Guided Pathways Initiative

The Guided Pathways initiative creates clear routes for students from beginning to degree completion or transfer. Students can plan their full- or part-time schedule for their entire program and understand program requirements, with milestones marked along the way for us to monitor progress and intervene. Guided Pathways uses a consistent template with information about careers and transfer. Undecided students can work in meta-majors to explore their options in more directed and planned ways. The goal is to help more students get on track and stay on track to complete a degree and to provide milestones for when we need to step in and re-direct them.

Jackson College is one of 12 in the first cohort working on this initiative. The Michigan Center for Student Success provides professional development, national experts, and guidance. Our Steering Committee is co-chaired by Dr. Ted Miller and Dr. Rebekah Woods. Members include: Dianne Hill, Lisa Dunlap, Helen Grim, John Knevel, Martha Petry, Elias Samuels, Nathan Venske, Todd Butler, Jeremy Frew, Charlotte Finnegan, Ted Miller, and Rebekah Woods. Guided Pathways is a goal set in the Strategic Plan and is one of our current AQIP projects.

Aren’t we doing fine?

Overall, Michigan community colleges have a 52% completion/transfer rate. Our Fall 2011 cohort, as of now, has a 38% completion/transfer rate. Almost half of those who started in 2011 are not in college now. Colleges and universities using guided pathways show increased completion rates.

Started in: / # Students / % Graduated / % Transferred / % Still Enrolled / % Missing
Fall 2010 / 1292 / 12% / 31% / 22% / 35%
Fall 2011 / 1162 / 11% / 27% / 20% / 42%

Is this us?

  Limited upfront career and college planning

  Too many choices; requirements and pre-requisites confusing

  Paths unclear, poorly aligned with end goals

  Developmental diversion with much time spent in foundational studies courses

  Students’ progress not monitored

  Limited on-going feedback and support

  Poor alignment with high schools and other colleges

Would this be better?

  Career/college goal-setting from the start

  Required plans using program maps

  “Exploratory” majors for undecided students

  Predictable schedules so students can better plan time for college

  Academic support integrated into program gatekeeper courses (not just MATH & ENG)

  Progress tracking, feedback and support

  Bridges to college programs from feeders

Examples of Guided Pathways

Arizona State University at https://students.asu.edu/programs then click on “Explore Degrees”

Queensborough Community College http://www.qcc.cuny.edu/academics/index.html

General Timeline

  January-April 2015: Map programs (broad strokes)

  May-August 2015: Begin adding details, design intake and monitoring processes

  September-December 2015: Continue adding details

  January-April 2016: Finalize default pathways

  May-August 2016: Register students

  September 2016: Students start on pathways

Professional Development for Developing Guided Pathways (GP)

Facilitator/Moderator Training: February 27 at Mott Community College

Guided Pathways Institute: April 23, Grand Rapids Community College

Pathways Workshop: April 24, Grand Rapids Community College

Faculty Conversations: May 13, Kalamazoo Valley (KVCC); May 14, Henry Ford College

GP Institutes, Webinars, and online courses throughout 2015 and 2016

National Experts Guiding Us

Davis Jenkins Community College Research Center Teachers College, Columbia University

Rob Johnstone National Center for Inquiry and Improvement

Gretchen Schmidt, Jobs for the Future

What’s involved?

  Degree maps created by faculty that define learning outcomes, course sequences, and career/transfer information

  Exploratory or ‘meta-majors’ to help students define their goals, find their majors and explore their options

  Predictable schedules created by faculty and provided to students to plan out their whole program from the first semester to graduation

  Progress tracking, feedback and support with milestones defined by faculty and Institutional Research. Students who miss the milestones are contacted by advisors before they have lost credits and lowered GPAs.

  Limit the number of diverse choices and integrate foundational skills into the gateway college-level courses

Partial Checklist for Jackson College

ü  Give students a clear roadmap to end goals with simplified choices as designated by faculty

ü  Set course schedules for the length of the program

ü  Incorporate career and transfer information

ü  Set milestones to monitor student progress, giving feedback and support as needed

ü  Help new students choose and enter the program with specialized orientations

ü  Make Pathways available for new students registering for Fall 2016 (project goal)

ü  Plan to allocate resources to sustain the effort over a significant period of time

ü  Commit to sharing student outcomes with other colleges