975, 1993, 2003) show that students who connect with a faculty member of with other students are more likely to remain at the institution and will thus persist with their educational endeavors. Connections are made through (1) orientation programs, (2) academic and career advising, (3) academic support programs, (4) mentoring programs, (5) counseling, (6) health and wellness programs, (7) effective classroom instruction, and (8) freshman seminars. A 2011 survey of student retention practices at four-year and two-year institutions conducted by Noel- Levitz found that survey respondents rated the seven practices identified above as being very effective in improving persistence and graduation rates at two-year colleges nationally. These practices will form Page 6
the core of the comprehensive Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) the college must develop as part of the reaffirmation of accreditation process for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. The college must submit its proposed QEP to the Commission in August 2013. A committee of peers from community and technical colleges throughout the southern region of the United States will review and hopefully approve the proposal in October 2013. These seven practices are also essential elements of the four-year plan of work the college developed as part of its participation in Achieving the Dream. (ATC is the first college in Georgia to participate in this national movement. Six other technical colleges received invitations to join Achieving the Dream in 2013.) Resources Astin, A. W. (1989). Student involvement: A developmental theory for higher education. Journal of College Student Development, 40(5), 518-529. Noel-Levitz, Inc. (2011). 2011 retention practices at four-year and two-year institutions. Retrieved from https://www.noellevitz.com/papers-research-higher-education/2011/2011-student-retentionpractices-report Tinto, V. (1975). Dropout from higher education: A theoretical synthesis of recent research. Review of Educational Research, 45(1), 89-125). Tinto, V. (1993). Leaving college: Rethinking the causes and cures of student attrition (2nd ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Tinto, V. (2003). Promoting student retention through classroom practice. Paper presented at the Enhancing Student Retention: Using International Policy and Practice, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Plan Graduation Improvement Plan: Objective: To increase graduation rate by 6% per year Summary of Activities: Person(s) Responsible: Expected Completion Date: now Develop and implement program-level plans to improve retention and graduation rates Implement intervention measures to counsel Life Sciences applicants who did not gain admission to the their program of choice about different options available to them Develop an associate of science program in biology or pre-health to aid students who are seeking opportunities to major in Life Sciences programs Vice Presidents for Academic Affairs and Institutional Effectiveness, academic deans, program chairs, and program faculty Vice Presidents for Academic Affairs and Student Affairs Affairs May 2013 May 2013 May 2013 Page 7
Develop Quality Enhancement Plan focused on the first-year experience that incorporates redesigned orientation programs, academic and career advising initiatives, academic support programs, mentoring programs, counseling services, health and wellness programs, effective classroom instruction, and freshman seminars; redesigned efforts are to be based on best practices as reported through valid, reliable research studies; target efforts to the 40 percent of first-time students to ATC who leave after only one term of enrollment Implement Quality Enhancement Plan once approved by Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges Redesign early alert system to identify students most likely to depart during or at the end of their first term of enrollment at the college Seek public and private funding to implement teacher academy to provide opportunities for faculty to learn to use effective active and collaborative learning strategies that engage students in the learning process Use data collected in the 2012 administration of the Community College Survey of Student Engagement to identify areas that the college scored below the national norms, identify strategies to correct deficiencies, and implement strategies Administer the Community College Survey of Student Engagement again in 2014 to determine whether the college has made progress in improving deficiencies uncovered in the 2012 administration of this survey instrument Administer Student Satisfaction Survey to determine student satisfaction with college programs and services Co-chairs of Quality Enhancement Team Co-chairs of Quality Enhancement Team Vice President for Student Affairs Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness Page 8 August 2013 October 2013 December 2012 March 2013; if not funded in 2012 December 2012 February 2014 February 2013
