CAPS
Career, Academic and Personal
Success
A Multidimensional Approach to Student
Success
Career
Academic
Personal
Success
Colleen R. Doherty [email protected]
Quinsigamond Community College
Worcester,
Massachusetts
International Conference on FYE Vancouver, BC
July, 2003
Title III
“The purpose of the Strengthening Institutions
Program is to provide grants to eligible
institutions of higher education to improve their
academic programs, institutional management,
and fiscal stability in order to increase their selfsufficiency and strengthen their capacity to make
a substantial contribution to the higher
education resources of the Nation. Funds may
be used for faculty development, funds and
administrative management, development and
improvement of academic programs, joint use of
facilities, and student services.” (US Dept. of Ed.
Web site) Additional information may be found at
http://www.ed.gov/offices/OPE/HEP/idues/tit
le3a.html
Title III Team
• Cathy Livingston, Vice President of Academic Affairs; Project
Manager of Title III Grant
• Pat Toney, Dean of Instruction for Humanities and Social Sciences
• Jim Rice, Professor of English/Coordinator of Communication
• Felix Rizvanov, Director of Instructional Design
• Colleen Doherty, Director of Career Development
• Anne Shull, Instructor of English as a Second Language
• Sheila Booth, Assistant Professor of English
• Steve Rayshick, Assistant Professor of English
• Betsy Zuegg, Assistant Professor of Developmental English
• Elaine Previte, Coordinator of Learning Resources
• Virginia Asadoorian, Professor of Mathematics
• Steve Zona, Professor of Mathematics
QCC Identified Needs
• limited success of developmental
students
• large % of undeclared majors who do not
persist to graduation
• clear need to improve academic advising
• course content and delivery methods for
developmental courses
5 Major Target Areas
•
•
•
•
•
College Orientation Course
Curriculum Redesign
Research Success of Pilot Courses
Developmental Advising Model
Professional Development Program
for Faculty
Successes
Challenges
Suggestions
1. College Orientation Course
3 Major Themes
– Career Development
– College Connection and Knowledge
– Learning and Study Skills
Final Project – CAPS Plan
Active Instructional Methodologies
Nearly 90 % of students returned
the second semester
Community College Focus
•
•
•
•
•
Commuter Campus
Busy, Competing Agendas
Minimal Connection to College
Large Immigrant Population (Worcester)
High Percentage of Students beginning
in Developmental Courses
• Age Difference
CAPS PLAN: Career, Academic and
Personal Success
Career
Personal
Academic
Success
QCC CAPS PLAN
Career, Academic, and Personal Success
ORT 110 & PSY 115
LEARNING PROFILE
(complete 2)
Index of Learning Styles
Results _____________________
Modality Questionnaire
Results _____________________
MBTI (Meyers-Briggs)
Results _____________________
GEFT (Embedded Figures) Results______________________
Summarizing Comments: ____________________________________
__________________________________________________________
CAREER PLANNING (complete 3)
*Self-Assessment
Self-Directed Search Results _____________________
Strong-Campbell
Results _____________________
Kuder
Results _____________________
Career Link Inventory
Results _____________________
MBTI (Meyers-Briggs)
Results _____________________
Career Key Results _____________________
*Values (complete 1)
Your Values Test
Results ____________________
COPES
Results ____________________
*Careers Researched
(research 2 to 5 careers)
________________________ ________________________
*Career Options
Exploring further
Short-term Options
Long -term Options
coursework/Other
Summarizing Comments:______________________________________
QCC Course Selection Planning Chart
QCC Course
SelectionPlanPlanning
Chart
to
Course# Offered
Grade Credits Prerequisites
Take
Fall _____
Spring _____
Summer/Intersession _____
Fall _____
Spring _____
Institutional Benefits of CAPS
Plan
• Advising
-Comprehensive view of student,
including career plan and course selection
• Transfer
-Plan, contact schools
• General Studies- Administrative
Mechanism
-Provide direction to large % of undecided
students
Challenges &
Suggestions
• Faculty Selection Critical
• Start up of New Course,
Registering Appropriate Students
• Faculty Training and Compensation
• Technology Usage
2. Curriculum Re-Design
• Faculty Release Time
• Valuable Dialogue Across
Disciplines
• Uniformity within course sections
• Improved Sequences from course to
course
• Customized Texts
• Course Matrix
Matrix Categories
Week
Topics/
Descriptio
n
Instructional
Strategies
Learning
Outcomes
Faculty
Resources/
Materials
Assessme
nt
Challenges &
•
•
•
•
Suggestions
Academic Freedom
Pilot /Field Test Sections
Faculty Use of Technology
Adjuncts and Late Notification of
Teaching
• Support for Faculty
• Changing
Instructional
Methodologies
3. Research
Attrition and Persistence
• Fall, 2001 baseline cohort shows
that within one semester QCC lost
30% of all students enrolled in
developmental courses.
