Innovations
February
2017
At San Jacinto College, we’re very good at celebrating our victories, including high rankings in lists for graduating minorities and veterans as well as our status as a top 10 finalist for the prestigious Aspen Prize. We often commemorate, congratulate, analyze, and pause for a moment to reflect on what we’ve done to reach the milestones we have. But the key phrase there is for a moment. By no stretch do we bask in our own glory or ever rest on our laurels. The stakes are too high. We have students to mentor, classes to teach, and a world to change—one student at a time.
The incessant drive...
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San Jacinto College has launched a general studies associate degree pilot program that provides significant cost savings to students who now do not have to buy traditional course materials such as high-cost textbooks.
In lieu of traditional print textbooks that can cost as much as $300 per copy, students who participate in the new program use digital open educational resources (OER) course materials which are free and accessible online. San Jacinto College full-time students previously paid approximately $700 per semester for printed textbooks, which amounts to nearly one-third of the total...
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February
2017
One of the least discussed elements of most student success initiatives in higher education, including the various completion agendas government leaders promote, is the crucial role adjunct or part-time faculty fill in these projects. How to incorporate increasing numbers of adjuncts into the culture of the institution and invite these dynamic and dedicated faculty to share in the enthusiasm of all-inclusive student success is at the very least challenging. For the most part, adjunct faculty aren’t around campus as much as full-time faculty, may have other full-time jobs, and aren’t usually...
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February
2017
As faculty, we all strive for opportunities for students to use what they learn and discover in our classes in real-world situations. Recently, I stumbled on such an opportunity as my students completed an essay assignment establishing criteria for student success. While researching the topic, someone came across an article from 2015, “American Millennials Are Among the World’s Least Skilled,” and wondered why American’s scored so low. The class asked if they could research the topic for the next essay assignment; not wanting to pass up a teachable moment, I agreed.
When we work on research...
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February
2017
New articles pop up daily in email and in the few print sources we still receive to keep up with what’s in the news about higher education. At San Jacinto College, we do our best to stay informed and respond to the news. Currently, much of that coverage is about completion. The Chronicle of Higher Education reports on all facets of postsecondary education, and focuses heavily on completion and the data surrounding it. The Chronicle’s site called, appropriately, College Completion: Who Graduates from College, Who Doesn’t, and Why It Matters, gathers, analyzes, and posts graduation data from...
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February
2017
Reading and writing skills aren’t typically taught outside the English or Academic Success departments. But, having worked with faculty in various disciplines, I know even college-ready students struggle to read and comprehend effectively. If the student is deemed college ready, reading is generally not formally taught and students may be asked to complete complex writing tasks with little instruction. One remedy to counter under-prepared, college-ready students is low-stakes writing opportunities.
Peter Elbow suggests that the low-stakes written responses can make learning visible for...
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Meeting the demand for quality professional development programming in times of constrained resources created an opportunity for innovative and creative thinking at Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC) in Charlotte, North Carolina. Over 1,200 full-time employees at CPCC are required to complete 20 hours of professional development credit annually, and all full- and part-time employees—more than 1,800—must complete a series of three required annual trainings, thus creating a demand for over 60,000 hours of professional development opportunities annually.
This demand occurs at a time of...
This fall, HACC, Central Pennsylvania’s Community College, began offering a fully online two-year associate degree in building construction management that prepares students for the growing demand in construction careers.
HACC is one of the only schools in the nation to offer this program fully online. In addition, it is the only community college in Pennsylvania to provide the opportunity to complete the program online in two years.
“Word is getting out and we have fielded inquiries from Western Pennsylvania and the D.C. metropolitan area. Construction companies in Central Pennsylvania have...
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2017
Maria del Rosario Villasana, Child Development and Family Studies Department Chair at City College of San Francisco, discusses the diverse student body in CTE programs and the many pathways available to her students for completion of either a certificate or degree.
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2017
Linwall Mcfarlane, Campus Director at Montego Bay Community College, idiscusses the teaching and learning practices that he uses in his classroom to promote student success, including experiential learning, simulation, group work, and a student-centered approach.
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2017
Debbie Meyer, an English and History adjunct instructor at Pensacola State College, talks about giving students feedback and developing a relationship with them to help improve student retention.
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2017
Scott Kearns, a Workforce Development Training Specialist at St. Charles Community College, discusses two-year career technical programs as legitimate pathways to good paying jobs in technical fields such as welding, certified logistics, and manufacturing.
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2017
Renne Emiko Brock, a Multimedia Communications instructor at Peninsula College, discusses the importance of finding community mentors to guide students to success and completion.
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2017
Juley Wynter Robertson, a Hospitality and Tourism Management lecturer at Bethlehem Moravian College, discusses diversified strategies to help support students in their academic journeys and personal lives.
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2017
Esmerelda Adame, Advanced Manufacturing Technology program chair at South Texas College, discusses how the college supports new students through open orientation and mentoring.
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2017
Karl Smith, Civil, Environmental, and Geo-Engineering professor emeritus at the University of Minnesota, cites the cooperative learning model developed in the 1970s as a way to help his first-year students figure out if they want to go into engineering and to choose a specific pathway.
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2017
Jed Peterson, History faculty at Kirkwood Community College, contends that students don't care about what you know until they know that you care.
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Faculty Voices Project Video: Cordella Lewison Gilpin, College of Agriculture, Science and Education
Cordella Lewison Gilpin, a Humanities lecturer at the College of Agriculture, Science and Education, discusses student success and completion barriers, such as inadequate finanacial resources and intrinsic motivation for some students, at her college and in Jamaica as a whole.
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2017
Angelic Cole, Business Administration professor and chair at St. Louis Community College, discusses the pressing concern about student completion and the importance of community colleges building strong partnerships with employers to make sure that needed credentials are incorporated into programs.
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2017
Denise Barton, a Business professor at Wake Technical Community College, discusses her college’s e-learning initiative to prepare students to take classes online and faculty to teach online.
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