FY2018 Strengthening Institutions Program (SIP) 84.031F Abstracts

***P031F180001 – Tennessee Wesleyan University, Tennessee***

**Project Title:** Increasing Retention of First-Year Freshmen by Improving Advising and Student Support Services 

**Institutional Profile:**Tennessee Wesleyan University (TWU) is a private, non-profit comprehensive university that offers over 30 graduate and undergraduate degree programs. The institution enrolls approximately 1,100 degree-seeking students and is regionally recognized as a top tier liberal arts institution committed to academic excellence, civic engagement and servant leadership. 

**Student Profile:**The institution serves a mostly rural and local student population drawn principally from counties in Appalachia that are characterized by a variety of chronic socio-economic challenges, including low levels of educational attainment. Approximately 47% of students are Pell-eligible and more than 85% of students receive some type of institutional financial aid. First generation students constitute a significant share of the student body, accounting for over 80% of the incoming freshmen class in certain years. The institution also features a growing minority student population that currently accounts for 30% of total enrollment. 

**Problem Statement:**First-time freshmen account for approximately 35-40% of the total number of students who withdraw from the institution on an annual basis. Since 2006, the retention rate for the freshman cohort has never exceeded 68% while ranging as low as 60%. Historically, TWU’s four year graduation rate has been less than 33%. 

**Project Overview:**TWU’s Title III project will increase first-time freshman retention and success rates by achieving three goals. First, the institution will implement a developmental advising training program to provide faculty and staff with the knowledge and skills to respond to the individual needs of at-risk students. Second, the institution will establish an instructional training program for tutors and faculty to increase student success in developmental education courses. Third, TWU will implement an early alert retention system to facilitate the collection and analysis of data needed to identify and provide personalized assistance to at-risk students. 

**Budget Request:**TWU is requesting $2,084,478 dollars to develop the organizational capacity to better serve the needs of first-time freshmen, improve academic quality, and enhance the financial stability of the institution. 

**Absolute Priority:**Bettinger, E. & Baker, R. (2011). The effects of student coaching in college: An evaluation of a randomized experiment in student mentoring. Cambridge, M.A., National Bureau of Economic Research, Working Paper No. 16881. 

**Competitive Preference:**Bonham, R.H., Bliss, L.B., and Bonham, B.S. (1997). Program Components and Their Relationship to Student Performance. *Journal of Developmental Education*, 20(3): 1-10.

***P031F180002 – Central Lakes College (CLC), Minnesota***

**Project Title:** Data-Driven Decisions to Improve Retention (DDD-IR**)**

**Project Overview:** This proposal provides the rationale for a model that will improve student retention, completion, and transfer via individualized student data-based supports for all students and provides moderate evidence of the effectiveness as an Absolute Priority. In order to improve our student retention, completion, and transfer rates, we need to become more driven by what our student data is telling us. CLC has a large percentage of students who enter college under-prepared and at risk of failure, as evident in student Accuplacer scores. We plan to improve students outcomes by: early detection of students at risk of failure (via closer attention to key student data elements); improving access for all students in classrooms, shops, and labs, and online (via implementation of Universal Design for Learning-UDL strategies); and implementation of Check & Connect (C&C), and evidence-based model of student engagement that meets the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) Evidence Standards. The project will: 

(a) Develop a comprehensive data-driven system to support under-prepared students based on the criteria determine by CLC data review: Accuplacer scores, CLC faculty referrals, high school referrals/Individual Education Plan (IEPs); student self-disclosed disability status, Grade Point Average (GPA), student of color, American Indian students, low-income, and 1st generation; (b) hire and train four C&C Coaches to provide data-driven interventions to students; (c) add an Instructional Design/IT Specialist to assist faculty in the creation of courses that implement UDL and other ‘best practice’ retention strategies to enhance learning for all learners (d) develop a system for accurately measuring, assessing, and evaluating student retention based on the MnState Metrics. 

***P031F180014 – The University of West Florida, Florida***

**Institutional Profile:** Located in the Gulf Coast city of Pensacola, Florida (pop. 53,193) within Escambia County, the **University of West Florida (UWF)**is one of twelve four-year, public universities in the Florida State University System. UWF serves nearly 13,000 students annually. The majority—nearly 10,000—are undergraduate students. Most students come from Escambia County or the surrounding area; 31% are minority; 72% attend full-time; 43% are female; and the average age of a UWF student is 24. 

**Demographics:** Need is great within the area UWF serves. In Escambia County, per capita income is only $24,161 compared to $26,829 for the state and $28,930 for the nation. Nearly half (47%) of families with children at home in Escambia County live off a limited income; that is only true of 28% of families in the state and 33% of U.S. families. Poor earnings are likely a reflection, at least in part, of low educational attainment. Bachelor’s degree attainment is low for residents of Escambia County (24.5%) and Florida (27.3%) compared to the U.S. (29.7%) (Census, 2015). While need is great in our area so is opportunity, especially in STEM fields. STEM industries are at the heart of a booming economy in Florida. Florida ranks second in the U.S. for greenhouse and nursery products, which are the state’s leading crops financially. The state ranks second in U.S. production of fresh vegetables as well (FL Dept. of Ag. and Consumer Services, 2015). Florida also boasts an impressive aerospace and aviation industry which employs more than 87,000 workers through more than 2,000 companies (Enterprise Florida, state economic development group). Florida is also a hub for the life sciences; several renowned biomedical research institutes and pharmaceutical and medical device companies are located in the state. 