Metric: Degree Production Analysis of Degree Production Data Athens Technical College (ATC) recorded increases in the number of graduates earning certificates/diplomas (at least 1 but less than 2 years) and associate degrees. ATC awarded 231 certificates/diplomas in FY-2009. This total represents a 20.9 percent increase over the 191 certificates/diplomas awarded in FY-2005. The state total decreased by 8.2 percent during this same period. The number of ATC graduates earning associate degrees increased by 4.4 percent from 249 awards in FY-2005 to 260 awards in FY-2009. The state total increased by 32.6 percent during this period. This jump is attributed to the fact that the number of technical colleges to gain accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award associate degrees increased significantly between FY-2005 and FY-2009. (Athens Technical College earned this level of accreditation in 1988.) Two factors impact the ability of ATC to increase degree production. The first factor relates to the fact that the college must limit enrollment in the highly popular Life Sciences programs. Because the number of applicants far exceeds the number of students that may gain admission during any given year, the Life Sciences programs must utilize selective admissions processes to select each year s class of students. Table 1 provides information on the number of program-ready applicants who were not selected that year. Table 1 Wait List for Life Sciences Programs Fall Fall Fall Fall Fall Fall Fall Fall Percent Change F10- Program Level 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 F11 F04-F11 Dental Assisting Diploma 8 14 19 33 17 32 42 51 21.4% 573.5% Dental Hygiene Degree 91 159 99 119 81 97 111 139 25.2% 52.8% Diagnostic Degree 11 10 12 11 10 97 155 209 34.8% 1,800.0% Medical Sonography Emergency Certificate 5 10 5 2-60.0% -60.0% Medical Technician Health Degree 56 --- --- Information Technology Medical Diploma 105 185 112 165 141 217 332 154-53.6% 46.7% Assisting Nursing Degree 10 9 0 18 16-11.1% 60.0% Accelerated Option Nursing Degree 303 248 653 615 458 579 639 711 11.3% 134.7% Patient Career Certificate 2 --- --- Assisting Paramedic Diploma 5 5 14 22 57.1% 340.0% Technology and Degree Physical Therapist Assistant Degree 59 107 109 118 77 126 192 257 33.9% 335.6% Page 9
Table 1 (Continued) Wait List for Life Sciences Programs Practical Diploma 241 138 159 230 128 144 159 146-8.2% -39.4% Nursing Radiography Degree 137 291 247 198 147 209 239 226-5.4% 65.0% Surgical Diploma 55 22 73 85 60 85 98 91-7.1% 65.5% Technology and Degree Veterinary Degree 28 52 40 60 41 59 78 98 25.6% 250.0% Technology Total 1,038 1,226 1,523 1,644 1,179 1,660 2,082 2,180 4.7% 110.0% As it stands now, students who do not gain admission to their first choice often seek opportunities to enroll in their program of choice at other colleges; they leave without earning a credential. ATC could assist these students by implementing intervention measures to counsel students about (1) what they would need to do to become more competitive in the selection processes used by program they are seeking admission to at ATC, (2) other Life Sciences programs available to them at ATC, and (3) about the benefits of completing a credential at ATC before transferring to another institution to seek admission to their program of choice. The college can increase degree production by expanding existing Life Sciences programs and by identifying, developing, and implementing additional Life Sciences programs. Recent economic developments in the region served by ATC will provide the college with opportunities to increase degree production. Heavy duty equipment manufacturer Caterpillar is currently constructing a new assembly plant in metropolitan Athens. ATC is expanding its Diesel Equipment Technology, Industrial Systems Technology, and Welding and Joining Technology programs and introducing new programs in Engineering Technology and Warehousing and Distribution Management to develop the future workforce of Caterpillar. ATC will also need to expand its Biotechnology program and introduce a nanotechnology program to develop the workforce Baxter International will need for its pharmaceutical production facility to be built in Walton County. The issue of transferring to other colleges and universities represents the second obstacle the college must address if it is to increase degree production. ATC has spot checked transfer-out rates for several years now. We have consistently found that from 15 to 20 percent of students eventually transfer to another college or university to continue their education. Because the college does not offer associate of arts or associate of science degrees that are fully transferrable to institutions outside the Technical College System of Georgia, students have to select a major upon applying to the college so that they can take general education coursework. Once they exhaust their options in the first major, they often switch to another major