Project Compass at
Bridgewater State College:
Implementation Year One
(2008-2009)
Project Compass at BSC
Institutional Overview:
Bridgewater State College –
•Founded in 1840
•The largest state college in MA
•Considered the comprehensive
public college of Southeastern MA
Project Compass at BSC
Motivation for Participation:
Retention and graduation rates
indicate a disparity in success
between the populations of
students of interest in this project
and the majority students of the
College.
Additionally . . .
Project Compass at BSC
Motivation for Participation:
Sustaining the College’s mission to serve
economically and socially disadvantaged
students remains central despite growing
demand for the College’s programs.
ADMISSIONS
2004
2008
Applied
5570
7229
Accepted
4251
4505
Enrolled
1317
1502
Selectivity
76%
62%
Yield
31%
33%
Project Compass at BSC
Institutional Overview: Fall 2008
Total FTE: 8,120
Undergraduate FTE: 7,324
•60% Female
•10% SOC
•84% Full-time (36% are residential)
Graduate FTE: 796
Project Compass at BSC
Project Compass Cohort: Fall 2008
Total number of first-time freshmen: 1,502
Not Compass
58%
(n=877)
Compass
42%
(n=625)
Full-time
96% (n=601)
Part-time
4% (n=24)
Project Compass at BSC
Project Compass Cohort: Fall 2008
Among resident* freshmen (n=1,496):
• 23% (339) are first-generation students
• 20% (293) are low-income
• 13% (189) are SOC
*Excludes non-resident aliens (n=6)
Project Compass at BSC
Intervention Areas:
I.
Advising
II. Faculty Development
III. Research
Project Compass at BSC
Advising Strategies
Strategy 1.1: Structured study groups for high
DFWI courses required in majors with highconcentrations of students in underserved groups
•Three sections of MATH 100 (Pre-calculus)
•One section of MATH 110 (Statistics)
•Peer Study Fellows
Project Compass at BSC
Advising Strategies
Strategy 1.2: Extend first-year engagement
activities (structured book club participation,
writing, and research support) to our target
population
• Three sections of ENGL 102
•One section: students with ESOL challenges
•Two sections: students who pass ENGL 101
and earn less than 2.20 GPA and 12 college
credits in 1st semester
•Book club, writing, and research components
Project Compass at BSC
Advising Strategies
Strategy 1.3: Integrated and intentional cocurricular advising: the Portfolio of Excellence
•Developed to create an integrated advising
structure
•Students meet with advisor to learn about cocurricular opportunities and reflect on their
experiences in them to further academic and postcollege success
Project Compass at BSC
Faculty Development Strategies
Strategy 2.1: Programming aimed at bringing
Project Compass data and culturally inclusive,
engaged learning pedagogies to all faculty
members
•Support for faculty/librarians in the enhanced use
of culturally inclusive pedagogies.
•Hands-on workshops
•Book clubs
•Lunch discussions
•Speakers (External and Internal)
Project Compass at BSC
Faculty Development Strategies
Strategy 2.2: Institutionalize goals of Project
Compass via public relations/outreach efforts and
permanent institutional structures
• Faculty/librarian awards
• Center for the Advancement of Teaching &
Research (CART) colloquia
•Mission of CART is to “foster the development of
scholarship and teaching for faculty and librarians”
•Information distribution (e.g., Bridgewater Review)
•Permanent structures (e.g., DIRI, DTL)
Project Compass at BSC
Faculty Development Strategies
Strategy 2.3: Faculty Advising Coordinators for
high-target population majors
• Faculty members representing three highest-use
departments selected (Fall 2008) and trained
(Spring 2009)
Project Compass at BSC
Research Strategies
•Improve the College’s ability to identify students
in each of the three target populations (SOC,
first-generation, low-income);
•Through our enhanced ability to identify
populations, improved tracking of academic
performance, retention, satisfaction, and
graduation will be made possible;
•Improved tracking will in turn enhance the
COP’s ability to recommend intervention
strategies and assess program’s achievements.
Project Compass at BSC
Questions/Comments?
•Jeanne Aurelio:
[email protected]
•Cathy Holbrook:
[email protected]
•Joel Litvin:
[email protected]
•Wing-kai To:
[email protected]
•Marlene Clapp:
[email protected]