**Project Overview:** To connect students—predominantly disadvantaged area residents—to growing opportunities in Science Technology Engineering Math (STEM) fields while also strengthening our institution, UWF proposes a Title III project entitled ***STEM Success : UWF Success***. Through comprehensive analysis of institutional strengths and weaknesses, UWF has identified its STEM programs as having the greatest potential for positively impacting UWF and the students we serve. In 2014, the Florida State University System transitioned to a performance-based funding model whereby the state awards funding each year based on an institution’s scores on 10 metrics. For the past three years, UWF has lost significant state funding due to poor performance on the state metrics. While the university continues to make progress toward improving its student outcomes, UWF urgently needs assistance in funding strategies that can help it reach the next level on the state metrics and earn back the substantial state funding that has been lost. To this end, UWF proposes to target STEM success because STEM programs are an area of strategic emphasis for the Florida State University System. By targeting STEM success, UWF can prepare more students for promising STEM career options and, at the same time, improve its standing on state metrics in order to get the state funding needed to best serve all students university-wide. 

The *STEM Success: UWF Success*project includes two inter-related initiatives. The first initiative is to increase success in STEM gateway courses by redesigning them to incorporate active learning instructional strategies and updated facilities and resources. The second initiative focuses on strengthening STEM success. UWF will develop a STEM coaching system (meets **Absolute Priority**citing the following study: *The Effects of Student Coaching in College: an Evaluation of a Randomized Experiment in Student Mentoring,*Bettinger and Baker, 2011). UWF will also develop a centralized STEM academic support system, customizing the system with department-specific academic support options to bolster student success (addresses **Competitive Preference Priority**). Three STEM Success Studios will be equipped within UWF’s STEM buildings to support the new STEM support services. 

Funds Requested: UWF’s five-year budget request totals $2,999,970.

***P031F180021 – Holy Names University, California***

**Institutional Profile**: Founded in Oakland, California in 1868, Holy Names University (HNU) is a private, non-profit, Catholic institution that offers baccalaureate and graduate programs to a diverse student body which reflects the ethnically diverse Bay Area in which the University is located. As its mission states, HNU is an academic community committed to the full development of each student, offers a liberal education rooted in the Catholic tradition, empowering a diverse student body for leadership and service in a diverse world.

**Problem**: Although undergraduate enrollment had grown to a Full Time Equivalent (FTE) of 889 in 2013, it has fallen to 526 FTE in fall, 2016. Resource constraints have limited HNU’s ability to develop distance learning course work and to provide the kind of academic support services needed by our student population, the majority of whom juggle their course work with demanding work, transportation and/or home responsibilities. The university’s infrastructure and classroom technology is inadequate to support distance learning and teaching, faculty members are not trained in technology utilization for course development, the Developmental Math course passing rates are as low as 48%, and the opportunities to be coached, mentored or tutored by faculty and student peers are limited. To address these problems, HNU will implement a four-pronged component Activity:

· Component One focuses on training our faculty and staff in the development and piloting of online distance-learning and learner-centered technological pedagogical strategies to increase the utilization of technology in teaching and learning.

· Component Two focuses on strengthening our campus’s technology infrastructure capability to accommodate increased internet user volume and to improve classroom technology.

· Component Three focuses on collaborating with the Carnegie Math Pathways network to redesign HNU’s Developmental Math curricula so as to increase student success in fulfilling developmental math requirements and advancing into college-level courses.

· Component Four focuses on creating an Academic Retention Support Center to offer Faculty Coaching of at-risk sophomores and juniors and Course Coaching of students in gateway college-level math or courses with math prerequisites to increase student retention and academic achievement.

Taken together our Title III Components create both a Technology-Rich Teaching and Learning Environment and an Academic Support System that will Increase First-Generation, Low-Income Students’ College Retention and Graduation.

The application addresses the Absolute Preference Priority. The moderate evidence of effectiveness study cited is: Bettinger, E.P., & Baker, R.B. (2011). The effects of student coaching: An evaluation of a randomized experiment in student advising.

**Funds Requested**: $2,944,355

***P031F180030 – Illinois Central College, Illinois***

**Institutional Profile:** Illinois Central College (ICC) is an open enrollment, comprehensive community college located in the Peoria Area. Peoria County is listed on the state’s Poverty Warning List. Key to economic growth will be the supply of skilled workers in occupations that are relevant to industry growth. ICC’s credential programs will be instrumental in developing that skilled workforce. 

**Purpose:**The “Be More!” Title III project is a comprehensive system of retention support, intentionally architected to shepherd students from on-boarding through credential completion. To accelerate Title III’s impact, “Be More!” initiatives will be rapidly scaled to serve all first-year, credential-seeking students, with a focus on three underperforming target populations: African American, developmentally-placed, and Pell-eligible students. 

**Objective 1.0:**To strengthen academic and student support services through integration of a new First Year Experience, Guided Pathways, and comprehensive case management system. 

 Establish Guided Pathways for at least five meta-majors, as well as their associated credential programs, to serve as the framework for Academic Plans; 

 Design and deploy a new, comprehensive First Year Experience; 

 Implement predictive analytics to identify students with risk factors; monitor student performance; and deliver technology-triggered Success Coaching through a comprehensive case management system *(addressing the Absolute Priority – Moderate Evidence of Effectiveness by replicating the Bettinger and Baker [2011] model study***)*; and 

 Scale: multiple measures for academic placement; an accelerated learning program (ALP) for math; and supplemental instruction for “critical pass courses” *(addressing the Competitive Preference Priority)*. 

