**Title III Part A Strengthening Institutions Program**

**FY 2010 Project Abstracts**

**P031A100025 – Andrew College, Georgia**

Andrew College, located in Cuthbert, Georgia, is the state's only private, two-year liberal arts college.  Andrew offers developmental education, the Associate of Arts, Associate of Science, and Associate of Music degrees, and a general education curriculum paralleling The University System of Georgia's core curriculum.

The fall 2009 enrollment of 229 students included 136 females (59 percent) and 93 males (4l percent).  Geographically, 86 percent were from Georgia.  Forty-six percent were African-American, 46 percent were White, five percent were Hispanic, and three percent were of other or undeclared race or ethnicity.  The average student age was 19.

In fall 2009, Andrew College employed 20 full-time faculty.  Ten percent were of a racial or ethnic minority, and 45 percent possessed terminal degrees.  The faculty/student ratio was 1:12.  The goal of the proposed Title III project is to increase enrollment and improve student persistence and graduation rates.  Full-time enrollment will increase from 229 to 400.  Freshman fall-to-fall retention rate will increase from 28 percent (fall 2008-09) to 60 percent (fall 2014-15).  The number of students receiving a degree within three years will increase from 27 percent to 50 percent.

These institutional outcomes will be achieved through strengthening academic programs, academic and student support services, and institutional effectiveness.  Andrew College's academic programs and academic and student support services will be strengthened by a full-service Student Success Center, an expanded Freshman Year Experience program, improved academic and transfer advising, a student tracking and early warning system, additional academic support in the residential community, and redesigned and fully-transferable Business and Education programs.  Andrew College's institutional effectiveness will be strengthened with enhanced technology infrastructure and an institutional assessment and research capacity.  The project has four objectives and 11 key tasks.

**Objective 1.0:**  To increase retention, persistence, and graduation rates through

implementing academic and student support initiatives.

1.  Strengthen, expand, and centralize the Student Success Center

2.  Expand the Freshman Year Experience (FYE) program

3.  Train faculty and staff in academic and transfer advising

4.  Expand articulation and transfer agreements with four-year institutions

5.  Strengthen academic support in the residential community

**Objective 2.0:**  To increase enrollment through strengthening the Business and Education programs.

6.  Redesign the Education and Business Program curricula and ensure transferability to four-year programs

**Objective 3.0:**  To strengthen institutional effectiveness by strengthening and centralizing

student assessment and institutional research capacity.

7.  Strengthen and improve assessment and research capabilities

8.  Prepare and implement a data-driven, decision-making plan for more effective

institutional planning, management, and evaluation

**Objective 4.0:**  To develop institutional technology infrastructure and tools with an adequate capacity to support institutional data management and student support needs.

9.    Acquire and deploy limited network infrastructure, hardware, and software

10.  Acquire and implement a comprehensive student tracking and early warning system

11.  Conduct a comprehensive professional development program

**P031A100182 – Columbia Gorge Community College, Oregon**

**Contact Person:**Dr. Frank Toda, President, Columbia Gorge Community College; (541) 506-6103 

**Institutional Background**:  Columbia Gorge Community College (CGCC), established in 1977, is a two-year public institution of higher education based in the Dalles, Oregon, nestled in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area.  The Dalles is a rural community 80 miles east of Portland, where the Columbia River defines the border between Oregon and Washington.  The surrounding counties form the Mid-Columbia region:  Hood River; Wasco; Gilliam; Sherman and Wheeler in Oregon; Klickitat and Skamania in Washington.  This geographic region encompasses 10,225 square miles with a population estimated at 81,173 (2008). Hood River, Wasco, and Klickitat counties contain over 80 percent of the total population.  Defining characteristics of the region include a rural geography, staggering economic upheavals, and demographics that include a growing population age 65 and older, and a disadvantaged, multi-cultural population.  CGCC also provides services at a Hood River, Oregon, campus (opened in 2008) with additional off-campus classes.  CGCC is the only local provider of postsecondary education.  The college offers 14 degree programs and 11 certificate programs.

**Title III Activity**:  Improving Institutional Research, Instructional Technology, Online Services, Efficiency and Resource Development Capacity.

This Title III project will:  (1) Improve institutional research capacity; (2) Expand classroom technology to meet faculty expectations and support distance learning; (3) Improve and expand the online campus; (4) improve business efficiency; and (5) Expand resource development capacity.

The project addresses tie-breaker priorities in response to:  (1) faculty development; (2) administrative management; (3) acquisition of equipment for use in strengthening academic programs; and (4) student services.

**Student Body Characteristics:** Total fall state-supported headcount enrollment (2009):   2,102.  Undergraduate student age:  47 percent are 24 and under; 53 percent are 25 and over.  Average Age:  33.  Ethnicity:  White, Non-Hispanic - 86 percent;  Black Non-Hispanic - 0.3 percent; Hispanic - 13 percent; Asian/Pacific Islander - one percent; American Indian/Alaskan Native - 0.5 percent; Non-resident Alien – one percent.

**Faculty Characteristics:**Faculty to Student Ratio:  1:10. Fall 2009 Faculty:  Full time-19; Part time—104.

**Five-Year Project Budget**:  $2,000,000.

**P031A100026  – Concordia University Ann Arbor,  Michigan**

Concordia University Ann Arbor (CUAA) is a private, liberal arts university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, that is affiliated with the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod and a college of the Concordia University System.

The goal of the proposed Title III project is to improve student persistence and graduation rates.  Full-time undergraduate enrollment will increase from 390 to 650; freshman fall-to-fall retention rate will increase from 62 percent (fall 2008-09) to 75 percent (fall 2014-15); the percentage of undergraduate students receiving a degree within six years will increase from 48 percent to 60 percent; and freshmen (first-time, full-time) enrollment will increase from 99 to 200.

These institutional outcomes will be achieved through strengthened academic and student support services, academic programs, and institutional effectiveness.  CUAA’s academic and support programs will be strengthened by a full-service Academic Resources Center, a summer academic preparation program, formal career counseling and placement, a comprehensive student  tracking and early warning system, a First-Year Experience program that includes residential hall tutoring and peer mentoring, a strengthened Family Life academic program, and increased use of alternate instructional delivery methods.  Institutional management will be strengthened through an updated network infrastructure, data systems, and tool sets to support more effective decision-making, a professional development program, and an institutional research and assessment office to support centralized data collection, analysis, and reporting.

CUAA’s fall 2009 undergraduate enrollment was 206 females (53 percent) and 184 males (47 percent), with 64 percent residing at the university.  Eighty-six percent were from Michigan.  Three hundred twenty (82 percent) were White, 40 (10 percent) were African-American, 10 (three percent) were Hispanic, and 20 (five percent) were Native American, Asian, or unknown race or ethnicity.  The average student age was 22.6.  Eighty-nine percent received financial aid.

In fall 2009, CUAA employed 29 full-time and 149 part-time faculty.  Of the 29 full-time faculty, 14 percent were representative of a racial/ethnic minority group, and 31 percent possessed terminal degrees. The faculty/student ratio was 1:14.

The project has four objectives and 11 key tasks.

**Objective 1.0:**  To strengthen academic support services.

1. Strengthen the Academic Resources Center (ARC)

2. Create and offer a summer academic preparation program

3. Develop a comprehensive student tracking and early warning system

**Objective 2.0:**  To strengthen student support services.

4. Create and offer a First-Year Experience program

5. Provide career counseling and placement services

**Objective 3.0:**  To strengthen academic programs.

6. Strengthen the Family Life academic program

7. Create alternate instructional delivery methods

**Objective 4.0:**  To strengthen institutional technology infrastructure, student assessment, and institutional research capacities.

8. Acquire and deploy network infrastructure

9. Develop data systems and tool sets to support more effective decision-making

10. Create and deliver a professional development program

11. Develop a centralized data collection, analysis, and reporting process

**P031A100021  – Crowder College, Missouri**

Crowder College, Neosho, Missouri, is a public, open-door, comprehensive, two-year community college serving southwest Missouri (population 324,304, Census 2009) with transfer- and career-oriented Associate degrees and certificates, adult/continuing education, high school/college dual enrollment, and workforce development.  The service area is rural and disadvantaged with low levels of education and income, the latter only two-thirds of the nation’s.  Nonetheless, Crowder’s enrollment has grown steadily, 52 percent in credit students since 2005.  Our students are also successful:  average grade points exceed 3.0 and graduation rates have led the state for nine of the past ten years.  By all indicators, Crowder is serving its mission of “Building a civil, serving, literate, learning community of responsible citizens.”  However, most of Crowder’s students choose transfer-oriented degree programs over technical programs that lead to immediate employment, and many students who do pursue technical Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degrees or Certificates are in allied health, a dominant industry in the area’s largest city.  It is time now to expand students’ options for technical education leading to immediate employment in other high-demand, high-opportunity careers, notably renewable energy and related fields.

Technical training in renewable energy and related fields is a natural fit for Crowder.  Southwest Missouri’s climate and geology are well-suited to their study, and the college has been designated as Missouri’s renewable energy education center.  The Missouri Alternative and Renewable Energy Technology (MARET) Center, soon to have a new 10,000 square-foot facility on Crowder’s campus, will house Biofuels, Solar, and Wind AAS and Certificate programs which Crowder has begun to develop.  However, these and companion programs (Energy-Efficient Building, Environmental Health Technology, and Advanced Manufacturing Technology) have inadequate or outdated curricula, equipment, and lab facilities to teach the skills that graduates will use on the job.  Instructional equipment in these programs’ required college-level reading, writing, math, computing, and science course labs is also deficient, limiting the experiences that promote high-quality learning.

Renewable energy and related programs have suffered as we struggle to serve half again more students with less than a third more state funding than five years ago.  Ironically, however, strengthening promising technical programs to increase enrollment is our best option for improving fiscal stability, for these programs’ potential to increase tuition and fee revenue is substantial.  At the same time, strong renewable energy and related offerings provide outstanding employment opportunities for graduates and support national and global initiatives to reduce consumption of fossil fuels.  Crowder therefore proposes a project entitled START, Strengthening Training in Alternative Energy and Related Technology, to transform the targeted programs into viable options for our students, many of whom have been unable to participate in both rewarding and globally critical careers.  The project will tap new groups of students—at least 180 annually— whose enrollments will help sustain improvements and contribute to Crowder’s stability in the coming years.

**P031A100018 – Cumberland County College, New Jersey**

Cumberland County College (CCC) is a two-year community college located in Vineland, New Jersey.  CCC serves the 156,000 residents of Cumberland County with comprehensive associate degree education and certificate training programs.

The fall 2009 enrollment of 4,014 students included 2,617 females (65.2 percent) and 1,397 males (34.8 percent).  Approximately 90 percent were from Cumberland County.  Fifty-six (56) percent were White, 21 percent were African-American, 20 percent were Hispanic, and three percent were of other or undeclared race or ethnicity.  The average student age was 26. 

Of CCC’s 50 full-time and 225 adjunct faculty, eight percent of full-time faculty are of a racial/ethnic minority, and 12 percent have terminal degrees. The faculty/student ratio is 1:22. 

The goal of the proposed Title III project is to improve retention, persistence, and graduation rates among academically underprepared students through strengthened academic, student, and management support services and professional development.  The percentage of students who complete remedial courses in one year and re-enroll the following fall will increase from 60 percent to 65 percent.  The percentage of academically underprepared students needing remediation in one or more skill areas who graduate within three years will increase from 16 percent to 20 percent.  The percentage of faculty integrating best practices into instructional delivery will increase from 65 percent to 75 percent, and the percentage of faculty integrating technology into instruction and class management will increase from 20 percent to 40 percent.  A new Enterprise Resource Planning system will adequately support institutional, academic, and student service support needs.  The project has three objectives and 13 key tasks.

**Objective 1.0:**  To improve retention, persistence, and completion rates for academically underprepared students:  (1) Expand and integrate proactive counseling and other academic and student support services for academically at-risk students; (2) Develop Student Success Plans for academically underprepared students; (3) Create a Back-on-Track intervention program for academically at-risk students; (4) Increase access to financial aid and need-based scholarships; (5) Redesign and contextualize developmental education courses; (6) Redesign placement and basic skills testing systems; (7) Offer an expanded summer Student Success program; and  (8) Redesign and offer a Freshman Seminar/Study Skills course.

**Objective 2.0:**  To improve the efficiency and effectiveness of electronic institutional planning and student support systems:  (9) Replace the mainframe-based Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system with a Web-based system; and (10) Incorporate a single authentication, online portal for easy access to student and institutional data and student support services.

**Objective 3.0:**  Develop and offer a professional development program for faculty, staff, and administrators:  (11) Provide training for faculty, staff, and administrators in use of the new ERP System;  (12) Provide professional development in leveraging the new ERP system to strengthen student and academic supports and institutional planning; and (13) Establish a program of professional development for full-time and adjunct faculty that focuses on leading-edge, technological methods applied to instruction and on andragogical best practices.

**Endowment:**  CCC is requesting Title III funds in the amount of $16,800 over five years for its endowment, and will raise matching funds of $16,800 as an institutional contribution.

**P031A100085 – East Carolina University, North Carolina**

East Carolina University (ECU) is a four-year public university located in Greenville, North Carolina, third largest of the 17 institutions in the University of North Carolina system.  ECU primarily serves the residents of eastern North Carolina, one of the most impoverished rural regions in the state and nation.  ECU offers 104 bachelor’s degree programs that build upon a strong liberal arts core, as well as numerous graduate and first-professional degree programs. 

Undergraduate enrollment has increased 22 percent over the past five years, now totaling over 21,000.  Over 85 percent are full-time students, with 75 percent White; 14 percent  Black; Hispanic, Asian, and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders at two percent each; four percent of unknown race/ethnicity; and American Indian/Alaska Natives, Nonresident Aliens, and people of two or more races each less than one percent.  Nearly 59 percent are female, and nearly 50 percent are ages 19-21 (17 percent are age 22-24, 16 percent are age 18 and under, 13 percent are age 25-40, four percent are age 41-64, and less than one percent are age 65 or older). 

ECU employs 1,698 full-time faculty: 81 percent White, five percent Black, two percent Hispanic, five percent Asian, five percent Nonresident Alien, two percent race/ethnicity unknown, and American Indian/Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders, and people of two or more races each constitute less than one percent of full-time faculty. The student-to-faculty ratio is 18:1. 

This single Title III Activity consists of two components:  (1) development of department-specific and university-wide written, comprehensive plans for utilizing institutional effectiveness planning and assessment mechanisms to enhance student learning; and (2) development of targeted department-specific assessment-based teaching and learning and student services strategies to improve student persistence, retention, and graduation.  

Each measurable output and outcome has been carefully identified based on extensive current and historical student academic performance, retention, and graduation data, supplemented by formal and informal input from students, parents, and other stakeholders in the university community.  Programs and services are designed to achieve outcomes while remaining true to the value of high academic expectations, responsiveness to community need, and connection with strategic plans and priorities.  The outcomes will be accomplished by:  (1) Establishing a formal process and structure for regular business process review (BPR) in order to systematically evaluate and improve the efficiency of core processes, beginning with developing BPRs as pilots at 13 targeted academic and administrative departments, ultimately leading to the institutionalization of a university-wide continuous process improvement approach.  Using this approach, we will be able to achieve significant change, while establishing numerous successful assessment models for replication by other units after the grant has ended.  (2) Conducting an audit of current assessment strategies both institution-wide and specific to targeted departments to identify gaps in valid and reliable indicators of institutional effectiveness, including methods for measuring undergraduate student achievement of course objectives, program objectives, and college-wide student learning competencies.  (3) Assisting administrative departments with changes in processes and the development of assessment plans and tools to improve effectiveness.  (4) Assisting academic departments with revising teaching and learning strategies and the development of assessment plans and tools to improve undergraduate student learning.  (5) Managing department-specific and institutional plans and data to facilitate alignment with current and future university strategic plans and goals.

