Wcet Addressing Minority Student Needs

transcript

Addressing Minority Students Needs and Planning for Success

Leslie L. Gordon, MS, RHIAUniversity of Alaska

Connie Broughton

Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges

WCET Denver October 2009

Academic Technology Facilitators

Student Success Student RetentionFaculty Support New StudentsCommunicationOne Student at a Time

Distance Delivery in Alaska

Student Success

Liaison between student and UA systemTechnical AssistanceMaterial AssistanceAcademic AssistanceRural and Alaska Native populations

Student Retention

InterventionAttendanceMissing assignmentsPoor skill level

SolutionsTroubleshootingTutorsStudy skill review

New Students

VERY early intervention activitiesCall in center with extended hoursPostcardsEmail communicationGetting StartedProgram tutorials

Faculty Support

Academic interventionEarly interventionTechnology issues solved by FacilitatorsStudents given tools to successFaculty asked to provide names of

struggling students

Communication

Financial AidRegistrarFacultyBusiness OfficeTechnology CenterAdvising

One Student at a time

Quality EducationSynchronous and Asynchronous

DeliveryVirtual Office HoursSuperior student Support Services

Questions?

Addressing Minority Student Needs and Planning for Success

Enduring Legacies: A partnership in Washington StateWCETNovember 24, 2009

Issues Related to Native American Higher EducationLow participation ratesLow completion ratesIssues related to first generation,

working, low-income college studentsTribal communities are often located far

from college campusesStudents who complete degrees are given

responsibilities in tribal governments and enterprises.

GoalDeliver a coordinated upper and lower

division curriculum that is culturally relevant to small numbers of reservation-based students who are geographically dispersed

Funded by a Lumina Grant of $800,000 awarded to The Evergreen State College(2005-2009)

The PlayersThe Evergreen State CollegeGrays Harbor College16 other community and technical colleges in

Washington state8 Native American tribes in WashingtonWashingtonOnline (WAOL)Lumina Foundation

History of Evergreen’s Program• Evergreen has offered tribal community

education for over 15 years– A community-based, face-to-face BA degree– The program is thematic and cohort based– Evergreen begins and maintains programs only

with permission of tribal organizations– Themes are developed collaboratively with tribal

governments– Since 1993, the Evergreen program has educated

more than 400 degree seeking students and has a BA completion rate of 76% (compared to a national completion rate of 36%).

Grays Harbor College• One of 34 community and technical colleges

in Washington state system• Offered a complete AA degree online using

WAOL• Developed a Reservation-Based AA degree to

be delivered primarily online• Reservations in the GHC service area• http://www.ghc.edu/distance/reservation/

index.htm

WashingtonOnline• A consortium of the 34 community and technical

colleges in Washington managed by the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges

• Hosts courses for member colleges and can pool enrollments from multiple institutions

• Students get their services from a single institution and will receive a transcript from a single institution

• For this program the students enrolled at Grays Harbor but received instruction from 16 other colleges as well

• http://www.waol.org

Tribes Involved

Program started in Fall 2005 with three tribes: •Muckleshoot•Quinault•Nisqually

Later additions:•Lower Elwha Klallam•Makah•Squaxin Island•Shoalwater•Chehalis•Green Hill Maximum Security Facility for Incarcerated Youth

Successes117 students, plus 30 at Green Hill facility for

incarcerated youthCompletion, retention and transfer to four-

year programs improved14 redesigned online courses 34 Native casesHybrid model adapted to a nursing program

for incumbent workers in rural areas

The Elements of SuccessHybrid model (online and f-2-f experiences)Wrap-around servicesOrientations and professional developmentCourse redesign for cultural relevanceActive and interactive learning, including

Native CasesEvaluation

Hybrid Model• Most courses delivered online and shared

among 34 community and technical colleges using WAOL

• Saturday classes four times each quarter at The Evergreen State College Longhouse

• Study leaders meet with students in their communities weekly

• Seamless pathway from lower division to upper division

Wrap-Around ServicesDedicated staff at Grays Harbor College: The

“Mark Ramon” factorOne person at GHC provides student intake,

testing and registration servicesActive in communities

Local Study LeadersMeet with students weekly face-to-faceWork with instructors

Orientation and Professional DevelopmentOrientation once a year at Evergreen

Students meet their online and face-to-face instructors, GHC support staff, study leaders and WAOL technical support staff

Upper and lower division faculty meet each other

Everyone becomes more aware of different cultures Culture of Native Americans Culture of American higher education

Course RedesignLumina Grant money used to pay instructors

to redesign online coursesImproved usabilityMade them culturally welcoming

Other students in state system enroll in these redesigned courses, so their impact is larger than the 117 reservation-based students

Native Cases34 Native Cases freely available in 20 content

areasUsed in redesigned online coursesUsed in Saturday program with upper and

lower division studentshttp://www.evergreen.edu/tribal/cases/

home.htm

EvaluationQuarterly “Gleanings”

Project Director Barbara Leigh Smith interviewed EVERYONE—students, faculty, staff—each quarter

Written evaluation based on interviewsQuarterly meetings to discuss what was

working and what needed to be changed

Peter Ewell, NCHEMS

Lessons LearnedStudents did not move in a cohortStudents do find strength in being in a

program with other Native studentsTeachers must be “feeders” not “weeders”Need for developmental courses in English

and math was larger than anticipated and difficult to address with online delivery

Contacts and Links• Grays Harbor College

– Mark Reisman, mreisman@ghc.ctc.edu – http://www.ghc.edu/distance/reservation

• The Evergreen State College– Barbara Smith, smithb@evergreen.edu – http://www.evergreen.edu/tribal/– http://www.evergreen.edu/tribal/cases/home.htm

• Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges– Connie Broughton, cbroughton@sbctc.edu– http://www.waol.org