Transcript A Discussion about Organizing, Developing and Maintaining

Improving Student Outcomes Based on Organizational
Change, Adaptation, Practice and Theory
Presented by
Dr. Vincent Banrey Jr., Director of Enrollment Management
&
Ms. Janice Zummo, Chairperson,
Special Programs/Search for Education, Elevation and Knowledge
Medgar Evers College of The City University of New York
Prepared for
Seventh Annual Foundations of Excellence Winter Meeting
31st Annual Conference on the First-Year Experience
February 17, 2012 San Antonio, Texas
Organizational Change
Resulting from FoE Participation
Self Study 2003 – 2004: Evaluate first-year program to improve the
delivery of student services and student outcomes
The Freshman Year Program: Standalone Unit
• Freshman Seminar Courses
• Academic Advisement
Following FoE Study: Setting Goals
Focus on Dimension # 2: Organization
• Goal 1: Create organizational structures and policies that provide a
comprehensive, integrated, and coordinated approach to the first-year.
• Goal 2: Develop comprehensive and holistic structures that address the
first-year and Freshman Experience (0 – 30 credits) throughout the
College beyond the Freshman Year Program.
Organizational Change Components
Establishment of a unifying structure to integrate programs that impact firstyear students including:

Develop mission and philosophy statements

Create an organizational structure

Select a name that reflects the academic purpose of the new structure

Complete all University requirements

Implement

Evaluate first-year program to improve the delivery of student services
and student outcomes
Creating an Effective Organizational Structure:
College of Freshman Studies Components
• Freshman Year Program - Academic Advisement, First-year Seminars
• Percy E. Sutton Search for Elevation, Education and Knowledge (SEEK)
Program - Access to College, Counseling, Academic Support & Financial Aid
• Academic Foundations Division (Developmental Skills): Reading, Writing,
and Mathematics
• Academic Support Services/Learning Center: Tutoring & Workshops
• Testing Office: CUNY Skills Assessment Tests, CUNY Proficiency Exam, CLEP,
NLN Exam, TOEFL
• Student Advocacy and Support Services (SASS) Center: Academic
Advisement, Counseling & Probation Services
Adaptation: Focus on Student Transition
 Unifying Services for First-Year Students and Beyond the
First-Year Experience