**Objective 2.0:**To expand the capacity of institutional technology for data analytics and data-informed decision-making. 

 Integrate technologies for: predictive analytics and student success monitoring; credential planning with Guided Pathways, advising, and success coaching; and course registration. 

**Objective 3.0:**To strengthen professional development to support academic support innovations, technology utilization, and data-informed decision-making. 

 Develop and provide a professional development to support activities for Objectives 1 and 2. 

**Key Target Outcomes:**

 Retention: The percentage of first-time, full-time, credential-seeking students who enter in the fall and return the next fall will increase from **65.4%**to **69.4%**. 

 Academic Persistence: Guided Pathways will be established; and **66%**of full-time, credential-seeking students will be on-track toward program completion. 

 Graduation: The percentage of first-time, full-time, credential-seeking students who graduate within three years of enrollment will increase from **30.2%**to **33.2%.**

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***P031F180032 – Eastern Arizona Community College, Arizona***

Institutional Profile: Eastern Arizona College (EAC) is located in the southeast corner of Arizona in the rural farming and mining community of Thatcher. EAC is the only college within a 130 mile radius.

The College’s service area encompasses four counties and approximately 22,419 square miles.

Project Overview: EAC SIP proposes to fundamentally transform EAC’s developmental education (DE) and student advising culture by moving away from old school practices and policies. The DE makeover will include leaving behind the traditional model of standalone or multicourse sequencing and transition to accelerating students through remediation by providing more targeted and prescriptive assistance. This will be accomplished by (1) Using multiple placement assessments to accurately assign students to DE or credit-bearing pathways, (2) Providing proactive advising, (3) Providing tutoring, (4) Offering modularized courses, and (5) Mainstreaming student into credit-bearing classes. The student advising makeover will move the counseling department away from the traditional, passive model of waiting for student initiated counseling contacts to a more aggressive “seek-them-out” process. This new system will be reinforced by providing a comprehensive support system comprised of (1) Providing proactive advising, (2) Providing online and face-to-face tutoring, (3) Offering career exploration services, (4) Communicating program expectations, and (5) Providing a mandatory freshman experience course.

EAC SIP also proposes to improve college access in the rural communities it serves by expanding online learning opportunities. This will be accomplished by (1) redesigning and modularizing existing courses and (2) Creating new courses. EAC SIP project design replicates City University of New York’s (CUNY) ASAP project as introduced in Table 1 below and described in detail in the attached studies.

**Absolute Preference Priority (APP):**EAC SIP meets the Moderate Evidence of Effectiveness criteria. EAC SIP design replicates University of New York’s Accelerated Study in Associate Programs. Evidence Studies attached to this application include: (1) Doubling Graduation Rates, Three-Year Effects of CUNY’s Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) for Developmental Education Students (*The study meets What Works**Clearinghouse standards without reservations)*and (2) Strategies for Postsecondary Students in Developmental Education – A Practice Guide for College and University Administrators, Advisors, and Faculty published by What Works Clearinghouse. ASAP substantially improved students’ academic outcomes over 3 years almost doubling graduation rates. Researchers reported “ASAP’s effects are unparalleled in large-scale experimental evaluations of programs in higher education.”

**Competitive Preference Priority**: EAC SIP proposes activities that meet the Competitive Preference Priority definition. Activities include providing: tutoring, counseling, innovative/customized courses to improve academic success, student retention, and rapid program completion.

**EAC SIP’s Goal:**EAC SIP proposes to deliver comprehensive and integrated support services to low income students and students of color to significantly increase the number who achieve their postsecondary education and training goals, complete a degree or certificate, and/or transfer to a university.

**EAC SIP’s Objectives:**(1) Increase the academic performance of At-Risk Students, (2) Increase the percentage of At-Risk Students who complete degrees or certificates, and/or transfer to universities, (3) Increase access to developmental education and college level courses via alternative instructional delivery methods.

**Budget:**Includes a request for supplemental funding to construct a new Student Learning Center.

***P031F180033 – University of Alaska Fairbanks, Northwest Campus, Alaska***

**Project Title:**Create Scholastic Inclusiveness for Stop-outs & Non-Starters 

**Project Goal:** The goal of this project is to “*Create Scholastic Inclusiveness for Stop-outs and Non-Starters.”*This will be accomplished with two activities. Activity 1 is “*Build student support services for Bering Strait Scholars-to-Learners*” that addresses the crisis of a growing population of young adults who are disengaged from college, career, and lifelong learning opportunities. The young adult population who remains in their home villages (or have returned without postsecondary success) represents both the greatest possibility and challenge for education and training. This activity will use student success interventions with recent high school graduates (19-24 years old), including a subset designated as “scholars” by two state-funded merit scholarship programs, *UA Scholars*and *Alaska Performance Scholarship*, who are not currently enrolled in any postsecondary education or training program. 

The second activity, “*Develop instructional resources to engage and challenge Bering Strait Scholars-to-Learners,”*provides the instructional changes necessary to improve the effectiveness of Northwest Campus instruction to reach and impact young adult residents. It will involve modifying course content and delivery in collaboration with regional Alaska Native partners and communities in pathways identified as relevant and valuable. It also includes first-year experience instruction and peer mentoring to increase enrollment and persistence of Alaska Native young adults (19-24 years old) living in their home communities. 

Competitive preference priority is submitted and addressed.

