League for Innovation in the Community College

Student Success 2020: REACH

2010-03-03T02:03:05Z

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March 2010, Volume 23, Number 3

By Martha A. Smith

Student access and student success have always been central to the mission of the country’s community colleges. Last summer, President Barack Obama challenged the nation’s colleges to graduate more students with degrees, certificates, and workforce credentials in order to ensure the country’s global competitiveness and citizens’ quality of life.

Anne Arundel Community College is responding to the president’s call to action with Student Success 2020, a multi-tiered initiative driven by the goal of doubling the number of degree, certificate, and workforce credential recipients by 2020. In December 2009, AACC’s students, faculty, and staff, together with our stakeholders and partners, launched Student Success 2020, outlining plans to build on the college’s commitment to student success by helping more students be more successful. AACC President Martha A. Smith was joined by Deputy Assistant Secretary of Education Glenn Cummings of the U.S. Department of Education Office of Vocational and Adult Education (photo) and Secretary of the Maryland Higher Education Commission James E. Lyons, Sr., in launching the college’s new initiative. The college will achieve its goal by

Helping all students identify meaningful educational goals to transfer associate degrees into baccalaureate programs, to enter the workforce or move within the workforce, or to earn professional certifications or other workforce credentials such as certified medical insurance specialist, A+ certification for computer technicians, or child development associate;
Building systems and programs to track, monitor, and support students’ progress in achieving their goals;
Involving faculty and staff in examining all programmatic and functional processes to identify and address points of vulnerability in students’ journeys to goal completion;
Making changes necessary to increase student success, ranging from those that individuals or departments can effect immediately to academic, collegewide, or board-level policy decisions; and
Integrating the initiative within the goals and objectives of the college’s strategic plan.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation notes the important link between completing postsecondary education and attaining economic success:

Enrolling young adults in college is not enough. We must work to increase the number of students who finish college. The payoff doesn’t come with young adults simply enrolling in college. The payoff comes when students get postsecondary degrees that help them get jobs with family wages—and that’s not happening nearly enough. The college completion rate in America has been flat since the 1970s. We were once first in the world in postsecondary completion rates; we now rank 10th. Having the will and not the way impedes economic and personal progress for low-income students, affecting not only their prospects but also those of their children. In the near and long term, this situation compromises our nation’s ability to compete effectively in a global economy. Our nation needs to produce young adults capable of taking on the demands of and succeeding in a 21st century workplace and democracy.¹

Mobilizing to assure that students complete appropriate credentials is the right thing to do for our students, the college, the community, and the country. In the 21st century, colleges must ensure that when students graduate, they have the essential knowledge, skills, and abilities, with a healthy dose of creativity and innovation, to compete with their counterparts throughout the world. The journey is to enroll, complete, and then compete!

A recent report, Strengthening Community Colleges’ Influence on Economic Mobility,² based on a study of 84,000 Florida students, examined the role that community colleges play in enhancing the upward economic mobility of their students. The study looked at the various pathways through which students can increase their earnings, including completing a terminal associate degree or certificate in high-return fields and/or transferring to a four-year college. Among the findings, the report indicated that, “The primary factor limiting the ability of community colleges to raise individual earnings through career-oriented courses is that students appear to be unaware that they can successfully complete a broad range of courses with high value in the workplace.”³ Students’ journeys begin with awareness.

By the year 2012, approximately 10,000 Americans will turn 65 every day. As a result, the U.S. Department of Labor forecasts that by 2012, the U.S. economy will be facing a shortage of three million workers.⁴ By that same year, the government estimates a total shortage of more than 10 million skilled workers because millions more lack the specialized skills required to fill the vacancies. For example, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) estimates that American colleges will turn out only 198,000 engineers to take the place of the two million baby boomers who became eligible to retire in 2008.⁵ Ensuring that students complete their degrees, certificates, and certification training is critical to our nation’s economy.

Keeping Anne Arundel Community College’s priority on students first requires that the college constantly review and reaffirm its approaches to learning and understand how students themselves define success. A recent report by the Center for American Progress notes that, “The rapid pace of change in the education arena requires innovative approaches to institutional practices at every level. New competition and new opportunities demand that community colleges reimagine their goals and practices to better serve student needs.”⁶ This is precisely what Student Success 2020 is all about.

“Our goal is to help more students complete college, said Hilary Pennington, director of Education, Postsecondary Success, and Special Initiatives for the Gates Foundation. “Colleges need accountability systems that will help students maintain, and even accelerate, their effort toward a degree.”⁷

To implement Student Success 2020, the college will identify target segments of students and will develop benchmarks, implementation action plans, and timelines. Most segments will be defined by educational program—credit, noncredit, and continuing professional certification. Faculty and staff responsible for the programs identified for each student population will be the area experts who will review their respective programs’ components and systems to identify possible barriers for students and to recommend and implement strategies for addressing them.

Some strategies already are under way. For example, there are students who need help transitioning into college programs more successfully. At AACC, the School of Continuing and Professional Studies (CAPS) hired a transition coordinator to work closely with GED completers, youth in Job Corps and other grant-funded youth programs, ex-offenders, and county high school students planning to enroll in noncredit certificate programs, workforce training, or credit academic programs at the college. The transition coordinator connects students to college resources, assists them with the enrollment process, and helps them create life goals as well as career pathways by pointing out the myriad of opportunities available—credit and noncredit, occupational, and personal enrichment. The coordinator also assists with retention and persistence in AACC’s Adult Basic Skills and English as a Second Language classes.

Anne Arundel Community College also is striving to strengthen reading and writing skills of newly enrolled students. To this end, the English Language Learning and Adult Education department of CAPS and the Reading department in the School of Arts and Sciences collaborated to offer a new course, “Reading and Writing for Success,” designed for students who score below certain levels on their placement tests. The course, taught in an intensive 12-hour-per-week format to accelerate student success, prepares students to enter developmental reading courses. With this course, no matter where students place on the reading entrance tests, the college is able to offer them options specifically geared to their abilities in order to help them succeed in achieving their goals.

Another program under development targets students who could benefit from more guidance to succeed. Anne Arundel Community College has in place a successful Student Achievement and Success Program (SASP), which helps students coming to college directly from high school transition into college, offering tutoring, mentoring, and monitoring to help them succeed. The new program is aimed at nontraditional first-year students of varying age groups and backgrounds who are taking at least nine credits and two developmental courses. They will be placed in a special cohort and receive student services similar to those offered to SASP students.

One of the major barriers to students continuing their education is losing financial aid if they have academic difficulties, forcing them to drop out of college. Under a plan being developed, the college will identify students on academic probation and allow them to receive financial assistance for one more term, provided the students meet with an academic adviser, create an academic plan, and follow through on that plan.

The cost of textbooks can be another financial barrier for students. The AACC Bookstore has developed several options to save students money. One of the most successful programs offers a 10 percent discount on textbooks prior to the start of fall, spring, and summer terms. AACC students have saved approximately $260,000 in fiscal year 2010 to date by taking advantage of the 10 percent discount. The bookstore is building its collection of e-book textbooks, and students have access to over 175 titles in an electronic format, saving students up to 40 percent off the price of a traditional print textbook. In addition to a student buyback program that returned more than $1 million to students in fiscal year 2009, the bookstore has established a new Guaranteed Buyback program for titles that meet certain criteria. Under this program, students know when they purchase the book that they can sell that book back at a higher rate than usual (60 percent of the new book value). Other textbook affordability strategies appear on the bookstore’s website, including applying for a textbook scholarship, reading textbooks at the college library through its textbook reserve program, asking professors to allow use of an older version of the same textbook, and sharing textbooks with a classmate or friend.

These programs demonstrate just a few of the ways Anne Arundel Community College is working to keep students in college so they can reach their educational goals. Deputy Assistant Secretary Cummings recognizes the potential of the Student Success 2020 initiative. Cummings, who attended AACC’s launch of Student Success 2020, said, “If (colleges) can get students the right encouragement and the right resources, they can turn a ‘maybe’ student into a ‘yes’ student. . . . By saying you’re committed, you’ll be thinking about—and your faculty will be thinking about—how you can help every student succeed.”

The Student Success 2020 initiative has been embraced enthusiastically by the college’s governing board of trustees and philanthropic arm, the AACC Foundation, Inc., which is gearing up to double its support of the college by 2020. With enrollments growing and public funding decreasing nationwide, innovative strategies for developing resources, grants, and key partnerships are critically needed.