Testing Office - Assess basic skill levels at entrance, within the firstyear and beyond
FYP - First-year advisement services & seminars (FS 101/102)
SEEK Program - Counseling, academic advisement, academic
support, and financial aid in the first-year through graduation
Academic Foundations - Basic skills instruction for pre-freshmen,
freshmen, and continuing students
Academic Support – Tutoring in basic skills, core and major courses
SASS Center - Second year (and beyond) advisement services;
transfer seminars, readmit seminars
Five Key Student Retention &
Persistence Strategies
Integration
Involvement
Validation
Student Engagement
Academic Performance
College of Freshmen Studies:
Student Support
Services Strategies:
Intentional Interventions Model
Retention
Student Support Services Intentional
Testing Center
Interventions Model
SEEK
Program
Freshmen Year
Program
Retention
STUDENT
Persistence
Academic
Foundations
Division
Academic Support/
Learning Center
Student Advocacy &
Support Services
Center
Theoretical Studies Related to Student
Retention and Persistence
• Tinto (1975) – Student Integration
• Bean (1983) – Influence of External Variables on Student
Persistence
• Bean & Metzner (1985) – Model of Non-Traditional
Student Attrition
• Astin (1985) – Student Involvement
• Porter (1990) – Freshmen Year Experience
• Bonifacio & Sinatra (1991) – First-Generation Students
• Kuh (2008) – Student Engagement
The Institutional Dimension of Student
Retention
Pascarella & Terenzini (1977) – Faculty/Student Contact
Richardson & Skinner (1991) – Institutional
Adaptation to Diversity
Terenzini (1994) – Institutional Intervention
Rendon (1994) – Student Validation
Roueche & Roueche (1994) – Institutional Program
Design
Guenter (1994) – Student Retention Programs
Noel & Levitz (2001) – Faculty/Student Interaction
Holistic Integration of Support Services
Student Access and Institutional Adaptation
Increase Access
Increase Achievement
Stage 1. Reactive
Stage 2. Strategic
Stage 3. Adaptive
▪ Testing & Screening
▪ Financial Aid
▪ Academic Advising
▪ Compensatory &
Developmental Courses
▪ New Student Seminar
▪ Tutoring &
Learning Assistance
▪ New Student Orientation
▪ Financial Aid
▪ Counseling
▪ Academic Advising
▪ Counseling
▪ Mentoring
The figure above displays the adaptation of the Richardson and Skinner Model (1991), which incorporates
the SEEK/CD Program components as they relate to increasing access, improving persistence and
retention, and increasing the achievement of students who are academically and economically
disadvantaged (Banrey, 2008) .
Practice: SEEK Program Mission Possible
 Integration of Services
- Counseling
- Academic Support
- Financial Aid
 Learning Communities
 Peer Mentor Program
 Supplemental Instruction
Mission Possible Peer Mentor Program
Enhancing the Student Learning Experience
Impact of Challenges
The undergraduate experience of historically underserved students can differ
markedly from that of the majority (Kuh et al., 2008, p. 542).
Degree completion rates are considerably lower for historically underserved
students (p. 541).
Rationale
Student engagement in educationally purposeful activities during the first year of
college had a positive, statistically significant effect on persistence … (Kuh et al.,
2008, p. 555).
African American students benefited more than White students from increasing
their engagement in educationally effective activities (Kuh, et al., p. 551).
Mission Possible: Intentional Intervention
Theoretical
Foundation
Bandura’s
Theory of
Self-Efficacy
Maslow’s
Hieracrchy
Of Needs
Payne, DeVol &
Smith
Bridging
Generational
Poverty
Theoretical Foundation for Mission Possible
Bandura’s Academic Self-efficacy:
Peoples’ beliefs in their capabilities to
produce desired effects by their own actions
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs:
Understanding the underlying factors that
motivate behavior and meeting basic needs
precedes meeting higher order needs
Payne, DeVol & Smith:
Mentoring to bridge generational poverty,
benefit of mentoring, tutoring and
counseling
Project Outcomes: Survey Responses
increase in student’s ability to identify their
strengths
 10.2% increase in students’ ability to identify
areas that need improvement
 Decreases in the ability to define academic
goals, motivation for attending college, and
ability to adapt were small at 5.8%, 3.4% and
5.1% respectively.
 16%
Mission Possible Project Outcomes:
Blocked Courses & Tutoring
Fall 2009 - SEEK Collaborative Learning Community Block 1
30 students registered in ENGL112, PSYC 101, and SP/C 003
Average GPA – 2.58 for students who attended tutoring
Average GPA – 1.08 for students who did not attend tutoring
Fall 2009 – Spring 2010 Retention – 83%
Fall 2009 – Fall 2010 Retention – 63%
Project Outcomes: Blocked Courses & Tutoring
Fall 2009 - SEEK Collaborative Learning Community Block 2
19 students registered in ENGW006, SPCH 102, and SP/C 003
Average GPA – 3.32 for students who attended tutoring
Average GPA - .81 for students who did not attend tutoring
Fall 2009 – Spring 2010 Retention – 89%
Fall 2009 – Fall 2010 Retention – 74%
Significance of CLC Data
Retention Data for the 2009 Cohort at CUNY, Medgar
Evers College (MEC), SEEK (MEC), SEEK CLC
Full-time Freshman in Associates Programs:
CUNY
MEC
SEEK(MEC) SEEK(CLC)
61.4%
50.3%
57.7%
74%
Full-time Freshman in Baccalaureate Programs:
CUNY
MEC
SEEK(MEC) SEEK(CLC)
61.4%
59.9%
65.2%
63%
Thank you.
Questions and Answers
Dr. Vincent Banrey – [email protected]
Ms. Janice Zummo – [email protected]