so that they can complete their science lab coursework. This switching of majors is necessitated by the fact that students must be enrolled in a program of study in order to receive financial aid. This creates extra work for staff members in both the financial aid and admissions offices. Since most associate degree programs only require a maximum of 15 semester hours of general education courses (approximately 5 courses) and other programs provide a maximum of 8 semester hours of science coursework, students usually leave the college after earning from 12 to 30 semester hours of credit. Associate degree programs must include a minimum of 60 semester hours of course work. The Complete College America data provided for Outcome Metric 3: Transfer Out confirms this finding (see Table 2). Page 10
Table 2 Outcome Metric 3: Transfer Out First-Time Entry Students (Fall 2005) Who Enroll in a Four-Year Institution by August 31, 2009 Completed More Than 30 Credit Hours, but not an Percentage of Students that Transferred Category Number of Students Completed 12 or Fewer Credit Hours Completed 13 to 30 Credit Hours Associate Degree Completed Associate Degree Out Full-Time 259 10 13 11 5 15.1% Students Part-Time 201 2 2 4 1 4.5% Students Transfer 305 45 21 6 14 28.2% Students Total 765 57 36 21 20 17.5% ATC administered a Student Satisfaction Survey during Winter Quarter 2011. Students ranked the ability to transfer coursework to other public, non-tcsg colleges and universities in Georgia as being very important to them. Yet, students indicated that ATC was not providing this opportunity at the level they desired. Below are three comments taken directly from the student satisfaction survey to illustrate student concerns: While the availability of programs is great, more core education classes would be beneficial for students who wish to pursue further education at a 4 year college. Although, I see that more such classes are coming available now that I'm near the end of my program. There needs to be a little bit more variety in the availability of courses in the general study areas (for example: humanities, or sciences like astronomy or geology) because it would benefit the college and the students more importantly to be able to acquire these courses in order to transfer to a larger university or 4 year college of some kind. Not having enough options in this area could stop people from coming because many people s goals are to move on to a bigger school...and they will not choose Athens Tech if they are not providing what they need for a successful transfer. For students planning to transfer to another college, making them more aware of how the number of hours they take now will affect their transferring later (having enough hours and transferable classes). Plan: Degree Production Improvement Plan: Objective: To increase the graduate total by 60 graduates per year. Summary of Activities: Person(s) Responsible: Expected Completion Date: Develop and implement program-level plans to improve retention and graduation rates Seek additional funding from public and private sources to expand existing Life Sciences programs Vice Presidents for Academic Affairs and Institutional Effectiveness, academic deans, program chairs, and program faculty May 2013 President April 2013 Page 11
Identify additional programs of study in the Life Sciences field based on projected job demands; identify equipment and instructor needs for programs Seek additional funding from public and private sources to introduce new programs of study in the Life Sciences field Develop associate of science degree program in health to accommodate students who desire to transfer to a fouryear college to earn a bachelor s degree; develop articulation agreement for program with a four-year institution within the University System of Georgia Seek public and private funding to implement associate degree programs in engineering technology Seek public and private funding to develop programs in energy management and sustainability practices Affairs December 2012 President April 2013 Affairs Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness December 2012 March 2013 if TAA grant application is not funded in 2012 October 2012 Page 12
Metric: Success in Remedial Education Analysis of Success in Remedial Education Data Data for Progress Metric 2: Success in Remedial Education show that the Fall 2009 cohort of Athens Technical College (ATC) students completed learning support coursework within their first two academic years at a higher rate than the completion rate reported for the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG or system). The ATC completion rate was 62.7 percent, which is 6.2 percentage points above the system rate of 56.5 percent. Data provided for various subgroups of students document that all but two subcategories of ATC students completed learning support coursework within the two-year timeframe at higher rates than the system-wide totals recorded for various subgroups. Those subcategories