Anne Arundel Community College is excited about this initiative and about the progress the college has made in the short time since its launch. While the results of Student Success 2020 will be important for the future of the region, the true beauty of this initiative lies in the individual success of every student and the positive impact such success will have on them for the rest of their lives.

References

1. “Postsecondary Education Overview,” n.d., paragraphs 5 and 6; Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, retrieved from http://www.gatesfoundation.org/postsecondaryeducation/Pages/overview.aspx

2. Furchtgott-Roth, Jacobson and Mokher (October 2009). Strengthening Community Colleges’ Influence on Economic Mobility, Economic Mobility Project, initiative of The Pew Charitable Trusts.

3. Same, page 27.

4. “Employment Projections to 2012,” Monthly Labor Review, U.S. Department of Labor.

5. Rice, Elizabeth M. (2010). “Innovative Employee Solutions,” online.

6. Levin, Pusser (December 2009). Re-imagining Community Colleges in the 21^st Century, Executive Summary, Center for American Progress, page 3.

7. “Community Colleges to Create New Accountability System,” (Oct. 6, 2009). Press release by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, retrieved from http://www.gatesfoundation.org/press-releases/Pages/community-colleges-improving-graduation-rates-091006.aspx

Martha A. Smith is president of Anne Arundel Community College, Arnold, Maryland.

This post was provided by the author.

Collaborating for Success: A Dislocated Worker Training Model

2010-03-03T02:03:46Z

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March 2010, Volume 5, Number 3

Central Lakes College (CLC) and Rural Minnesota Concentrated Employment Program (RMCEP), in Brainerd and Staples, Minnesota, were recently recognized at the National 2010 Careers Conference, in Madison, Wisconsin, for their development of an innovative, collaborative model for training dislocated workers. The training delivery model exemplifies effective collaboration among numerous workforce and economic development agencies, as evidenced by the Showcase Program Award presented to Rebecca Best, dean of Workforce, Economic, and Regional Development at CLC, and Craig Nathan, operations manager, RMCEP.

In response to the economic downturn and growing number of dislocated workers, President Larry Lundblad, Central Lakes College, convened a planning group during the fall of 2008. Participants included Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), RMCEP, and regional economic development partners. The group identified ways to work together to help dislocated workers in the region by providing access to full-time academic programs, and also discussed the need to develop short-term training options. Based on employment and job data statistics from DEED and the direction given by the planning team, short-term training program options were identified and targeted for development.

Two short-term, noncredit training programs were delivered during the spring, summer, and early fall of 2009: Administrative Office Management, and Renewable Energy and Retro Green Construction. Both programs were designed to provide training for enhancing entry level employment opportunities. Robert Hanson, CLC customized training representative, worked closely with industry subject matter experts on all aspects of the project, including the design and development of the curriculum. According to Hanson, “Collaboration was the key to the successful delivery of the program. The content direction of the courses came directly from industry experts.” Industry advisory groups were also convened to review and finalize all curricula. Both programs included a significant essential work skills/soft skills component, along with hands-on technical skills training. A number of industry experts were hired as adjunct instructors to provide the technical training. Students were also given the opportunity to visit actual work sites for some of the hands-on training in the Renewable Energy and Retro Green Construction Program.

RMCEP selected the trainees for the programs through its established process and provided ongoing support and encouragement to trainees. RMCEP also provided per-person training funding to CLC for each eligible participant. CLC worked with CEP to schedule training to meet learner needs and to assure adequate numbers of trainees to run the classes.

The project involved a high level of client/student services. A number of the trainees were under extreme stress and dealing with a variety of personal issues. A few trainees had gone through multiple layoffs due to plant closures and were struggling on a very personal level. Personnel from both CLC and RMCEP worked hard every day to help foster a spirit of hope for the future in each trainee, despite the uncertainty of employment due to the economy. This serious challenge was intensified by a bleak short-term employment outlook in the region. Nathan pointed out, “It may be a while before we see any growth in employment and the occupations targeted through the training efforts. However, on a more positive note, when the expansion does eventually happen, we will have a more highly trained workforce that will be able to adapt to the ever-changing times.” Although trainees knew that economic conditions meant employment may not be available to them immediately following the training, they also realized they were gaining valuable work skills that would enhance their future employability.

Challenges occurred, but problems were solved through effective teamwork between CLC and RMCEP. Staff from both organizations were in close contact with one another, frequently multiple times a day. Timely and accurate communication was essential to providing trainees with a high level of customer service during a very stressful and unsettling time in their lives. According to President Lundblad, “This initiative shows what can take place when partners can come together quickly to respond to the needs of the region. We all learned that in addition to providing the opportunity to acquire skills, addressing the emotional needs of the participants is an important component during stressful times.”

Unprecedented economic times necessitated collaboration at an unprecedented level. The commitment and hard work of personnel from both CLC and RMCEP was necessary to successfully complete the training programs. As a result of this project, working relationships are closer than ever before among staff from both organizations, and a strong spirit of collaboration will continue into the future.

For more information, please contact Rebecca A. Best, dean of Workforce and Economic Development, Central Lakes College, at rbest@clcmn.edu.

Top photo: Receiving award at the 2010 Careers Conference in Madison, Wisconsin. L-R: Customized Training Representative Robert Hanson and Dean of Workforce, Economic and Regional Development Rebecca Best, Central Lakes College; and Center Operations Manager Craig Nathan, Rural Minnesota Concentrated Employment Program, Inc. Photo contributed by Senior Outreach Specialist Carol Edds, Center on Education and Work, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Bottom photo: Instructor Jason Edens (left) and students in the Introduction to Solar class. Photo contributed by Jason Edens.

League Connections - March 2010

2010-03-02T09:03:21Z

League Connections
March 2010, Volume 11, Number 3

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In This Issue

Learning College Summit Proposals

Have You Registered for Innovations?

STEMtech Call for Proposals

Cross Papers Fellowship

New League Report Available

Member Spotlight

iStream Sneak Peek

Member Benefit of the Month

Metlife Survey of the American Teacher

Outstanding Speakers and Consultants Available

iStream Update

Focus On
Hospitality Programs and Hotels on Community College Campuses

User Tips
"When the time came for me to review available literature about the Learning College concept, I was so glad to have iStream as a resource. The information was outstanding."
Big Sandy Community and Technical College

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This issue of
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League Events

Innovations
March 28-31, 2010
Baltimore, Maryland

Learning College Summit
June 6-9, 2010
Phoenix, Arizona

STEMtech Conference
October 31-November 3, 2010
Orlando, Florida

Project Updates

The Nature of Innovation
in the Community College

Walmart Brighter Futures
Lighting the Way for Displaced Workers

Partner Offers

Innovative Educators
Discounted webinars

Academic Impressions
Student Retention Institute

New Publications

Leadership Abstracts
Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard

Innovation Showcase
Lessons From Successful Innovations: New Report Offers Insights and Guidelines for Community Colleges

Learning Abstracts
Outreach Efforts for Part-time Faculty at Central Piedmont Community College

The Nature of Innovation
in the Community College

Call for manuscripts

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CALL FOR PROPOSALS: LEARNING COLLEGE SUMMIT
Deadline to Submit Proposals: March 15, 2010 Bring your success story or gather inspirations from others at the Learning College Summit, June 6-9, 2010. Located at the beautiful Arizona Biltmore, the Summit focuses on organizational transformation initiatives that deliver results. Click here to learn more and submit your proposal!

HAVE YOU REGISTERED FOR INNOVATIONS 2010?

Hear Community College Leaders Share Innovative Solutions
Innovations 2010 is the premier event for professionals dedicated to improving organizational teaching and learning and discovering new approaches for enhancing the community college experience. Join a diverse group of community college decision makers and influencers from around the world who are sharing innovative solutions to issues affecting today's colleges. Last day for online registration is March 27!

STEMTECH CALL FOR PROPOSALS DEADLINE APRIL 16

October 31-November 3, Walt Disney Swan and Dolphin, Orlando
The League is excited to announce our new fall conference, STEMtech, an interactive learning experience with a strong focus on STEM disciplines in general education and workforce training. STEMtech continues the 25-year legacy of the fall technology conference--the place to explore the intelligent application of information technology in community and technical colleges. The deadline for submitting proposals to present at STEMtech is April 16.

