Valencia Community College
Strategic Budget
Initiative 2002-2003
Work Plan and
Budget Proposal Outline
Learning-Centered
Educational Services Proposal
Initiative Sponsor
Dr. Michael Hooks, Vice President for Planning and
Educational Services
Person Responsible for Initiative
Dr. Joyce Romano, Assistant Vice President for Educational
and Student Services
Strategic Learning Plan Goal(s) Addressed
Goal 2 – Start Right
Goal 3 – Learning Leaders
Goal 4 – Learning By Design
Goal 5 – Learning Support System
Goal 6 – Diversity Works
Goal 7 – Learning Works
The way each of these goals is addressed is described in
detail in the attached documents.
Principles
- This
initiative will improve student learning and better prepare students to
start right.
- This
initiative addresses each of the seven Strategic Goals.
- This
initiative was developed with the concept of learning-centeredness at the
forefront of the discussion.
- The
initiative was developed in collaboration with a broad representation of
stakeholders at the college including students, faculty, administrators
and career staff.
Objectives for Initiative
- Remove
the barriers to learning for students by creating a streamlined process of
admission and enrollment.
- Refocus
staff expertise.
- Improve
the ratio of professional advising support for students, i.e., personal
advisor who will assist student in creating career, educational and
financial plans.
- Improve
the assessment process making the purpose of assessment and interpretation
of results more meaningful to students.
- Enrich
learning by adding career and learning style assessments at the entry
process.
- Introduce
students to the Core Competencies and LifeMap through entry process.
- Establish
on-going feedback systems to students.
- Introduce
students to Atlas (Valencia’ on-line learning community) as a tool to
enhance their learning outcomes.
- Establish
student process and performance indicators and provide routine feedback to
staff on student progression and retention.
Please refer to attached proposal for additional details.
Stakeholders
Students (Current and new recruits), Faculty, Staff,
Administrators, Transfer Universities, Advisory Boards, Workforce Community,
Student Services Staff, Academic Departments, Financial Aid, Admissions,
Assessment
Work Team
Planning and Educational Services Staff
Outcomes
Integrated set of learning interventions for degree-seeking
students, which includes:
1.
Assessment of student learning styles and academic skills
2.
Appropriate placement in college-preparatory courses
3.
Extended Orientation or Student Success course completion in
the first semester
4.
Documented Career and Educational Goals and Plans
5.
Documented Financial Plan for education
6.
On-going feedback systems to support student progression to
degree completion
7.
Referrals to academic support systems as needed
8.
Introduce development of individual learning outcomes
documented in a learning portfolio
Please see attached proposal for additional details.
Procedures and Time Line
Facility re-design and resource needs have been addressed
with each Campus Provost. Staff
training and cross-training has begun with the Atlas implementation. In addition, cross-functional teams have
been meeting to begin implementation once resources are approved. The implementation is planned to begin
operations in January 2003.
Detailed Budget
Please see attached.
Learning-Centered Educational Services Proposal
With the
implementation of Atlas, the Educational and Student Services division is
preparing to assist all Valencia students to achieve extraordinary learning
results.
At the charge of the Vice President
for Planning and Educational Services, a team of staff representing admissions,
advising, assessment, enrollment management, financial aid, student accounts,
student services, and faculty spent several months (January – July, 2001) to
re-design the delivery of educational and student services in a manner that maximizes
LIFEMAP, the use of Atlas, and, ultimately, student success for all students.
The Learning-Centered Service
Design Team studied and discussed the literature on re-engineering, the
learning college, and developmental advising. They identified applications of
re-engineering principles in student services at other colleges and made
several college visits. They applied two corollaries to the questions asked in
the Strategic Learning Plan for Goal 1: Learning First: How does this
prepare students to learn? How do we know they are ready to learn?
The recommendations of the design
team support Valencia’s Strategic Learning Plan as noted following each
description.
- Remove
the barriers to learning for students by creating a stream-lined
process of admission and enrollment. (SLP – 2A, 2E, 3F, 4A, 4D, 5B,
5E, 6A, 6B, 7D)
- Current
functional offices (admissions, advising, financial aid) will be replaced
by cross-functional service centers where the majority of students will
conduct the majority of their enrollment “business” with the college.
i.
“Welcome Center” will be centrally located and visible
on each campus and will provide general information by well-trained and
friendly student peers.
ii.
“The Depot” will be easily accessible on each campus
and students will be able to complete the majority of their enrollment
“business” in this location with the assistance of cross-functionally trained
staff. Examples are: clarify initial educational goals, submit admissions
application and materials, obtain financial aid information, submit financial
aid application, learn about assessment purpose and procedures, obtain parking
decals, etc.
iii.
“On Track Center” will be located adjacent to the Depot
and provide a bank of computers for students to update student information;
view and print educational plans, degree audits, grade reports; conduct career
exploration searches, and check e-mail. Center staff will assist students with
the planning process and student access to their Atlas accounts.
iv.
“Home Offices” will provide specialized assistance to
students who need special assistance or cannot resolve their questions through
the Depot and On Track Center. Functional staff experts will be co-located in
the Home Offices and appointments or referrals can be made through the Depot.
v.
“District Offices” will conduct administrative
processing and provide on-going training to staff that is working directly with
students.
- Re-focus
staff expertise by creating re-designed positions that distinguish
between working directly with students in the educational planning
process, and processing student information for administrative purposes.
(SLP – 3F)
- Improve
the ratio of professional advising support for students so that every
new degree-seeking student will have an assigned personal advisor during
their first 15 hours of enrollment who will assist him/her in developing
a career and educational plan, including a financial plan to
complete the educational plan. (SLP – 3B(corollary), 3F)
- Improve
the assessment process by providing more meaningful explanation of the
purpose of the assessments to students and more immediate
interpretation of the results. (SLP – 2E, 4C, 6B, 7D)
- Enrich
the learning and planning information available to students, faculty, and
staff by adding career and
learning style assessments to the entry process for new students. (SLP
– 2B, 4C)
- Introduce
students to the Core Competencies and LIFEMAP through entry processes
and, for degree seeking students, a required orientation program (or
alternative of SLS 1122) during their first semester at Valencia. (SLP
– 2B, 4A, 4D)
- Establish
on-going feedback systems to students (electronic, verbal, and
written) to monitor their progress towards degree completion and document
learning outcomes. (SLP – 5B, 5E)
- Introduce
students to Atlas as a tool to enhance their learning outcomes,
including the Learning Portfolio, and their educational and career
goals and plans.
- Establish
student process and performance indicators and provide routine
feedback to staff on student progression so that continuous improvement
plans will be developed and implemented. (SLP – 4E)
Resources and Timeline
Facility
re-design and resource needs are being prepared in cooperation with Campus
Provost and the Facilities Office. With resource approval, implementation is
planned to begin operations in January 2003.
Results
The
proposed changes will provide an integrated set of learning interventions for
degree seeking students. This includes:
- Assessment
of student learning styles and academic skills
- Appropriate
placement in college-preparatory courses
- Extended
Orientation or Student Success course completion in the first semester
- Documented
Career and Educational Goals and Plans
- Documented
Financial Plan for education
- Ongoing
feedback systems to support student progression to degree completion
- Referrals
to academic support systems as needed
- Individual
learning outcomes in a learning portfolio
Based on the student success literature and
research, this set of learning-centered interventions, in combination with
effective instructional strategies, will result in extraordinary learning
results for significant numbers of students. Specific results in relation to
enrollment, persistence, course completion, and graduation will be determined
in relation to the strategic indicators of the Strategic Learning Plan.
