Organizing Our Objectives
While Mid can take pride in its long-standing commitment to student success and to its documented achievements, much work remains. Challenges to student success can be found, and must be addressed, throughout the student experience. Opportunities for improving student success can be organized in a five-part spectrum – Enrollment, Developmental Education, Progress, Transfer and Completion, and Workforce Readiness.[13]
[13] The College Board. The Completion Arch: Completion Arch Home. http://www.completionarch.org/#sthash.mzZqaQHu (accessed November 19, 2015).
OBJECTIVE AREAS:
Area 1: Enrollment
1.1. Continue to strengthen relationships with K-12 partners to increase the percentage of high school graduates who attend college and who attend Mid. Mid’s Recruitment Plan[14] lays out operational objectives for maximizing this opportunity.
1.2. Diversify the enrollment profile across locations, gender, age, and targeted populations. Mid ’s Marketing Plan[15] identifies initial approaches for maximizing this opportunity.
1.3. Proactively increase and manage Mid’s enrollment by improving its prospect-to-enrolled student yield, encouraging full-time enrollment, and identifying and responding to emerging educational markets.
1.4. Analyze and adjust our enrollment, orientation, and advising processes, remembering that Mid is more about how students experience the College than it is about how the College processes its students.
1.5. Expand the outreach to nontraditional students through approaches like distance education, competency-based education, summer course offerings, and short-term certificates.
1.6. Continue to identify and reach out to special-target markets such as international students, non-traditional students, those enrolling through Michigan Colleges Online (MCO), and guest students from state universities.
1.7. Reinforce our commitment to affordable higher education through tuition and financial aid strategies, student employment opportunities, and the pursuit of lower textbook costs. For further discussion of this opportunity, see Enduring Goal #4.
[14] Mid Recruitment Plan, 2015:https://drive.google.com/a/midmich.edu/file/d/0B5RM-mfdgVmFTnkweDVJTUlybW8/view?usp=sharing
[15]Mid Marketing Plan, 2015: https://drive.google.com/a/midmich.edu/file/d/0B5R...
Area 2: Placement and Developmental Education
We know that many community college students, including some at Mid,
arrive with test scores and grades below average. They are at high risk when colleges fail to
find the appropriate course sequence and support services for them. Some have not yet experienced a passion for
learning. Evidence shows that no single
metric can predict student success. Mid has already moved to a more holistic approach for student placement in order
to maximize student success in developmental coursework. This work must continue as we pursue the
following objectives:
1.
2.
2.1.
Identify and implement multiple
measures, both cognitive and non-cognitive, to provide students and faculty
with the information they need to maximize student success.
2.2.
Identify and implement measures
that build on the strengths of each student to progress beyond developmental
coursework.
2.3.
Continue the successful
strategies identified through the Title III grant and implement the Student
Services Success (SSS) Grant from the Department of Education, providing
particular support for first-generation, high-risk students.
2.4.
Continue to identify and
implement ways to shorten the developmental pipeline and promote enrollment in
college-level coursework.
Area 3: Progress
Enrollment in courses is necessary but not sufficient for student success. Success is achieved when students progress to a broader and deeper understanding of increasingly complex material. In our society such learning is documented by the award of a grade, a skill-based certificate, or an Associate ’s degree. The acquisition and verification of knowledge and skills combine to give students the maximum return on their educational investment. Nationally, fewer than 30% of community college students complete an Associate ’s degree within 6 years of enrollment. At Mid, the percentage is below 20%.[16] In its 2014 Reaffirmation Report, the Higher Learning Commission called upon Mid to improve its persistence and completion rates. [17]
Over the last four years of the Noel Levitz survey, students have told us that they need greater support to achieve their goals and that they are concerned about the accuracy and effectiveness of academic advising. Our students report the need for more timely feedback about their programs and a need for early alerts when their efforts fall short of the mark. They report concerns about the quality of instruction. And, as is the case at many community colleges, students report concerns about the course schedule.
As it looks
to the future, Mid must strengthen the student experience through the
following objectives:
3.1.
Analyze and adjust the course
schedule for greater effectiveness and efficiency on both the Harrison and Mt.
Pleasant campuses.
3.2.
Improve student course evaluation
mechanisms and classroom observations to provide useful feedback on
instructional quality.
3.3.
Improve feedback to students regarding
their progress by using Moodle and Early Alerts.
3.4.
Foster student engagement through
co-curricular activities and active learning strategies.
3.5.
Advance Mid’s work with the
Degree
Qualifications Profile (DQP) and Tuning
[18] as well as the T-Shaped Professional[19]
strategies to ensure that learning intensifies across the curriculum.
3.6.
Use assessment results to assist instructors in improvements to the
structure and delivery of course material.
3.7.
Determine what level of proficiency students should obtain in the use of
technology and develop learning outcomes to achieve that goal.
3.8.
Monitor achievement results for all demographic subsets of Mid’s
population to ensure equity in all educational programs.
3.9.
Maintain and improve the quality of Mid’s academic programs by meeting
accreditation standards for its career-focused programs.
3.10.