CROSS PAPERS FELLOWSHIP 2010-2011: NOW OPEN
Proposal Deadline: April 30 The League invites proposals for The Cross Papers Fellowship for 2010-2011. Each year the K. Patricia Cross Endowment names a scholar/practitioner of community college teaching and learning as The Cross Papers Fellow. Read more....

THE NATURE OF INNOVATION IN THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
The Nature of Innovation reports on a one-year study identifying the traits of successful innovation in community colleges and the effects of award recognition on programs, individuals, and institutions. Download the report and video.

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT:
SUFFOLK COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE

College Success Program Provides Pathway for the Underprepared Students
To help underprepared students successfully manage the demands of the first-year college experience and contribute to their overall success in college, Suffolk County Community College developed the College Success Program. The program is open to students who are not qualified for any grant-supported programs that the college runs. Read more....

GET A SNEAK PEEK AT iSTREAM'S RESOURCES

Step Into iStream's eLearning Resources
Get front-row, free seating to practical and thought-provoking workshops and webinars relevant in community colleges today, such as how to use Twitter in higher education settings from the TLT Group...just one of hundreds of professional development and eLearning resources available 24/7 to everyone on iStream subscriber campuses. Contact Cheri Jessup to learn how to get iStream resources for your college.

LEAGUE MEMBER BENEFIT OF THE MONTH
Capella Announces Tuition Discount for League Members Capella University, an accredited online university for working educators, has an alliance with the League to provide League members with exclusive benefits, including a 10 percent tuition discount. Not a League member? Raise your institution's profile....Get the word out....Join the League today!

GRANTS AVAILABLE FROM METLIFE & CIVIC VENTURES
Grants for Innovative Community Colleges Retraining Boomers for Encore Careers in Health and Education Civic Ventures and MetLife Foundation announced eight new $25,000 Community College Encore Career Grants for institutions retraining 50+ adults for careers in health and education. Application deadline is April 12, 2010. Read more....

NEW METLIFE SURVEY OF THE AMERICAN TEACHER
MetLife Survey of the American Teacher: Collaborating for Student Success On February 19, MetLife published findings from their new American teacher survey in Part 1 of a three-part report. Parts 2 and 3 will be released on March 11 and March 24.

OUTSTANDING SPEAKERS AND CONSULTANTS AVAILABLE THROUGH LEAGUE SERVICES
Hear Carol Copenhaver Speak at Your Next Event! Nationally known speaker/consultant Carol Copenhaver has nearly 30 years experience in higher education and speaks on a number of key topics, including workforce development, online learning programs, and conversion from a two-year to a four-year college. Read more....

WALMART BRIGHTER FUTURES PROJECT
Lighting the Way for Displaced Workers Community colleges throughout the United States are challenged to meet the needs of dislocated workers who want the education and training needed to go back to work. The League's Walmart Brighter Futures project is designed to help community colleges meet these important demands. Read more in the March Walmart Brighter Futures newsletter....

Grants Available for Innovative Community Colleges Retraining Boomers for Encore Careers in Health and Education

2010-03-01T04:03:31Z

Civic Ventures, a think tank on boomers, work, and social purpose, and MetLife Foundation, announced eight new $25,000 Community College Encore Career Grants for institutions retraining 50+ adults for careers in health and education. Applications may be submitted online at www.encore.org/colleges by April 12, 2010.

The grants support and highlight college programs that match the skills and interests of experienced adults with specific high-need careers that support the community, such as home and community health workers, nursing, adjunct community college faculty, and teaching in areas of critical shortage. Civic Ventures has already awarded 18 grants since starting its Community College Encore Career initiative in 2007.

The 2008 Encore Career Survey by MetLife Foundation and Civic Ventures revealed that half of those surveyed between the ages of 44 and 70 want encore careers that combine personal meaning, social impact, and continued income.

For complete information, including the full request for proposals and an application for a one-year grant, visit www.encore.org/colleges. Applications are due on April 12, 2010. Civic Ventures will announce the grant winners in July 2010.

Registration Now Open for Innovative Educators Webinars: March - June 2010

2010-03-01T09:03:43Z

March

- Faculty Academic Advising: Affirming the Role of Faculty Advisors: March 2 & March 16

- Organizing and Delivering Advising: Models for Success: March 3

- Retaining Online Students: A Student Affairs and Faculty Perspective: March 3 & 10

- Meaningful Assessment: Developing Multiple Choice Tests that Measure Higher Order Thinking Skills: March 4

- Veteran Students: Creating a Trauma Informed and Military Friendly Campus: March 5

- Designing Meaningful Assessment to Improve Student Affairs Outcomes and Satisfy Accreditation Demands : March 9

- Improve Retention by Focusing on Specific Student Populations: March 9

- Designing a Successful Service-Learning Course: A Practical Approach: March 10

- Veterans' Family Members – The Hidden Students on Our Campuses: March 11

- Controversies and Research in Developmental Education: Planning for the Future: March 12

- Training Academic Advisors: Conceptual, Relational, & Informational Issues: March 17

- How to Promote Your Service-Learning Programs to Key Audiences: March 18

- Assessment of Student Learning: How to Improve Instruction and Satisfy Accreditation Demands : March 19

- Maximizing the Impact of Advising on Student Success: March 23

- Student Retention through an Academic Lens: March 24

April

- Developmental Students: Using Hybrid Coursework to Improve Electronic Literacy: April 1

- Driving Student Success through a Culture of Evidence: April 6

- Assessing the Effectiveness of Your Academic Advising Programs: April 7

- The Nature of Developmental Writing: Insights on Instructional Strategies for Student Success: April 8

- Using Peer Review to Promote Learning, Collaboration and Student Success: April 9

- A Practical Guide to Developing Powerful International Service-Learning Programs: April 13

- It's All About Change: Negotiating the Culture for Improved Advising: April 14

- Identifying and Reaching Unprepared Students: Strategies for Creating Success in the College Classroom: April 15

- Creating an Inclusive Learning Environment with Universal Design for Learning: April 20

- A Collaborative Model for Student Success: Joining Instructional, Information Technology, and Student Services: April 21

- Bullying in Academia: Proactive and Reactive Initiatives and Strategies: April 22

- Including Faculty Training as an Integral Part of your Student Success Plan: April 27

- Developmental Education: Using Assessment and ROI Models to Improve your Program: April 29

May

- Leveraging Internet Technology to Facilitate Student Success: May 4

- Assessment of Service Learning Courses in Higher Education: Understanding the Rationale and Techniques: May 5

- Developing A Career & College Center: Nuts, Bolts & Assembly: May 11 & May 19

June

- Undocumented Students: An Overview of Policies, Myths and Best Practices: June 16

For more information, contact Valerie Kisiel at 303-775-6004 or val@ieinfo.org.

Outreach Efforts for Part-time Faculty at Central Piedmont Community College

2010-02-24T11:02:38Z

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February 2010, Volume 13, Number2

by Debbie Bouton

Much discussion and speculation has taken place recently concerning the role of part-time faculty in the community college and the practical and ethical responsibilities of the institutions to support them. Such attention is warranted, given that the number of part-time faculty in higher education increased 422 percent between 1970 and 2003 (Schuster, J.H. & Finkelstein, M.J., 2006). Indeed, for community colleges, part-time instructors now make up approximately 70 percent of the faculty (Schuster, J.H. & Finkelstein, M.J., 2006). This apparent dependence of community colleges on part-time faculty raises concern when one considers recent research suggesting that student exposure to part-time faculty is negatively correlated with associate degree completion (Jaeger, A.J., & Eagan, M.K., 2009). However, researchers also suggest that the problem may lie not with the part-time faculty themselves, but with the institutions and the lack of support given to part-time faculty (Jaeger, A.J. & Eagan, M.K., 2009; Marklein, M.B., 2008). Central Piedmont Community College has been intentional in its efforts to integrate part-time faculty into the culture and climate of the college and has seen increases in both student success and retention.

Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC) is a large multicampus institution serving over 70,000 students each year in programs ranging from basic skills, vocational and technical education, and college transfer to corporate and continuing education. During the 2008-2009 academic year, part-time faculty made up 79 percent of the total number of faculty employed at the college and taught 42 percent of all curriculum classes. In any given semester, the college employs between 1,200 and 1,500 part-time faculty. Historically, turnover among part-time faculty has been problematic. In the past two years, part-time faculty have been retained at a rate of approximately 65 percent, presenting ongoing challenges in hiring and training new part-time faculty.

