Spring 2011

By Dr. Kathleen Christensen

The ACC Student Success Initiative (SSI) is an institutional commitment to enhance learning and success for all students, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, race, or socio-economic status. Student Success data along with other metrics such as focus groups, student surveys, and student satisfaction instruments have helped drive our decisions in the initiatives we have implemented in Student Services. The Student Success Initiative Steering Committee meets regularly and weighs in on the strength and effectiveness of the strategies.

The seven core goals of the Student Success Initiative are:

1. Reduce attrition
2. Complete developmental and adult education course progression to credit courses
3. Complete gateway courses (high enrollment areas)
4. Increase persistence (term to term / year to year)
5. Enhance student learning/completion of attempted courses with a “C” or better
6. Increase degree/certificate graduates/transfer rates
7. Increase success equity across all racial/ethnic/gender/income groups

We all have a role to play. Ongoing and recent Student Services initiatives are designed to assist in meeting the SSI goals.

1. Required Orientation (TOP):

ACC has offered an orientation to students for many years. The difference now is that it has been redesigned and strengthened with faculty and student input. TOP is required of all FTIC (first time in college) students, or they are not permitted to register for the next semester. An online version is also available; however, students are encouraged to attend the live presentation. Faculty and staff are always welcome to attend any session.

2. Education Plan  (Online Services)

All new students must meet with a counselor or advisor to plan their first semester classes and beyond. The improvement here is that the Education Plan is now electronic and available to students at any time via Online Services. This enables the college to send focused messaging to students regarding, for instance, a student’s progress in the developmental education sequence and transfer intent.

3. Messaging (via e-mail, Twitter, and Facebook)

Messaging to students is targeted and focused, emphasizing engagement and academic support. Research notes that when students have helpful relationships in college, they stay in college. The messages remind students of the convenience of Online Services and the importance of going to class, talking to their professors, learning to study, using the Learning Labs, planning and registering for classes for the next semester, discussing withdrawing from a class with a professor or counselor/advisor, and, of course, planning for graduation. These messages are sent throughout the semester. More focused messages are sent to FTIC students, students with disabilities, African-American males, students in Distance Learning classes, students not meeting academic standards, and students nearing degree completion. Depending on the student, they may receive approximately five messages per semester.

4. Career Services:

Research indicates that students who have an established, declared goal are more likely to persist; therefore, students who have not declared a major are required to meet with a counselor for career development. If, after the counselor meeting, the student decides to remain undeclared, he/she is not required to meet with a counselor again. Declared majors have increased from 83% in 2006 to 92% currently.

5. Learning Labs:

Through the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) and other indicators, ACC students consistently report how important tutoring is to their academic success. It is documented that ACC students who work with tutors have higher grades. In addition to tutoring, the Learning Labs offer rooms for group study, and lab technicians offer one hour sessions to help students access their EIDs, their ACCmail, and introductory information on how to use a computer. Each year the hours of the Learning Labs have expanded and/or more tutors have been hired to respond to the need for Learning Lab services.

6. Supplemental Instruction:

The “peer” study group model is extremely successful in improving student performance in gateway courses (which have high student enrollment/high student attrition). It is documented that students who attend supplemental instruction (SI) groups earn a higher grade than those who do not attend. Because of such promising results, SI will be expanded over the next several years, but it will be focused and limited to gateway courses.

7. Former Foster Youth & Men of Distinction:

Students who are former foster youth and African-American males are not proportionally represented in success factors such as course completion and term-to-term persistence. Ongoing programs of support, with input from advisory committees, have been implemented to improve the retention and completion of these students.

8. Academic Standards of Progress:

In order to be in good academic standing, students must maintain a cumulative 50% credit completion rate and a cumulative 2.0 GPA.  When students fall below that standard, they are notified of their standing:

• Early Alert – Approximately 13% of students – Recommend seeing a counselor or seek other academic support. Most students see a counselor or advisor or pull themselves out of the Early Alert status to Good Standing on their own. This is a wake-up call to students that ACC is monitoring their progress, that there is assistance available at ACC, and that they must maintain academic standards to continue at ACC.
• Warning – Approximately 5% of students – Required to see a counselor and complete a Performance Improvement Agreement. Students must maintain a semester 50% credit completion rate and 2.0 GPA each semester and meet with a counselor before registering for the next semester, until returning to Good Standing.
• Suspension – Approximately 2½% of students – Suspended from classes for a semester and a summer. Some students choose to continue to meet with a counselor during their time away from classes.
• Probation – Approximately 1% of students – Returning after suspension. Students must maintain a semester 50% credit completion rate and 2.0 GPA each semester and meet with a counselor before registering for the next semester, until returning to Good Standing.

9. The Transfer Academy:

All students who indicate on their Education Plan that they intend to transfer are invited to participate in the Transfer Academy, which includes:

• Getting prepared with the basics
  • Application deadline
  • Tuition costs
  • GPA and credit requirements
• Meeting with university representatives
• Tours of local universities (for example, St. Edward’s, UT-Austin, Texas State, Huston-Tillotson)

10. Online Services

This information is provided online for students, accessed through the student’s EID:

• View student account, payments, and payment plan
• Financial aid status and accept/reject financial aid awards
• Education Plan
• Register, add, drop classes
• Degree audit, with a “what if my major was…” feature
• Advising notes, from meetings with counselors/advisors
• Class schedule
• Unofficial transcript
• Grades by term
• Data change requests – change major or emergency contact information
• Faculty evaluation for students in Distance Learning classes

In the works …

• Degree audit messages alerting students to number of credits remaining to complete a degree/certificate
• Electronic withdrawal for students – with appropriate warnings regarding the “6 drop” rule, the “three peat” rule, Financial Aid, VA, Academic Standards of Progress
• An online Distance Learning readiness assessment to help students determine their readiness to take a Distance Learning class
• Student ID pictures on class rosters
• Strengthening and tightening the financial aid appeal process for students who fall below the federal requirements of receiving financial aid; that is, a credit completion rate of 67%, a 2.0 GPA, and completing the program with no more than 150% of required credits
• All students who are required to complete developmental education courses must meet and register with a counselor/advisor until the remedial sequence is complete
• Online transcript request and payment
• Point of Service satisfaction surveys emailed to students after they have met with a counselor/advisor (this is currently done in hard copy while at the Student Services offices)

Please contact a counselor if you perceive a student to be academically at risk. Contact me with ideas, comments, or concerns regarding student success. You can find more information on SSI at austincc.edu/success.

Kathleen E. Christensen
Vice President, Student Support and Success Systems
[email protected]
(512) 223.1909