COOPERATIVE AND EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING – AQIP ACTION PROJECT

Recommendation to the President and Executive Cabinet of Mott Community College

November 21, 20083:00 p.m. / RTC 1107

Action Project Background

• Prioritization process that included Conversation Day• Surveys of internal and external community• Executive Cabinet, Trustee Member, and

representatives from faculty and staff agreed on the final three at Strategy Forum May 17-20, 2006

• Action project team members were identified by President after the strategy forum

Team MembershipTeam SponsorScott Jenkins Vice President for Student and Administrative Services

Amy Fugate Vice President for Academic Affairs

Team MembersCarlos Cisneros Student & Administrative Services Community Outreach & Engagement

Coordinator [team leader]Tom Crampton Executive Dean for the Regional Technology Center M-TEC Becky Garske Social Sciences Division FacultyPaul Jordan Social Sciences Division FacultyLaurette Wright Academic Affairs secretaryRobert Matthews Director of Workforce Development – WEC [team leader]Lillie McCain Social Sciences Division Faculty and Advisor Cindy McDaniel Employment Services Coordinator [team leader]Carol Nielsen Business Division Cosmetology Program Faculty, coordinator and advisor,

[team leader]Paul Rozycki Social Sciences Faculty

AQIP “Pit Crew” Mike Cieslinski Student and Administrative Services Resources CoordinatorGail Ives Executive Director of Institutional ResearchSteve Robinson AQIP Coordinator / Humanities Division Faculty

HistoryIn 1995 an Ad Hoc CPSC committee recommended the expansion of experiential learning; no action was taken due to new efforts to study School-to-Work Initiatives.

In November 2005 expansion of experiential education was one of the recommendations to emerge from Conversation Day; its priority was confirmed through the various stages of internal and external prioritization.

Experiential Education team leaders drafted a final goal statement in August, 2006 with a target completion date of May 2009.

Training and continuous improvement was conducted by Carol Tyler late August, early September 2006.

Between September 2006 and March 2008 the team held regular meetings, conducted surveys and gathered relevant information pertaining to experiential education.

In April 2008 the team completes recommendations to be submitted to the president and executive cabinet.

Vision

• Raise the expectations that all students have relevant Experiential Ed experiences

• Explore the possibilities of documenting Experiential Ed experiences on transcripts

• Create an institutional culture that values Experiential Ed/Applied Learning

• Experiences aid faculty in currency of the curriculum and engagement of the community

Project Goal

“The goal of this project is that cooperative education and other experiential learning opportunities be expanded in all areas of the college curriculum.”

The team defined “all areas of the college curriculum” as: •Credit•Non-credit

– Continuing Education/Corporate Services – Workforce Development

Accomplishments

• Surveyed all faculty (both part-time and full-time) to describe current experiential activities in all college courses

• Engaged both the credit and non-credit areas of the college in investigating and researching the topic

• Developed a rich body of web-based resources on the team’s work processes, including meeting minutes, agendas, resources from other institutions, etc. on the central AQIP web site; demonstrations of these web-based resources to internal college groups including supervisors, managers, etc.

Accomplishments• Defined terms related to experiential education,

curriculum, co-op, etc.• Produced an inventory of credit courses with co-op,

internship, externship, and practicum experiences• Began to inventory non-credit experiential opportunities

and external relationships and sources for experiential education

• Discussed the need for a “clearinghouse” to match students (credit, non-credit, Workforce Development, and Continuing Ed) with opportunities

• Reviewed the recommendations submitted to CPSC in 1995 by the ad-hoc Experiential Learning Committee and found many similarities between our analysis and the 1995 recommendations.

• Positive AQIP Reviewer comments in 2007 & 2008.

Definitions

• Need was identified for a common lexicon of terms related to experiential education, cooperative learning, etc.

• Broad review was conducted to identify the various terms that define the concept of experiential education

• Initial collection of working definitions was compiled

Definitions• Apprenticeships: Combined work and education experience with an employer.• Clinicals: Course(s) which provide a supervised clinical experience in an approved

medical setting.• Co-op: A course that allows a student to work in a job related to the student’s

program of study. • Experiential Learning: Learning through experience, either in a real situation, such

as a workplace, or in a role play or simulated environment. • Externship: May or may not be compensated, not an employee of the company,

purely educational but do not receive college credit.• Field Work: Course(s) which provide the student with the opportunity to

demonstrate competency in the classroom. Practical work experience in an agency or organization. Field experiences intended to provide students with real world work experiences and contact with working professionals.

• Internship: May or may not be compensated, students work for an employer for a specified period of time to learn about a particular industry, occupation or skill set.

Definitions• Job Shadowing: A student follows an employee at a company location to learn

about a particular occupation or industry. Used most often to gain information about an occupation.