CPCC determined in its 2004 strategic plan that it would become a more learning-centered institution, and that commitment has been renewed in subsequent strategic plans. However, there was a great deal of concern about how the college would be able to truly commit to a learning college philosophy without buy-in from the ranks of part-time faculty. The college made the decision to significantly increase its efforts to provide part-time faculty with the resources and training needed to be successful in the classroom. This move was considered essential if the college was serious in its efforts to put learning first.

Outreach Efforts

With strong support from the vice president for learning, the Office of Professional Development initiated or redesigned five separate outreach efforts to enhance the performance of part-time faculty at Central Piedmont Community College:

Orientation for all new curriculum part-time faculty
Website to address the needs of part-time faculty
Teaching for Significant Learning, a certification program for part-time faculty
Saturday professional development opportunities designed to meet the needs of part-time faculty
Classroom observation for part-time faculty designed to be a teaching tool as well as an instrument for evaluation.

The outreach efforts were coordinated so that each initiative built upon and supported the objectives of all other programs. Staff from the Office of Professional Development conferred regularly to ensure that adjustments could be made as feedback from participants was received.

Orientation

"I commend you on the quality and content of the session. I have taught in three states in both large and small colleges. Not one time has there been an orientation with the quality level of CPCC’s. In addition, I was equally impressed by the resources available and the extent of technology usage." Part-time Faculty Member

Providing orientation for new part-time faculty is not new. In fact, many colleges require it for new hires. This was not the case at CPCC. Participation was strongly suggested but not required, and attendance had been steadily declining for several years. College practice was to pay a small stipend to part-time faculty to attend the orientation. After some research, two important findings were revealed. First, for most faculty the stipend was not an important incentive for attendance. Second, because stipends were paid from departmental budgets, part-time faculty were not always actively encouraged to participate. For some departments with large numbers of new part-time faculty, stipends could add up to hundreds of dollars and negatively impact already tight budgets.

The college decided to eliminate the stipends and instead provide orientation participants with a CPCC monogrammed attaché filled with assorted teaching supplies and materials. Although there was some initial concern on the part of administrators about the elimination of the stipend, participant responses were overwhelmingly positive. Part-time faculty liked being identified as a CPCC instructor when walking around campus carrying the attaché.

Orientations were offered at multiple times and multiple locations. Recently, an online option was added for those instructors who could not attend one of the face-to-face sessions or who were hired after the beginning of the semester. Most sessions started with a visit from the vice president for learning and the campus dean to encourage part-time faculty and to impress upon them the importance of the work done by part-timers.

The Office of Professional Development worked closely with human resources to ensure that new hires were informed of the orientation dates and times and the importance of attendance. Instructional departments were also asked to encourage their new hires to attend. Because of this joint effort, attendance increased and now averages almost 80 percent; part-timers consistently rate the orientation as “very helpful” on the follow-up evaluation.

Website

The CPCC website is a vast and robust site with incredible resources. However, to the part-timer with limited understanding of the organizational structure of the college, the site can be a bit overwhelming. In 2007, a website was developed especially for part-time faculty. Based on input from part-time faculty and those that supervise them, the website, http://www.cpcc.edu/parttime, focuses on topics such as critical paperwork, classroom management, resources for student success, teaching tips, and important college initiatives.

Although a formal assessment has not been conducted, a review by Information Technology Services indicates that the site is heavily used. The site does not require employee authentication and, therefore, provides immediate access for newly hired part-timers or potential faculty who wish to review the available resources and support.

Part-time Faculty Certification

"The training has challenged me to take a closer look at the way I do things in the classroom. I found that while I knew the content, I did not know much about how students learn, and what they really should be getting from their experience at CPCC. I can do things in a much better way using the information you have put together." Part-time Faculty Member

In 2008, the college piloted Teaching for Significant Learning, a program designed to provide part-time faculty with the tools and resources needed to become more effective educators. The program was 25 hours in length—12 hours face-to-face and 13 online—and was offered during the summer when course offerings were lightest. Fifty part-time faculty participated based on recommendations from discipline and program chairs. The request for recommendations was based on a “good to great” approach. The intent was to work with good faculty and provide resources and support to help them become even better. In 2009, the number of participants was expanded to 65. Participants who completed the entire program were paid a stipend of $500. Staff from the Office of Professional Development, along with one full-time faculty member who received a stipend for her work and one outside consultant, developed the program.

The framework for the curriculum was based on Getting Results, a free professional development course for part-time community college educators, produced by WGBH-Boston in cooperation with the League for Innovation and with funding from the National Science Foundation. The course was adapted for use at CPCC and participants were given additional texts and supplemental materials to address needs specific to the college. The course included the following topics: creating a community of learners, planning for outcomes, active teaching and learning, assessing teaching and learning, and teaching with technology.

The final session of the course was an all-day Saturday event. Participants were required to revise the syllabus for one of their classes based on what they learned through the course. They were also asked to do a teaching demonstration. Course facilitators and fellow participants critiqued teaching demonstrations based on the classroom observation form used to review the teaching of all full-time and part-time faculty at the college.

The costs to develop the program and materials, pay the facilitators, and cover the stipends for participants were significant. For that reason, college administrators wanted to make sure the program lived up to expectations. The certification course was evaluated in several different ways:

Participant self-assessment (pre and post)
Follow-up participant self-assessment (six months after completion)
Survey of participants’ students
Student success rates (pre and post)
Student retention rates (pre and post)

Program developers were not surprised to learn that participants rated their use of teaching “best practices” as higher after completing the course. However, those responses were given added credibility when the instructors’ students verified the use of such teaching practices. Students consistently reported use of instructional practices such as, “Instructor clearly describes key measures of student success for course,” and, “Instructor uses a variety of activities to maintain student involvement.”

With assistance from the Office of Planning and Research, it was determined that both part-time faculty groups, 2008 and 2009, experienced an increase in student success rates (A-C grades) and a decrease in D, F, I, and W grades.

Summer 2008 Group
	Terms	ABCS	%ABCS	AS-UF	%AS-UF	DFIWU	%DWIFU	TOTAL
Pre-Cert	2007-2008	3062	66.60%	3753	81.60%	1538	33.40%	4600
Post-Cert	Fall 2008	6384	71.70%	7793	87.50%	2524	28.30%	8908
Summer 2009 Group
	Terms	ABCS	%ABCS	AS-UF	%AS-UF	DFIWU	%DWIFU	TOTAL
Pre-Cert	2008-2009	4087	70.20%	5398	92.70%	1734	29.80%	5821
Post-Cert	Fall 2009	2849	71.90%	3648	92.10%	1111	28.10%	3960

One unexpected finding was the increase in retention rate for part-time faculty participants in Teaching for Significant Learning. The retention rate for participants approached 95 percent for the two-year period, while retention for the entire part-time faculty group was 65 percent for the same period of time.

Saturday Sessions

Like many community colleges, part-time faculty at CPCC often work full-time at other jobs and have little chance to take advantage of professional development opportunities offered during the day. Based on feedback from part-time faculty, the decision was made to offer sessions on Saturday in an attempt to meet the needs of busy part-time faculty. Saturday sessions were generally facilitated by either full-time faculty at CPCC or staff from Professional Development. At this time, Saturday sessions are offered on a monthly basis and are generally two and a half hours in length. Topics are determined based on input from part-timers but include such areas as distance education, authentic assessment, technology in the classroom, and active learning.

Classroom Observation Tool

CPCC employs approximately 1,500 part-time faculty in any given semester. Conducting yearly classroom observations of part-time faculty is an important but sometimes overwhelming task. In an attempt to make the process more meaningful, a committee of faculty and division directors was convened to review the process and the observation instrument. The committee developed a tool that was considered more objective and at the same time more instructive. The new observation tool serves as a checklist of teaching best practices – the same best practices that are embedded in the new part-time faculty orientation, part-time faculty certification program, and Saturday sessions.

Currently, as part-time faculty are observed, the observing instructor uses the checklist to get a snapshot view of teaching performance. The observer prepares his or her comments and then meets with the part-timer to discuss impressions and recommendations. In addition, part-time faculty complete a self-assessment of the same best practices in preparation for the feedback session with the faculty observer. The intent is to use the tool to communicate college expectations about teaching. The tool is currently being piloted within several departments at the college.

