leading the advising journey for the underprepared student lisa alexander and eva menefee lansing...
TRANSCRIPT
Leading the Advising Journey for the
Underprepared studentLisa Alexander and Eva Menefee
Lansing Community CollegeNACADA National Conference 2014
Welcome to our Journey
Who Is coming along?Characteristics of Lansing Community CollegeCharacteristics of Developmental Education at LCC.Characteristics of the Academic Advising Center.Characteristics of LCC students
Let our Journey begin
Lansing Community College
• Urban Campus• Fall enrollment 18,000• Supported tax base covers 15 different
school districts• More than 2800 faculty, staff and
student employees• More than 400 international students
from over 56 countries• Nearly 200 course offered in General
Education, Career and Workforce Development, Development Education, and Personal Enrichment
• More than 300 Certificate and Associate Degree Programs• 22 Associate degrees and certificates
are offered completely on line• 2500 LCC students transfer to a wide
variety of University each year, include a campus based University Center• Wide range of support services for
Veterans, more veterans attend LCC than any other Community College in Michigan
Developmental Education
Housed in the Center for Transitional LearningThe CTL is based on the framework of Adult
Basic EducationUses a Progress Through Pathway approach
Step 1 – Foundations for SuccessStep 2 – READ 150 – SDEV 090 – WRIT 108Step 3 – Contextualized Reading ClustersStep 4 – Students are prepared for:
EmploymentTransferCompletion of Associate’s Degree as
Terminal (Applied Degree)Transfer after Completing the Associate’s
Degree
Academic Advising Center
2 full time advisors hired at LCC in 1994A cadre of 80 faculty hired as result of Title 3
grant in the spring of 1994Staffing model changed to use of full time
advisors and part time advisors scheduled for 30 hour per week. Supplemental faculty on staff during peak times
2014 staffing model changed again – 10 full time advisors and 3 part time 30 hour advisors. Very limited supplemental hours available for faculty advisors
Moved to new area after remodel and new design of advising center
The Typical LCC Student
Approximately 60% FT – 40% PT 55% female 23% ethnic minority Average age of the LCC student is 27 Of the 63% college-ready students,
approximately 50% are Pell-eligible 70% of all students enrolled place into
at least one developmental class, primarily MATH
The Typical Developmental Student
• Approximately 27% of all students enter with Reading-Writing levels below college-ready• Approximately 80% of this group
is Pell-eligible• Most students with these test
scores need developmental reading, writing and math.
The role of poverty
• Most of the Pell eligible students taking developmental courses are first generation.• Generational Poverty is defined
as having been in poverty for at least two generations. • Situational Poverty is defined as
a lack of resources due to a particular event (i.e., a death, chronic illness, divorce, etc.)
• Differences between poverty and middle class and how they play a role in satisfactory/unsatisfactory experience.• Formal Register.• Learning hidden rules.• Beyond Access-support
Ruby K. Payne, Ph.D. (1996) a framework for Understanding Poverty. Pp7 and 27
First Stop – Spring and Summer 2012:
• New Advising Leadership: New Model• Cohort Advising• Move to having students grouped
into cohorts• Advising staff included:
• 4 full time advisiors• 9 part time 30 hour advisors• 10 supplemental faculty advisors
• Advisors to meet in cohort groups to create advising syllabus and activity plans
Developmental Cohort Advisors
• First meeting• Cohort includes 1 FT, 3 PT, and 2 supplemental advisors• Advisors to meet with students taking developmental reading and writing courses• Two advisors go into two sections of reading to present a Photo Imaging
presentation• Advisors begin spending 15-20 hours per week in the Language Skills office at a
table in the lobby
• Two Advisors attend NACADA Summer Institute Summer 2012• Developmental Advising Syllabus creation• SDEV 135 identified as the classroom visits to increase in the fall• Time spent in Language Skills Department to increase in the fall
Second Stop – 2012/2013 Academic Year
Spring 2013• 3 visits to SDEV 135• 1 visit to SDEV 101• Table in CLT staffed
every day including Saturday morning
Fall 2012• 3 visits to SDEV 135 • Development of
Advising Syllabus• Staffing of table in
Center for Transitional Learning (CTL) formally Language Skills
Summer 2013• No classroom visits• Limited table
coverage in the CLT• 4 sections of SDEV
135• 1 section of SDEV 101
Third Stop – 2013/2014 Academic Year
Fall 2013• 32 sections SDEV 090• 24 sections SDEV 101• 1 FT, 3 PT, 2
Supplemental advisors• Advising table 12 hours
weekly
Summer 2014• No Classroom visits• Instructors
encouraged to use video created for SDEV 101• No table in the CTL• End of Cohort
Advising• 4 sections SDEV 090• 2 sections SDEV 101
Spring 2014• 15 sections SDEV 090• 11 sections of SDEV 101• 1 FT, 3 PT, 2
Supplemental Advisors• Advising table 4 hrs.
weekly• 10 FT advisors hired
March 14, 3 of the FT are dedicated to the Developmental Cohort
The journey continues….
Fall 2014• No Table in the CTL• 3 FT advisors • Advisors decide Developmental
students need more love even without cohort advising• 23 sections of SDEV 090 each continue
to get 3 visits• 15 sections of SDEV 101 each continue
to get 1 visit• EDP video available for on-line or face to
face courses
Spring 2015• 12 sections of SDEV 090• 6 sections of SDEV 101
Bumps along the way…
• Development of advising syllabus• Development of materials• Creation of presentations• Elimination of cohort advising• Increase number of sections
decreasing number of advisors • Non flexible enrollment
minimums
• New leadership with a non-advising background• Dean who moved on to new
academic pursuits• Remodel and move to new
temporary space• New financial aid regulations• Personality conflicts between
assigned advisor and instructor
Reflection, Evaluation, Challenges, Change…• Revisit the items that make us
bump• Losing staff – feeling
overwhelmed• Talk of “no more cohorts”• Talk of “using cohorts”• Lack of formal evaluation –
currently evaluation is only anecdotal in nature
• Operation 100% and lack of knowledge of developmental students• Federal Financial Aid regulation
changes
Advisors take the Lead
• Continued partnership with Director and Faculty in the Center for Transitional Learning• Continued scheduling of advising
visits to all SDEV 090 and 101 courses• Development and updating of
information provided in the packets that are presented
• Other advising activities scheduled based on work of the developmental cohort• Continued revisiting of the
policies and procedures that impact the developmental student• Collaboration at conferences
(State and National) with member of the CTL
The Magical Packet
• Includes:• Career Development• Passion• Networking• Interviews• Time Management• Levels of Education• Costs of Education• List of Majors at LCC• Transfer agreement• Educational Development Plan
From Undecided to completing an EDP
• Material developed for Undecided students• Based on Packet prepared for
Developmental cohort• More information available to
students on D2L
Questions?
Thanks for coming!
Lisa Alexander [email protected] (517) 483-1197
Eva Menefee [email protected] (517) 483-9674