of students include Black, non-hispanics (TCSG completion rate of 51.9 percent as compared to the ATC completion rate of 51.1 percent) and students of two or more races (46.5 percent for TCSG and 40.0 percent for ATC). Furthermore, these two subgroups of students recorded the lowest completion rates among the various groupings of ATC students. These trends hold true when looking at learning support students who completed a college-level course in the same subject within their first two academic years. ATC students completed college-level coursework at a rate of 39.3%; the system completion rate was 34.1 percent. Only 28.4 percent of Black, non-hispanic learning support students in the ATC cohort completed college-level coursework during the two-year time frame, which is below the system total of 30.4 percent. ATC students of two or more races recorded a completion rate of 20 percent, which is below the system completion rate of 21.1 percent. Cohort data collected on all students who enrolled at Athens Technical College for the first time during Fall 2009, Fall 2010, and Fall 2010 and submitted to Achieving the Dream (ATD) provided opportunities for more in-depth analysis of student performance in learning support classes. The ATD data revealed that Black, non-hispanic male students completed learning support coursework at rates that were lower than for any other subgroup of students. The Achieving the Dream data also revealed that the largest group of students age-wise to enroll in learning support coursework were those students who were between the ages of 17 and 19. The Complete College Georgia (CCG) data identifies these students as those who enrolled at ATC directly from high school. The CCG data confirmed the ATD findings in that 482 of the 768 students placed into learning support were in the Directly from High School (17-19 years old) age group. This age group accounts for 62.8 percent of all Fall 2007 cohort of students placed into learning support. A study conducted at the request of the superintendent of a local school district looked at how graduates of that system performed on the COMPASS placement examination. Data derived from the 109 members of the Class of 2011 who applied for admission to ATC for Fall Semester 2011 found that 85 percent needed to complete learning support coursework in at least one content area. The ATC Office of Institutional Effectiveness is currently generating five years of trend data on how students applying to ATC directly from high school performed on the COMPASS placement examination. This information will be shared with local school district officials. The data will be broken out by school district and by high school (for those districts with multiple high schools). An overall trend for all students applying to ATC directly from high school will also be provided so that local school officials can determine whether their graduates perform above or below the overall total. The Achieving the Dream data showed that 43 percent of first-time students enrolling at the college during the three fall terms studied had to take learning support coursework in one or more content areas (English, reading, mathematics). The cohort data also showed that 37.5 percent of first-time students must complete learning support coursework in mathematics, while 15 percent must complete Page 13
work in learning support English, and 18 percent in learning support reading. Furthermore, only one out of every 3.2 students successfully complete a credit-bearing math course if they must first complete all three levels of learning support mathematics courses offered by the college. Members of the Achieving the Dream data team identified exit points for students enrolling in learning support English and learning support math courses. The first figure below shows the exit points for learning support English. The second figure shows exit points for learning support mathematics. The Mathematics coordinator pointed out that the current sequence of learning support coursework prepares students for enrollment in college algebra. This sequence was sufficient when college algebra was required in all majors. Students enrolling in most programs have the option of enrolling in mathematical modeling, statistics, or college algebra to fulfill their math and natural science general education requirements. New learning support pathways into mathematical modeling and statistics would better prepare students for these credit-baring courses. Math faculty indicated that a certain segment of those placed into learning support took the placement examination without any preparation. Had they prepared, they would have performed better on the placement exam. In the end, they register for the learning support course, get bored because they are Page 14