Moving Forward

The plans to reach out to part-time faculty were hampered by several myths that had become unchallenged assumptions of the college community, such as, “part-time faculty won’t come for training unless they are paid,” and, “part-time faculty don’t have the time to work on their teaching skills.” Those assumptions had to be called into question before the college was able to move forward with its outreach efforts. The initiatives CPCC embraced debunked the myths and provided convincing evidence of part-time faculty commitment and dedication.

It is incumbent upon community colleges to prepare their part-time faculty to be successful in the classroom and to provide ongoing support. As in so many other community colleges, the use of well-trained, committed, part-time faculty allows CPCC to remain responsive to the needs of the community and the workforce, and makes sense from both administrative and financial perspectives. Without a network of support that creates space for collaboration, reflection, and sharing, teaching continues as an individual effort, and part-time faculty may remain on the periphery of educational discourse. With 42 percent of students at CPCC taught by part-time faculty, the college cannot afford to take that chance.

Although the facts and figures provided in this article tell an important story about the college’s commitment to part-time faculty, they do not adequately convey the seriousness and passion with which these initiatives were undertaken. The college understands that it must reach all faculty in order to achieve its goal of truly becoming a learning college.

iStream Focus: Hospitality Programs and Hotels on Community College Campuses

2010-02-23T11:02:28Z

Look What’s Coming to iStream in March!

Project Highlight. The Hotel at Kirkwood Center, a full-service hotel, is a living laboratory of hospitality education on the Kirkwood Community College campus.

Thoughtful Topics. Arleen Arnsparger, Center from Community College Student Engagement (CCCSE), discusses “Engaging Students in their Community College Experience” with data-driven, real-world opportunities for student learning.

Partner Spotlight. This webinar from the National Institute for Staff and Organization Development explains the service learning concept and highlights the success one college achieved with this approach.

Innovative Educators. “Creating Learning Communities to Enhance Student Success” is just one of many professional development webinars available at no charge to iStream subscribers.

Dangerous Discussions, and Flashlight. iStream subscribers can register for limited free seating for “Strategic Planning for Teaching and Learning (with Technology): Ten Things I (No Longer) Believe" and many more.

eLearning. Learn about “Finding Reliable Parenting Information Online” or choose from a variety of hot topics in workforce and specialty online learning programs.

10 Questions. President Bill Samenfink shares insights into The International Council on Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Education, a global hospitality education association.

Log on to iStream for new content, new updates, and new ideas.

Is America Listening to Its Teachers?

2010-02-23T09:02:15Z

Annual MetLife Teacher Survey Reveals Two-Thirds of Teachers Say Voices Unheard

Sixty-nine percent of teachers do not believe their voices are heard in the debate on education, according to the latest MetLife Survey of the American Teacher: Collaborating for Student Success. Now in its 26^th year, the MetLife Survey, conducted by Harris Interactive^®, examines the views of teachers, principals, and students on their respective roles and responsibilities, current practices, and priorities for the future. MetLife will release the full results over the next two months. The survey was conducted by telephone and online in October and November 2009.

The first of three reports, Part 1: Effective Teaching and Leadership, released February 19, 2010, focuses on what collaboration looks like in schools and to what degree it is currently practiced. Key findings include:

Teachers (69%) do not believe that their voices have been adequately heard in the debate on education.
Teachers (67%) and principals (78%) believe that increased collaboration among teachers and school leaders would have a major impact on improving student achievement.
Nearly all teachers engage in some type of collaborative activity at their school each week, on average, spending 2.7 hours per week in structured collaboration, with 24% of teachers spending more than 3 hours per week.
Schools with higher degrees of collaboration are associated with shared leadership and higher levels of trust and job satisfaction.
Teachers (80%) and principals (89%) believe that a school culture where students feel responsible and accountable for their own education would have a major impact on improving student achievement.
Teachers and students differ widely in their perceptions of student responsibility. Although most students (73%) strongly agree it is their responsibility to pay attention and do the work it takes to succeed in school, only 43% of teachers say that all or most of their students have this sense of responsibility.

“The 21st century work place teaches that an education is never complete,” said MetLife Chairman, President, and CEO C. Robert Henrikson. “Collaboration plays a tremendous role in today’s work environment, whether it’s with colleagues down the hall, across the nation, or around the globe. This year’s survey looks at the school as a workplace, among its many functions, and asks if, how, and to what extent teachers, principals, and students work and learn together to increase their success.”

The second of the three reports, Part 2: Student Achievement, is slated for release the week of March 8, 2010, and will address collaboration more specifically as it relates to student goals and academic achievement, teacher expectations, and what educators consider important ways to increase student achievement. The third and final report, Part 3: Teaching as a Career, will be released in late March 2010, and will examine collaboration in the context of addressing professional growth, experience level, and career path.

“The annual MetLife Survey of the American Teacher is not just about asking, but also about listening,” said Dennis White, president and CEO of MetLife Foundation. “We can learn much from those closest to the classroom about working together to increase student success.”

About the MetLife Survey of the American Teacher: Collaborating for Student Success
MetLife Survey of the American Teacher: Collaborating for Student Success (2009) was conducted by Harris Interactive among a national sample of 1,003 public school teachers of grades K through 12, and 500 principals of grades K through 12, by telephone, and 1,018 public school students in grades 3 through 12 online between October 14 and November 13, 2009. The data were weighted to key demographic variables to align with the national population of the respective groups. No estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. In addition, an online strategy session was conducted on September 15, 2009 among a group of 25 public school teacher leaders, principals, and public education thought leaders to inform the development of the survey.

The previous reports for the entire series are now available online at www.metlife.com/teachersurvey with links to the ERIC (Education Resources Information Center) website: http://eric.ed.gov.

About MetLife
MetLife is a leading provider of insurance and financial services with operations throughout the United States and the Latin America, Europe and Asia Pacific regions. It has demonstrated its belief in education and contributes to its improvement in part through the sponsorship of the MetLife Survey of the American Teacher series since 1984 to give voice to those closest to the classroom. MetLife Foundation places strong emphasis on education and draws on the findings of the Survey to inform its grantmaking. For more information about MetLife, please visit the company’s Web site at www.metlife.com. Additional information about the Foundation is available at www.metlife.org.

About Harris Interactive
Harris Interactive is one of the world’s leading custom market research firms, leveraging research, technology, and business acumen to transform relevant insight into actionable foresight. Known widely for the Harris Poll and for pioneering innovative research methodologies, Harris offers expertise in a wide range of industries and serves clients in over 215 countries and territories. For more information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com.

College Success Program at Suffolk County Community College

2010-02-22T12:02:01Z

Pathway for Underprepared Students

Suffolk County Community College, the largest multicampus community college in the State University of New York system, serves over 24,000 students. Among the entering first-time, full-time students, 60 percent need developmental courses in at least one of the three areas—reading, writing, and mathematics—before they can pursue various degrees. The College Success Program was developed to help underprepared students successfully manage the demands of the first-year college experience and contribute to their overall success in college. The program is open to students who are not qualified for any grant-supported programs the college runs.

Students who have been tested into two or more developmental areas are offered the opportunity to participate in the College Success Program. Advantages of participation include an intensive summer group tutoring in math and reading/writing, an August retest for possible adjusted placement, regular one-on-one advisement with a personal counselor, and a reduced credit load in the fall semester as a result of completing the bulk of the four-credit-hour freshman seminar in August.

The program is in its sixth year and has grown steadily from 50 students to an annual new student enrollment of over 200, making the total number of students served by the program in a semester about 600. In August 2009, over two-thirds of the new students either retested into at least one upper level developmental course or retested out of one developmental area completely. The first-year students’ semester-to-semester retention rate is as high as 90 percent, according to the counselors’ self-reports. Since 2007, approximately 84 students from the program have been inducted to a variety of national honor societies. As one student put it, this program has “boosted my confidence and made me see that I am good at things and how far a little hard work will go. My attitude has changed about school. I’m finally starting to enjoy and like it. … I feel older, more mature, ready to deal with problems or issues. I feel I am ready to start new.”