• Within One year QCC lost 48.2% of
the above students.
Retention and Grades
from Fall 2002 to Spring 2003
Title III Pilot Results
• 78.6% for ENG (10.5% increase over Fall, 01).
• 80.5% for MATH (13.2% increase over Fall, 01).
• 89.7% for ORT (College Orientation)
(26% increase over Fall, 01).
-------------------------------------------------------GRADES- % of students with C+ or higher
• 9.8% higher in Title III Pilot Sections of
Math and English than in Non-pilot
Sections.
ORT 110 College Orientation
Course
• Developmental Pilots with ORT 110=
 75.4% of students in Dev. Pilots received
grades of C+ or higher in Pilots.
• Dev. Pilots without ORT 110= 60.7% of
 students in Dev. Pilots received grades of
C+ or higher in Pilots.
• ORT 110 influence resulted in 24.4%
 increase in student success.
Challenges &
Suggestions
• Integrating Data from Various
Sources
• Community College Enrollment
Patterns differ from 4-year colleges
• Define and Measure “Student
Success” from both Quantitative and
Qualitative Approaches
4. Developmental Advising
• GoalDesign a Campus-wide,
Comprehensive, Developmental
Advising Program that addresses
all Offices or Departments Involved
in Advising.
External Resources and Models
• Valencia Community College- Life
Map
• NACADA
• Work of Virginia Gordon (Undecided
Students)
• Work of Joe Cuseo (Advising,
Retention and First-Year Initiatives)
• Work of Terry O’Banion
O’Banion
“Academic Advising is much larger than
assisting someone in course selection.
One has to go through different stages of
development in order to ultimately select
which courses are most appropriate.
Stages include – (1) exploration of life
goals; (2) exploration of career goals; (3)
selection of a program major; (4)
identification of course choices; and (5)
creation of course schedule.” Developmental Advising Task
Force
• Stage Model -0-15 credits- Stage One
-15-30 credits- Stage Two
-30-45 credits- Stage Three
-45-60+- Stage Four
-gradual shift of responsibilities to student as
they move through the stages
• Specific Performance Indicators at
Each Stage
• Existing Campus Resources and
Solutions
Challenges &
Suggestions
• Differing Perspectives and
Approaches of Student Affairs and
Academic Affairs
• New Campus-wide Initiatives need
Presidential Endorsement
• Allow Ample TIME for Process and
Results
5. Faculty Professional
Development
• Developmental Course Content
Revised

• Improving Instructional
Methodologies
– Inclusive Strategies Reaching ALL

Students
– Use/Integration of Technology
• On-going Improvement and
Updating of Course Content
Develop and Sustain Faculty
Professional Development
• Expand to All Faculty
-Those teaching Title III courses and others
-Include existing training initiatives at college
• Train-the-Trainer Model
• Resources
-Reflective Practice
-Universal Design
-Accelerated Learning
Teaching Every
Student in the
Digital Age,
D. Rose & A.
Meyer
Creating Significant
Learning
Experiences, Dee
Fink
The Courage
to Teach,
Parker Palmer
Challenges &
Suggestions
• Resources
• Technology Availability & Comfort
Level
• Measuring Change and Improvement
• Sustaining Momentum