**P031A100065 – East-West University, Illinois**

East-West University (EWU) is a nonprofit institution of higher learning located in the Chicago metropolitan area.  The university serves a student body that is diverse in age, ethnic backgrounds, economic circumstances, and academic preparedness.  In 2008-09, the unduplicated enrollment was 1,508 with 35 percent (533) men and 65 percent (975) women with an average age of 23.  The student body is 70 percent African-American (1,042) and 11 percent Hispanic/Latino (170), and over half of the students are the first members of their families to attend a university.  As a multi cultural, multi-ethnic institution, East-West University offers a low cost and effective education, easy accessibility, and a reputation for academic quality.

East-West University is authorized by the Illinois Board of Higher Education to offer associate and bachelor’s degrees in Computer and Information Science, Electronics Engineering Technology, Business Administration, Liberal Arts with a major in Behavioral and Social Sciences, English and Communications, or Mathematics. 

The university was founded by its current-day Chancellor and Provost, and first opened to students in 1980 with an enrollment of 120.  Today, the university enrolls over 1,000 students in its third decade of operation. East-West University is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools since December 1983, and is scheduled for its review for continued accreditation in April of 2012.  It has a Corporate Board of seven Directors and is governed by a Board of 19 Trustees.  The university's mission is to provide relevant, effective, and convenient education for all racial, ethnic, and socio-economic groups.

In fall 2009, the university employed 14 full-time and 71 part-time faculty members; 64 percent of full-time faculty members hold a doctorate and one hundred percent of all faculty hold at least a master's degree.  Among the teaching faculty, 46 percent are white, 30 percent are African-American, 19 percent are Asian, and less than five percent are Hispanic.  East-West University takes pride in offering small class sizes for students, and the average faculty to student ratio is one to sixteen.  The class size at East-West University ranges from approximately five to thirty-five students, and is determined by examining the nature of the course being taught, its suitability for class size, and the availability of facilities.

The university seeks Title III funding for an Improved Administrative Management System to strengthen its weaknesses over a five-year period in Institutional Management, Academic Programs, and Fiscal Stability through the purchase of software, training, and services to achieve the following goals:

· Improve University communications for greater efficiency and to improve student success.

· Improve retention at the university from 36 percent to at least 50 percent.

· Establish an Adult Education program.

· Improve capacity for fundraising.

**P031A100008 - Eastern Iowa Community College District, Iowa**

This Title III is submitted by Eastern Iowa Community College District (EICCD) located in Davenport, Iowa, and whose Title III project purpose is to increase EICCD’s student success and completion rate through the development of a comprehensive student achievement model. 

EICCD is a public, two-year community college district comprised of Clinton Community College (CCC) in Clinton, Muscatine Community College (MCC) in Muscatine, and Scott Community College (SCC) in Bettendorf, Iowa.  EICCD is accredited by the North Central Association of Schools and Colleges and our **mission**is to “deliver quality education and services to strengthen our community by excelling in teaching and learning, identifying future needs, preparing tomorrow’s workforce, promoting lifelong learning, fostering innovation, valuing diversity, committing to global sustainability, and ensuring accessibility for all.”  EICCD offers 40 Associate of Arts and 47 Associate of Applied Science transfer degree programs, 55 career technology certificate and diploma programs, noncredit workforce development and community education programs, and GED instruction and developmental courses.  EICCD is governed by a nine-member, elected board of directors who set institutional policies within state parameters and Iowa Department of Education rules.  The operating budget is funded through tuition, fees, state support based on full-time equivalent (FTE) reimbursement, local property taxes, and state and federal contracts and grants. 

EICCD serves eight counties and 20 school districts in eastern Iowa.  Almost one-half of the service area’s 280,000 residents live in Davenport and Bettendorf.  Two other significant population centers include Clinton (population 29,188) and Muscatine (population 23,282). The remaining service population area is rural with 85 percent of the towns having a population under 2,500.  EICCD is a multi-college “district” with colleges in each of the three major population centers.  Muscatine College serves a large percentage of migrant, minority, and poverty level population.  Louisa County has the largest percentage of Hispanic migrant worker population in the state of Iowa at 39 percent and has one of the largest percentages of population who do *not*complete high school in the state of Iowa.  Almost 12 percent of Muscatine County is Hispanic or Latino and 10 percent live below poverty level. 

EICCD is the only public higher education institution in its eight-county service area. For many students, EICCD provides the only educational avenue.  The 2000 Census shows: 30,918 residents age 25 and older do not have a high school diploma or GED; Iowa has the lowest percent of college graduates in the Midwest; and 29,139 residents of the service area live at or below poverty level.  EICCD has a large student population that is underprepared, economically disadvantaged, and first generation college students.  EICCD fall 2008 enrollment shows:  2,550, or 41 percent of students, are first-generation; 65 percent of students require developmental math; 38 percent of students require developmental writing, and 42 percent require developmental reading; and 1,931, or 31 percent of students are low-income. 

There are 8,480 students enrolled in credit courses and 6,532 full-time equivalent students at EICCD; 42 percent are male and 58 percent are female.  Regarding race and ethnicity, 0.9 percent are American Indian or Alaskan Native, 1.6 percent are Asian, 6.6 percent are Black, 0.1 percent are Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, 78.3 percent are White, and 12.5 percent did not reply.  Of the 8,480 students enrolled in credit courses, 57.5 percent (or 4,873) students are under 22 years of age, 20.6 percent (or 1,744) students are ages 23-30, 21.8 percent (or 1,854) are ages 31 or older, and 0.1 percent of students’ ages are unknown. 

EICCD employs 140 full-time faculty and 481 adjunct or part-time faculty, with a faculty-to-student ratio of 20:1. 

**P031A100071 - Florida Atlantic University, Florida**

Florida Atlantic University (FAU) is a comprehensive, public university that opened its doors in 1964.  It now enrolls approximately 21,527 undergraduate students and 4,146 graduate students taught by 785 full-time and 800 part-time instructional faculty members.  The student-to-faculty ratio is 20:1.  FAU awards associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s, specialist’s, and doctoral degrees.  Its service area includes six counties spread along more than 100 miles of Florida’s southeast coast.  FAU consists of seven physical sites.  Full-service campuses are located in Boca Raton (the oldest and largest campus), Davie, Fort Lauderdale, Jupiter, and Port St. Lucie.  Smaller, specialized sites are located in Dania Beach and Fort Pierce.  Only the Boca Raton campus (the locus of the proposed Title III activity) and the Honors College at Jupiter support lower-division students.  The percentage of minority students now stands at 41 percent.  Approximately 17 percent of students are African American and 19 percent are Hispanic.  Approximately 40 percent of undergraduates are part-time students; 59 percent of students are female.

Proposed Project:  Promoting the Success and Retention of At-Risk Second-Year Students.  Although FAU has made considerable progress in improving first- to second-year retention rates, the first- to third-year retention rate stands at only 59 percent, far below our peers.  Approximately 44 percent of FAU students enter their second year with fewer than 30 credit hours, largely the result of having failed one or more courses in their first year.  At the end of their first spring, six percent of students are on academic suspension but have grade point averages (GPAs) over 1.5 and another 20 percent are on academic probation with GPAs over 1.5.  Approximately 24 percent of students entering their second fall with undeclared majors leave by their third fall.  These three groups will be targeted by the Title III activity.  To improve student success and retention in the second year,  FAU proposes to create a program, known as AcCESS (Academic and Career Enhancement for Second-Year Students), targeted at students most at risk of attrition.  The primary methods to achieve activity objectives include intrusive advising, tutoring, and major and career counseling. Students entering the AcCESS program will receive services designed to ensure their success and include:  regular meetings with the AcCESS academic advisor, to review progress in their courses and ensure that they are on a path to success; participation in time management and study skills workshops conducted by the AcCESS academic advisors; tutoring in courses that students previously failed or in other historically difficult courses students are taking for the first time; participation in faculty advising/mentoring sessions; and participation in career workshops and a Career and Life Planning course, designed for at-risk students with major and career indecision.  The ultimate goals are to not only get students back on track academically but to reduce the career and major indecision that is such an important factor behind second-year student attrition.

**P031A100145 – Florida State College at Jacksonville, Florida**

Florida State College at Jacksonville (FSCJ) is a four-year public, state college serving over 80,000 students per year (minority enrollment of 30 percent) from Duval and Nassau counties in northeast Florida.  The college offers students an educational pipeline which includes certifications, degree programs from a Charter school for high school drop-outs, over 250 workforce certifications, associate degree programs, and seven bachelor’s degree programs.  In 2009-10, FSCJ received $65.8 million in state appropriations for operating expenses. 

**Student Body Characteristics:**  In 2008-09, FSCJ served an unduplicated headcount of 81,370 students, of whom 59,970 were enrolled in credit programs.  The average age of students enrolled in Florida State College at Jacksonville college-credit programs is 27-years-old and 60.7 percent of students are female and 39.3 percent are male.  The FSCJ student body closely mirrors the diversity of Northeast Florida.  Over 30 percent of enrollees are minority students:  Twenty-four percent are African American, four percent are Hispanic and three percent are Asian.** Sixty-one percent of Florida State College students receive financial aid.  The majority of students pursue associate degrees or other career-training credentials.  More than 5,800 students earned bachelor or associate degrees or certificates in 2009-2010, up from 5,600 in 2008-2009.  The balance of the student population is enrolled in high school completion or basic education programs, special academic programs, or professional development classes. 

**Faculty Characteristics:** FSCJ employs 394 full-time faculty and 1,753 adjunct faculty.  Twenty percent of faculty have earned their doctorate degrees, 70 percent hold a master’s degree and 10 percent have a bachelor of other degree.  The student to faculty ratio is 20:1. 

**Project Overview:**  This Title III application addresses Invitational Priority #3*.*  Florida State College at Jacksonville is proposing *Seeds of Success:  Re-orienting the Entering Student Experience*, known as Project S.O.S.   This project will increase the retention and success of developmental education students.  Project S.O.S Goals will include:  1:  Enhance the entering student experience by fostering the cognitive, affective, and social growth of developmental students, thus preparing them for distinctive success in college and 2:  Increase success and retention rates of students in developmental education courses by implementing a comprehensive program integrating course redesign, tutoring, modularized instruction, learning technologies, support services and professional development.  Strategies related to the goals will include:  New student orientation model; Integration of social media; Integration of student success services; Coordination with the Office of Services for Students with Disabilities; Professional development of faculty, Case management including coordination and connection of advising and tutoring services, Instructional technology incorporating artificial intelligence and digital learning objects, and Course redesign and modularization.  Project S.O.S. will be implemented in five main successive phases utilizing a scale-up method:  (1) Research and planning; (2) Development of materials/intuitional policies; (3) Pilot; (4) Refinement of materials and expansion of pilot; and (5) college-wide implementation.

**P031A100028 – Holy Family University, Pennsylvania**

Holy Family University (HF) is a fully accredited, Catholic, private, co-educational, four-year university.  Founded in 1954 by the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth, Holy Family provides liberal arts and professional programs for more than 3,000 students through day, evening, and summer sessions.  HF's four schools, Arts and Sciences, Business Administration, Education, and Nursing and Allied Health Professions, and the Division of Extended Learning house the institution's undergraduate, graduate, accelerated and certificate programs.  HF has 354 faculty, 94 full-time and 260 adjuncts part-time.  Seventy-six percent of full-time faculty have doctoral or terminal degrees.  Their ethnic breakdown is: 78 Caucasian; five African-American; five Asian; three Hispanic/Latino and three not reported.  Student enrollment totals 3,345.  There are 2,120 undergraduates, 972 graduates and 253 in extended learning.  HF serves primarily a population of low-income and first generation students. The average age of full-time students is 21 years.  Student ethnic breakdown is: 2,414 (72 percent) Caucasian; 205 (six percent) African American; 130 (four percent) Asian; and 144 (four percent) Hispanic; 19 (one percent) Non-resident Aliens, 11 (less than one percent) Native Americans, and 422 (twelve percent) Not self-reported.

**The Title III Project.**  This projects aims to strengthen and implement a comprehensive university-wide assessment program for improved student learning and institutional effectiveness.  HF began its assessment work in 2004 and needs to organize and make more solid and continuous the process for assessment of academic programs and administration and educational support (AES) units.  Specifically, it seeks to develop and implement 18 assessment plans at the undergraduate degree program-level.  It will also develop and implement four assessment plans at the graduate degree program-level.  Special attention is being paid to results of assessment plans with 24 undergraduate and three graduate programs using assessment results to improve teaching and learning.  In addition, 20 AES units will use results to improve services to students, faculty and other constituencies.

HF will expand its Office of Institutional Research and Assessment (now only one person) by hiring an Assistant Director and a Research Analyst and move from a cubicle office to newly renovated space.  It will work with Faculty Coordinators and provide one-on-one workshops in the programs and offices establish an Assessment Library, develop an Assessment website, a newsletter and an Assessment Manual.  It will provide travel funds for faculty to attend assessment conferences/workshops.  It will integrate assessment policies and procedures into student and faculty handbooks and the university catalog.  Its concern for student learning is evidenced by its purchase of the Blackboard Outcomes System, training of faculty in that software and building prototypes of current portfolios from juniors and seniors to pilot use of e-portfolios.  It will hold a university-wide motivational event at the beginning of the project with a major speaker from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.  It will also connect the assessment project with budgeting and planning and the university's new branding process. The total budget for the project is $1,918,700.  Overall, the Project will allow the university to benefit from a unique opportunity to advance and grow in the expression of its Mission and to continue to benefit those whom it serves as it continues to build its future as a 21st century university vitally concerned with student learning.

**P031A100184 – Iowa Western Community College, Iowa**

Iowa Western Community College (IWCC) is a two-year public community college with its main campus in Council Bluffs, Iowa (population 59,536).  IWCC serves a seven-county, 4,309 square mile district (population 168,874) comprised of urban counties in the Omaha-Council Bluffs Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) as well as surrounding rural counties.  Accredited by the Higher Learning Commission Academic Quality Improvement Program (AQIP) of the North Central Association, IWCC offers 84 Associate of Arts, Associate of Science, Associate of Applied Science, and certificate programs in vocational/ technical areas.  In addition to our main campus, IWCC reaches across the region with multiple access points:  the Clarinda Campus in Clarinda, Iowa, as well as the Shelby County, Cass County, and Page/ Fremont County Centers.  In the last year, enrollment at these centers has grown up to 57 percent, reflecting our critical role in making postsecondary opportunity accessible across a socioeconomically-challenged region where just 14 percent of adults hold bachelor’s degrees.

In fall 2009, IWCC enrolled 6,100 students (headcount):  55 percent (3,355) female and 45 percent (2,745) male, 13 percent representing minority groups.  Average student age was 22, with 20 percent over the age of 25.  Faculty included 140 full-time and 264 part-time instructors, 53 percent (214) female and 47 percent (190) male.  Full-time faculty to student ratio is one to 44.

Since 1999, IWCC headcount enrollment has increased 40 percent, with 31 percent credit hour enrollment growth.  Increases have been driven largely by enrollment in online courses offered through the Iowa Community College Online Consortium (ICCOC), formed by seven Iowa community colleges in 2000.  Despite increases in online enrollment, student evaluations of ICCOC courses reveal weaknesses, including unsatisfactory course organization, structure, and technical problems with the ICCOC’s e-college Learning Management System (LMS).  IWCC pays over $200,000 annually to participate in the ICCOC, but receives just 29 percent of tuition revenue for each IWCC student enrolled in an ICCOC course taught by another college’s instructor; even ICCOC courses taught by IWCC instructors yield tuition revenue nine percent lower than that generated by traditional enrollment.  However, IWCC’s technology infrastructure is insufficient to support its own distance learning system, and IWCC full- and part-time instructors are inadequately prepared to develop and support Web-based offerings – though they have asked for training in distance learning best practices and tools.  