Vincent Tinto, researcher on student success, argues that all effective retention programs have effective advising at their very core. The unique feature of the College Success Program is its structured collaboration of faculty and counselors in helping students make social and academic connections to the college environment. The program starts with one week of intensive basic-skill group tutoring, which is followed by the half-day College Success Seminar in August. Students continue to meet ten more times for workshops and class discussions in the fall semester as part of the course. The seminar contains not just college orientation, but also guidance in personal growth involving substantial academic reading and writing. The seminar builds meaningful bonds between the students and the faculty. This bond is extended to the personal counselors, who provide a wide range of advisement and other services during the whole academic year. Although the advisement sessions are not mandatory, counselors proactively reach out to students in their case loads, encouraging them to keep regular contact. Special sessions are scheduled to discuss faculty feedback in the mid-semester progress report and any other issues related to student study. Students’ academic achievements are celebrated every year in the form of awards, inductions to honor societies, and scholarships. To maximize the social bonding and the reinforcement of study skills, each campus has formed its own College Success Student Club, which conducts regular workshops and activities. Each campus also has its own regular e-newsletter to spotlight student achievements, the club events, and upcoming workshops.

No program is completely successful without proper assessment. The Office of Institutional Effectiveness has set up a series of statistical studies since the first year the program was formed. Besides the retesting study and student classroom survey, counselors enter all their engagement with students into a database, which generates reports on the total hours of advising/counseling engagement, main topics of discussion, and services provided. Students participating in the program sign a consent allowing the college to access their interaction with the counselors and correlate the nature of the advisement with their academic performances.

More information about the College Success Program may be found on the college website at http://department.sunysuffolk.edu/CollegeSuccess_A/index.asp.

Speaker/Consultant Carol Copenhaver Available for Your Next Event!

2010-02-17T02:02:15Z

Carol Copenhaver has almost 30 years experience in higher education, progressing from faculty member to senior vice president of Educational and Student Services at St. Petersburg College in Florida. She was a division chair for business and technology, and during that time provided the leadership for the integration of technology into the curriculum. As division chair, she initiated the Corporate Training Services program, which has become one of the most respected in Florida and the nation. Copenhaver was responsible for initiating the development and marketing of technology certification programs, including A+, CISCO, Oracle, and CISSP. These programs have grown to be huge money generators at the college due to the innovative fee structure and faculty compensation structure she developed.

As her career progressed, Copenhaver was associate vice president for Educational and Student Services, assisting nationally known and respected leaders in managing Educational and Student Services, including Bill Law, now president of Tallahassee Community College, and Roy Church, currently president of Lorain Community College. As part of this position, she gained expertise in curriculum development and documentation, including the development and assessment of measurable learning outcomes.

After serving in positions at Dekalb College in Atlanta and Howard Community College in Columbia, Maryland, Copenhaver returned to St. Petersburg College to become vice president, and a few years later senior vice president, of Academic and Student Services. She was responsible for the provosts on five campuses; faculty development; accreditation, including the development of assessment plans for all programs; all student services functions, including the registrar, counseling, career centers, and the student portion of the ERP; the grants office; the National Institute for Criminal Justice; the National Institute for Terrorism Preparedness; and the Counter Drug Task Force. Copenhaver continued to have responsibility for Corporate Training and Continuing Education, leading the development of one of the largest College for Kids programs in the nation. During this time, she also provided leadership to the development of an e-Campus operation that delivers a large number of online courses and programs. This program received many national awards, including best program, best course, and best faculty member. E-Campus eventually became the largest campus at the college and includes one of the nation’s first all electronic libraries.

Copenhaver led the early efforts of the college to expand to offering bachelor’s degrees. This included writing the proposal to the State Board of Community Colleges, curriculum development, and the hiring of deans. This program has grown tremendously, now offering 25 bachelor’s degrees. Related to this effort, she led the initiation of a University Partnership Center, which partners with other universities in and out of the state to offer bachelor’s, master's, and doctoral degrees to Pinellas County residents.

Copenhaver has been engaged in consulting this last year, with consulting contracts at Vincennes University to evaluate its assessment plan, at Sinclair Community College to provide assistance in reorganizing its Workforce Development and Corporate Services program, and at Georgia Highlands College to do a community needs assessment and develop a proposal for submission to the Georgia Board of Regents for approval to become a bachelor’s degree granting college.

Carol Copenhaver is available to help your college with

Conversion from a two-year to a four-year college, including community needs assessment and preparation of document for state approval as well as curriculum development
Development of a leadership program for internal staff
Development of specific assessment activities for student learning
Evaluation of assessment plans
Preparation for regional accrediting association visits
Evaluation and development of corporate training/workforce development programs
Assessment and development of information technology workforce development programs
Ramping up an online learning program for credit and noncredit programs
Curriculum development processes and procedures and evaluation and approval of such proposals
General education review and development
Academic and student services organization

Contact Ed Leach, (480) 705-8200, x233 to bring this exciting speaker to your next professional event.

Visit the League website for the full list of topics available through League Services.

Lessons from Successful Innovations: New Report Offers Insights and Guidelines for Community Colleges

2010-02-17T08:02:42Z

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February 2010, Volume 5, Number 2

Innovation is in the American community college DNA, a significant part of its heritage, character, distinction, and leadership for change. A new report released today by the League for Innovation in the Community College adds new insights into why, how, and with what result colleges innovate successfully and lessons they can share. The Nature of Innovation in the Community College reports findings from a study conducted by Terry O’Banion, president emeritus of the League, and supported by MetLife Foundation. The study included 173 innovations at 19 colleges, involving more than 400 community college faculty, staff, and administrators and recognized with the prestigious Innovation of the Year Award during the decade 1999-2008. Methods included analysis of descriptions of all of the award winners, surveys, focus groups, and interviews.

Major findings include:

Among thousands of potential definitions of innovation, two had the most resonance with the award winners represented in the study:

o The development or adoption of new or existing ideas for the purpose of improving policies, programs, practices, or personnel

o The creation of new opportunities that are transformative

Those who sought to innovate and succeeded were motivated primarily to improve student learning; to improve an existing system, process, practice, or procedure; to improve student retention or attainment; and/or to meet a community need.

The innovations were split evenly between original ideas and adaptations.

For most innovators a lack of time was the most significant barrier to success (60%).

Nearly a third (31%) of the innovators received no special funding or financial support.

Collaboration was a major factor in success. Most of the innovations (85%) were developed by teams, and team enthusiasm was a top factor in success. Most innovators reported that involvement of a team improved chances their work would endure (74%), and that the collaborative process produced benefits beyond the innovation (70%).

The institutional characteristics most frequently identified by innovators as highly important for supporting a culture of innovation all involved leadership: visible support of college leaders for innovation (90%), encouragement of risk taking without fear of failure (84%), and encouragement of faculty and staff to think creatively and unconventionally (83%).

Using survey results and analysis of interviews, researchers share a set of guidelines for aspiring innovators, such as aligning the innovation with the college mission, values, and goals; securing administrative support; talking with colleagues; developing a plan; and building a team.

The Nature of Innovation in the Community College report includes a video featuring Innovation of the Year Award winners discussing their ideas about innovation, based on their experiences. League President and CEO Gerardo E. de los Santos said, “The League encourages community college leaders to use this video to generate campuswide conversations about innovation and to encourage innovation at their colleges.” The full report, including the video, is available on the League’s website at www.league.org/natureofinnovation. Descriptions of the 173 award-winning innovations included in the study are available at www.league.org/ioy.cfm.

For more information, contact Terry O'Banion at obanion@league.org.

This post was provided by the League for Innovation in the Community College.

Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard

2010-02-08T11:02:19Z

Sponsored by

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February 2010, Volume 23, Number 2

Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard

A new book by Chip Heath and Dan Heath

Publication Date: February 16, 2010

Publisher: Broadway Books

Format: Hardcover, 320pp

ISBN-13: 9780385528757

ISBN: 0385528752

Why is it so hard to make lasting changes in our companies, in our communities, and in our own lives? The primary obstacle is a conflict that’s built into our brains, say Chip Heath and Dan Heath, authors of the critically acclaimed bestseller Made to Stick. Psychologists have discovered that our minds are ruled by two different systems—the rational mind and the emotional mind—that compete for control. The rational mind wants a great beach body; the emotional mind wants that Oreo cookie. The rational mind wants to change something at work; the emotional mind loves the comfort of the existing routine. This tension can doom a change effort—but if it is overcome, change can come quickly.

In Switch, the Heaths show how everyday people—employees and managers, parents and nurses—have united both minds and, as a result, achieved dramatic results:

The lowly medical interns who managed to defeat an entrenched, decades-old medical practice that was endangering patients.

The home-organizing guru who developed a simple technique for overcoming the dread of housekeeping.

