Case Study #4: Program Planning and Guided Pathways

ISSUE:

One of the key initiatives critical to community college missions is retention of students from semester to semester. Frequently students who are unsure of what their course of study should be tend to “wander”, taking courses that ultimately do not lead directly to a degree or certificate in a timely manner simply because the courses fit their schedule. This is particularly problematic for students who self-advise. Hence, many students lose focus in their academic direction and do not persist, never achieving their potential goal. A lot of effort is invested in recruiting students to the college, and therefore it is equally important to retain students who have already made an enrollment decision by providing them academic “guided pathways”.

SOLUTION:

One way colleges can improve retention and foster student success toward a credential is to offer academic guided pathways. These are semester-by-semester program plans that detail specific courses to take that will lead to a credential in the timeframe desired. Guided pathways can be focused on a specific degree/certificate, or can be more broad-based within a given career “cluster” (such as Allied Health).

If guided pathways are created for students/advisors to access and follow, the courses listed MUST be offered in the semester shown to ensure progression toward the credential. This requires knowledge of not only the historical schedules for all courses, but a commitment by the college to continue offering selected courses in the listed semesters. We developed an Excel tool that again links to the ERP course scheduling module to allow program leads to develop guided pathways using this institutional knowledge.

There are many different ways to implement this concept of guided pathways depending on the focus of the institution. The Program Planning template shown here is one way to improve student access and success by developing a standardized two-year course plan for students in both specific career-oriented programs as well as transfer programs. A Guided Pathway in this embodiment is a semester-by-semester sequence of courses that when followed by students, will provide a clear pathway to graduation in their desired field. This tool accesses the institution’s Two-Year Course Plan, a “perpetual” schedule of courses that are guaranteed to be offered in selected semesters (Fall/Even Year, Spring/Odd Year, Fall/Odd Year, Spring/Even Year). Based on data in this Two-Year Course Plan, this Guided Pathway template is used to develop an appropriate program plan.

The only user inputs to this tool (besides the program name and semester) are the course prefix and course number (the shaded cells). When a course is selected in a given semester, data on course classification, course title, credit hours, and course prerequisites are automatically populated. By having this information readily available, the program chair can construct a viable program plan that will result in achievement of the students’ educational goal with minimal disruption, leading to a higher student retention rate semester to semester. This plan could then be published online in the college’s catalog to ensure that even self-advising students have access to this information.