IWCC therefore proposes **Expanding IWCC’s Distance Education Capacity,** a multi-faceted initiative to develop our capacity to provide effective Web-based instruction and flexible online student services.  Extensive professional development in distance learning strategies and tools will result in the conversion of 38 General Education and six high-demand nursing courses to online and hybrid (combined online and on-campus) delivery formats.  Web-based courses will be supported by the Angel LMS and a range of new online student services, including E-Advising, Orientation, Financial Aid services, and Early Academic Alert – with services built upon a new web portal.  Robust technological infrastructure will support development and pilots of web-based courses and online services, positioning IWCC to ensure quality while realizing the full revenue potential of growing distance education enrollment.  Comprehensive evaluation will measure the success and facilitate institutionalization of new project initiatives.  

Our five-year budget of $1,999,194 includes an Endowment totaling $273,000 (14 percent of total).  The IWCC Foundation has committed to raising matching Endowment funds.  

**P031A100120 – Jackson Community College, Michigan**

Jackson Community College (JCC) is a comprehensive, public, two-year institution located in the heart of the “rust belt” and serving the residents of the south central Michigan counties of Jackson, Hillsdale and Lenawee (2009 population 305,315).  JCC’s main campus is located in the city of Jackson (population 33,315) with extension centers in nearby Hillsdale and Adrian as well as outreach sites in three area high schools.  With persistent high unemployment (13 percent), ranking 29th among the nation’s 372 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) (Bureau of Labor Statistics, June 2010), the region is struggling to diversify its economy in the wake of the auto industry collapse and JCC’s enrollment has increased a staggering 43 percent in the past five years -- a 22 percent increase in the past year alone.  This enrollment jump just exacerbates JCC’s inability to adequately respond to the needs of our increasing numbers of low-income, first-generation college, disabled, academically at-risk students. 

JCC is governed by a seven-member, locally-elected Board of Directors and offers 28 associate degree programs, 27 certificate programs, and 37 specializations and skill set credentials.  The college is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission - North Central Association of Colleges and Schools and holds eight additional specialized accreditations from state and national organizations.

**Student and Faculty Characteristics:**  Among JCC’s 7,729 students (Fall 2009), 12 percent are minority, the average age is 28, two-thirds are over the age of 21 and non-traditional students, 72 percent are first-generation in college, almost half receive federal financial aid, three-quarters work at least part-time, more than half are enrolled part-time, and 81 percent begin college deficient in basic skills.  Once enrolled, up to 55 percent fail developmental (Foundation Studies) courses and of those who do complete their required foundation studies sequence, up to 44 percent fail subsequent college gateway courses.  Not surprisingly, JCC's overall fall-to-fall persistence rate is low (48.4 percent; compared to 53.9 percent nationwide) and at 14.4 percent, JCC's degree and/or certificate completion rate within three years is just half the national average of 28.3 percent (ACT, 2009).  Furthermore, students beginning JCC at the remedial level average just a five percent graduation rate.  Nevertheless, our students are served by a highly dedicated group of 457 faculty (90 full-time; 367 part-time) of which 86 percent hold at least a master’s degree, and 20 percent hold a doctorate degree.  The faculty to student ratio: 1:24.

To alleviate significant institutional problems exemplified by high student failure and attrition rates, limited faculty development, and fragmented student services compounded by strained fiscal resources, JCC has designed a comprehensive Title III project.  We propose a single activity focused on ***Transforming Instruction and Student Services.***We request a**total of $1,998,464**over five years to:  (1) Strengthen Foundation Studies through curricular revision inclusive of compressed and/or accelerated courses, self-paced labs, contextualized coursework, learning communities, and redesigned course sequencing; (2) Increase course success through comprehensive faculty development for all major academic disciplines and focusing on the highly effective Reading Apprenticeship and On-Course Principles programs; and (3) Improve student success through expanded student services inclusive of comprehensive student intake and/or orientation systems, high-risk student tracking mechanisms, and intrusive advising, as well as Web-based orientation and advising.

Our proposed project addresses the following **Title III Invitational Priorities**: 

· Support activities that will improve the institution’s persistence and graduation rates;

· Develop academic programs to improve course completion rates or develop innovative support programs that are designed to increase completion rates.

In addition, JCC will address a third invitational priority by agreeing to work with appropriate state agencies to facilitate longitudinal analysis of student success outcomes including course and/or degree completion, transfer, and four-year degree completion.

**P031A100138 – John Brown University, Arkansas**

**City:**Siloam Springs, Arkansas (population 16,132)

**Purpose:**To expand access to education through online learning opportunities and address an enrollment downturn among degree completion students

**Profile of Institution**

John Brown University (JBU) is an independent (unaffiliated), four-year, private Christian university of the liberal arts, sciences and professions.  JBU admits all qualified students regardless of their religious belief, sex, race, or financial status.  JBU was founded in 1919 to provide a college education for impoverised students from the Ozarks.  The university remains true to that vision of serving low-income students and maintains an extensive financial aid program, while keeping costs as low as possible. 

**Primary Service Population**

As a private university, JBU’s service population is not limited geographically.  Even so, 35 percent of students are from Arkansas, with an additional 40 percent from the neighborhing states of Oklahoma, Missouri and Texas.  JBU serves traditional undergraduate students from 43 states as well as non-traditional and graduate students, primarily from Arkansas.

**Student Body Characteristics**

The fall 2009 enrollment of 2,073 students (headcount) included 1,283 traditional undergraduates and 430 degree completion students (for a total of 1,713 undergraduates) plus 360 graduate students.  Among all undergraduates, 30 percent are low-income, 20 percent are first-generation, and 10 percent are minority (higher than in the surrounding community).  The avaerage age of all students is 24.5 Traditional undergraduates are 54 percent female and 46 percent male.  Among Degree Completion students, 41 percent are low-income (receiving Pell Grants), almost half (48 percent) are first-generation, and 17 percent are minority students. 

**Faculty Characteristics:**

JBU has 78 full-time and 130 part-time/adjunct faculty. The student to faculty ratio is 17:1.

**Proposed Project Description:**

In order to reverse declining enrollments in JBU’s critical Professional Studies program and to meet high student demand, this project proposes to make two high demand undergraduate degree programs available online:  Business and General Studies.  To achieve this, university faculty will convert 43 courses for online delivery in an accelerated (eight week) format with the assistance of an Instructional Designer.  Business faculty and faculty teaching general studies courses will receive faculty development training in developing and teaching quality online courses.  In order to fully serve students enrolled in the new online programs, JBU will make an array of online services available through its EagleNET portal, including adding online versions of tutoring, the writing center, and a 24/7 help desk to existing online services.  JBU will also make the online portal readable by mobile phones and add a mobile learning module to the online course management system. Investments in technology and network infrastructure will ensure the university has sufficient capacity to provide the new online learning opportunities and services.

**Funding Request:**The total funding requested for the five-year grant period is $1,999,501.

**P031A100141 – Kirtland Community College, Michigan**

**Contact Person**:  Dr. Thomas Quinn, President, Kirtland Community College, (989) 275-5000, Ext. 253 (voice) quinnt@kirtland.edu

**Institutional Background:**  Kirtland Community College (KCC) is a public community college located in Roscommon, Michigan. The main campus is situated on approximately 220 acres of beautifully wooded, rolling hills in, according to the college’s 2007 Academic Quality Improvement Program  (AQIP) Systems Portfolio, “the middle of nowhere,” 170 miles north of Detroit in the central part of the lower peninsula of the State.  The average round-trip commute for students to campus is 56 miles.  Kirtland is the largest community college district in Michigan totaling 2,500 square miles with an approximate population of 72,000 people.  The college serves all of five counties and parts of four other counties, (a geographic area about half the size of the state of Vermont).  Kirtland also has an off-campus site—M-TEC (Michigan Technical Education Center) in the city of Gaylord, approximately 55 miles north of the central campus.  Kirtland’s M-TEC is in Otsego County, which is outside of the main district.  In 2004, Kirtland became an  AQIP  institution, accredited by the Higher Learning Commission—North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.  Kirtland serves a district that is economically disadvantaged and underserved with a large number of residents who are deficient in basic academic skills.  In Roscommon County more than 18.6 percent of families have incomes below the poverty line, and 58 percent of school age children qualify for the federal free and/or reduced lunch program.  KCC offers 178 associate degrees; 91 certificates; five special certificates.

**Title III Activity: *Expanding eLearning and Outreach Programs and Services***

This Title III project will:  **(1)** Expand online courses, certificates and degrees; **(2)**  Increase opportunities for faculty professional development; **(3)**Upgrade classroom technology to support effective pedagogy; **(4)**Develop comprehensive online services and information to support all learners; and (5) Increase resource development capacity**.**

The project addresses **tie-breaker priorities** in response to:  **(1)** faculty development; **(2)** development and improvement of academic programs, **(3)** acquisition of equipment for use in strengthening academic programs; and **(4)** student services.

**Student Body Characteristics**

**Total Fall State-Supported Headcount Enrollment (2009):**2,476

**Undergraduate Student Age:**  24 and under, 41 percent; 25 and over, 59 percent*

(*Unknown accounts for 0.40 percent)

**Average Age:**  31

**Ethnicity:**Non-U.S. Citizen, <1 percent; Black, 1 percent; American Indian/Alaskan Native, 1.2 percent; Asian <1 percent; Hispanic, 1 percent; White, 92.6 percent; Unknown/Not Reported, 3.6 percent; Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, or Other, <1 percent.

**Faculty Characteristics**

**Faculty to Student Ratio:**  1:19.5

**Fall 2009 Faculty:**  Full-time--38; Part time--119

**Five-Year Project Budget:** $2,000,000

**P031A100017 – Lourdes College, Ohio**

Lourdes College is a private, non-profit, four-year institution located in Sylvania, Ohio.  The college became an independently incorporated entity in 1973.  Lourdes students are enrolled in 30 majors in four schools:  the School of Arts & Sciences; the School of Nursing; the School of Professional Studies (Business, Education, Social Work, and Leadership Studies); and the Graduate School.  In addition to undergraduate and pre-professional programs, Lourdes offers four Master’s degree programs in Education, Organizational Leadership, Nursing, and Theology.  The college draws most students from a 15-county area of northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan.

Lourdes College Student and Faculty Characteristics:

•  1,943 undergraduates in fall 2009; 78 percent female

•  46 percent traditional age students and 54 percent non-traditional age

•  57 percent first-generation college students

•  33 percent have incomes 150 percent or below the federal poverty guidelines

•  23 percent minority students:  15 percent African American; four percent Hispanic; and four percent other

•  19 percent of students place into developmental English courses; 30 percent into developmental math

•  80 full-time faculty

•  153 adjunct faculty

•  Faculty to student ratio is 14:1

Having served a majority non-traditional, commuter student body for 37 years, Lourdes began a strategic initiative toward becoming a four-year residential college in 2002 by seeking more traditional age students (ages 18-24).  This effort was successful in increasing enrollment overall by 77 percent and enrollment of traditional aged students by 95 percent.

The expansion of traditional age student enrollment has presented both challenges and opportunities to the college.  The academic and career success of this younger population depends on identifying their unique needs and a careful analysis of the college resources required to address them.  Lourdes’ Comprehensive Development Plan is the foundation for the proposed Title III activity.  Transforming the Lourdes Experience addresses the college’s weaknesses in supporting academic and career success, especially among traditional age students. Key initiatives include:

1)  Improving retention rates of traditional students through the development of a comprehensive, thematic, first-year student experience that aligns with student development.

2)  Improving graduation rates by providing the means to track students’ academic and non-academic activities, and aligning students’ academic and life goals through assessment and exploration.

3)  Implementing holistic, student-centered, appreciative advising.

4)  Increasing faculty and student engagement in the learning process.

5)  Increasing the resources available for career counseling and exploration.

These activities will raise the traditional age of the first- to second-year retention rate from 58.3 percent to 75 percent and raise the six-year graduation rate from 38.8 percent to 56 percent.

**P031A100079 – Madisonville Community College, Kentucky**

**Contact Person:**  David Schuermer, Madisonville Community College, (270) 824-8633; david schuermer @kctcs.edu

Madisonville Community College (MCC) is a public, two-year, comprehensive community college in western Kentucky, with an unduplicated fall 2009 headcount enrollment of 4,597 and an full-time equivalent (FTE) enrollment of 2,355.  Headcount enrollment has grown 86 percent since fall 2000.  MCC employs 103 full-time faculty and 68 part-time faculty.  The unduplicated student to faculty ratio is 27 to one.  MCC serves a rural five-county area of approximately 110,100 people, including Hopkins, Muhlenberg, Webster, Crittenden, and McLean Counties.  The service area is located in the center of what is commonly referred to as the “Western Kentucky Coalfield.”  In the 1970s, this area led the entire nation in coal production.  At that time, relatively high-paying mining jobs that required little or no postsecondary education were readily available.  The availability of low-skill, high-wage mining jobs effectively rewarded dropping out of high school.  Not surprisingly, there developed a “coal culture” that did not value postsecondary education.  Today, over 30 percent of adults age 25 and over in MCC’s service area have no high school diploma.  Further, over 50 percent of all new students who enroll at MCC each fall are placed into Developmental Education (Dev Ed) math, writing or reading classes because they are under-prepared for college level coursework and ill-prepared to succeed in degree programs that prepare them for high-skill, high-wage jobs. 

MCC’s Title III project will strengthen instructional programs and student support services to improve student success with special emphasis on the underprepared, non-traditional, and at-risk student who represents a significant portion of the MCC student body.  MCC proposes a three-component activity to develop, pilot, and institutionalize instructional interventions, advising and/or career counseling interventions, and student support interventions.  Student success will be improved by:  (1) restructuring design and delivery of the Dev Ed program and reinforcing foundational critical thinking, math, writing, and reading skills across the curriculum; (2) developing continuous quality improvement practices (“closed loop” assessment) to identify effective methods that improve student learning outcomes in the classroom, that improve the advising and/or career counseling program, and that improve student support services; and (3) establishing new “transitional” academic assessment and career counseling services for under-prepared, non-traditional, and at-risk students so that they can navigate their career pathway effectively and complete a degree in a timely manner. 

Key measures of student success include:  (a) an increase in course completion rates; (b) an increase in fall-to-fall and fall-to-spring retention rates; (c) an increase in graduation rates; (d) an increase in transfer rates; (e) an increase in the success rate of Dev Ed students as a subset of the overall student body; (f) an improvement in scores on the “active/collaborative learning” scale of Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE); and (g) an improvement in scores on the “academic advising/counseling” scale of the Noel-Levitz Student Satisfaction Inventory (SSI).  Other key measures of improvement include:  (h) 100 percent implementation of “closed loop” program assessment in all academic affairs, student affairs, and business affairs units; and (i) a 25 percent reduction in math personnel expenditures using the innovative National Center for Academic Transformation (NCAT) computer-assisted “emporium” course delivery model.