• Mentoring: An employee who possesses the skills and knowledge to be mastered by a student, and who instructs the student.

• Practicum: A course of study designed especially for the preparation of teachers and clinicians that involves the supervised practical application of previously studied theory

• Project-Based Co-op: Learning experience that provides students the opportunity to work on specific, short-term projects from an employer in conjunction with their academic program.

• Service Learning: A method of teaching, learning and reflecting that combines academic classroom curriculum with meaningful community service.

• Work Study: A federal or state-funded program that allows students to work on campus to gain valuable work experience and earn money for expenses, preferably in program of study.

Survey Results

5

9

15

11

15

108

1715

68

02468

1012141618

•61 faculty participated in this survey

•93 Course/sections were identified as having an experiential component

• The following shows the distribution of how each faculty member classifies their course

*Each course could have more than one selection

Survey Results

Distribution by Division

18%

4%

4%

28%

10%

9%

18%

9%Business

Counseling

Fine Arts

Health Science

Humanities

Information Technology

Social Science

Technology

Recommendations1. President and/or his designee should be responsible for

administration and oversight of the recommended position and the Experiential Learning Office.

2. Create and maintain a clearinghouse for standardized management of information related to faculty, staff, student, and employer/community stakeholder needs.

3. Create and fund a position to develop, manage, and coordinate existing resources and facilitate new opportunities for cooperative education and experiential learning.

4. Allocate the appropriate physical space and equipment to support the effective functioning of the Experiential Learning Office.

5. Transition the AP Team into a “resource council” who will be empowered to provide ongoing guidance, advice and support to the Experiential Learning Office.

1. Presidential Level•There needs to be a clear administrative responsibility at the executive level.

•This will acknowledge an institutional responsibility to involve all areas of the institution, including Academic Affairs and Student & Administrative Services

2. Clearinghouse Function

3. Provide Human Resources/Position

Experiential education for our students requires a champion to promote, maintain and expand opportunities. Our proposed solution requires a resource person dedicated to this purpose who will: •Build and manage relationships throughout the college and community•Provide technical support to faculty, staff and students•Initiate new applied learning initiatives •Apply expertise and marketing skills

4. Space Allocation

•Readily accessible to staff and students•Access to adequate and appropriate administrative and staff support

•Provide appropriate furnishings and equipment

5. Experiential Education “Resource Council”

Transition the Cooperative and Experiential Education Team into a “resource council” who will be empowered to provide ongoing guidance, advice and support to the Experiential Learning Office.

What We Are Asking For

1 2 3 4 5 6 7Identify area

for improvement

Define current

situation

Analyze current

situation

Develop improvement

theory

Implement best

strategies

Monitor results

Adjust, standardize,

or plan further

Approve the creation of a position and office charged with the development, management, coordination, and evaluation of existing and future applied learning arrangements in all areas of the curriculum.

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Links to MCC StrategicPlan 2007-2012 & HLC Accreditation

This project impacts all three student oriented strategic goals

Student Learning & Success

1.1 Utilize research and development to proactively enhance curriculum to meet demands of students and employers.

1.2 Focus, align and integrate organizational efforts across academic, student service, continuing education and workforce development, to support student learning.

1.3 Coordinate curriculum and services across all sites to create learning-centered environments that offer all students an opportunity to succeed.

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Links to MCC StrategicPlan 2007-2012 & HLC Accreditation

Other strategic objectivesSystems Improvement3.1 Develop comprehensive cross-functional improvement processes that enable us to

respond quickly to changes in the external environment while simultaneously making existing operations faster, smarter, cheaper, and of the same or higher quality.

3.2 Using AQIP principles and practices ensure that improvement processes and communication between all sectors of the college start with community and student needs and end with student success.

Economic Development4.1 MCC programs and services will be directly related to the labor market needs of our region

and we will continuously analyze and prepare for emerging economic challenges and opportunities.

4.2 Expand our capacity to be involved and responsive to local, regional and state plans for economic growth and align our resources and assets to enhance the viability of the community.

Institutional Image & Community Relations6.1 Continue to have a positive presence in the community by engaging community partners

to better meet area educational needs.

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Links to MCC StrategicPlan 2007-2012 & HLC Accreditation

Higher Learning Commission Criteria for Accreditation

Criterion Five: Engagement and ServiceAs called for by its mission, the organization identifies its

constituencies and serves them in ways both vale

• The organization learns from the constituencies it serves and analyzes its capacity to serve their needs and expectations

• The organization has the capacity and the commitment to engage with its identified constituencies and communities

• The organization demonstrates its responsiveness to those constituencies that depend on it for service

• Internal and external constituencies value the service the organization provides

In Summary• AQIP Priority• Aligned with Strategic Plan• Aligned with HLC Criterion• Creates system to support student

experiential learning• Requires Executive Cabinet action

Thank YouQuestions?