***P031F180034 –Washington St. Community College, Spokane Falls, Washington***

**Institutional/Student Profile:**Established in1967, Spokane Falls Community College

(SFCC) is a public, comprehensive, two-year college. It is one of two separately accredited institutions comprising Washington State Community College District 17. The district is within a six-county, 12,302 square mile region along the Washington-Idaho border. SFCC serves Spokane, an economically challenged urban area of approximately 428,800 people, in addition to the surrounding rural counties. Educational attainment throughout the SFCC service area is low. The percentage of residents 25 years old or older without a baccalaureate degree in Spokane County is over 70% and even higher in most of the

outlying counties. Fifty-six percent of SFCC enrollees are first-generation college students.

**Project Title:**Change: Pathways to Student Success

**Problems:**SFCC has identified four major problems facing the college: **1)**undecided and confused students accumulate excess credits; **2)**low retention and graduation rates; **3)**faculty are insufficiently prepared for Pathways advising; and **4)**faculty and staff are insufficiently prepared to use learning analytics and data management procedures.

**Strategies: 1)**Enhance new student selection of academic majors and Pathways by improving academic advising and career services by adding new software and a full-time Career Navigator.

**2)**Increase student success through new Pathway-specific guidance/college- success courses. **3)**

Make faculty and students more aware of student academic progress by making their degree audit and learning analytics data available to them online. **4)**Expand the College’s professional development capacity by adding for zero-to-completion advising with an emphasis on Pathways advising; course professional development with a focus on learning analytics; and data literacy, data analytics and visualization for all personnel.

**Outcomes: 1)**Increase student persistence within the first year and from first-to-second year. **2)**

Increase student completion within 150% time. **3)**Decrease the number of students with excess credits. **4)**Increase the annual Student Achievement Points earned for the 45 College Credit. **5)**

All Pathway guidance instructional faculty will be trained in course construction utilizing learning analytics. **6)**Faculty and administrators will report increased confidence in access, interpreting, and utilizing data.

**Competitive Preference Priorities:**This project provides student support services designed to improve academic success, Pathways advising, and guidance courses. The courses will be innovative, customized, related to SFCC’s six academic Pathways. Students tested and placed in pre-college English (i.e., under-prepared) will be a primary population to be served.

**Funds Requested:**$2,806,712

***P031F180049 – Menlo College, California***

**Project Title**: Bridging the Achievement & Retention Gap through Tutoring, Technology and Advising

**Institutional Profile:** Menlo College is a small, private, nonprofit, Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WSCUC) - and Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) – accredited, four-year college offering baccalaureate degree programs in business and psychology, currently serving 768 full-time students. Budget Request: $1,818,252.

**Problems:** Of the 161 students entering Menlo College as freshmen in fall 2016, 77% tested into either or both developmental math or English. Students who test into developmental education at Menlo are more at-risk for academic probation or disqualification. Written communication and qualitative reasoning outcomes were poor in 2015: only 21% of seniors were proficient in written communication, compared with an expected rate of 80%. On average, seniors correctly answered quantitative exam questions 52% of the time vs. the 70% target. The 2106 six-year graduation rates were only 53%. The Ruffalo Noel Levitz Student Satisfaction Inventory results for academic advising in 2016 were below average (5.10/7/0 vs. 5.49/7.0 for four-year privates).

**Strategic Activities**: *Activity1:* Implement the summer bridge Menlo College Rising Scholars Program (MCRSP) to increase initial student success. *Activity 2*: Implement co-requisite Intensive math and Writing Labs (IMWL) with math and English courses to increase learning outcomes. *Activity 3*: Engage student and faculty in improving student learning through an eProtfolio assessment management system. *Activity 4*: Improve communication and accountability between advisors and students through an advising and retention platform that supports retention and data-driven decision making and strategic planning for student success. 

**Goals:**Increase retention and graduation rates for low-income and underrepresented students and improve student achievement in math and English through the following: 1. Reduce the number of students who test into developmental math and English; 2. Increase the percentage of students achieving proficiency in quantitative reasoning and written communication; 3) Decrease the number of students who become academically disqualified; 4) Engage students in the student assessment process to improve achievement; 5) Produce assessment data for the full range of math and writing outcomes to support a culture of improving student learning; 6) Increase accountability and transparency of advisor and staff intervention with students; 7) Use attrition and completions data to make evidence-based decisions and support strategic planning. **Outcomes:** Drawing on the College’s strengths and addressing weaknesses, by 2022, this project will reduce enrollment in developmental courses by 50%; increase quantitative reasoning and written communication proficiency by 20%; reduce student re-enrollment in developmental math and English by 50%; increase annual retention to 88% and six-year graduation rate to 58%.

**Absolute Priority:**MCRSP and IMWL will be based on moderate effectiveness standards in the What Works Clearninghouse: 1. Barnett, E.A., Bork, R.H., Mayer, A.K., Pretlow, J., Wathington, H.D., & Weiss, M.J. (2012). Bridging the gap: An impact study of eight developmental summer bridge programs in Texas. *New York National Center for Postsecondary Research*. 2. Visher, M.G., Weiss, M.J., Weissman, E., Rudd, T., & Wathington, H.D. (2012). The effects of learning communities for students in developmental education: A synthesis of findings from six community colleges. *New York: Columbia University, teachers College, National Center for Postsecondary Research.*

***P031F180057 – Andrew College, Georgia***

**Institutional Profile:** Andrew College (AC) of Cuthbert, Georgia, is the state’s only private, two-year liberal arts college. AC offers developmental education, the Associate of Arts, Science, and Music degrees, and a general education curriculum paralleling The University System of Georgia’s. 