**Total Budget Request:**$1,993,193****

**P031A100185 – Massachusetts Bay Community College, Massachusetts**

“Your Dreams, Our Mission,” the Massachusetts Bay Community College (MassBay) motto, profoundly articulates the college’s commitment to student success and distinguishes MassBay as a premier community and student resource in Massachusetts.  Chartered in 1961 and located in the heart of downtown Boston, MassBay opened its doors to a class of 419 students.  As MassBay celebrates its Golden 50th Anniversary next year, the college proudly claims more than 30,000 alumni from throughout the United States and more than 42 countries around the world.  MassBay is one of 15 community colleges within the network of the Massachusetts public higher education system that is comprised of community colleges, nine state colleges, and the five University of Massachusetts campuses

Today, more than 6,000 students each year pursue degrees and certificates in over 60 careers, in more than 30 fields at one of two campus locations in Wellesley Hills, Framingham, and the Automotive Technology Center in Ashland.  MassBay is the only community college in Massachusetts to offer a state-of-the art, credit-bearing automotive technology degree program.  The college is organized around five divisions:  Humanities; Health Sciences STEM; Social Science & Professional Studies; and Transportation & Energy.  In addition, MassBay provides corporate and community education through non-credit courses education program offerings.

The student body at MassBay is racially and culturally diverse; over half are women and the student body has an age span from 17 to 75.  A quarter of our students are the first in their families to attend college.  There are approximately 120 international students and approximately 65 veterans currently enrolled and 26 percent enter as development students.  Last year over 10 million in financial aid was disbursed.

Based on extensive analysis of MassBay’s strengths, weaknesses, and strategies, the project activity for the Title III project has one goal:  *Improve Student Success*.  A Teaching and Learning Center on campus is designed to support several key and strategic initiatives towards this purpose including extensive professional opportunities to enrich the growing technology pedagogy, student retention and engagement programs and initiatives, and, the related information technology and institutional research required to launch this next phase of the college’s growth.

Efforts will be directed towards increasing success rates in targeted academic disciplines including: critical thinking, Basic English, developmental math and online courses. Including a retention specialist at the Teaching and Learning Center ensures that the most vulnerable students receive an increased level of academic supports to compliment the academic expectations.

**P031A100130 - Medaille College, New York**

Medaille College is a private, four-year, non-sectarian (since 1968) college committed to serving the higher education needs of Western and Central New York.  Founded in 1875 by the Sisters of St. Joseph to prepare religious men and women to be teachers, Medaille has grown to include three campuses and is known for its flexible delivery systems—offering master’s, bachelor’s, and associate degrees through day, evening, weekend, and online programs.  Located in the heart of Buffalo, New York, where the poverty rate is among the highest of large American cities, Medaille College has long held the belief that all students should have the opportunity to access a postsecondary education and has a more flexible admissions policy than most of its peer institutions.  Medaille’s Mission Statement affirms the belief that with the right combination of challenge and support, every student has the potential to succeed, to seize opportunities, and to shape their own destiny.

A significant number of the students at Medaille College face numerous obstacles to postsecondary success and enter college with significant needs for additional academic support. Many are low-income and/or first-generation college students and non-traditional in age.  For fall 2010, 49 percent of the entering freshman class does not meet Medaille’s regular admissions criteria and has been admitted provisionally to the college.  By providing access o these students and giving them the tools to succeed, Medaille contributes to a sustainable future for the City of Buffalo and the region.  In fact, 68 percent of Medaille students remain in the area after graduation.

Problems Addressed:  Retention and Graduation.  As documented, retention (after the freshman year) and six-year graduation rates at Medaille are well below the average of their IPEDS peer college group.  This proposal implements a five component activity to overcome documented institutional weaknesses and deficiencies contributing to the low graduation rates.

Activity Addressing Problems:

ASSURE -Action to Support and Strengthen Undergraduate Retention and Engagement

1)  Learning Support Services Centralized into a New Student Success Center

2)  Freshman Assessment and Placement: Beyond SAT, ACT and High School Grades

3)  Transform Advising and Faculty Mentoring to Support Student Success and Retention

4)  Faculty Development in Active Learning Pedagogies and High-Impact Practices

5)  Community-Based Learning Model to Improve Student Engagement in Learning

By the end of the project, the college will have centralized its learning support services, transformed its advising system to include faculty and/or staff mentoring of all students, implemented a computer-based assessment tool for placement testing, built a faculty development model to address high-impact educational practices, and expanded its community-based learning curriculum to all undergraduate programs.  In addition, the college will have increased its endowment from $850,000 to $1,130,000 and will provide new scholarships to students.  Strong project management and evaluation plans are included, essential to the success of a project to make transformation changes to the small college.

**P031A100020 – Methodist University, North Carolina**

**Level, Control, Affiliation:**Four-year, independent, private university; governed by a 

38-member Board of Trustees; affiliated with the North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church.

**Primary Service Population**:  Methodist University (MU) is located in Fayetteville, North Carolina (the 4th largest city in the state, with a population of over 250,000.)  Approximately sixty-four percent of MU students are in-state residents, with thirty-seven percent enrolling from MU’s home county, Cumberland County.  In addition, the university enrolls students from 41 states and 30 foreign countries.

**Programs of Study:**MU offers seventy undergraduate programs (including majors concentrations) and three graduate programs, all firmly grounded in the liberal arts.  Bachelor’s degrees are offered in Arts and Humanities, Business, Information and Technology, Public Affairs, and Science and Human Development.  Three master’s degrees are offered in Business, Justice Administration, and Physical Assistant Sciences.

**Student Body Characteristics:**Of the total fall 2009 enrollment of 2,183 students, 2001 were undergraduate and 182 were graduate students, with 86 percent attending full-time and 14 percent attending part-time.  Gender distribution was 45 percent female, 55 percent male, with an average age of 24.  The racial/ethnic distribution was 48 percent Caucasian, 18 percent Black, five percent Hispanic, and 29 percent other/mixed race or ethnicity.  Ninety-two percent of the fall 2009 student body received financial aid to assist in attaining their academic goals.

**Faculty Characteristics:**In 2009,****Methodist University employed 129 fulltime faculty, 66 percent of whom had attained a terminal degree in their teaching field.  MU also employed a highly-qualified adjunct staff of 93 full-time equivalents. The faculty-to-student ratio was 1:12.

**Purpose of project:**Methodist University will conduct a comprehensive five-year project, *Improving Academic Quality*.  The project is based on the ***three E’s*** provided by MU stakeholders during strategic planning.  With Title III assistance, we will create a vibrant MU academic environment, a ***culture of excellence***, through three inter-related initiatives:  student data management technology will ***engage***faculty and staff across divisional and departmental lines, and ***engage*** faculty and staff with students for essential, timely academic interventions; instructional technology will***enrich*** the learning experience for all students, with special emphasis on our emerging nursing program as a model of collaborative, simulation-based, tech-infused learning experiences; and end-user technology will***empower***students to take control of their learning outcomes and give faculty and staff a robust tool to continue enhancing academic programs and student services.  Title III support is requested for approximately $400,000/year for five years beginning October 1, 2010, with MU contributing over $550,000 in direct support to insure project success.

**P031A100122 – Metropolitan State College of Denver, Colorado**

Established in 1965, Metropolitan State College of Denver (Metro State) is one of the largest urban Baccalaureate colleges in the United States.  It enrolls the largest number of students of color among Colorado’s Baccalaureate-granting institutions and consistently ranks among the top 100 in the nation for graduating students of color.  With its modified open-admission policy, Metro State welcomes students from all walks of life:  32 percent of full-time undergraduates are first-generation college students; 40.4 percent qualify for Pell Grants; and 52 percent receive Stafford Loans.  Today, 54.6 percent are 24 years old and younger, compared with 47.1 percent in 1981.  Females account for 54.4 percent of students.

Of its 23,273 students, 24.7 percent are persons of color, with 12.9 percent of Hispanic descent.  As an “emerging” Hispanic Serving Institution, Metro State has been highlighted for diversity; *Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education* ranks it among the top 100 colleges and universities for graduating Latino students.  Diversity is also reflected in the faculty:  over the last six academic years, the college has increased the number of full-time (FT) faculty by 31.5 percent and FT faculty of color by 57.1 percent.  The FT Equivalent faculty to student ratio is 1:22.

The college is committed to a liberal arts foundation for all students by which each graduate develops the ability to communicate and reason effectively as a culturally and economically literate citizen in a multicultural, global and technological society.  Metro State offers enriching and individualized academic experiences within 52 majors and 82 minors through three schools:  Business; Letters, Arts and Sciences; and Professional Studies.  It is Colorado’s best value in higher education, with the lowest tuition rate of all four-year, public institutions.  Metro State educates more in-state undergraduates than any institution in Colorado and is the largest urban-based source of P-12 teachers in the state.

For two years, the college has been involved in an intense self-study endeavor, accompanied by outside, independent reviews of weaknesses in academic advising and teacher education, resulting in the present proposal to:  (a) introduce systemic and systematic technological improvements and faculty and staff development in advising; and (b) form a School of Education.  Proposed objectives include specific targets for improvement of enrollment, retention, and graduation, as well as enrollment in teacher licensure preparation.  Measurable outcomes are proposed within the context of goals, objectives, needs, tasks, and Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) performance measures.

Specifically, it is proposed that enrollment will increase by 1.5 percent per year; academic warning and probation rates will decrease by two percent per year; and retention and six-year graduation increases of three percent per year.  In addition, teacher licensure enrollment; retention; and graduation in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education; and Special Education will increase by five percent per year, with specific targets for under-represented groups.  In addition, targets are proposed for:  faculty and staff proficiency in use of advising technology; student satisfaction; enhanced coordination among administrative units; improved, timely online provision of information to and communication with student advisees; and improved reporting and summarization of student data.

**P031A100014 - Mid Michigan Community College**, **Michigan**

**Level and Control**:  Two-year public; governed by an elected, seven-member board.

**Primary Service Population:**Mid Michigan Community College**(**MMCC) primarily serves populations from Clare, Gladwin and Isabella Counties.  The unemployment rate in both Clare (16.7 percent) and Gladwin (16 percent) exceed the national (10 percent) and state (14 percent).  The location of the college is rural with poverty levels averaging 25 percent of the population.

**Student Body Characteristics:  (2008-2009)**

· ***Unduplicated Headcount***:  **6,326**; degree-seeking**: 4,814**

· ***Ethnicity:***  Two percent --African American; 89 percent --White; two percent --Hispanic; seven percent-- Other 

· ***Gender*:**  50 percent female; 50 percent male  

· ***Age*:****66**percent (18 to 25 years); **25** percent (25-45 years); **nine**percent (46-60 years)

· ***Mean age****:*  25 years

· ***Remediation****:*  90 percent of entering students require remediation in math; 60 percent in English

· ***Financial Aid***:  71 percent receive financial aid 

**Programs of Study:**Degrees offered: 46 associate degree; eleven certifications; and six training credentials.  

**Faculty Characteristics:** Full-time faculty: 44; Adjunct faculty:  185; Faculty-to-student ratio: 30:1.

**Purpose of the Project:***Empowering Students to Achieve Success by Improving Student and Academic Support Services*.  This activity relates to two Title III invitational priorities:

* Support activities that will improve the institution’s persistence and graduation rates; and 

* Develop academic programs to improve course completion rates or develop innovative support programs that are designed to increase completion rates.

The project proposes to merge student services and academic support services to create one unified division to more effectively serve students.  The objectives are to increase retention rates; on-time graduation rates among students at high risk of failing, dropping out, and/ or not graduating on time; and to increase transfer rates to four-year colleges.

Activities focus on improving academic advising; identifying at-risk students early in the first year; career development; financial aid; transfer programs; orientation; developmental math; and developing software programming systems that will provide students, faculty and staff with a vast array of student data for planning and follow-up.

**P031A100078 – Missouri State University, Missouri**

**Contact Person:**  Dr. Drew Bennett, Chancellor, Missouri State University-West Plains, 

(417) 255-7900, drewbennett@missouristate.edu; http://wp.missouristate.edu/

**Institutional Background:**  Missouri State University-West Plains (MSU-WP) was established in 1963 and is a public, separately accredited, two-year branch campus within the three-campus Missouri State University system.  In addition to the West Plains campus, the system includes a selective admissions university in Springfield and a research campus in Mountain Grove.****

Consistent with the university mission, MSU-WP is a teaching and learning institution of higher education offering two-year associate of arts, associate of science and associate of applied science degrees; certificates; and a variety of continuing education courses as needed by employers and citizens of the area served.  The college is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and is a member of the North Central Association.  West Plains is located in Howell County, in the remote and sparsely populated Ozark Mountains of south central Missouri, where an estimated 60 percent of the population lives outside of incorporated areas.  The college primarily attracts students from an historically undereducated, poverty-stricken seven-county area of the south-central Missouri Ozarks region and from adjacent counties in north Arkansas.  The college offers 15 associate degrees and 6 certificates.

**Title III Activity:  *Improving student success through faculty development, instructional leadership, student engagement & assessment.***

This Title III project will:  **(1)**Improve developmental education leadership and student outcomes; **(2)**Enhance teaching and learning through comprehensive faculty development; **(3)** Improve student success through increased engagement and support; and **(4)**Improve institutional research, assessment and accountability to stakeholders. 

The project addresses **tie-breaker priorities** in response to:  **(1)** faculty development; **(2)** administrative management; **(3)** acquisition of equipment for use in strengthening funds management; and **(4)** student services.

**Student Body Characteristics**

**Total Fall Headcount Enrollment (2009)**Degree-Seeking:  1,709; Non-Degree-Seeking: 453

**Total:**  2,162

**Undergraduate Student Age:**  65 percent age 24 and under; 35 percent age 25 and over.

**Average Age:** 25

**Ethnicity:**  White, 85 percent; Hispanic, 2 percent; Black, 1 percent; Asian/Pacific Islander, 1 percent, Native American, 1 percent; Unknown, 10 percent; Non-resident, 1 percent. 

**Gender:**  Male:  41 percent; Female:  59 percent

**Faculty Characteristics**

**Faculty to Student Ratio:**  1:20

**Fall 2009 Faculty:** 34 full-time; 77 part-time

**Five-Year Project Budget:**  $2,000,000

**P031A100096 - Mount Wachusett Community College, Massachusetts**

Mount Wachusett Community College (MWCC) is a comprehensive, public, two-year community college offering 40 associate degree and 20 certificate program options.  MWCC enrolls 6,282 credit students annually (2,912 full-time equivalent (FTE)) at its main campus in Gardner, Massachusetts, at centers in Leominster, Fitchburg, and Devens, and in online enrollments, which represent 22 percent of all credit enrollments.  Credit students are predominantly part-time (58 percent) with 42 percent attending full-time; two-thirds are women; and 49 percent are between the ages of 18 and 24.  Educational and economic need are prevalent throughout MWCC’s rural service area:  nearly one person in five over age 25 holds less than a high school diploma, and per capita income is 11 points below the U.S. average.  Need-based aid is given to 74 percent of degree-seeking students; one student in four places into developmental coursework before attempting college courses.

As the region’s only open enrollment higher education option, MWCC represents the best chance for most individuals to build skills, acquire credentials, and advance themselves on personal and economic levels.  Students who enter and seek to earn an associate degree face insurmountable academic challenges during their first year for which they are ill-prepared, and in which one in every two students will not survive.  While the college offers many kinds of academic and student supports, such as tutoring and developmental learning labs, too few students connect with these services to get the help they need during the critical first term.  They aspire to succeed, yet stumble:  11 percent will earn failing grades; 13 percent will not return for their first spring term; and only 18 percent will graduate with their MWCC degree within three years.  IPEDS data show the national graduation rate for two-year colleges as 27.8 percent.