The manager who transformed a lackadaisical customer-support team into service zealots by removing a standard tool of customer service.

In a compelling, story-driven narrative, the Heaths bring together decades of counterintuitive research in psychology, sociology, and other fields to shed new light on how we can effect transformative change. Switch shows that successful changes follow a pattern, a pattern you can use to make the changes that matter to you, whether your interest is in changing the world or changing your waistline.

Writing on Amazon.com, the authors explain that, “‘Change is hard’” and “‘People hate change’” were “two of the most common quotes we heard when we began to study change.” They then describe how people have “a funny way of showing” that they hate change, noting iPhones, text messages, corporate mergers, and recycling aluminum cans as evidence. They then ask, “why do some huge changes, like marriage, come joyously, while some trivial changes, like submitting an expense report on time, meet fierce resistance?”

To find the answer, they studied psychological research on the two separate “systems” in the brain: the rational system and the emotional system. They learned that, “When these two systems are in alignment, change can come quickly and easily (as when a dreamy-eyed couple gets married). When they’re not, change can be grueling (as anyone who has struggled with a diet can attest).” And then they other questions, “In those situations where change is hard, is it possible to align the two systems? Is it possible to overcome our internal ‘schizophrenia’ about change?” In this book, they assert that it is, and they share the “similar game plan” they found in the strategies used by people who successfully made difficult changes in their personal or professional lives or in the organizations they managed.

Publishers Weekly says, “the Heaths speak energetically and encouragingly on how to modify our behaviors and businesses. This clever discussion is an entertaining and educational must-read for executives and for ordinary citizens looking to get out of a rut.” In a review for Library Journal, Carol J. Elsen, University of Wisconsin Library, Whitewater, says, “While it won't displace John Kotter's Leading Change as the classic text for ‘change managers,’ this catchy book offers fresh ideas and a breezy style that will work equally well for company executives, undergraduates, and average joes.”

Chip Heath is the Thrive Foundation for Youth Professor of Organizational Behaviour at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business. Dan Heath is a consultant to the Aspen Institute. Together, they are the authors of the national bestseller Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die. They write a regular column in Fast Company magazine, and have appeared on Today, NPR's Morning Edition, MSNBC, CNBC, and have been featured in Time, People and US News and World Report.

An exclusive excerpt is available on the Fast Company website.

Information for this post was provided by the publisher and reviews located on the publisher website and Amazon.com.

Community College Student Success and Retention Institute

2010-02-05T03:02:57Z

March 17-19, 2010

Baltimore, MD

Academic Impressions

Community colleges often struggle to create retention practices that fit the diverse populations at their schools.

Join Academic Impressions for a two-and-half-day institute and learn how to create a system of intervention strategies that will help the students at your school persist. Sessions will examine the types of support institutions can provide throughout the student lifecycle. At the end of the event, you will be prepared to craft a comprehensive retention plan to take back to your school and immediately put into action.

There is also a post-conference workshop, Preparing Your Retention Plan for Grant Proposals. The sessions in this half-day event will introduce the basic components of grant writing and help you identify potential government and private grant sources that may help fund your retention plan efforts.

Register by February 22, 2010, and receive an early-bird discount. If you have questions about this event or would like to register by phone, please contact Academic Impressions at 720-488-6800. Complete conference details can be found at http://www.academicimpressions.com/conferences/0310-cc-retention.php?q=4521v274891yT.

League Connections - February 2010

2010-02-05T03:02:45Z

League Connections
February 2010, Volume 11, Number 2

Sponsored by Computer Comforts
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In This Issue

Innovations Early Registration Deadline

Learning College Summit Proposals

Cross Papers Fellowship

STEMtech Call for Proposals

WNCC Partnership Spans the Nation

iStream Sneak Peek

Member Benefit of the Month

Hear O'Banion Speak at Your Event

iStream Update

Focus On
Health, Wellness, and Preventative Care Centers at Community Colleges

User Tips
We used our iStream access for research on some of our ongoing projects such as SACS/QEP accreditation, continuous improvement, various grants, and much more. Chattanooga State Community College

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This issue of
League Connections
is sponsored by

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League Events

Innovations
March 28-31, 2010
Baltimore, Maryland

Learning College Summit
June 6-9, 2010
Phoenix, Arizona

STEMtech Conference
October 31-November 3, 2010
Orlando, Florida

Partner Offers

CISCO Systems
Free webinar

Academic Impressions
Student Retention Institute

Edu Research Group
Free conference registration

New Publications

Leadership Abstracts
Interventions to Support Postsecondary Education Success

Innovation Showcase
Transforming Brutalism: Student Art Prints Improve the Learning Environment

Learning Abstracts
The Nature of Innovation in the Community College: Guidelines for Innovators

Call for manuscripts

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INNOVATIONS EARLY REGISTRATION DEADLINE
FEBRUARY 25

Don't Miss Your Chance to Save by Registering Early!
Innovations 2010 is the premier event for professionals dedicated to improving organizational teaching and learning and discovering new approaches for enhancing the community college experience. Join a diverse group of community college decision makers and influencers from around the world who are sharing innovative solutions to issues affecting today's colleges. Register today!

CALL FOR PROPOSALS: LEARNING COLLEGE SUMMIT
Deadline to Submit Proposals: March 15, 2010 Bring your success story or gather inspirations from others at the Learning College Summit, June 6-9, 2010. Located at the beautiful Arizona Biltmore Resort, the Summit focuses on organizational transformation initiatives that deliver results. Click here to learn more and submit your proposal!

CROSS PAPERS FELLOWSHIP 2010-2011: NOW OPEN
Proposal Deadline: April 30 The League invites proposals for The Cross Papers Fellowship for 2010-2011. Each year the K. Patricia Cross Endowment names a scholar/practitioner of community college teaching and learning as The Cross Papers Fellow. Read more....

STEMTECH CALL FOR PROPOSALS DEADLINE APRIL 16
Let the Magic Begin! The League is accepting presentation proposals for the first annual STEMtech conference, October 31 to November 3 in Orlando. STEMtech is an interactive learning experience with a strong focus on STEM disciplines. And STEMtech continues the 25-year legacy of the League's fall technology conference. Read more...

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT:
WESTERN NEBRASKA COMMUNITY COLLEGE

WNCC Serves Cabela's Across the Nation
Cabela's Inc., with headquarters in Sidney, Nebraska, is known across the United States as "the world's foremost outfitter." In 2003, corporate leaders and former Western Nebraska Community College President John Harms were looking at how WNCC could effectively provide quality training and advanced continuing education to Cabela's employees across the nation, and the first Corporate Academy at WNCC was formed. Read more....

GET A SNEAK PEEK AT iSTREAM'S RESOURCES

Step Into iStream's 10 Questions
Beyond the standard professional vitae, have you ever wondered what books leaders in higher education are reading? Or, more personally, who had the greatest impact in their life achievements? Tune in to "10 Questions to Leadership" and preview these professional, candid, and intriguing responses from leaders in a variety of roles. This is just one of hundreds of professional development and eLearning resources available 24/7 to everyone on iStream subscriber campuses. Contact Cheri Jessup to learn how to get iStream resources for your college.

LEAGUE MEMBER BENEFIT OF THE MONTH

Special Consideration for League Projects Participation
League members are regularly invited to participate in a variety of projects and partnership activities. The College and Career Transitions Initiative (CCTI ) is a great example of a collaborative project. Visit our project site to view more examples of League projects. Not a League member? Raise your institution's profile....Get the word out....Join the League today!

CAMPUS SAFETY AND SECURITY BEST PRACTICES

Free Webcast From Cisco Systems
February 25, 12:00 noon ET
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2010-02-03T12:02:02Z

Ten Questions to
Faye Fullerton, President
National Council on Student Development (NCSD)

Faye Fullerton is the current president of the National Council on Student Development, an affiliate council of the American Association of Community Colleges. She is the Vice President for Student Services at Lincoln Land Community College in Springfield, IL. She received her Ed.D. from the University of Missouri—St. Louis in 1998. Dr. Fullerton has previously served as president of the Illinois Community College Chief Student Service Officers and has served on the board of the Missouri Community College Association. Prior to entering administrative work, Dr. Fullerton was a counselor and taught English and journalism, both at the secondary and postsecondary levels.

How have student services changed in the past decade?