The fall enrollment of 276 was half females. Geographically, 79.3 percent were from Georgia. Forty-nine percent were African-American, thirty-nine percent were White, six and a half percent were Hispanic, and nearly three percent were of undeclared race or ethnicity. The average student age was 19. AC employs 20 full-time faculty, resulting in a faculty/student ratio of 1:13. Ten percent are of a racial/ethnic minority, and 45% have terminal degrees. 

**Project Overview:** Through comprehensive systemic reform, AC’s proposed project will enable greater academic success resulting in increasing freshman fall-to-fall retention from 43% to 75%, graduation rates within three years from 19% to 50%, and full-time student enrollment from 276 to 500. The project will increase and improve academic programs, strengthen, reform and enrich academic and student support services, enhance academic technology, and strengthen faculty and staff skills with targeted professional development. AC’s Title III project has four objectives: **1:**Increase enrollment by starting new and strengthening existing academic programs. **2:**Improve educational outcomes and increase retention, persistence, and graduation rates by building learning communities with comprehensive and integrated developmental education (DE) program with co-requisite courses, tutoring support, coaching and eMentoring programs. **3:**Strengthen student learning, support services, and institutional effectiveness by investing in improved information technology and online learning**. 4:**Strengthen faculty and staff skills through targeted professional development.

**Project Activities/Strategies:** Project strategies include: 1) Launching a two-year nursing degree, a timber management associate degree and an online cancer registry programs; 2) Expanding the regenerative agriculture and business administration degrees; 3) Establishing *Employer Academic Advisory Boards*; 4) Reforming DE with co-requisite courses to accelerate learning and transition to and succeed in gateway courses; 5) Establishing Learning Communities to increase persistence and retention; 6) Enhancing student advising with coaching; 7) Creating a case management and early warning approach; 8) Strengthening a peer-tutoring and starting an eMentoring program; 9) Providing finances management workshops; 10) Enhancing the First Year and Transition Experience program (FYE) with Education Career Success Plans and Portfolios of Achievement; 11) Improving the orientation program; 12) Adding software for Case Management, student coaching, degree planning and better tracking for degree completion; 13) Expanding educational technology and online courses/modules; and 14) Improving professional development. 

**Project Outcomes**: Results will include increasing: a) full-time enrollment from 276 to 500; b) fall-fall retention from 43 to 75%; c) fall-spring retention from 60 to 80%; d) 3-year graduation from 47 to 90 students; e) first college-level English and math pass rates from 25 to 65% and 25 to 65% respectively; f) learning communities from 0 to10; students visits with advisors/coaches from 0 to 10 per year; g) students participating in orientation program from 0 to 90%; students served by the Early Alert System from 0 to 100%; students participating in peer tutoring and eMentoring increases from 10 to 80%; and students completing one financial education module from 0 to 100%. The proposal also addresses the CFDA 84.031 F Absolute Priority (AP) requirement with two pertinent studies that meet the What Works Clearinghouse criteria for moderate evidence of effectiveness. It also includes a Competitive Preference Priority (CPP) section that provides a research-based rationale regarding how the Title III project activities will increase Andrew’s developmental student success and college completion.

***P031F180062 – Onondaga Community College, New York***

**Project Title:**Guided Pathways to Success (GPS) 

**Institutional Profile:** Located in Syracuse, New York, Onondaga Community College (OCC) is an open-access, public community college within the State University of New York (SUNY) system that serves as a primary pathway to a four-year degree, career entry, or advancement for individuals in the five-county Central New York region. Since opening its doors over 50 years ago, OCC has grown to become one of the largest colleges in the region, offering 45 associate degree and certificate programs. Among the 7,818 degree-seeking students (2,205 first-time students) enrolled in fall 2016, nearly 75% were low-income and 61% were Pell-eligible. The overarching problem to be addressed through this Title III project is low completion rates among students. 

**Expected Outcomes:**Targeted outcomes include a 7 percentage point increase in course completion rates among developmental students and an 8 percentage point increase in the fall-to-fall retention rates of first-time, full-time students, contributing to OCC’s institutional goal of improving its degree completion rates by at least 5 percentage points by 2022. 

**Theoretical and Conceptual Background:***Guided Pathways*research suggests that community colleges, in working to expand options to promote educational access, have created unintended barriers to completion by presenting students with too many choices without providing sufficient levels of guidance or support to navigate choices and progress toward their goals. Too much choice may encourage decision-deferral and poor decision-making, particularly when decisions involve important trade-offs, decisions are complex, and decision-makers are not experts or do not have all of the information they need to make decisions (Bailey, Jaggars, Jenkins, 2015). 

Based on the Guided Pathways framework, OCC’s ***Guided Pathways to Success*(GPS)**project design incorporates the core components of the Pathways framework, with the following elements: **(**a) Program Pathway Maps with clear paths to completion, transfer, careers; (b) Common first-year learning outcomes, customized for delivery in each pathway; (c) Structured Pathway Supports (a new, enhanced *intake*process incorporating non-cognitive assessments, *predictive analytics,*and *Pathways coaching*); and (d) Accelerated developmental pathways using evidence-based course redesign models, including the Accelerated Learning Program (ALP) for English, and the Math Emporium and Mathways (***Competitive Preference Priority***) to improve student progress through degree programs, retention, and completion rates. **“Pathways coaching,**” is modeled after the coaching intervention used by Inside Track (Bettinger and Baker, 2011) (***Absolute Priority***). 