covering stuff that they understand, and thus become discouraged with college and they withdraw. In response to this, faculty worked with Student Affairs staff to create a Fast Pass program, which combines the existing college success course with modularized curriculum designed to prepare them to take the placement examination. Developmental Success funnel- 2008 ATD cohort 3 year Performance Developmental Math ATD 2008 Cohort 984(100%) No 359(36%) Take Compass Yes-625(64%) Developmental No- 260(42%) Recommendation(s) Yes- Yes------- Yes-365(58%) Attempt Dev courses Attempt Dev courses No-258 (99%) Yes-2(0.7%) No-43(12%) Yes-322(88%) Pass Dev course Yes-2(100%) Pass Dev course Yes-268(83%) Attempt GW Courses 158 (45%) Attempt GW Courses Attempt GW Courses Attempt GW Courses Attempt GW Courses 58 Pass GW courses 138(87%) Yes-180(70%) Yes-2(100%) Yes-9(21%) Yes-191(71%) Pass GW courses Pass GW courses Pass GW courses Pass GW courses Yes -137(76%) Yes-2(100%) Yes-7(78%) Yes-161(84%) Yes-2 138 students 39% of exempted dev recommendations 137 students 53% of No Dev Recommendations 2 students 0.7% of No Dev Recommendations 7 students 2% of yes Dev Recommendations 161 students 44% of yes Dev Recommendations Resources Bettinger, E., & Long, B. T. (2005). Help or hinder? Adjunct professors and student outcomes. Retrieved from http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/cheri/conferences/upload/2005/bettinger_long_adjunct_cheri.pdf Jaschik, S. (2010, May). What adjunct impact? Inside Higher Education. Retrieved from http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/05/03/adjunct Page 15
Plan: Success in Remedial Education Data Improvement Plan: Objective: To increase the number of successful students in remedial education by 3 percent. Summary of Activities: Person(s) Responsible: Expected Completion Date: Develop five-year trend of high school graduates performance on placement examination; share with local school districts Work with postsecondary partners to develop a better understanding of students readiness for college; encourage a strong focus on basics; establish alliances to review data and develop student success and completion strategies; better align high school curriculum with college curriculum; and conduct math, English, and reading summits involving high school instructors and college faculty Bring to scale the redesign learning support courses in mathematics that incorporates diagnostic testing to pinpoint weaknesses and a modularized approach to instruction Develop learning support pathways for statistics and mathematics modeling Implement learning support pathways for statistics and mathematics modeling Bring to scale accelerated learning strategies for English developmental classes using class time to focus on writing skills and online, diagnosticbased modularized program for grammar/writing fundamentals development Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness Vice Presidents for Academic Affairs and Institutional Effectiveness Affairs, Dean of General Education, mathematics coordinator, and math faculty Affairs, Dean of General Education, mathematics coordinator, and math faculty Affairs, Dean of General Education, mathematics coordinator, and math faculty Affairs, Dean of General Education, English coordinator, and English faculty Page 16 December 2012 October 2013 Fall 2012 May 2013 Fall 2013 Fall 2012
Pilot just-in-time remediation in English in which students are enrolled in both ENGL 1101 and a developmental English course Bring to scale just-in-time remediation in English in which students are enrolled in both ENGL 1101 and a developmental English course Pilot just-in-time remediation in reading in which students are enrolled in both ARTS 1101 and a development reading course Bring to scale just-in-time remediation in reading in which students are enrolled in both ARTS 1101 and a developmental reading course Bring to scale the newly developed Fast Pass course that combines the College Success course with opportunities to build basic skills for students who score developmental the first time that take the placement examination; retest students upon completion of program to determine whether they will be able to exempt developmental coursework because of their participation in the computerized, selfpaced basic skills development Provide orientation and training for faculty who are teaching the redesigned learning classes Affairs, Dean of General Education, English coordinator, and English faculty Affairs, Dean of General Education, English coordinator, and English faculty Affairs, Dean of General Education, reading coordinator, and reading faculty Affairs, Dean of General Education, reading coordinator, and reading faculty Affairs, Dean of General Education, college success skills coordinator, college success skills faculty, testing coordinator Affairs, Dean of General Education Fall 2012 and Spring 2013 Fall 2013 Fall 2012 and Spring 2013 Fall 2013 Fall 2012 Fall 2013 Page 17
Metric: Analysis of Data: Plan: Objective: Summary of Activities: Person(s) Responsible: Expected Completion Date: Page 18
The CCG Plans must be e-mailed to Dr. Marjorie C. Kuezi-Nke (mkuezi-nke@tcsg.edu), no later than June 29, 2012. Page 19