Ten years ago, few of us would have anticipated the extent of our involvement in Behavioral Intervention Teams (BITs) and the like. Every time a tragic violent incident hits a college campus, we see a chief student affairs officer speaking with the media about how his/her campus is addressing the crisis (and simultaneously explaining what steps were/could have been taken to prevent the crisis in the first place). Most of us will watch with the thought, “There but for the grace of God . . .” However, such events have also led to increased connectivity among campus offices and greater attention to identifying and helping troubled individuals. Troubled students are no longer just a student services issue on most campuses.

Another change is the growing phenomenon of the “helicopter parent”. As college costs increase and as baby boomers have redefined parent-child relationships, parents understandably want to know what is going on with their child at college. We are challenged to meet the changing societal expectation of parental involvement in their child’s college experience while still supporting the student’s healthy development into an autonomous adult. This can be one of the most contentious issues faced by student services practitioners, and institutional philosophies about handling this are all over the spectrum. In our desire to provide positive customer service to parents, I think we need to be very cautious that we are not simultaneously limiting student development.

Third, I would have to mention the growth in distance education and resultant student expectations for student services available remotely. Given that most of us who choose to work in student affairs thrive on face-to-face contact, developing online delivery of services can be a challenge. Some schools have taken major strides in providing quality online student services; others have been slower to act.

What are some of the more prominent and emerging student needs in community colleges?

A few come to mind immediately, but my list is by no means all-inclusive:

We are seeing an influx of returning military veterans, who bring with them a distinct set of needs ranging from “How do I work with the VA to get my financial aid?” to “How do I interact with classmates and instructors who have little concept of what I’ve seen/experienced?” We all have a responsibility to support these veterans as they make the often difficult transition from soldier to student. Similarly, our students are often military reservists who can be called to active duty with little advance notice. We must work with them and with our faculty to accommodate their educational needs without adding financial or other stressors to what they already face.

Another need among our students is the opportunity for experiential and/or service learning. It comes as news to no one that, along with the business sector contractions we hear about daily, the job market is stark right now for new graduates. Any opportunity to allow experience above and beyond the classroom and to build those all-important soft skills is valuable for our students. More importantly, though, I believe we have the opportunity and duty at community colleges to inculcate within our students the importance of community service and volunteerism.

The last emerging need I will note is education about the wise use of technology, particularly as it pertains to social networking and other electronic communication. In general, our younger students are very adept at using the latest communication technologies but quite naïve about possible ramifications, both to their security and to their reputations. Furthermore, we are seeing students blur the line between what might be appropriate e-communication style with one’s social friends and what is appropriate with one’s professors. I see many younger students who are shocked that they have caused offense with an e-mail to a college employee that would have been perfectly acceptable among their peers. And we have all faced faculty complaints about students’ texting during class; I honestly think that, for many of them, it is a totally foreign concept that this is seen as disrespectful.

NCSD uses the phrase “Routes to Student Success.” How are these routes defined and what services does NCSD offer to support them?

Our conference title “Routes to Student Success” was meant to reference the fact that our students come from such varied starting points. Even the term “student success” can arguably mean different things to different students, so the final destination is not one universal concept, either. Essentially, our mission is to assist and support students from Point A (their current situations) to Point B (their personal goals, whatever they are). NCSD provides a conduit to share best practices, a forum for identifying emerging trends, and a voice to advocate for the interests of community college students, in all their diversity.

Under your leadership, NCSD is emphasizing research and support services for more diverse student population. How can community colleges contribute to these efforts?

For one thing, community colleges can become members of NCSD as a first step to contributing to these efforts, so that they will have the latest information about our various projects! We have a proud history at our annual conference of sharing best practices for reaching and supporting diverse student populations. This past November in Albany, for example, sessions spotlighted best practices to enhance success of Latino/a students, students with special needs, gender-underrepresented students, ESL students, and LGBT students. Our council also presents an annual Dissertation of the Year award to a doctoral student who has made a significant contribution to the field. This year’s winner, Sam Museus of the University of Massachusetts, Boston, presented a case study of three institutions (one community college, one public comprehensive university, and one private doctoral university) to understand how various institutional cultures, policies, programs, and practices influenced the success of students of color on the three campuses. I’m confident that our October 2009 conference in Denver will continue our tradition of supporting research and sharing.

I’m also excited about a new partnership NCSD has established with the Academy for Educational Development and the Human Rights Campaign to launch the “Welcoming Community Colleges” initiative, which is studying factors that affect the educational and labor market success of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students. This population is represented on all our campuses, yet very little research has been done at the community college level regarding what promotes or detracts from LGBT student success. As it progresses, we will be seeking community college partners willing to participate in baseline research and to share current and/or best practices.

In another area, our executive board has worked with the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, recognizing that unplanned pregnancy is not simply an issue of social well-being; it is a student retention issue. As our institutions scramble to address retention, we typically focus on the problems of academic underpreparedness, lack of college role-models within the family, economic constraints, etc. But unplanned pregnancies are typically something that is discussed tangentially, if at all. The shocking statistic that the national campaign was able to share with us is that 61 percent of community college students who have children after enrolling do not finish their education, and that is 65 percent higher than the rate for those who don’t have children. This issue affects the men involved just as it does the women. So here is a case where NCSD hopes to work with the national campaign to educate our colleagues about an important factor in student success that might otherwise get relatively little attention.

How has the recent downtown and economic crisis in the country impacted community college student service programs?

Nationwide, we are being challenged to provide services to more people at the same time that resources are shrinking. Obviously, more displaced workers are seeking services, plus we are enrolling more traditional-age students who cannot afford or choose not to pay higher tuitions at four-year schools. At the same time, most states are able to offer less and less financial support. There is some expected relief through various stimulus packages that support education—and I am pleased to see that the expertise of student services professionals is being tapped to provide support for these new members of our college communities. Community colleges are being recognized as a fantastic resource during this troubled economic time, even receiving mention by President Obama, and within their institutions student service programs are acknowledged as crucial partners, not expendable add-ons.

What do you see as the future for student services in community colleges?

First, I believe that we will see an ever-increasing demand for online student services and 24-7 access, at least to information. Second, with shrinking resources, I believe that student services professionals will be compelled more than ever to document their efficacy in concrete terms—and despite the difficulty inherent in measuring what we do, I believe accountability is a good thing that will open up a whole new set of conversations about why we exist. That is healthy for our profession. Third, I believe that student affairs professionals will increasingly be expected to intervene proactively before students hit trouble, whether academic or social. Such proactive intervention will require strong communication networks across our campuses (e.g., with police, with faculty); again, that connectivity is a positive outcome for our profession. Ultimately, I see student services professionals and their programs getting due respect for their contributions and sitting at the proverbial table as equal partners with their teaching faculty colleagues.

Who were the major influences in your professional achievements?

Sandy Maclean at the University of Missouri—St. Louis, who sat on my dissertation committee and was vice chancellor of student affairs at UMSL at the time. His most valuable advice to me was to consciously, deliberately step back from the day-to-day craziness of administration on a regular basis and to reconnect with the big picture. In other words, do not get so wrapped up in accomplishing tasks that you forget to do the actual job of leading!

Jean Goodnow, currently president of Delta College (MI), and Karen Herzog, former president of East Central College (MO), who each took time at some point to sit down and talk to me about my career in educational administration. The time probably seems minimal to them, but it meant a lot to me. They provided a model of mentoring that I would like to emulate.

What types of student services where most beneficial to your college experiences?

I was fortunate enough to enter Southern Illinois University at Carbondale academically prepared and without significant financial need, but I benefitted greatly from opportunities as a student employee. I had the chance first of all to be an office assistant in the Department of Psychology, and it is amazing how much subject matter one can learn simply by typing up journal submissions! Then, I was hired to provide English composition tutoring to other students. This was a wonderful experience, since I subsequently graduated to become a high school English teacher. Beyond that, student organizations (e.g., the marching band) allowed me to make good friends during that difficult time of transition to college.

What was your favorite course in college?

I enjoyed most of my courses, but particularly liked Statistics, Testing & Measurement, and Educational Research. This interest was fortuitous, given the increased focus on assessment and outcomes that arose in the late 1980s!

What book are you currently reading, or you’ve recently finished?

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin. Actually, I read it shortly after it came out but am revisiting it, given all its recent attention in connection with the Obama administration. There are so many lessons for leadership in the way Lincoln set aside ego and assembled the best minds for the task at hand.