OCC will work with its evaluation partner, Research Institute for Studies in Education (RISE) at Iowa State University, to implement an evaluation using random assignment experimental design consistent with WWC standards to assess the degree to which *GPS*, inclusive of *Pathways Coaching*, contributed to improvements in retention rates among participants. The study will use three staggered pilots that will differ only in terms of the degree programs involved in each of the intervention periods (Years 2 through 4). In each, all first-time full-time students entering in the Fall cohort for the respective pilot year will be identified and randomly assigned to either the program group or control group (those receiving existing support services). Results will contribute to OCC’s efforts to institutionalize the intervention and help other colleges evaluate the merits of adopting a Career Pathways framework based on OCC’s *GPS*model.

***P031F180072 – Indiana State University, Indiana***

**Project Title:**Strengthening Institutions Program for Indiana State University: A S.M.A.R.T. Initiative for Students and New Faculty Mentoring

**Project Overview:**The Sycamore Mentoring and Resource Team (S.M.A.R.T.) Initiative aims to strengthen the diverse mentoring efforts of Indiana State University, providing an opportunity for mentors to train, collaborate, and hold meetings with students. The activities have been developed using moderate evidence of effectiveness which meet the criteria for both the Absolute Priority and the Competitive Preference Priority.

Although there is currently some quality mentoring taking place on the campus, the units offering the service do not regularly communicate and, as a result, many students who need one are currently without a mentor. This project will ensure that all students have access to a mentor, which is especially important for our students given that many are under-prepared for college as well as being part of traditionally high-risk student populations. The student mentoring element will have its own physical space, housed in the lower level of the library, which will serve as a training site and a mentoring location for those with limited space in their home units. The S.M.A.R.T. Initiative staff will be tasked with communicating with all the mentoring efforts on campus to hold events and trainings, as well as to encourage mentors to function as teams to support not only one another, but the students whom they serve. Additionally, the initiative aims to establish formal mentor training for faculty, which does not yet exist at the University. This training will take the form of a faculty mentoring certificate and will enable seasoned faculty to mentor new colleagues on best practices in teaching and working specifically with at-risk college students. The goal of faculty mentoring is to decrease DFW rates for courses taught by new faculty and resulting in greater student success.

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***P031F180073 – University of Central Missouri, Missouri***

**Project Title:**Achieving Student Success: Academic and Social Supports for Improving Retention and Completion 

**Institutional Profile:**The University of Central Missouri’s (UCM’s) 1,561-acre campus is located in Warrensburg, located 50 miles southeast of Kansas City. Approximately 14,000 students from 42 states and 61 countries are enrolled in classes at UCM. Fifty-three percent are female, 47 percent male, 88 percent are Missouri residents. A significant portion of students come to UCM from challenging backgrounds. 65% of the first time full time freshmen were identified as one or more of the following: first generation student, low-income student, or racial/ethnic minority student and are not retaining or completing at the same rates as their peers. 

**Problems:**1) At-risk retention rates and graduation rates are much lower than overall student population. 2) UCM’s advising is a disorganized and complex for at-risk students needing more individualized attention. 3) First year retention rates fall below peer institutions: 

New college students do not have the college survival skills, are not aware of college services which foster success and are coming underprepared academically; therefore are not successfully completing courses and are dropping out. 

**Overall Project Goal:**Increase student success, retention, and completion by front-loading academic and social supports for first year and at-risk students. 

**Strategies:**1) Strengthen academic advising and educational support services to facilitate student success in achieving educational goals for at-risk students. 2) Establish integrative and comprehensive onboarding and first year experience programs 

**Objectives:**(1) Increase the retention rate of first generation, low income students, and underrepresented minorities from (2) Increase the number of first generation and low income, and underrepresented minorities who successfully complete their program of study (3) Increase the number of first time freshman in good standing (4) increase the fall-to-fall retention rate for first-time, full-time students (5) Increase the number of students successfully completing college level coursework within two years after enrolling into developmental coursework (6) Increase the number of students who successfully complete Math and English gatekeeper courses (7) Decrease the number of gateway courses with a DFW rate of 30% . 

**Absolute Priority:**

Bettinger, E.P., & Baker, R. (2011). The effects of student coaching in college: An evaluation of a randomized experiment in student mentoring (Working Paper No. 16881). 

Murphy, T. E., Gaughan, M., Hume, R., & Moore, S. G. Jr. (2010). *College graduation rates for minority students in a selective technical university: Will participation in a summer bridge program contribute to success?*Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 32(1), 70–83. doi: 10.3102/0162373709360064 

**Competitive Preference Priority:**Addresses tutoring academic advising, professional development of faculty and staff, and a summer bridge program for remedial education. 

**Funds Request:**$2,726,447

***P031F180078 – Georgia Northwestern Technical College, Georgia***

Georgia Northwestern Technical College is requesting $2,091,092.10 from the Strengthening

Institutions Program in order to provide services that will increase enrollment, retention and completion of Associate of Applied Science and Associate of Science in Nursing degrees. This will be done by the hiring of a Program Coordinator, hire four Student Success Coaches and order and install equipment on all six campus locations in order to offer classes via telecommunications. 

The Project Director will be someone who oversees Coaching through Success and Access, and will report to the Office of Institutional Effectiveness and the Executive Vice President. The hiring of Student Success Coaches, who will provide assistance to the Student Navigator in reaching out to students, train faculty/staff on new program, meet with high school counselors to alert them to new program for incoming freshmen, meet with incoming students prior to classes starting and determine services needed. Coaches will follow up with students on a monthly basis and prior to the end of the semester to review the semester.

