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Increasing Diversity of Faculty and Administrators in the Virginia Community College System
Get PDFIn 2013, Chancellor DuBois convened a Task Force on Diversity with the aim of making the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) a model for diversity by “increasing the demographic diversity of the VCCS so that teaching faculty and leaders look more like the communities we serve” (Chancellors Diversity Task Force, 2014, p. 3). The hard work of the Task Force members culminated in a report that summarized their findings and recommendations, including a “Call to Action” list of 11 steps, many of which have been implemented or are in progress. Several of these key initiatives have put the VCCS on track to meeting its diversity goals: the adoption of a VCCS policy statement on diversity and inclusion; the hiring of a Chief Diversity Officer and appointment of College Diversity representatives at each of the 23 VCCS colleges; the formation of diversity steering committees at each college; and the creation of an online Diversity Dashboard database which provides “institutional and system-wide longitudinal data on gender and minority status” (p. 12). We commend these efforts and would like to build on the foundation provided by the Task Force. Furthermore, we maintain that the success of the Complete 2021: Educating for a Competitive Commonwealth VCCS Strategic Plan depends upon increasing diversity and inclusion across the colleges, particularly in the hiring and retention of more diverse faculty and administrators. Although increasing diversity on college campuses has many benefits, improving student success and completion arguably being the most significant, we believe that campus diversity is intrinsically valuable, apart from the many benefits it affords institutions. This report offers recommendations from the individual to the system level
Using Artificial Intelligence to Enhance Educational Opportunities and Student Services in Higher Education
Get PDFArtificial intelligence (AI) technology is becoming the basis for business. Most businesses use it to improve the customer experience. The education community is just beginning to find ways to successfully implement AI for staff and students. Artificial Intelligence should be leveraged to create a better student experience. For example, Elon University uses AI to assist students with tracking previously taken courses and helps them apply the information to their course-planning (Gardner, 2018). Georgia State University uses Pounce, a chatbot built by AdmitHub, reducing summer melt by over 20% by reaching out to students via text when they have not completed tasks by certain dates (Page & Gehlbach, 2018). The use of this technology can range from help with admissions applications and FAFSA completion, class scheduling, and campus tours. Using AI within higher education will give faculty and staff the ability to be more effective and efficient when communicating with students
Implementing MTH 155: Statistical Reasoning Co-Requisite
Get PDFVirginia Highlands Community College (VHCC) implemented MTH 155 — Statistical Reasoning Co-Requisite — in the spring semester of 2018. MTH 155 replaced MTH 146 on VHCC’s campus. Prerequisites for this course are the first five developmental MTE modules. The intended co-requisite audience for this new course consists of students having successfully completed at least three of the five MTE modules. These students co-enrolled in MCR 5 and received targeted assistance for the MTH 155 course. Successful completion of MTH 155 resulted in the prerequisite MTE modules 1-5 being satisfied. This paper will present the results of this study along with implications for future work with co-requisite mathematics courses
Massive Resistance and the Origins of the Virginia Technical College System
Get PDFThe 1954 rulings in the United States Supreme Court cases of Brown v Board of Education was a landmark event in civil rights history. As momentous as the rulings were, they were not embraced by many Southern politicians. This was especially true in Virginia where Harry F. Byrd, Sr., U. S. Senator from Virginia, embarked on a campaign to massively resist court ordered school desegregation. Over the course of the next several years, Virginia\u27s leaders would pass laws specifically designed to undermine the Brown rulings. These laws, known as massive resistance would, among other things, grant the governor the power to close any school or school district attempting to comply with Brown. The results of implementation of these laws had catastrophic results socially, economically, educationally and on Virginia\u27s national reputation. By 1959 massive resistance laws were declared unconstitutional by both state and federal courts, allowing Virginia the chance to undo this self-inflicted damage. An unintended consequence of massive resistance was the erosion and stagnation of its manufacturing sector. To rebuild the state\u27s workforce, technical training on a large scale was necessary. To take on this herculean task the creation of a statewide system of technical colleges was needed. In 1964, the Virginia Technical College System (VTCS) was founded. This system exists today as the Virginia Community College System (VCCS). The creation of these colleges were a direct result of Virginia\u27s ill-conceived response to Brown. Funding had been available for many years to support technical training, but it took the contested environment created by massive resistance to make the creation of a statewide system of technical education a reality
Accelerating Student Success: The Case for Corequisite Instruction