In response, MWCC will construct *The ASPIRE Strategy* (an Academic Success Program to Increase Retention and Engagement) that will strengthen student supports and integrate them into a reformulated first-year curriculum that will develop students’ mastery of critical thinking skills and foster student achievement, engagement, retention, and graduation.  *The ASPIRE Strategy* will enhance intake assessment, improve connections to faculty and peers through smaller group and virtual orientations, engage students in creating individual learning plans with advisor support, and eliminate the barriers encountered in highly enrolled first-year courses.  The Title III Activity will assist faculty to significantly restructure courses from the developmental program, general education core, and gateway courses in degree programs that have been barriers to large numbers of students in the first year.  These courses will be designed by applying principles of integrative learning that emphasize critical thinking, use active instructional strategies, and make a direct connection with individual learning plans.  Expanded assessment and individual learning plans will provide students with an accurate profile of their strengths and challenges and enable them to take stake in their academic future, using a learning plan that specifies courses to take, learning supports and accommodations to secure, habits of learning to practice, and personal strategies for academic success.  Students will be assisted by advisors in mapping out their learning plan using an e-planning tool that is student-centered and provides a comprehensive method of planning goals, courses, and academic supports.

*The**ASPIRE Strategy* will boost successful rates of course completion, retention, and graduation at a cost of $2 million.  The budget is allocated with 55 percent in Personnel and Fringe Benefits, two percent in Supplies, one percent in Travel, 14 percent in Contractual, and 28 percent in Other.

**P031A100083 - Mountain Empire Community College, Virginia**

Mountain Empire Community College (MECC) is a two-year, public comprehensive community college located in Big Stone Gap, Virginia.  The college opened in 1972 as part of the Virginia Community College System (VCCS), and operates for the purpose of providing quality higher education and workforce training programs and services that are financially and geographically accessible and meet individual, business, and community needs.  

MECC serves Lee, Scott, Wise, and Dickenson Counties and the City of Norton, in southwest Virginia.  The region’s population (about 100,000 in 2008; U.S. Census Bureau) has remained basically static over the past decade.  The population is characterized by high poverty rates (20.9 percent in 2008) and low educational attainment rates (54.6 percent of adults are high school graduates; 9.1 percent of adults have a bachelor’s degree), according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

MECC offers six Associate in Arts & Sciences (AA&S) degree majors for students who plan to transfer to a four-year college or university and 23 Associate in Applied Sciences (AAS) degree majors, 12 certificate programs, and 43 career study programs for students primarily interested in acquiring technological skills that lead directly to employment after graduation.

MECC’s unduplicated headcount for 2008-2009 was 4,440.  The college’s full-time equivalent (FTE) enrollment was 1,932 for the same period.  In addition, the college had 2,390 unduplicated enrollments in non-credit training provided to business and industry.  The student body characteristics for the 2008-2009 academic year were as follows:

MECC employed 46 full-time and 148 adjunct instructors in 2008-09 to teach 1,591 course sections.  Forty-six percent of course sections were taught by full-time faculty, 54 percent by part-time faculty.  The unduplicated headcount to full-time faculty ratio was 108:1 for 2008-09.

MECC proposes to use Title III grant funds to build student and community engagement by integrating Cooperative Learning strategies into online courses, redesigning developmental mathematics instruction, scaling up a student advocacy program to address barriers to student success, redesigning the college website to increase accessibility, establishing an alumni development program, implementing Web-based charitable giving tools, improving charitable gift stewardship and scholarship administration processes, and conducting a capital campaign.  MECC anticipates that these strategies will close the success gap between online and face-to-face students, increase success rates for developmental math students, help to retain at-risk students, and increase unrestricted giving to the MECC Foundation.

**P031A100060 – Naropa University, Colorado**

**Project Overview**

Naropa University’s unique approach to learning, known as contemplative education, makes it the first-choice institution for the vast majority of entering students.  Overall student satisfaction ratings are high, but retention and graduation rates are poor, with only 38 percent of entering first-year students persisting to graduation.  Two critical weaknesses contribute to this problem:

· A fragmented undergraduate curriculum, with no clear pathway, little developmental    

progression, poorly defined learning outcomes, and disjuncture between general education and majors

· Inadequate support services that do not address the needs of students in a holistic fashion, and fail to meet the needs of young, inexperienced and underprepared students.

In order to significantly improve retention and graduation rates, Naropa University will redesign its undergraduate curriculum, creating a clear curricular arc with well-defined, meaningful learning outcomes.  Key to the redesign are the creation of a comprehensive interdisciplinary **First-Year Learning Community Seminar**and the development of **Senior Project-Based Capstone Seminars**.

In alignment with the curricular transformation, support services will be reformed to approach the student as a whole being with timely, targeted support to those most at risk of dropping out.  Support Service highlights include a strengthened **Orientation**with diagnostic assessment and a common reading program, an integrated **Academic Success Program**, and a **Comprehensive Counseling Support Service.**Linking these elements together is a unique and rich faculty mentoring or **Journey Guide**program.

Implementation of the project will transform the quality of undergraduate education and student support at the university:  First-Year Student retention will increase from 63 to 78 percent, and the First-Year Student six-year graduation rate will increase from 48 to 53 percent.  Concurrently, National Survey of Student Engagement  (NSSE) benchmark scores on “Enriching Educational Experiences” and “Student-Faculty Interaction” will also reflect significant improvements.

**Description of Institution**

Established in 1974 as The Naropa Institute, Naropa University is a small, private, nonprofit, liberal arts institution located in Boulder, Colorado.  Simultaneously Buddhist-inspired, ecumenical and nonsectarian, the university’s mission is *contemplative education*, a distinctive approach to learning that combines the best of Eastern and Western educational traditions to offer students a highly personal, experiential and transformative education. Naropa offers both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees to a student body of 1,000, including 14 percent racial minorities, 36 percent non-traditional age (25+) students, 43 percent Pell-eligible, and 19 percent first-generation students.  Students enroll from all across the United States of America, and two percent are international.

The university employs 71 ranked faculty, 31 of whom teach undergraduates and 65 percent of whom hold terminal degrees.  In 2008-09 these faculty taught half of undergraduate credits, including 61 percent of general education credits, while adjunct faculty taught the rest.  The Student/Faculty ratio in the undergraduate program is ten to one, with an average class size of 14.

**P031A100024 - Northeast Iowa Community College, Iowa**

**Contact Person:**  Dr. Penelope Wills, President, Northeast Iowa Community College; (800) 728-2256, extension 201; willsp@portal.nicc.edu; http://www.nicc.edu/index.php

**Institutional Background:**  Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC) is a public, two-year, higher education institution located in the rural town of Calmar (population:  1,027) with a second campus in Peosta (population: 1,129), near the city of Dubuque.  NICC was established in 1966 and was accredited by the Higher Learning Commission in 1977.  It serves a large geographic region consisting of flat farmland to the west and stately bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River to the east.  The rural district has a population of 207,627 and covers 4,991 square miles, an area about the size of Connecticut.  The district includes eight full counties and parts of five other counties.  NICC’s vast eight-county service area has endured economic hardship resulting in large numbers of dislocated and disadvantaged workers.  For example, the decline of the automotive industry had devastating effects for Howard and Chickasaw counties, served by the main campus at Calmar.  Educational attainment among most of the counties NICC serves is very low compared to state and national averages.  Median household income also lags behind state and national averages in nearly all of the counties NICC serves.  NICC offers 54 academic programs leading to associate of arts, associate of science, and associate of applied science degrees; 24 diploma programs; and 15 certificate programs.  Enrollment trends show that slightly over half of students enroll in Arts and Sciences programs and slightly less than half enroll in vocational-technical programs.  Over 24,000 students have graduated from NICC since 1966.

**Title III Activity**:  ***Improving Technology Infrastructure and Web-based Information and Services.***

This Title III project will:  **(1)** improve information security, efficiency of business processes and business continuity capability; **(2)** improve distance learning quality; **(3)** improve access to information and reporting capability; and **(4)** expand wireless access. 

The project addresses **tie-breaker priorities** in response to:  **(1)** faculty development; **(2)** administrative management, **(3)** acquisition of equipment for use in strengthening funds management, and **(4)** strengthening student services.

**Student Body Characteristics**

**Total Fall Headcount Enrollment:**  (2009) 5,687

**Undergraduate Student Age:**  17 and under22: 69 percent; 23 and over: 31 percent **Average Age:**  25.7

**Ethnicity:**  White, Non- Hispanic - 91 percent; Black Non-Hispanic - two percent; Hispanic - one percent; Asian/Pacific Islander - one percent; American Indian/Alaskan Native -zero percent; Non-resident Alien - zero percent, Not reported: five percent.

**Gender:**  60 percent female: 40 percent male.

**Faculty Characteristics**

**Faculty to Student Ratio:**  1:18 **Fall 2009 Faculty:**  Full-Time-115; Part-Time-166

**Five-Year Project Budget:**  $1,999,728

**P031A100172 - Northeast Texas Community College, Texas**

Northeast Texas Community College (NTCC), located in the “hip” of Texas not far from the Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana border, is the only open-door, comprehensive, public two-year community college serving its 5,403 square mile service of eight, rural counties.  NTCC enrolls students in its main campus in Mount Pleasant and four nearby extension centers.  Within the service area (population 171,924), 25.5 percent of individuals live in poverty, less than 13 percent of adults have a bachelor’s degree, and almost 30 percent have not completed high school. 

The demographics of rural northeast Texas have shifted dramatically.  The **Hispanic population has tripled** in the last ten years and is expected to double again by 2015 (Texas Data Center).  Hispanic students increased **by almost 95 percent** in Titus County schools during the same time period (Texas Education Agency - TEA).  An influx of under-educated and non-English speaking residents has resulted in more than 40 percent of service area population classified as functionally illiterate by the TEA.  In the past decade, the region’s **Hispanic population has increased 53.3 percent** and now comprises 27.9 percent of total population (Census, 2009).

Amid these poor socio-economic conditions and despite extremely limited resources, NTCC remains committed to its mission of providing higher education access to the area’s culturally diverse and disadvantaged populations.  The college is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and Governed by a seven-member locally elected Board of Trustees.  NTCC offers a **diversified curriculum**with **transfer associate of arts and associate of science degrees** in liberal arts and general education programs as well as **associate of applied science** degrees and certificate options in vocational-technical programs.  Altogether, NTCC offers degrees and certificates in 53 academic disciplines within six instructional divisions:  (1) Arts and Sciences; (2) Business and Public Services; (3) Communications and Math; (4) Health Careers; (5) Information Technology; and (6) Workforce Education.

**Student Characteristics:**  Among the 2,945 NTCC students (fall 2009), 60 percent attend part-time, 72 percent receive federal financial aid, 69 percent are first-generation college, the average age is 24, 61 percent are female, 17 percent Hispanic, 11 percent Black, two percent other minority, and 41 percent are academically under-prepared for college.  NTCC’s students are time and place bound, (65 percent are working; 40 percent with children).  For these students, distance learning is not just a preference, but a necessity.  As evidence of this great need, NTCC's online enrollment has skyrocketed in recent years.  But despite our best efforts, limited resources have prevented NTCC from expanding course offerings via distance education in high-demand and/or high-need disciplines and student services for time/place-bound students are severely lacking.

**Faculty Characteristics:**  Among our 106 full-time and 65 part-time faculty, 60 percent hold a master’s or above, 36 percent have taught at NTCC for at least 10 years.  The average teaching load is 15 hours.  Faculty to student ratio is 1:21.  Our faculty do not have the proper training for effective teaching via distance learning and our infrastructure is severely taxed. 

Thus we submit this Title III proposal with a single activity for the purpose of ***Increasing Access and Improving Instructional Quality.***We request a total of $1,997,115 over five years to:  Convert traditionally delivered Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) courses to online, and hybrid; Expand access to high demand Nursing and Emergency Medical Services programs through distance learning opportunities; Develop online academic support services; Enhance infrastructure to support distance learning and online student services; and Provide faculty/staff with appropriate training.

Our proposed project addresses the following **Title III Invitational Priorities**:  (1) Support activities that will improve the institution’s persistence and graduation rates; and (2) Develop academic programs to improve course completion rates or develop innovative support programs that are designed to increase completion rates. 

**P031A100015 – Owensboro Community and Technical College, Kentucky**

**Overview of Proposed Project:**Owensboro Community and Technical College (OCTC) proposes to implement the ***Cyber III @ OCTC*** Title III initiative.  This three-part effort will involve:  (1) developing and improving academic programs for freshman students by providing three online and hybrid delivery options; (2) implementing proven student support strategies that increase success, retention, and completion rates of first-time freshmen students enrolled in online and hybrid courses; and (3) providing faculty development in online and hybrid course delivery and associated student supports to increase faculty capacity to offer quality alternative delivery methodologies.  By fully instituting and sustaining a program of alternative delivery options with built-in supports for students and faculty, ***Cyber III @ OCTC*** will provide a means for the college to address institutional weaknesses and significant challenges, including serving the needs of students with barriers to education, such as those caused by independent care and work responsibilities.  The project will also strengthen the college’s ability to proactively address fiscal challenges resulting from a poor economy and ongoing budget cuts.  

**Description of Institution’s Distinguishing Features:**OCTC is a public, two-year college and member of the sixteen-college Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS).  Located in Kentucky’s third-largest city (Owensboro), OCTC’s primary constituency is comprised of four Kentucky counties (Daviess, Hancock, McLean, and Ohio), as well as two southern Indiana counties (Perry and Spencer).  The college provides this citizenry with educational programs of study that transfer as the first two years of a baccalaureate degree, as well as technical certificate, diploma, and/or associate’s degree training that leads to employment.  The following table summarizes OCTC’s student body characteristics.

Likewise, OCTC employs 104 full-time faculty and 101 adjunct faculty.  According to the *2009 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) Report* for OCTC, the college’s faculty to student ratio is one faculty to every seventeen students (1:17).  

**P031A100086 - Portland Community College, Oregon**

Portland Community College (PCC) is a comprehensive, two-year, public college accredited by the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges.  The largest institution of higher education in Oregon, enrolling 87,145 full- and part-time students in 2008-09, PCC serves residents of a five-county district that is roughly the size of Rhode Island. 

PCC delivers 90 professional-technical programs and coursework in almost 50 lower-division transfer disciplines.  In addition to short-term and one- and two-year certificates, the College confers the following degrees:  Associate of Applied Science, Associate of General Studies, Associate of Science, Associate of Science Transfer, and Associate of Arts Oregon Transfer.  PCC also offers instruction in adult basic skills; opportunities to develop English as a second language; high school completion and dual credit; a wide variety of service-learning opportunities; community and continuing education programs; workforce training, retraining and development programs; and small business development services. 

In fall 2009, PCC enrolled 30,161 credit students (headcount):  12,092 students (40 percent) enrolled full-time (12+ credits); 9,999 (33 percent) enrolled half-time (6 to 11 credits); and 8,070 (27 percent) enrolled part-time (1 to 6 credits).  Female students outnumbered male students 16,096 (54 percent) to 13,690 (46 percent), respectively. Also 5,287 students (18 percent) were age 19 and below, 8,718 (29 percent) were age 20-24, and 16,141 (54 percent) were age 25 and over.  The average age of a PCC student was 29 years.  The racial/ethnic breakdown of PCC’s student body closely reflects that of the greater Portland metropolitan region.  In fall 2009, 18,429 (72.1 percent) of credit students identified as White Non-Hispanic; 2,191 (8.6 percent) as Asian; 2,096 (8.2 percent) as Hispanic; 1,529 (6.0 percent) as African-American; 394 (1.5 percent) as American Indian; 95 (0.4 percent) as multi-racial; and 42 (0.2 percent) as Pacific Islanders. As of fall 2009, PCC employed 445 full-time and 1353 part-time faculty members (25 percent and 75 percent, respectively), with a student to faculty ratio of 17:1.

**Overview of Proposed PCC FLAIR Project**

Grounded in PCC’s Educational Master Plan, Financial Literacy and Access to Improved Resources (FLAIR)’s overall goal is to improve student success by reducing institutional barriers to access and management of education-related finances.