Technology will be ordered and installed on all six campuses over a four-year period. Expansion of general education courses and most major courses to prevent class cancellations due to low enrollment is the ultimate goal of linking all the campuses. GNTC faculty and staff will take advantage of the technology by using it for meetings, faculty and staff development to prevent driving long distances for meetings, etc.

GNTC has a robust staff of professional data analysts; although each analyst originally worked in

a discrete area, the growing need for data at all levels of faculty and staff has increased the number of one-on-one data requests of the analyst team, some of which have been unknowingly duplicated, under way by a different analyst. To bring efficiency to this process, a new procedure is being drafted to capture all requests for information through one portal application.

***P031F180088 – Delgado Community College, Louisiana***

**Institutional Profile:** Delgado Community College is a multi-campus, comprehensive community college in the Greater New Orleans region with enrollment of over 16,500 credit bearing students. The student population is 39% first-generation college students and is socio-economically and ethnically diverse, with African American students making up the majority of the student population at 44.9%. 

**Project Overview:** Delgado’s Title III project “Staying on the *Right Path*” will strengthen and increases the capacity of College personnel and technology to provide improved student advising and data analysis to aid academic success, retention and completion. Specific goals and objectives of the project are: 

· Goal #1: Improve persistence rates by expanding the *RIGHT Path*self-directed advising model to include more degree-seeking students. 

Objective 1.1: By 2022, 75% of degree-seeking students will recognize the roles and responsibilities of advisors and advisees and know how to access campus resources. 

Objective 1.2: By 2022, 75% of degree-seeking students will be participating in the *RIGHT Path*initiative and will have created educational plans. 

Objective 1.3: By 2022, fall to fall retention rates will increase from the 2016 baseline of 46% to 56%. 

· Goal #2: Improve degree completion rates by implementing an early alert system, intrusive advising support and degree auditing and tracking software. 

Objective 2.1: By 2022, 100% of students will be linked to an early alert system and will receive intrusive advising services when needed. 

Objective 2.2 By 2022, degree auditing and tracking plans will be implemented for 100% of degree-seeking students. 

Objective 2.2: By 2022, the 150% of Normal Time graduation rate will rise from the current baseline of 10% to 15%. 

**Project Activities:** The project will be accomplished by a series of activities: 

· Expansion of the *RIGHT Path*Quality Enhancement Plan that emphasizes student-centered self-directed advising and addition of new advisors. 

· Full utilization of early alert and academic intervention software that identifies at-risk students and provides them with intrusive advising. 

· Implementation of degree auditing and tracking software that will allow all Delgado degree-seeking students to develop and monitor academic completion plans. 

The Competitive Preference Priority is addressed in this application. The Absolute Priority -Moderate Evidence of Effectiveness is supported by the study Bettinger, E.P., & Baker, R. (2011). “The effects of student coaching in college: An evaluation of a randomized experiment in student mentoring.” Stanford, CA: Stanford University School of Education. Available at https://ed.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/ 

bettinger_baker_030711.pdf.

**Funds requested**: $2,875,798.

***P031A180097 – Washburn University of Topeka, Kansas***

**Institutional Profile:** Washburn is a public Open Admissions institution founded in 1865, whose history is rooted in providing access to postsecondary education. The last municipal University in the United States of America, Washburn is deeply committed to providing higher education opportunities to the residents of Topeka, Kansas and the surrounding area. Washburn operates primarily from two locations: the historic 160-acre main campus in the center of Topeka; and, its Institute of Technology (WU Tech) also within the city limits. As an open-access institution with a majority first generation and low income students, the University faces low retention, low course completion, and lagging graduation rates. Three critical factors contribute to these issues: 

• Inadequate support services that fail to meet the needs of underprepared students 

• High Drop, Fail or Withdrawal rates in developmental mathematics courses 

• High Drop, Fail or Withdrawal rates in college-required math courses for developmental math students 

**Project Overview:***Strengthening Advising and Academic Resources*is the activity that the University proposes for Title III funding to address the above key problem areas. The components of the activity are: 

1) Strengthening Instructional Support Services - The new advising system will feature better coordination of advising and instructional support services (tutoring, supplemental instruction) in an effort to reduce poor performance in remedial and gateway courses. Graduation Specialists will track student progress and provide necessary supports and referrals to guarantee student success. The Social Worker will provide non-academic support to ensure that students persist and graduate. Faculty Professional Development serves to improve instructional quality at the institution. 

2) Co-requisite mathematics course – to increase the percentage of students successfully completing developmental and college-level math classes by providing college-level mathematics instruction with just in time remediation. This model features an instructor and embedded professional tutors to provide supplemental instruction. 

**Project Outcome Objectives:**

• Increase first to second year retention rates of academically underprepared students by 10% 

• Increase access to academic coaching and student success services to serve 100% of all underprepared students 

• Increase success rate of academically underprepared students in University Gateway courses to 60% 

• Increase pass rate of academically underprepared students in University required math courses by 20% 

• 75% of all new faculty will improve skills in pedagogy and curricula that promote the retention of academically underprepared students 

CPP: WU Title III SIP will address the Competitive Preference Priority – Scrivener, S., Weiss, M.J., Ratledge, A., Rudd, T., Sommo, C., & Fresques, H. (2015). Doubling Graduation Rates: Three-year effects of CUNY’s Accerlated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) for Developmental Education Students. New York: MDRC.

