December 2014
Sponsored by MCCA Center for Student Success
GUIDED PATHWAYS INSTITUTE
WHAT DO STUDENTS NEED?
Opportunities to explore fields of study
 See the connections between what they are
learning to what they need for a career
 See the program as a whole, not just a
collection of courses
 A clear two- or three-year calendar of courses to
take
 Knowledge of milestones to know they are on
track

CURRENT STATUS

Students have too many choices; requirements
confusing
41 Associate Degree options
 35 Certificate options
 75+ Gen Ed Classes
 Paths unclear

Students have limited ability to choose well a
career option up front
 Developmental diversion


Students can spend multiple semesters in DE
CURRENT STATUS
Students’ progress minimally monitored
 All students receive two official communications
from Jackson College: Financial Aid warning and
graduation
 Limited ongoing feedback and support
 Students choose courses based on need for fulltime load or convenience, not program
requirements
 Pell Grants have life time limits based on credits
and semesters

Graduation Rates (150% of normal time) by Cohort
5-year trends
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
Fall 2005
JACKSON
Fall 2006
Fall 2007
All Michigan Community Colleges Graduation Rate
Fall 2008
Fall 2009
National 2-yr Public Graduation Rate
ACS Group II Graduation Rate - 150%
Fall 2009 Cohort
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
Where are the Students now?
2-year Outcomes
100%
80%
60%
Missing
Still Enrolled
Transferred
40%
Graduated
20%
0%
Fall 2010
Fall 2011
Fall 2012
Where are the Students now?
3-year Outcomes
100%
80%
60%
Missing
Still Enrolled
Transferred
40%
Graduated
20%
0%
Fall 2010
Fall 2011
SELF-SERVICE (STATUS QUO)






Program paths unclear
Too many choices
Opt-in career and college
planning
Dev ed narrowly focused on
Math & English 101, no “soft
skills” prep
Students’ progress not
monitored
High School, ABE/ESL, noncredit poorly aligned with
college
GUIDED PATHWAYS






Clear roadmaps to student
end goals
Default, whole-program
schedules
Required academic plans
Intake system redesigned as
“on-ramp” to program of
study
Progress tracking, regular
feedback & support
Bridges to college programs
from High School, ABE/ESL,
non-credit
PATHWAY MODELS COMPARED
GUIDED PATHWAYS

Establish career/college goal-setting from the
start

Require use of program maps

Help undecided students explore majors

Use predictable “block” scheduling
GUIDED PATHWAYS

Academic support is integrated into program
gatekeeper courses (not just MATH & ENG)

Progress is tracked through feedback and
support

Bridges are built from high school (dual
enrollment) to college
GUIDED PATHWAYS

The career clusters should/could be different
for each geographic area because they should
mirror the growth areas in our communities.

Need to change the measure of successful
progression from course to program
ACADEMIC MAPS

Four essential components
 Narrative
 Sample
schedule
 Milestones
 Employment opportunities
BEST PRACTICE
FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY

Since beginning to use degree maps:
 Increased
graduation rate by 12% to 74%
 Increased graduation rate for African Americans to
77%,
 for
first-generation Pell students to 72%,
 for Hispanic students to more than 70%.
 Cut
the number of students graduating with excess
credits in half.
http://www.academic-guide.fsu.edu/
BEST PRACTICE
ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY

First-time, full-time freshman retention rates
have climbed to 84% since its implementation,
and 91% of all students are deemed to be “on
track” in their programs, up from 22% three
years before.

https://webapp4.asu.edu/programs/t5/underg
rad?init=false&nopassive=true
BEST PRACTICE
QUEENSBOROUGH COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Students required to pick 1 of 5 “academies”:
 Business
 Health Related
 Liberal Arts
 STEM
 Visual and Performing Arts
 http://www.qcc.cuny.edu/academics/index.ht
ml
NEXT STEPS
Plan of action for student pathways with
milestones
 Who will be involved? Everyone
 General education decisions – Gen Ed
Committee
 DE needs and development – FS Faculty
 Pathway Mapping – Program Faculty

TEAM CONVERSATIONS AT THE INSTITUTE

Standard template created for academic maps

Should include further education and
employment opportunities with employment
demands, salaries, transfer opportunities, etc.

Clear sequence of courses for each program
with specific timing and a block schedule
TEAM CONVERSATIONS AT THE INSTITUTE
Milestones identified for each semester
 Need to be able to identify the specific grades
required in specific gateway courses in order to
predict success.
 Less options for Gen Eds specific to the
program.
 Prereqs need to be reviewed for necessity.

TEAM CONVERSATIONS AT THE INSTITUTE
Need to further refine placement process to
ensure the right students are placing into DE.
 Consider moving the placement test to a
different point in the intake process so
students have further preparation and
conversation opportunities.
 Need to streamline, accelerate and
contextualize DE offerings

MCCA COHORT I - TIMELINE

January – April 2015
 Map

programs (broad strokes)
May – August 2015
 Begin
adding details, design intake and monitoring
processes

September-December 2015
 Refinement
of details of Program maps
MCCA COHORT I - TIMELINE

January – April 2016
 Finalize

April - August 2016
 Register

default pathways
students
September 2016
 Students
start pathways