The League for Innovation in the Community College15th Annual Conference

Dallas. TX

Baccalaureate Access & Completion: Creating Paths to Academic Success

Tuesday, March 12, 2013, 8AM-9AM

Welcome!

Dr. Joshua Smith, former chair of AACC Board of Directors; former Chancellor, California Community College System; former President, Manhattan and Brookdale Community Colleges

Lisa LaVigna, Executive Director of Outreach & Access, Excelsior College

Jacqueline McPhillips, Partnership Development Specialist, Excelsior College

Agenda

Introductions Importance of degree completion Transfer Process

Perceived barriers Perceptions of 4 year schools Perception of students

How to improve the problem? 3+1 Exams and OER

Real life examples

Degree Completion

Why it matters…

Degree Completion

Retention tool Earning power Future employment Job retention

The value of a Bachelor’s Degree

The Transfer Process

What students face…

Perceptions of some four-year colleges

Quality of education at community colleges is not up to standard

Students are not ready for transfer to ‘real’ college work

Diversity of the community college student population is a barrier to quality education

Quality of faculty at Community Colleges is ‘inadequate’

Community College student perceptions of four year colleges

Transfer process is

complicated

Scholarship support isn’t available

Transfer students

aren’t recognized

as “real” students

Faculty isn’t

supportive of students4 year

schools won’t accept

all my credits

Student services will be

difficult to navigate

Students aren’t feeling

the love

What can we do?

Increasing baccalaureate completion…

What can we do about it?

Keep students at Community College longer Have Community Colleges offer bachelor degrees Implement 90+30 programs Promote prior learning assessment (PLA) Offer alternatives such as assessment based credit

earning options

What can we do about it?

Improve Transfer Process Accept more credits Recognize uniqueness of transfer students Build stronger, seamless pathways between

two and four year schools

Five Steps to Low Cost, High Quality Degree Completion

Assess credit

transferre

d

Identify

requirements

to be

completed Match work

needed to

available forms

of assessment

Prepare for

assessments

using OER,

complete

required

coursework

Complete

Capstone

course online

Criteria to Establish Ideal Transfer Agreements

Allow as many credits as possible to be taken at the community college before transfer

Seek opportunities for scholarships for deserving students

Provide students a breadth of credit earning options

Determine that the environment is welcoming Let students know which colleges provide the

best transfer agreements

Options to consider

Three plus one, allowing students to remain at the community college longer

Credit by exam Support in an online

environment

How does this work?

Student Examples…

Katherine

Began college education later in life

Howard CC Graduate

Completed Bachelor’s degree through articulation agreement

Ray

Attended four colleges

Acquired credit through ACE approved training

Utilized credit by exam and online courses to complete a Bachelor’s degree program

Questions?

Contact:

Jackie McPhillips

jmcphillips@excelsior.edu

Visit:

ccpartnerships.excelsior.edu

Sources

http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/tomorrows-college/dropouts/value-of-college-degree.html