FLAIR will provide immediate and comprehensive reform to PCC’s student financial services by implementing three main strategies: 

1)****Re-engineering student financial services by adopting an institution-wide high touch-high tech, student-centered approach to delivery of student financial services. 

2)  Developing a comprehensive student financial literacy program to fully realize the positive impacts of structural and procedural changes to student financial services. 

3)  Cultivating private-sector support, with the ultimate goal of increasing scholarship funding available to PCC students, alleviating financial hardship. 

FLAIR’s tangible results will include streamlined and expanded student services related to financial aid, payment processes, Veterans benefits, and increased fund raising capacity; new programs that will promote financial literacy and encourage students to manage their education-related finances in a responsible manner; and additional staff to help manage and continue the expanded services and programs.  PCC is committed to the long term success of the project and each result will be fully institutionalized by the end of the grant period.

**P031A100169 - Roxbury Community College, Massachusetts**

**Utilizing Technology to Increase Persistence and Graduation Rates of Developmental Education Students**

**Roxbury Community College** is a two-year public institution located in the Roxbury area of Boston, Massachusetts, a community where 63 percent of the residents are African American and 24 percent are Latino, 31 percent of adults did not complete high school, and more than 16 percent of the adult population is unemployed.  The most popular academic programs offered by the College are:  Liberal Arts; Nursing; Early Childhood Education; Business Administration; Criminal Justice; and Biological Sciences.

The college’s student population represents some of the most vulnerable students in the state:  those who are low-income; disadvantaged; underrepresented; and new immigrants.  In the spring of 2010, 2,635 students enrolled in credit-bearing courses; 66 percent of these students were female and 90 percent of those who reported their ethnicity were students of color, and 56 percent were born in a foreign country.  Of the 15 community colleges across the state, the college has the highest percentage of older credit students; 62 percent were 25 years or older.  Approximately 70 percent of students take at least one English as a Second Language or developmental course.  

**Utilizing Technology to Increase Persistence and Graduation Rates**

To address issues with student retention and graduation rates, the Title III Planning Team developed a single, focused activity to improve academic outcomes for students who take developmental courses, the vast majority of the college’s students.  This activity has two components:  implementing learner-centered classrooms that are technology-rich and encourage pedagogical innovation and active learning; and establishing a comprehensive faculty development program to train faculty on current instructional technology and support course design and delivery.

The objectives for this activity include:

· Increasing the persistence and graduation rates;

· Increasing the course completion rate in developmental English and mathematics courses;

· Increasing the percentage of students who progress from developmental to college-level courses;

· Increasing the percentage of students who have access to technology to support their learning and career goals; and

· Increase the percentage of faculty who are trained to effectively use technology in instruction.

**P031A100118 – South Florida Community College, Florida**

South Florida Community College (SFCC) is requesting funding to initiate a comprehensive resource development infrastructure enhancement project.  Objectives of this Title III activity, include implementation of SunGard Higher Education Banner Finance Grants Management module to facilitate more efficient and effective grants management and compliance monitoring, purchase and integration of SunGard Higher Education Business Intelligence Suite to create improved student-level data capture and *ad hoc*reporting options, utilization of Blackbaud Solutions package to conduct enhanced constituency communication, creation of grant funder and planned giving databases, and establishment of a viable alumni association.  This activity will significantly impact the institution in terms of its organizational management capacity, as well as provide a long-term foundation for funding instructional innovation, student support, and faculty development. 

SFCC is a comprehensive community college located in a rural region of central Florida.  The college offers two-year associate of arts (AA) and associate in science (AS) degrees as well as a full range of vocational certificates, high school diploma options, community enrichment courses, and continuing workforce education trainings. Academic year 2008-2009’s unduplicated enrollment was 9,017 students, including 2,641 in AA or AS degree programs.  SFCC employs 63 full-time instructional personnel, resulting in a 1:24 instructor to student ratio. 

SFCC identified support and enhancement of resource development as a strategic imperative during creation of its 2009-2014 strategic plan as an integral element for institutional longevity and academic excellence.  SFCC is committed to embedding this initiative into the organizational culture and has developed a plan to fully institutionalize the activity beyond the funding period.

**P031A100048 - South Seattle Community College, Washington**

Contact:  Marsha Brown, mbrown@sccd.ctc.edu, (206) 763-5136

**South Seattle Community College** (SSCC) is one of three comprehensive, public two-year community colleges in the Seattle Community College District. ,South Seattle offers programs in basic skills, 16 professional technical areas, and academic transfer, and is authorized to award a Bachelor of Applied Science (BAS) four-year degree in Hospitality Management.  There are 81 full-time faculty, 217 adjunct faculty and a student/faculty ratio of 18:9.  South Seattle serves one of the lowest income areas in the Northwest and one of the most concentrated, ethnically diverse areas in the nation.  South Seattle enrolled 7,632 students in fall 2009, with 51 percent first-generation students, speaking at least 30 different languages.  Despite economic, social and cultural challenges, with roots deep in the communities it serves, SSCC represents a beacon of economic and social hope for the low-income, working-class and diverse immigrant neighborhoods that surround it.  Student body characteristics on the main campus include:

Average Age:  31

Gender:  Male, 45 percent; Female, 55 percent

Full-time:  59 percent; Part-time 41 percent

Ethnicity:  Caucasian, 39 percent; Asian/Pacific Islander, 25 percent; African- American, 21 percent; Hispanic, 21 percent; Native American, 1 percent

One of the greatest challenges for the college that is addressed by this proposal is improving student progression to graduation/completion.  South Seattle has historically had the lowest transfer rate among the state's 34 community and technical colleges.  The college will develop, implement and sustain post-grant strategies that strengthen critical pathways to student success.  Title III resources will be used to enable (and empower) students to enter the college or transition from non-credit basic skills classes and successfully progress to achieve a 45 credit tipping point (inclusive of college-level math and writing), identified as that juncture where students become transfer ready, having gained sufficient momentum to proceed to graduation/completion.

**ACTIVITY--Reaching the Tipping Point for Academic Success**

The single, integrated activity is comprised of four components, all of which are critical to improving the success of underserved, first-generation and ethnically-diverse students:  **Component 1:  Transform and strengthen vital student support services***to assist students to successfully bridge into college and to maintain critical momentum and progression toward their educational goals;***Component 2:  Improve delivery methods in developmental English/writing and math***that result in more students successfully progressing through developmental math and writing sequences to enter the respective first college level courses in English/writing and math;***Component 3:  Strengthen transition services***for students moving from non-credit education (common entry point for immigrant, first-generation students, and General Education Requirements, 1.5 students) to credit-developmental or college-level coursework; and***Component 4:  Professional development for faculty and staff***to improve educational and cultural skills in working with large populations of first-generation, immigrant, and ethnically-diverse students*.

**Project Management and Evaluation:**Strong management, evaluation, assessment and research are included in this proposal.  The budget supports a 75 percent Title III project director, administrative assistant, and annual evaluations by an external evaluator.

**P031A100032 - Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College, Kentucky**

Located in the heart of Central Appalachia, Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College (SKCTC) is a two-year, open admission, public college.  The main campus in Cumberland opened in 1960.  Over the past 20 years, four satellite campuses have opened to expand and improve student access in Middlesboro, Pineville, Whitesburg, and Harlan. 

**Service Area:**SKCTC serves the Kentucky counties of Harlan, Letcher, Bell, Knox and Whitley counties with a total population of 155,206.  Poverty rates range from 26.9 percent in Whitley to 36.2 percent in Knox.  Average unemployment rate for June 2010 was 11.5 percent.  The high poverty results primarily from geographic isolation, loss of jobs in the coal industry and low educational attainment.  Only 59 percent of the region's residents graduated from high school, and only about nine percent have a bachelor's degree or higher. 

**Institutional Profile:**SKCTC is governed by Kentucky Community and Technical College System Board of Regents with a local Board of Directors.  The college is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award the associate degree.  Fifty programs are offered leading to short-term certificates, diplomas or two-year degrees.  The following programs have discipline-specific accreditations or certifications: Associate Degree Nursing Program, National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission; Radiography Program, Joint Review Committee on Education in Radiologic Technology; Respiratory Care Advanced Practice and Surgical Technology, Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs; and Automotive and Diesel Technology programs, certified by Automotive Service in Excellence. 

**Student Body Characteristics:**For 2009-10, SKCTC’s headcount enrollment was 4,959, and the full-time equivalent (FTE) enrollment was 2,948.  Other characteristics – Gender:  Male-51 percent, Female-49 percent; Age:  Under 18, 22.5 percent, 18-24, 42.5 percent, 25 and older, 36 percent; average age, 27.3; Race Ethnicity:  African-American, 120; Asian/Pacific Islander, 8; Hispanic, 23; Caucasian, 4,448; American Indian, 33; other/unknown, 287.  First-generation college students make up 58 percent of the student body. 

**Faculty Characteristics:**More than half of SKCTC full-time faculty have served the college for 10+ years.  The college has 95 full-time faculty members and 70 adjunct.  The faculty to student ratio is 19 to one.  Fifty-two faculty are ranked as full professors and 27 as associate professors. 

**Institutional Threats**:  (1) Majority of first-time entering students in developmental education succeeding at rates below state and national benchmarks; (2) Majority of first-time entering students failing to persist fall to fall and to graduate within three years; (3) No reliable system for advising, counseling and tracking student progress; (4) High percentage of developmental courses taught by adjunct faculty who receive no training or professional development; (5) No college-wide coordination of developmental programs; (6) Revenue losses hamper implementation of technology and human resources; and (7) Lost revenue from high student attrition. 

**Proposed Activity:**Transforming Developmental Education to Increase Student Success - Funds of **$1,686,343**is requested for implementation of strategies to improve retention and graduation rates for developmental education students.  Strategies:  (1) restructure the developmental program as a centralized, distinct unit bringing all instruction and support services under one department; (2) supplemental instruction expanding the Peer Tutoring Program to include instructional assistants; (3) learning communities focused on paired courses; (4) professional development for full-time and adjunct developmental education instructors; (5) advisors trained to serve developmental education students, and the implementation of an early alert system to identify and address the needs of high-risk students; (6) Additional full-time faculty dedicated to developmental instruction; and (7) technology to improve the delivery of developmental courses.

**P031A100127 - Southeastern Illinois College, Illinois**

*City/State*:  Harrisburg, Illinois

*Institutional Purpose*:  To enhance lifelong learning by providing quality, accessible, educational programs, cultural enrichment, and support for economic development.

*Institution Level*:  Two-Year Comprehensive Community College

*Control*:  Public

*Affiliation*:  Southeastern Illinois College District #533, Illinois Community College Board

*Primary Service Population*:  Residents of Gallatin, Hardin, Pope and Saline Counties; portions of Hamilton, Johnson, Williamson and White Counties, Illinois.

*Programs of Study*:  Associate transfer programs; Associate and Certificate career programs.

*Student Characteristics*:

Enrollment, Fall 2009:Headcount: 3,154; Full-time Equivalency (FTE): 1,294

Ethnicity of Students:Non-Hispanic White: 91 percent; Minority: 9 percent

Age of Students:Under 25: 54.5 percent; 25 and over: 45.5 percent; Average: 27

Gender of Students:Female: 54 percent; Male: 46 percent

Full-Time/Part-Time:Full-time: 36 percent; Part-time, 64 percent

Working Students:58 percent

*Faculty Characteristics*:

Full-time/Part-time:Full-time: 48; Part-time: 58; Total faculty: 106

Faculty-Student Ratio:1:18

Southeastern Illinois College (SIC), a comprehensive public community college, serves four counties and portions of four others in southeastern Illinois.  SIC’s 1,370-square-mile service area includes 56,057 individuals living in 28 incorporated villages and towns with populations of fewer than 10,000 persons (July 2008).  The region is the poorest in the state, ranking last in 14 of 17 economic indicators, including chronic unemployment, educational attainment, and poverty.

A comprehensive analysis of the college and its environment revealed the following significant institutional problems:  (1) Inadequate access to education and training opportunities leading to employment; (2) Inadequate services and infrastructure to serve a geographically dispersed, time-bound and place-bound population; and (3) Declining enrollment threatening Southeastern’s fiscal stability.  These challenging problems have been compounded by an economic crisis in Illinois that is among the most severe in the nation.

Southeastern proposes to address the identified problems through one activity, *Increasing Access and Improving Instructional Quality*, comprised of three initiatives:  (1) Adaptation of existing practical nursing, business, and criminal justice programs for online delivery; (2) Creation of a new biotechnology program responding to growth in employment opportunities; and (3) Development of student and academic services and technology infrastructure to support access and success.  These initiatives, along with use of the Title III endowment option to add at least $240,000 to SIC’s endowment, will strengthen academic programs, institutional management, and fiscal stability, and secure a viable future for a vital community institution.

The proposal addresses these invitational priorities:  (1) Support activities that will improve persistence and graduation rates; (3) Develop academic programs to improve course completion rates, or innovative programs designed to increase completion rates; (4) Develop dual enrollment programs or career pathway programs that integrate academic instruction with occupational training to prepare students for high-wage occupations in high-demand industries. 

SIC requests Year One funding in the amount of $399,570.

**P031A100035, Southern Maine Community College, Maine**

Southern Maine Community College (SMCC), located in South Portland, Maine, is a comprehensive, public, two-year community college offering a broad range of academic programs, with 10 associate in arts concentrations, eight associate in science programs, 24 associate in applied science programs, and 15 certificates and advanced certificate programs.  SMCC attracts students from across the state and New England because of the strength and diversity of its academic programs and availability of on-campus housing.

Seven years of record enrollment growth since SMCC’s transition from a technical college to a comprehensive community college in 2003 have made SMCC the fastest growing community college in New England (*Community College Week,* November 2009) – and the third largest higher education institution in Maine.  SMCC currently serves 6,261 students (fall 2009).  Nine percent of students are from minority groups and the remaining 91 percent are white, reflecting the community which the college serves.  The average age of students is 26, and the male-female ratio is 51:49.  Faculty characteristics include 108 full-time faculty and 307 adjuncts with a student/faculty ratio of 19:1.

The project title is *The Connected Student:  Improving Student Engagement, Achievement, Retention, and Persistence* and has an overarching goal of improving student success beginning in the formative first semester of college.

*The Connected Student* has three interrelated components:  integrated support services; instructional redesign; and engaged guidance, all under the umbrella of a new Learning Commons.  ‘**Integrated support services’**delivers comprehensive student services, supports instruction, and provides increased access to online learning and support services.  **Instructional redesign** focuses on gateway courses required in the first semester.  Faculty members will develop outcomes-based interactive teaching techniques, resulting in the creation of a toolkit of best practices and effective outcomes to support ongoing course reform.  **Engaged guidance****develops freshman interest groups linked with tools for career and academic planning.  These one-credit team-taught courses include a thematic component, essential college success skills, and career exploration*.*Building a strong foundation for all three, the strategy supports renovations and staffing for a new **Learning Commons**; integrates technical resources including equipment, online tutoring and advising software; and provides professional development for faculty.

With a budget of $1,999,139 over the five years of the grant, *The Connected Student* tackles the key problem of student success and links directly to institutional goals and Title III priorities, with $1,568,768 of the total allocated for Invitational Priority One and $356,870 for Invitational Priority Three.  The project will touch the lives of over 6,000 SMCC first-year students, helping them to understand and achieve their goals.  Student success in gateway courses will improve by 16 percent, fall to spring retention will improve by 12 percent, fall-to-fall persistence will increase by 10 percent, and the three-year graduation rate will increase by five percent.

**P031A100131 - State University at Farmingdale, New York**

Farmingdale State College (FSC) is a comprehensive college of applied arts and sciences within the State University of New York system.  Located on Long Island, New York, FSC enrolls 7,000 students in 27 baccalaureate and 9 associate degree programs. Ninety-three percent of the students are commuters, 72 percent are enrolled full-time, 48 percent are on financial aid, and 30 percent self-identify as minority.  The male-female ratio is 56 percent - 44  percent.

