OFFICE OF INSTITUTIONAL EFFECTIVENESS AND ACCOUNTABILITY MAY 2009 NEWSLETTER

Our web site is located at http://www.austincc.edu/oiepub. At the top of the side bar, you will find a What’s New? link which will take you to the recently posted reports and updates from our office. If you have problems finding reports or data, please contact us at [email protected].

OIEA Office News

OIEA is happy to announce that Judith Wynn will be joining the office on May 18 as the Executive Assistant. Judith has worked at the Texas Legislature for many years, most recently for Representative Warren Chisum. We are delighted to have Judith join the OIEA team.

Course Effectiveness

The Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Accountability has produced a new report that will be produced annually for faculty use, the Course Effectiveness Report. It displays student performance (grades) in two sequenced courses that are associated such that students who are successful in the first course should also be successful in the subsequent course. “Successful” in this report is defined as having earned a course grade of A, B, C, S (satisfactory), or P (passing). The 2009 Course Effectiveness Report examines twelve sets of Core Curriculum courses. With the exception of the Government and History sets, the first course in the sequence is a pre-requisite for the second.

ESSI Institute

A team of 6 ACC faculty and staff members recently attended the Entering Student Success Institute in Santa Fe, NM. This institute was to help ACC use the recent results from the Survey of ENtering Student Engagement (SENSE) to improve the retention and success of first year students. The ACC team members were: Dr. Stephen B. Kinslow, Dr. Kathleen Christensen, Michael Midgley, Tobin Quereau, Gale Spear, and Soon Merz. The institute was very productive and the team continues to work on an action plan.

SACS Institute on Quality Enhancement and Accreditation

A five-member team of ACC faculty and staff will be attending the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools’ Institute on Quality Enhancement and Accreditation in July. The institute will be held in Houston and is designed for institutions that are preparing to select their Quality Enhancement Plan topic (required for reaffirmation in 2013). The team members are: Dr. Kathleen Christensen, Michael Midgley, Nancy Miller, Roslyn Wallace, and Soon Merz.

Transportation Survey

OIEA is urging all students, faculty, and staff to take a few minutes to participate in a brief survey regarding their commuting patterns to ACC. This survey is a follow-up to the transportation survey conducted in November and is part of a comprehensive transportation study. The current survey will provide more detailed information about the commuting patterns of students, faculty, and staff and will assist in addressing transportation needs at ACC.

The survey is available here and should take only 10-15 minutes to complete.

Survey responses will provide valuable input into future decisions about alternative transportation strategies. This survey on commuting patterns will be available until May 31, 2009. If you have any questions or need technical assistance, please contact Dr. Richard Griffiths at (512) 223-7606 or at [email protected].

Survey of Entering Student Engagement (SENSE)

The Survey of Entering Student Engagement (SENSE) collects data during the first weeks of students’ college experience about institutional practices and student behaviors that research has shown to affect student success.

In fall 2008, Austin Community College administered the SENSE in 67 regular ACC courses randomly selected from those most likely to have high proportions of first-time college students. 1,048 ACC students completed the SENSE, including 519 (50%) who enrolled in college for the first-time in fall 2008.

For comparison, ACC’s results are compared to a cohort of seven Extra-Large (XL) community colleges (15,000+ students) that participated in the fall 2008 SENSE.

Did you know . . .

* 54% of ACC’s entering students said they intend to obtain and associate’s degree compared to 76% of the XL cohort
* 49% of ACC’s entering students were full-time students compared to 74% in the XL cohort
* 41% of ACC’s entering students said they intend to complete a certificate compared to 53% in the XL cohort
* 26% of ACC’s entering students reported attending an on-campus orientation compared to 54% of the XL cohort
* 75% of students said they felt welcome the first time they came to ACC, the same percentage as the colleges in the XL cohort
* 77% of ACC’s entering students said an advisor helped them identify courses they needed to take compared to 71% of the XL cohort

More information on the SENSE.

Information recently added to OIEA’s web site

Course Effectiveness Report – (Posted 05-15-09, PDF 160 KB)

A report that is produced annually and displays student performance (grades) in two successive courses that are associated such that students who are successful in the first course should also be successful in the subsequent course.