Transcript Recommendations for Reimagining the Community College: The

Student Success:
Reclaiming the American Dream
Richard M. Rhodes, Ph.D.
President/CEO Austin Community College District
The Student’s Dilemma
Recommendations for Reimagining
the Community College: The Three Rs
Redesign students’ educational experiences.
Reinvent institutional roles.
Reset the system to create incentives for
student and institutional success.
Recommendation 1
Increase completion rates of students earning
community college credentials (certificates and
associate degrees) by 50% by 2020, while
preserving access, enhancing quality, and
eradicating attainment gaps associated with
income, race, ethnicity, and gender.
Recommendation 2
Dramatically improve college readiness: By 2020,
reduce by half the numbers of students entering
college unprepared for rigorous college-level
work, and double the number of students who
complete developmental education programs and
progress to successful completion of related
freshman-level courses.
Recommendation 3
Close the American skills gaps by sharply
focusing career and technical education on
preparing students with the knowledge and
skills required for existing and future jobs in
regional and global economies.
Recommendation 4
Refocus the community college mission and
redefine institutional roles to meet 21st-century
education and employment needs.
Recommendation 5
Invest in support structures to serve multiple
community colleges through collaboration among
institutions and with partners in philanthropy,
government, and the private sector.
Recommendation 6
Target public and private investments strategically
to create new incentives for all institutions of
education and their students and to support
community college efforts to reclaim the American
Dream.
Recommendation 7
Implement policies and practices that promote
rigor, transparency, and accountability for results
in community colleges.
What can we do?
What can we do to increase
college readiness?
What can we do?
Early Assessment
College Connections
Gateway to College
Dual Credit
Early College High Schools
How Can We Give Students the
Tools They Need to Succeed in
College
What Can We Do?
Mandatory Orientation
College Success Course
Intrusive Advising
Continuous communication …Their way
How can we accelerate
student’s progress into and
through college-level courses?
What can we do?
Limit number of courses in DE sequence
Integrated Courses
Supplemental Instruction
Math Emporiums
How Can We Ensure that
Students Stay on the Pathway to
Completion?
What can we do?
Early decision on program of study
Early alert systems
Degree audits
Mapping
Mentors
Faculty advising
Faculty/Student engagement………
Relationships
How can we provide incentives
for completion before transfer?
What can we do?
The Florida model
The WGU/ACC partnership
Articulation agreements
State policy
Provide pathways to completion and beyond
How should our performance be
measured?
Outcomes-based Funding Proposal
Funding equal to 10% of the base enrollment formula funds
be allocated under the outcomes-based methodology in each
year of the biennium.
Momentum Points Metric
Developmental Education (math, reading, and writing)
Gateway Courses (first college level math and English course)
College Credit Hour Attainment (15, 30, and core completion)
Credentials Awarded (certificate, degree, apprenticeship)
Transfer to Four Year Institution (after completing 15 hours at CC)
The Reimagined Community College
Genuinely welcomes student upon entry
Prepares student for individualized assessments
Provides just-in-time information, including orientation
Provides correct level of advisement
Provides instruction in skills needed to be successful
Promotes early selection of program-of-study
Promotes active learning
Promotes student-student and faculty-student interaction
Provides stacked programs leading to meaningful certificates/degrees
Guides and supports students through pathway(s) to completion
Promotes culture of evidence-based inquiry
They’re Counting on us!
Thank You!