The significant problems and weaknesses that beset the college today have their origins in an earlier period of difficult institutional change.  Financial crisis and mission transformation produced a string of problems, one compounding another.  The residual impact of these forces has created a web of interrelated weaknesses that challenge the institution today.  Most notably, only 20 percent of students graduate in four-years (30 percent in five years, 34 percent in six years) and student engagement on campus is markedly below that of students at benchmark commuter institutions.

FSC’s comprehensive planning process, with its extensive and detailed analysis of the college’s strengths, weaknesses, and significant problems, has clarified the optimal strategy that will best increase institutional self-sufficiency and strengthen the college’s capacity to make a substantial contribution to higher education in the region and nation. The central activity to be addressed with Title III funding is the creation of a “learner-centered institution.”  The activity of establishing a learner-center institution will include the following components:

· #1  Develop active student-centered pedagogies and programs that engage students on campus

· #2  Build robust student orientation, advisement, support, and mentoring structures and processes

· #3  Provide targeted development programs and opportunities for faculty and student affairs staff

· #4  Strengthen institutional technology and technical support for purposes of student tracking and program assessment

All components will be carefully evaluated and assessed annually, using baseline data, so as to document progress and summative outcomes.  Evaluation will also provide formative feedback on the validity of implementation strategies, thereby supporting an ongoing process of continuous assessment and improvement of the Title III project to strengthen FSC. 

Through its effort to transform itself into a learner-centered institution, Farmingdale State College expects to see graduation rates rise by 20 percent.  Other key measures of student engagement and achievement will also improve as a result of the proposed Title III project.

**P031A100163 - SUNY Rockland Community College, New York**

**State University of New York (SUNY) Rockland Community College (RCC)**is a two year public community college located 25 miles northwest of New York City in Suffern, New York.   RCC is one of 30 community colleges in the State University of New York system and the only public institution of higher education in Rockland County.  Founded in 1959, the college currently offers 47 degree and certificate programs in the humanities, social sciences, arts, technologies, business, health professions, mathematics, and sciences.  A faculty to student ratio of 18:1 is maintained with 125 full-time and 350 part-time faculty.  RCC has experienced a marked 27 percent enrollment growth over the past five years and enrolled 7,300 students (6,640 full-time equivalent (FTE)) in 2009.  The student body is 53 percent minority, 47 percent White; 55 percent female and 45 percent male; and 62 percent full-time and 38 percent part-time.  Over 70 percent of students entering enroll in developmental courses. 

**Key Problem**:  Low student achievement, retention and graduation are critical issues for the college.  For every 10 students entering the institution, half will be on academic probation or gone by the end of the second semester and only two will graduate.  Inadequate support for new students, outdated instructional methodologies, and disjointed student support services are key areas undermining student success. 

**Project Description:**The proposed comprehensive Activity, **Pathways to Success**, will make fundamental changes in the freshman-year experience, teaching and learning in gateway courses, and the quality and availability of academic support services. These three strategic pathways will promote student success by increasing student retention and achievement; increasing graduation rates; and strengthening student engagement.  

**Strengthening the First Year Experience**will increase the retention of first-year students by providing a Comprehensive Orientation, a First-Year Experience Seminar and Online Freshmen Interests Groups.  **Redesigned Gateway Courses**will promote student engagement and achievement with innovative instructional designs and comprehensive Web-enhanced course resources in 22 courses with high failure rates.  **Integrated Academic Services**will centralize and Web-enhance academic support services with online tutoring, align academic support with gateway course instruction, implement a new instructor referral and online appointment system, and introduce a highly effective early alert and student tracking system to provide timely feedback on students at risk.  Extensive professional development will be included in all Pathways as components of the larger, overall Title III Activity to ensure integration and institutionalization of all initiatives. 

**Project Outcomes:**The overall goal of the proposed Activity is to increase student retention and achievement by 10 percent, raise graduation by eight percent, and strengthen student engagement by 20 percent by September 2015 through the establishment these three new pathways leading to student success.  These outcomes respond to Title III Invitational Priorities 1 and 3. 

**Allocation of Budget:**The full request totals $1,827,227 over five years and the funds directly support the Activity with 63 percent in Personnel and Fringe, 23 percent in Contractual, one percent in Travel, nine percent in Supplies, and five percent in Other.  The college has committed an additional $919,001 to the project and will also provide additional resources to support staff, equipment and software.  The costs requested are critical to enable the college to provide resources needed to implement the proposed Activity and successfully meet the established objectives.

**P031A100077 - Suffolk County Community College, New York**

**Overview of Proposed Project:**The purpose of the proposed Title III Activity, *Student Engagement through Informed Support (SEIS)*, is to dramatically improve student success and engagement at Suffolk County Community College (SCCC).  *SEIS* will address SCCC’s documented inability to engage and support students by electronically enabling enrollment and admissions, reorganizing and improving faculty academic advising, instituting an early-warning student intervention system, developing repositories of online learning objects for 20 high enrollment gateway courses, and unifying online and in-person student support resources by developing a Virtual Learning Commons.  Each component of the Activity is designed to boost student engagement and work together to increase the academic success, persistence, and retention of over 4,500 first-time, full-time students entering SCCC each fall.  *SEIS* will transform the way students enroll, are counseled and advised, learn, and engage with the college. It will impact every student, faculty member, and support services provider on all three campuses.  *SEIS* will increase successful course completion rates by 20 percent, fall-to-spring persistence rates by 15 percent, and fall-to-fall retention rates by 10 percent by the end of the five-year project, resulting in an overall 20 percent increase in student satisfaction.

**Institutional Overview:**SCCC is a publicly supported, open enrollment, multi-campus community college that serves a population of more than one and a half million.  Comprised of three campuses and two downtown centers,  SCCC is the largest two-year college in New York State and the largest undergraduate institution in the State University of New York  system.  Both Central Administration and the Office of the President are located on the Ammerman Campus in Selden, New York.  SCCC offers low tuition rates, small class-sizes, a high ratio of faculty to students, and 67 programs of study.  The SUNY Board of Regents and New York State Education Department have authorized SCCC to award Associate in Arts, Associate in Science, and Associate in Applied Science degrees.  In addition, SCCC provides joint admissions and articulation or transfer agreements with more than 30 four-year institutions. 

**Student Characteristics:**With 24,560 for-credit students in the fall of 2009, SCCC surpassed the undergraduate enrollments of all other SUNY institutions.  Half of all SCCC students attend full-time, 55 percent are women, and 74 percent are under 25 years of age. The diversity of the student body reflects the college’s commitment to multiethnic awareness and equal opportunity as well as the diversity of Suffolk County residents ( White (63 percent), Hispanic (15 percent), African-American (seven percent), Asian/Pacific Islander/Native American (three percent), and Other/Unknown (12 percent).  Each year, over one-fifth of local high school students enroll at SCCC upon graduation.  Most freshmen require one or more developmental reading, writing, or mathematics courses. 

**Faculty Characteristics:**  SCCC employs 343 full-time teaching faculty, with women comprising 49 percent; 70 percent are tenured and the remainder are tenure track.  More than 1,500 adjunct faculty members round out the college’s teaching staff.  The student to faculty ratio is 22 to one, with full-time faculty teaching 55 percent of all courses for a maximum teaching load of 15-16 credit hours (five courses per semester).  Faculty representation is distributed among the following academic ranks:  full professor (28 percent), associate professor (25 percent), assistant professor (30 percent), and instructor (16 percent).  SUNY has honored SCCC faculty with one Distinguished Service Professorship Award and 134 Chancellor’s Awards, 31 of which were received between 2006 and 2009 alone.

**P031A100113 - Tarrant County College District, Texas**

**Project:   S**upporting **S**tudent **S**uccess **T**ransformations **R**eaching **ON**ward to **G**raduation

***(SSSTRONG*on Students)**

**Project Narrative – Program Abstract:**  Tarrant County College District (TCCD) is a large, urban, multi-campus, comprehensive public, two-year community college headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas.  TCCD’s mission is to provide "affordable and open access to quality teaching and learning," through postsecondary educational opportunities (academic transfer and career/technical education) which exceed expectations of the people of Tarrant County, Texas.  The college serves an ethnically, economically, and academic diverse clientele, many of whom are underprepared for college.  Tarrant County College (TCC) is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools [1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097:  Telephone number (404) 679-4501] to award the associate's degree.  TCCD offers a breadth of programs leading to the Associate of Arts degree, the Associate of Applied Science degree, and various certificates of completion designed to meet targeted workforce training needs.  In 2008-2009, TCC enrolled 96,467 students (including 62,488 credit students), making it the sixth largest college or university in Texas.  Nearly one in every 19 Tarrant County residents takes a class at TCC each year.  Approximately 58 percent of TCC’s students are women; 42 percent are men; average age equals 25.8 years.  The student population is 20.6 percent Hispanic, 16.1 percent African-American, .5 percent American Indian, 6.2 percent Asian, 55.4 percent Anglo, and 1.2 percent other ethnicity.  TCCD’s student-faculty ratio is 24:1, with more than 650 full-time faculty and more than 1,000 adjuncts.

**Overview of Proposed Project:**

**Goal 1:***Tarrant County College District will increase levels of success for First-Time-In-College (FTIC) students who demonstrate a need for remediation in one or more essential skills areas necessary for college-level achievement (reading, writing, mathematics).*

**Goal 2:***Tarrant County College District will increase faculty and staff knowledge and skills*

*necessary to implement promising and best practices focused on increasing levels of success, rates of persistence, and rates of graduation among TCCD’s students.*

**Goal 3:***Tarrant County College District will increase rates of persistence and graduation*

*among its students, with special focus on African-American and Hispanic student populations.*

**Expected Outcomes and Measures:**

1.1.  Increase targeted levels of success in developmental education by ten percent in five years

1.2.  Increase targeted FTIC college readiness skills completions by ten percent in five years.

2.1.  Increase college-wide participation in student-achievement focused professional development to a level of 80 percent during the five-year project.

2.2.  Increase faculty/staff engagement in Action Research on student achievement to a level of 25 percent in five years.

3.1.  Increase targeted persistence rates by five percent in each sub-category in five years.

3.2.  Increase targeted graduation and transfer rates by two percent per category in five years.

**Budget Request:**$2,000,000 over five years. (college match = $1,120,039)

Grant funds will support project management, increases in research and data management

capacity, student-achievement focused professional development for instructional, student

development, and administrative personnel.

**P031A100034 - Tri-County Technical College, South Carolina**

**Tri-County Technical College**(TCTC) is located in Pendleton, South Carolina.  Established in 1962, TCTC has grown from a technical education center to a comprehensive community college currently serving more than 371,000 citizens in Anderson, Oconee, and Pickens Counties.  In 2009, the college enrolled 8,073 students.  A third of those students were new to the college, 79 percent of whom were first-time postsecondary (FTPS) students entering their first college experience.  Of the student body:  58 percent are enrolled full-time; 58 percent are in technical programs, 33 percent are in the transfer program, and the balance is non-degree seeking.  Minority students comprise 19 percent; 56 percent are female; the average age is 25.1; and 59 percent work.  TCTC employs 119 full-time and approximately 300 adjunct faculty members; full-time faculty generate half (50 percent) of credit hours taught.  Faculty teach 15 credits (20 contact hours) per semester, advise students, and develop curricula. The faculty/student full-time equivalent (FTE) ratio is 1:19. 

**Significant Problem:**Achievement, persistence, retention, and graduation of FTPS students is compromised by inadequate academic and social integration into the institution and the underutilization of support services.  To strengthen institutional self-sufficiency, TCTC collaboratively developed a response designed to increase academic quality, strengthening student engagement and assimilation into the collegiate environment and resulting in increased student success. 

**Project Description:**The project, *Learning through Community and Connections (LC2)**,***will integrate collaborative learning experiences and scholastic skill development in a community environment linked with a virtual resource network to equip FTPS students with the skills, habits, and attitudes necessary to succeed at TCTC.  **Thematic, Linked,**and **Integrated Learning Communities**will be designed, piloted, and implemented as TCTC builds a transformative first-year experience for FTPS students.  Concurrently, an **Academic Support Network**comprised of an expanded orientation with readiness assessment, an enhanced advising process using electronic learning plans, and an automated monitoring system linked to interventions that will facilitate student engagement and success will be developed and integrated with the learning communities to create a comprehensive program supporting student success. 

**Project Outcomes:**The project is designed to increase student achievement as demonstrated by successful course completion by 20 percent, fall-to-spring persistence by 15 percent, fall-to-fall retention by 15 percent, and degree completion by five percent over the 2008 baseline by September 30, 2015.  These results will not only contribute to institutional self-sufficiency, but respond directly to GPRA’s higher education priority of better preparing adults for employment and future learning and Title III’s Invitational Priorities 1 and 3 regarding improved academic programs and services leading to increased success for all students (GEPA). 

**Allocation of Budget:**The grant request of $1,943,480 over five years includes 47 percent in Personnel (including faculty releases and fringe benefits), five percent in Travel, eight percent in Equipment, six percent in Supplies, 22 percent in Contractual, and 11 percent in Other.  Grant funds will leverage an additional $798,078 in cash and in-kind commitment to the project from the college.  By dedicating institutional and Title III resources to this initiative, the college expects to significantly impact its self-sufficiency and ability to serve the educational needs of the region.

**P031A100070 – University of Alaska Anchorage-Kodiak College, Alaska**

**Kodiak College (KoC)**, a **public**, **two-year** community college, is the *only* institution of higher education on Kodiak Island, over 6,500 square miles of wild, rugged land surrounded by the world’s most productive fishing grounds.  The island’s 13,000 residents live along a mere 60 miles of road system, on the nation’s largest Coast Guard base, and in seven remote Native Alaskan villages.  The island itself can only be reached from the mainland by boat (nine to twelve hours) or plane (250 air miles).  Our service area is isolated by geography, distance, brutal weather conditions, and high travel costs (roundtrip to the nearest mainland airport was $598 in February 2010.  Service area population is declining (minus 6.2 percent from 2000-2008) and diversity (14.6 percent Alaska Native/American Indian, 16.2 percent Asian, 8.2 percent Hispanic, 61.8 percent white).  Educational attainment is low (18.7 percent hold Bachelor’s degrees), and cost of living is high (132 percent).  A community campus of the University of Alaska System, KoC is **affiliated** with the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) and accredited by Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges, offering **programs** leading to seven associate of arts and/or association in science degrees, as well as local access to two UAA bachelor’s degrees.

**Students and Faculty (14:1 ratio):**  Kodiak College **students** (513, Fall 2009) are diverse in culture and race (31 percent minority, 11 percent Alaska Native) and age (average age is 33.2, but 30 percent are age 18-24), female (67 percent), underprepared (68 percent), part-time (80 percent), overwhelmingly first-generation college students (90 percent), and bound to the island by family, occupation, and/or love of remote living.  Our nine full-time **faculty** are young (median age = 38), well-educated (44 percent hold doctorates), new (one to six years at KoC), highly motivated, and thoroughly engaged in the planning and delivery of quality educational opportunities for our isolated student body.  Most of our 26 highly-qualified adjuncts have taught for the college more than five years.

**Problems:**Three primary problems prompted this proposal:  enrollment is declining (down from 835 in 2002) and erratic, serious infrastructure deficiencies are inhibiting potential for new enrollments, and institutional funds are inadequate for the high cost of start-up for a comprehensive distance education initiative. 