***P031F180099 – Saint Paul College, Minnesota***

**Project Title:**Improving Enrollment and Student Success at Saint Paul College 

**Overview of Saint Paul College:**Saint Paul College (SPC) is one of the 24 two-year institutions in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system. SPC has a 105-year tradition of serving the diverse communities of the Saint Paul and Minneapolis metropolitan areas. Since its inception in 1910, Saint Paul College has provided outreach to urban residents, underrepresented students, and immigrants new to the city. SPC is an urban campus located in downtown Saint Paul between the state capital and the Saint Paul Cathedral. The College draws students primarily from the seven-county metropolitan Twin Cities’ region with the majority of students living in the city of Saint Paul, which is located in Ramsey County. Saint Paul College has a strong commitment to equity and inclusion, student success, affordable quality education, and strong community partnerships. 

**Proposed Strengthening Institutions Project:**The five-year Strengthening Institutions project targets the identified needs of Saint Paul College to strengthen academic programs, institutional management, and fiscal stability. Analysis leads to a project that addresses four critical problems including: 1) students entering Saint Paul College are underprepared for college-level course work, three-year student success rates are too low at 58% for SPC students and 38% for students enrolled in developmental education courses, 2) Lack of faculty/staff capacity to address students facing the greatest academic challenges, high advisor to student ratios, the College is in the process of building an integrated student support model but does not have the resources to build an effective model, and 3) While SPC has dedicated committed staff and faculty that are student focused, professional development related to equity and inclusion and culturally relevant pedagogy is greatly needed, and 4) Enrollment that cannot financially sustain the college. Despite steady student enrollment, State Appropriation has decreased over the past 10 years. To address these problems, Strengthening Institutions funds of $3,000,000 will be used over five years through one goal and three supporting objectives to be achieved by September 30, 2022. 

**Project Goal**: To increase enrollment at Saint Paul College by 10%, from 4,546 First Year Enrollment (FYE) to 5,000 FYE.

**Project Objectives:**1) Increase student success rate at Saint Paul College from 58% to 68% over five years. 2) Decrease student loan cohort default rate from 26.8% to 20%. 

**Absolute Priority:**The project addresses the absolute priority by designing the proposed project on research determined by the What Works Clearinghouse to demonstrate **Moderate Evidence of Effectiveness**on positive student outcomes. The study citations for this priority are as follows: Scrivener, S., Weiss, M. J., Ratledge, A., Rudd, T., Sommo, C., Fresques, H. (2015). *Doubling Graduation Rates: Three-Year Effects of CUNY's Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) for Developmental Education Students.*New York: MDRC. 

Scrivener, S., Weiss, M. J., & Teres, J. J. (2009). *More guidance, better results? Three-year effects of an enhanced student services program at two community colleges.*New York: MDRC. 

**Competitive Preference Priority:**The project addresses the competitive preference priority of increasing developmental education student success through activities recommended by the What Works Clearinghouse practice guide (2016) titled *Strategies for postsecondary students in developmental education: A practice guide for college and university administrators, advisors, and faculty*.

***P031F180100 – Mount Mary University, Wisconsin***

**Project Overview:**Mount Mary University (MMU), a Catholic university for women located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, will implement the *Building Opportunity for Learner Development*(*BOLD*) project. The Project takes a comprehensive approach to implementing evidenced-based activities that will increase graduation rates for low-income students who need remedial Math and English courses.

**Students Served:**MMU enrollment is more than 50% Pell eligible, 41% first-generation, and 46% students of color. In fall 2016, 78% of MMU’s first-time students required at least one remedial course. 

**Project Goal and Objectives:**The goal of the *BOLD*Project is to support low-income students who need remedial education and assist them in persisting to graduation. MMU will build upon existing successful student programs to achieve the following objectives: 

1. Increase first-year retention from 74% to 80% for students who need remedial Math and English courses; 

2. Decrease time to completion from 10.56 semesters to 9.5 semesters for students who need remedial Math and English courses; and, 

3. Increase percentage of students who persist to graduate within four years (from 30% to 35%), five years (from 42% to 50%), and six years (from 49% to 53%). 

**Activity Strategies**: Specifically, the *BOLD*Project will 

1. Support students through embedded tutoring, comprehensive student support (coaching and career development), access to electronic resources, and enhanced advising; and 

2. Develop expertise for our faculty and staff in remedial education, technology-mediated education (learner-adaptive technology), assessment, and enhanced advising. 

**Outcomes:**The *BOLD*Project will improve MMU’s capacity and effectiveness to provide a comprehensive approach that better meet the needs of low-income students needing remedial education. Using evidence-based best practices, MMU faculty and staff will train together for greater collaboration and campus-wide impact. 

**Absolute Priority:**The BOLD Project meets the What Works Clearinghouse criteria for moderate evidence of effectiveness. Selected studies: 

Scrivener, S., Weiss, M. J., Ratledge, A., Rudd, T., Sommo, C., & Fresques, H. (2015). *Doubling graduation rates: Three-year effects of CUNY’s Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) for developmental education students*. New York, NY: MDRC. 

Scrivener, S., & Weiss, M. J. (2013). *More graduates: Two-year results from an evaluation of Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) for developmental education students. Policy brief*. New York, NY: MDRC. 

**Competitive Preference Priority: The BOLD Project includes one activity that will**improve student academic success in remedial courses. 

**Funds Requested:**$2,932,361