Identify and implement opportunities for undergraduate research, honors
programs, and other best-practice strategies to enhance the academic quality of
the student experience.
[16]The Voluntary Framework of Accountability. Mid Michigan Community College Report. https://drive.google.com/a/midmich.edu/file/d/0B5R...
[17]The Higher Learning Commission, https://www.midmich.edu/files/26/2015 MidMichiga... (accessed November 19, 2015).
[18] The
Lumina Foundation. The Degree
Qualifications Profile and Tuning,
http://degreeprofile.org/new-to-the-dqp/, (accessed
November 19, 2015).
[19] “T-Shaped
Professional,”
Collegiate Employment Research Institute, http://www.ceri.msu.edu/t-shaped-professionals/ (accessed
November 17, 2015).
Area 4: Transfer and Completion
As is the case at many community colleges, students find themselves in
an academic maze with too many choices and too little direction. An analysis of course enrollment patterns
shows that 75% of Mid enrollment occurs in 67 of the more than 400 course
offerings.
[20] Of these, too many do not transfer to Michigan’s
universities. Through its participation
in the
Michigan Community College Association (MCCA) Guided Pathways Project,
Mid has already embarked on a shift from a course-centered focus to a more
coherent curriculum. In doing so, the
College recognizes that today
’s college students often swirl from college to college, requiring that
our transfer policies reflect both transfer
from and transfer to
Mid. Mid has identified the following
strategies to support student completion and transfer:
1.
2.
3.
4.
4.1.
Continue and complete Mid’s work with the Guided Pathways initiative.
4.2.
Identify courses in the curriculum with limited transfer value and take
steps to address the situation.
4.3.
Continue to work with Mid’s primary university partner, Central Michigan
University, to strengthen academic collaboration.
4.4.
Identify new courses and programs that could contribute to bachelor
degree completion opportunities.
4.5.
Identify momentum points and milestones to program and degree completion
and provide recognition and reinforcement to students along the way in order to
incentivize completion.
4.6.
Analyze and address the situations of those students who earn 45 or more
credits at Mid but who do not complete their degrees.
4.7.
Analyze and address enrollment and completion by academic program area. See Strategic Goal #4.
4.8.
Build laddered non-credit and customized training programs that lead to
certificates and degrees.
[20] Mid Michigan College Annual Instructional
Report. May, 2015.
https://www.midmich.edu/application/files/2414/313...
Area 5: Workforce Preparation and Employment Opportunities
Mid plays a leading role in preparing local residents for jobs in our
communities and across the state.
Workforce preparation incorporates both credit and non-credit offerings
such as customized corporate training and community education. Whether they remain in our region or seek
employment in national or international settings, Mid graduates must be
equipped with the knowledge and skills to achieve their goals.
As a part of Michigan’s eight-county Prosperity Region 5, the College has participated in a strategic planning process for regional economic development.
[21]
The strength of higher education in the
region (including Mid, Central Michigan University, Delta College, Saginaw
Valley State University, Alma College, and Northwood University) has been
identified as a key asset for the region.
The East Michigan Council of Governments (EMCOG) report highlights five
areas for economic growth in the coming decade:
- Advanced Materials Technologies for the automotive industry, including plastics
- Clean energy technology including biomass, solar, wind, battery storage, and oil & gas
- Agricultural logistics and processing
- Health sciences
- International workforce training and higher education services
Mid Michigan College is also a part of the Great Lakes Bay
Regional Alliance (GLBRA). The STEM Impact Findings
[22]
identified by GLBRA focus on the key process elements that will be required to
build the talent pipeline for these career areas. These elements include:
- Driven by employer demand
- Powered by career-ready and college-ready students
- Focused on strengthening technical skills need for the economy
- Sustained by a culture of STEM
Mid sees the following objectives in this area:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
5.1.
Provide students with recommended course selections that are relevant to
each area of study.
5.2.
Construct academic advising guides that integrate general education and
program-focused courses.
5.3.
Develop a system of skill-based certificates that ladder to academic
degrees.
5.4.
Develop experiential learning options for students in each academic
program. Such options include but are
not limited to internships, apprenticeships, service-learning, and clinical
coursework.
5.5.
Undertake an analysis of the role that technology and distance education
should play in the academic curriculum and adopt appropriate strategies to
fulfill that role.
5.6.
Be more intentional about Mid's use of competency-based education.
5.7.
Ensure that Mid's laboratory settings and equipment enable students to
develop the skills needed for future careers.
5.8.
Develop a career center to support student exploration and pursuit of
meaningful careers after graduation.
5.9.
Develop academic programs that align with the region
’s economic development and
anticipated workforce needs.
5.10.
Expand Mid's customized corporate and community-education offerings.
5.11.
Find ways to be ahead of the curve on emerging trends and technologies.
[21]
TIP Strategies and
Eastern Michigan Council of Government, “
Regional Prosperity Strategy A
5-Year Strategic Plan for East Central Michigan,
2014.” http://milmi.org/?PAGEID=67&SUBID=230
[22]
Great Lakes Bay Regional Alliance. Stem
Impact Findings
. 2014. http://www.livebinders.com/play/play?id=1428934&backurl=/shelf/my.