Kodiak College students and the college itself have one basic thing in common:  the isolation of the environment requires ingenuity and fortitude if we are to survive and thrive.  A new instructional paradigm must be developed at Kodiak College if we are to develop the growth and self-sufficiency needed to weather the storms of uncertainty facing our students and our island.

**Proposed Solution:**To that end, Kodiak College requests five years of Title III funding, totaling $1,997,971, to develop, pilot test, evaluate and modify as needed ***Sea Change:  Growing Enrollment with Real-World, Real-Time, Student-Centered Distance Education***.  We propose to develop an **island/coastal-themed distance education curriculum**, incorporating global topics and direct interaction with faculty and the island through **cutting-edge learning resources and technology infrastructure,** and supported by **quality distance academic and student support services**.

**P031A100189 - University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville, Arkansas**

**Gateway to Student Success:  Transforming Instructional Programs and Student Support Services**

The University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville (UACCB) is a **two-year,****public, comprehensive community college**, accredited by the Higher Learning Commission - North Central Association, that each semester serves over 1,700 credit students in rural north central Arkansas.  About 75 percent come from Independence County, Arkansas (Batesville is the county seat), with most of the rest coming from adjacent counties.  Our **mission** is to provide quality educational opportunities within a supportive learning environment and to promote success through an enduring commitment to improvement.  Our service area, comprising four counties in the eastern foothills of the Ozark Mountains, is economically challenged, with high rates of individual poverty (16.5 percent) and low levels of educational attainment (only 12.5 percent of adults with a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared to the state’s 18.8 percent and the nation’s 27.4 percent) (American FactFinder, 2008).  

The purpose of our proposal is to improve the success of the college’s under-prepared, at-risk, and non-traditional student population by: (1) Strengthening Instruction in Developmental Education and Key Gateway Courses; and (2) Strengthening Student Support Services, including institution-wide access to critical student information.  Achieving the grant objectives will transform our institution by strengthening:

*(1) the instructional program—*changes to help students gain skills needed to achieve their educational goals include redesign of developmental and key gateway courses to incorporate technology and new instructional methods such as Learning Communities and Structured Learning Assistance;

*(2)student support services*—strengthened support services, including advising, tracking, and intervention, will help students overcome barriers to success; and 

(3) *faculty/staff professional development—*training topics will include integrating technology, diverse learning styles, and effective strategies and proven methods for helping high-risk students succeed.  Carefully managed, in-depth training on new modules for the student information system (Datatel) will provide convenient access to information critically important to intervention, tracking, early alert, and outcomes assessment.

The college will increase student success (as measured by course completions, transition from developmental to college-level courses, fall-to-fall retention, graduation, and transfer) through improved advising, competency-based curriculum modifications, and greater use of technology for improved learning and student support.  **Total Request = $1,999,843.**

**P031A100137 -. University of Saint Francis, Indiana**

**The University:**The University of Saint Francis is a four-year university located in Fort Wayne, Indiana, with a branch campus in Crown Point, Indiana.  The private, Catholic institution is sponsored by the Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration.  The University of Saint Francis (USF) enrolled 1,845 undergraduates (headcount) in fall 2009.  The student population is 70 percent female and 30 percent male.  Of students, 11 percent are members of a racial or ethnic minority.  Among undergraduates, 23 percent are 25 years or older.  USF has 122 full-time faculty and six part-time faculty.  USF employs 107 adjunct faculty, most of whom oversee the clinical experiences of nursing and other healthcare professions students. The student to faculty ratio is 12 to 1.

**The Proposal:**USF proposes two activities to address identified critical academic and institutional management weaknesses. They address two Invitational Priorities: (1) Support activities that will improve the institution’s persistence and graduation rates; and (2) Develop academic programs to improve completion rates or develop innovative support programs that are designed to increase completion rates. 

**1.  USF will strengthen academic advising, focusing on undeclared students, in order to improve retention, progression and graduation.**USF will:  hire three, new full-time advisors who will advise undeclared students to increase their retention; train faculty advisors both on- and off-campus in methods which engage students to increase retention; identify exemplary faculty advisors who will mentor and assist in the development of faculty peers through the new advising center; bring advising experts on-campus and send full-time advisors and faculty advisors to regional and national conferences on advising; recognize excellence in advising in faculty evaluations and the tenure process, and establish resources on advising for advisors and students.  Entering students will be assigned advisors upon enrollment and will have their first contacts with advisors within the first six weeks of their first term.  Undeclared students will be directed toward majors in which they can succeed and graduate.  Students identified upon acceptance as at-risk will be assigned to either full-time advisors or exemplary faculty advisors in order to increase academic success.  As a result of these actions, a more focused, research-based advising method will reach all undergraduate students. 

**2. The University of Saint Francis will improve institutional decision-making by increasing the number of institutional and cross-unit level reports and validating the data.**USF will:  hire a report writer and data analyst who will focus on creating and maintaining institutional and cross-unit level reports; institute standardized qualifications for data stewards who will receive off-campus training leading to certification in the use of the university’s data management system, and train all appropriate USF personnel on the availability and access of these reports, and require that employees document the use of reports with validated data in order to make data-informed decisions. 

The University of Saint Francis is requesting $1,528,196 over five years to accomplish these two activities which will positively affect our student retention and graduation rates and firmly base decision-making on valid data.

**P031A100030 - Walla Walla Community College, Washington**

**Contact Person:**  Walla Walla Community College (WWCC) President****Steven L. VanAusdle, (509) 527-4274; steven.vanausdle@wwcc.edu, http://www.wwcc.edu/CMS/

**Institutional Background:**  Walla Walla Community College is a public, two-year institution of higher education providing service to its district of Walla Walla, Columbia, Asotin, and Garfield counties in rural, remote, southeastern Washington State, as well as border counties in Oregon and Idaho.  The institution’s main campus is in Walla Walla, with an additional campus in Clarkston, Washington.  A significant number of residents in the Walla Walla Community College District live in small towns or cities that are long distances from an urban center.  Once dependent on a natural resource-based economy that included timber and agriculture, the region is innovatively re-defining itself, with the support of responsive educational programming from WWCC.  The college offers 53 degree programs and 50 certificate programs.

**Title III Activity:  *Improving teaching & learning, institutional planning & assessment, and resource development capacity.***

This Title III project will:  **(1)** increase opportunities for faculty professional development and instructional innovations; **(2)** expand eLearning courses and program development; **(3)** upgrade eLearning infrastructure and classroom technology; **(4)** enhance institutional planning, assessment, and accountability; and **(5)** increase resource development capacity.

The project addresses **tie-breaker priorities** in response to:  **(1)** faculty development; **(2)** administrative management; and **(3)** acquisition of equipment for use in strengthening funds management.

**Student Body Characteristics**

**Total Fall State Supported Headcount Enrollment (2009):**4,131****

**Undergraduate Student Age:** 42 percent - 24 and under; 56 percent - 25 and over; 1 percent - unknown

**Average Age:**  35

**Ethnicity:**  White, Non-Hispanic - 64 percent; Black, Non-Hispanic - one percent; Hispanic* -12 percent; Asian/Pacific Islander - one percent; American Indian/Alaskan Native - one percent; Non-resident Alien - <1 percent; Multi-Racial - four percent, Other - two percent, No Response - 15 percent

**Gender:****Female**—55.6 percent; **Male**—44.4 percent

**Faculty Characteristics**

**Faculty to Student Ratio:**  1:24

**Fall 2009 Faculty:**  Full-Time - 134; Part-Time - 312

**Five-Year Project Budget:**  $1,999,723

**P031A100019 - Wayne Community College, North Carolina**

Wayne Community College (WCC) is a learning-centered, public, two-year college with an open-door admissions policy.  Located in Goldsboro, North Carolina, the college offers 38 degree, 17 diploma, 32 certificate programs and over 100 continuing education courses annually.  WCC employs 112 full-time curriculum instructors and 25 full-time continuing education instructors.  In 2008, Wayne Community College served 13,980 people, with 4,473 students enrolled in degree, diploma, or certificate programs and 9,507 students enrolled in Adult High School, GED, English as a Second Language, and workforce development programs.

The majority of students are from Wayne County (79 percent).  Sixteen percent are from area counties, which are also considered poor (with poverty levels above 20 percent), while five percent are from another state.  More than half of WCC students are ages 18-24 (50.5 percent), while 24-35 year olds (24.6 percent) and 35-44 year olds (13.8 percent) make up most of the remainder of the curriculum student population.  The percent of female students increased from 62 percent (2824) in 2002-03 to 67 percent (2973) in 2007-08.  During the same time period, the number of male students decreased from 1723 to 1494 (-15 percent).  Minority enrollment has grown from 1,719 in 2002-03 to 1881 in 2007-08, an increase of nine percent.

The average curriculum student is white, female, and 29 years old.  Sixty-two percent are employed (25 percent full-time and 37 percent part-time) and in class 13-16 hours per week.  Forty-six percent are enrolled in a technical and/or vocational program and 41 percent are enrolled in college transfer.  Of the 785 first-time students enrolled in fall 2008, 550 (70 percent) tested into at least one college preparatory course.  

This Title III SIP, **“Stairway to Success, One Student at a Time:  Improving Pre-Curriculum Education through Intervention and Advisement,”**addresses one of the college’s major weaknesses – too many students place into two or more lower-level pre-curriculum (developmental) courses each year.  High withdrawal rates coupled with low success rates result in fewer students progressing to subsequent courses.  Consequently, failure to progress presents barriers to students completing their chosen program of study.  WCC has developed three goals to address this concern:  (1) Improve overall student success through “whole student development” including academic, nonacademic and personal factors; (2) Improve student retention, persistence and graduation rates for academically underprepared students using best practices in pre-curriculum education; and (3) Improve assessment of student learning and institutional effectiveness through the development and implementation of a data collection and analysis system.  The college will hire a full-time Title III Project Coordinator/Coach and a part-time coach to help institute change over the five-year grant period and beyond.

**P031A100087 - Weatherford College, Texas**

Chartered in 1869, Weatherford College (WC) is the **oldest community college west of the Mississippi River**.  A comprehensive, two-year, public, associate degree-awarding institution located in Weatherford, Texas (population 26,686) [U.S. Census, 2009], WC is accredited by the Southern Association of Schools and Colleges.  WC’s primary service population consists of 261,860 residents dappled across 4,101 square miles of farms, ranches, and towns that make up Hood, Jack, Palo Pinto, Parker, and Wise counties.  With up to 42.7 percent of families characterized as low-income, economic hardship is a way of life throughout the region.

WC offers students 35 study areas/career training in 19 professional/technical programs. ****As the**only community college without a university in its district**, WC is the first college of choice for transfer students in north central Texas seeking bachelor’s degrees (70 percent).  Each year, thousands of low-income, time and place-bound students in north central Texas rely on WC as their sole gateway to educational and career opportunities just beyond reach.  To fulfill our institutional purpose of providing “quality learning opportunities and effective programs that serve the needs of the students and citizens of our service area”—WC has expanded educational access through rural extension centers established in Decatur (population 6,432) and Mineral Wells (population 16,880).

**Student Body Characteristics (Fall 2009):**  WC students are predominantly rural, low-income, academically underprepared, and first-generation.  Total headcount—5,422 (45.8 percent part-time); average age—24.3; minority—16.8 percent; financial aid recipients—59.3 percent; working 21+ hours/week—63.9 percent; with basic skills deficiencies in writing, reading, or math—41.9 percent.  **Faculty Characteristics (Fall 2009):**  full-time (FT)—110; part-time—128; female (FT)—61.8 percent; male (FT)—38.1 percent; minority—3.6 percent; 40-60+ years of age (FT)—71.8 percent; faculty to student ratio—1:18.9.

Fall 2009 saw the largest student body in WC’s 141 year history—a 13 percent enrollment increase—when 5,422 students flocked to WC in the wake of economic recession.  Many came seeking programs to prepare them for high-demand health professions.  While 285 students who qualified were accepted (2008-2009), **WC was forced to turn away another 552 qualified students** because our health programs are filled to capacity.  An even larger number of students begin their college career academically deficient in basic skills and unable to effectively progress through the educational pipeline to high-wage, high-demand health careers.  For students that are in the health occupations academic pipeline, WC offers no comprehensive student support services.  Through this Title III application, we seek to resolve identified significant institutional problems.

**Proposed Title III Activity:**Today, WC seeks to strengthen our institution and increase our capacity to serve low-income students by building on the success of our current allied health programs.  Therefore, we propose *Expanding Access to High-Demand Allied Health Programs*, an activity to develop two new, two-year programs:  Occupational Therapist Assistant (Associate of Applied Science) and Physical Therapist Assistant (A.A.S.), and to establish a new Health Professions Academic Support Center.  New programs will be supported by program-specific equipment, resources, and instructional technology; and will be strategically located among our most rural, low-income students at WC’s Education Center at Mineral Wells (ECMW).

Our proposed project addresses the following **Title III Invitational Priorities**:  (1) Support activities that will improve the institution’s persistence and graduation rates; (2) Develop academic programs to improve course completion rates or develop innovative support programs that are designed to increase completion rates. 

**Total Five-Year Request:**  $1,997,381

**P031A100022 - Wytheville Community College, Virginia**

***Institutional Characteristics:***Wytheville Community College (WCC) is located in Wytheville, Virginia.  WCC is a comprehensive, two-year public institution and is one of 23 colleges in the Virginia Community College System (VCCS).  Primary service population is 119,779 and includes the city of Galax and the counties of Bland, Carroll, Grayson, Smyth, and Wythe, Virginia. 

The college offers five (5) Associate of Arts & Science degree programs**:***Business Administration, Education, General Studies, Liberal Arts,*and *Science*.  Other awards include (17) Associate of Applied Science; (5) Diploma; (6) Certificate; and (22) Career Studies programs of study. 

***Student Characteristics:  Race:***94 percent white; three percent black; and three percent other.  ***Gender:***37 percent male; 63 percent female.  ***Average Age***is **26.3**. [<**18**(23.2 percent); **18-21**(30.9 percent); **22-24**(7.5 percent); **25-34**(15.0 percent); **35-44**(11.5 percent; **45-59**(9.8 percent); **60+**(1.2 percent)].  Full-time Equivalent (***FTE):*2,165**; ***Headcount:*3,783**.  ***Faculty Characteristics:***Total Faculty:  **201: 35**full-time; **166**adjunct.  ***Faculty/Student Ratio***is **1:18**. 

**Activity:  Strengthening Academic Programs through Curriculum Development and Revision.**This project will increase the number of degree and certificate programs that address local demands of student and area manpower needs.  The college plans to increase the number of new career studies certificates developed (Public Health) and will upgrade two associate in arts and sciences degree programs (General Studies and Science) and one career studies certificate program (Medical Coding).  Thirty  new online courses will be developed and  25 courses will be revised to meet quality assurance standards.  

Professional development opportunities will be offered to 100 percent of all full-time and part-time teaching faculty so they can incorporate current technology-based instructional methods into their teaching practices. 

A Center for Online Teaching Excellence will be created to improve the quality of technology-enhanced instruction and to provide faculty with opportunities to become certified as master distance education instructors.  One hundred percent of full-time and part-time faculty will have the opportunity to participate in one or more professional development opportunities that will result in incorporating current technology-based instructional methods into their teaching practices.  One hundred percent of classrooms (on-campus and off-campus) will be converted to SMART interactive technologies.  A multimedia infrastructure will be developed to ensure substantial increases in the use of multimedia in course development. 

An Online Advising Center will be created to provide online advising and other support services for distance learners during evening and weekend hours.  Online Academic Advisors will provide “Live Help” and will develop new online student support services, such as “at-risk” intervention systems and online communication systems for distance learners, as well as developing and teaching online orientation courses.  The impact of these activities will be to significantly increase retention and pass rates among distance learners.

###

**10/25/10**