Pathways to Persistence:Student Success Takes a Community

Berkeley City College Leadership RetreatAugust 13, 2013

tom@tbrownassociates.com

Thomas Brown & Associates Leveraging Knowledge, Change, and Diversity

Colleges are in the dream and future business…

Students come to college to create the futures they dream of for themselves.

Berkeley City College: discover and develop your best talents, attain your goals, and move on to a brilliant future.

Welcome to Berkeley City College

Dr. Deborah Budd, President

If you don’t know where you are going, you might end up somewhere else….

Lewis Carroll

Mission

Answers the question:

Why does Berkeley City College Exist?

Berkeley City College’s mission is to promote student success, to provide our diverse community witheducational opportunities, and to transform lives.

Increasing student success is a continuing concern in higher education…

Only 28% of first-time, full-time, associate degree-seeking community college students graduate with a certificate or an associate degree within three years.

The Heart of Student SuccessCommunity College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE), 2010

A Focus on Student Success

Vision

Answers the question:

What is the future we will create?

Our focus this year will be on student success in the core educational functions of basic skills, transfer, and CTE (Career Technical Education)

BCC Strategic Goals & Institutional Outcomes 2013-14

Retention practices with greatest impact

1. First-year programs

2. Academic advising (including interventions for specific student populations)

3. Learning support

Increasing PersistenceWes Habley, Jenny Bloom & Steve Robbins, 2012

BCC Moving ForwardBCC Activities and Accomplishments

2012-13

Invited first year students to meet with counselors to develop SEPS

Began to implement First-Year Experience Reached out to students with undecided majors Offered extended student support services to both

day and evening students Teaching and Counseling faculty developed the

Faculty Advisor Program EOPS served over 316 students with funding for only

100 Professional development for faculty on effective

teaching techniques via the Teaching & Learning Center

What happens to students after they enroll frequently has a more powerful impact on whether they stay and achieve their goals or leave.

Tinto 1987, 1993

Why do students leave college?

Isolation

Why do students leave college?

Incongruence

It takes a campus community to support student achievement and success….

Student retention is the critical issue facing community colleges today, particularly as budgets

decline.

Linda Serra Hagedorn Iowa State University, 2010

FINANCIAL COSTS OF ATTRITION at Berkeley City College

Assumptions · FTE First-year students 820 · Annual Tuition and Fees $1100· CA State Appropriation per FTE $4600· First to second year attrition rate 43%· Second to third year attrition rate 25%  

Attrition Rate Lost Years Lost Students Remaining Revenue

 First to Second 43% 353 2 >$4 million!!Year Second to Third 25% 117 1 $666.900Year 

Total Lost Revenue $4,666,900

A conservative estimate of loss--Does not include lost revenue from:

•Fees, books, other expenditures

•Recruitment and re-recruitment costs (avg. = $900+/enrolled student at 2 year colleges)

•Negative effects of students’ leaving on future enrollments of family, friends, and others

ALL aspects of campus life can have an impact on persistence or attrition decisions and behaviors.

Promoting student persistence requires an institution-wide commitment.

Pathways to Persistence:A Simulation Exercise