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AACRAO is partnering with Complete College America to survey AACRAO members about game-changer strategies and best practices at their institutions that lead to student success.
Complete College America formed in 2009 with the goal of working with states to significantly increase the number of students earning quality career certificates or college degrees and to close attainment gaps for traditionally underrepresented populations. Today 33 states participate in the Complete College America Alliance of States. Complete College America provides guidance to lawmakers and education leaders on setting completion goals, restructuring the delivery of academic programs, and measuring student success. They have developed common student success metrics that have been adopted in many states that include measures for part-time and transfer students and track the success of low-income students and those taking remedial coursework.
In particular, the survey seeks to learn more about institutions using Guided Pathways to Success (GPS). What are Guided Pathways? They include combinations of the following strategies--blending content, structure and technology:
- Students receive remediation as a co-requisite, not a pre-requisite, so that remediation is embedded/parallel to their gateway English and math courses (see example at Community College of Baltimore County).
- Students choose an Academic Map, whole programs of study where all courses and course sequences are laid out for them. Course options are limited to those within a student's program of study (see example at Florida State University [FSU]).
- Informed choices where students begin in broad meta-majors┬" and progress into more specific majors: all students are on a degree path and there are no more undeclared┬" majors (see example at Austin Peay State University).
- Intrusive advising including early warning systems (see example at Arizona State University)
- Focus on enrolling full-time each term (see example at University of Hawaii System).
- Critical milestone courses that students must complete to stay on track for graduation.
- Block schedules (see example at City University of New York)
- Strong workforce connections (see example at Tennessee Technology Center).
These GPS strategies, supported by strong data and best practices in the field, are scalable and producing dramatic completion results at institutions across the country,┬" said Dominique Raymond, a Vice President at Complete College America. CCA is pleased to partner with AACRAO on this survey because we recognize that these innovative and successful GPS strategies are all thanks to the work underway by AACRAO members and their campus colleagues.┬"
What is your institution doing to help keep students on the path to a degree? How is technology helping your students with their degree completion (enhancements to degree audits, for example)? What are the challenges you are experiencing? What have you learned? What is your best advice to other institutions seeking to develop Guided Pathway approaches?
To learn more about Guided Pathways for Success see Complete College America's web site here.
Complete the CCA/AACRAO survey and help us learn more about what is working at your institution so that together we can help students complete their degrees.
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