Get PDFThe successes of corequisite remediation courses and supplemental instruction over traditional remediation courses such as the modular Math Essentials have been widely and recently documented (Logue, Watanabe-Rose, & Douglas, 2016). Corequisite reform is an important strategy to improve student completion of higher education goals. A robust corequisite model integrates gateway course content with lifelong tools such as time management and study skills that help students beyond the scope of one course. Corequisite remediation may not completely eliminate developmental courses; however, “a fundamental redesign of the support system for academically underprepared students” will include corequisite remediation (Vandal, 2014). This broader “support system” may integrate corequisite courses with the current (or similar) modular curriculum with non-modular precollege courses such as MTH 5 or MTH 9 in the Virginia Community College System (VCCS). Student placement into the optimal teaching/learning mode may be as key as course level placement (Bickerstaff, 2016). Corequisite remediation provides the VCCS with a powerful tool for student success. Wise integration of corequisite courses as part of a robust remediation program makes the vision of the VCCS strategic plan, Complete 2021, more clearly attainable
Taking the LEAP (Learner Engaged Advising Programs): VCCS Advising Practices and Recommendations
Get PDFThe Virginia Community College System (VCCS) administration identified the need for adequate and proactive advising programs to foster student success. This paper presents a review of “best practices” in advising to determine commonalities, provides a comparison with current VCCS advising practices, and offers recommendations that support the goal of ensuring high quality advising programs
Blending Credit & Non-Credit Courses: Best Practices, Opportunities, Barriers
Get PDFCommunity colleges offer an array of programs designed to help students meet different goals. Noncredit education provides training for students seeking targeted, often shorter, courses for personal and professional enrichment (Cohen, Brawer, & Kisker, 2014). Many community colleges are now increasingly emphasizing noncredit workforce education as they support regional workforce development efforts and strive to meet the needs of their local industry partners (Van Noy, Jacobs, Korey, Bailey, & Hughes, 2008). Despite the millions of students enrolled in these courses and their potential to generate revenue for the institutions delivering programs, Voorhees and Milam (2005) refer to noncredit community college education as the “hidden college” and existing research on noncredit offerings is limited.
Blending community college credit and noncredit programs with thoughtful and intentional strategies will benefit the students and the institutions. Van Noy, Jacobs, Korey, Bailey, and Hughes (2008) made five recommendations for strengthening noncredit education based on their research. They included the need to expand state funding with clear goals, to increase coordination of credit and noncredit offerings, to promote articulation of noncredit courses into credit programs, to establish non-degree forms of validation for noncredit programs, and to capture more information regarding employment outcomes resulting from noncredit training. These recommendations provide the framework for an analysis of current VCCS programming
Improving Transferability Case Studies: \u27Building a Better Bridge to the Bachelor\u27s\u27
Get PDFMany Virginians aspiring to earn a four-year degree intentionally begin their journey at one of the 23 community colleges within the Virginia Community College System (VCCS). In concert with those aspirations, the VCCS is committed to providing its residents an affordable and accessible program of study that prepares them to transfer and earn a bachelor’s degree at any one of Virginia’s colleges and universities. The establishment of an affordable and accessible pathway was one of the emanating purposes of the community college (Mellow & Heelan, 2015). The dream of affordable transfer education is one of three key legislative efforts of the VCCS, and statute 23.1-907 of the Commonwealth of Virginia mandates transfer agreements between the institutions. With at least 38 transfer agreements and more than 300 articulation agreements developed between the VCCS and the four-year colleges and universities, the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) states that up to 32% of transfer students do so under the auspices of guaranteed admission agreements (Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, 2017). Transfer pathway must be accessible and easily achieved in the least amount of time, with the least amount of required credits, and the least amount of cost and debt. To build a better bridge to the bachelor’s degree, Virginia must examine the current situation, consider best practices within the Commonwealth and across the nation, and seek to enact policies and procedures that achieve that goal
Improving Completion Rates for Underrepresented Populations
Get PDFMost experienced educators recognize that many students will not complete optional assignments, and often those students who need additional help do not seek assistance. Current research demonstrates that students in underrepresented populations (see definition below) are less likely to seek support than others because they see needing help as a confirmation that they don’t really “belong” in college in the first place. Research shows that those who do access currently optional supports such as tutoring are more likely to succeed, so this research group looked for ways to build structured connections between underrepresented students and resources.
We found that our peers at various VCCS colleges had programs that were working to build these connections for our students, so in our resource-constrained environment, we chose to focus on what exists that works, is scalable, and could be implemented in stages as resources permit. Our proposal reflects increased resource allocation on both the academic support (tutoring) side and the student support (TRIO, Pathway to the Baccalaureate, Success Coaches) side to increase structured contact between the student and the support to decrease the “stigma” of seeking help. We propose this because in our roles as administrators and faculty we know that often our students need both academic support and holistic support