COMMUNITY COLLEGE INVENTORY:
FOCUS ON STUDENT PERSISTENCE, LEARNING AND ATTAINMENT
(Based upon McClenney and McClenney's CC 2003 Inventory)

The following inventory provides descriptions of characteristics of colleges that are strongly focused on student success - that is, student persistence, learning and attainment.

Related to each characteristic is a set of indicators that more fully describe observable institutional practices. The inventory is intended not as a test and not as a checklist, but rather as a tool for prompting institutional review, reflection,discussion - and, ultimately, action aimed at improvement.


INSTRUCTIONS

Base your responses to the inventory on the following response scale:

RESPONSE SCALE
[Adapted from Renate Krakauer, Criteria for a Learning College, 2000]

D/K: Don't Know. I am not familiar with any campus practices in this area.

NI: No Implementation. There is no evidence that this practice has been implemented in the institution.

UD: Under Discussion. This practice is being discussed or is in the planning stages.

MI: Marginal Implementation. There are isolated examples of this practice in the institution.

PI: Partial Implementation. This practice is being implemented in some areas of the institution in a visible and substantial way.

FI: Full Implementation. This practice has been fully implemented across the institution.


PART I VISION, VALUES AND CULTURE

D/K NI UD MI PI FI
-
Honolulu Community College has clearly defined its mission, values, and vision, with a central emphasis on student persistence, learning, and attainment.
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A shared sense of the mission, values and vision is held by individuals and groups across the HCC community.
-
HCC has made an explicit, public commitment to achieve equity
in educational persistence and attainment across all student groups.
-
HCC consistently enacts the high value placed on
diversity and cultural competence among students, faculty, staff, administrators and governing board members.
-
In pursuit of its mission, HCC has developed a strong culture of evidence.
-
HCC promotes and supports broad engagement of the college
community in processes for planning and priority-setting.
-
HCC promotes and supports broad engagement of the broader
community in processes for planning and priority-setting.
-
Individuals and groups within HCC demonstrate a collective
sense of responsibility for student persistence, learning, and attainment.
-
PART II THE CULTURE OF EVIDENCE
D/K NI UD MI PI FI
-
Institutional research and information systems provide systematic, timely,
useful, and user-friendly information about student persistence, learning, and
attainment.
-
The college culture promotes willingness of administrators, faculty, staff and students to rigorously examine and openly discuss institutional performance regarding:

D/K NI UD MI PI FI
Student Persistence
-
Student Learning
-
Student Attainment (certificates, degrees, transfer)
-
HCC is committed to cohort tracking of entering students to
determine rates of attainment and to identify areas for improvement.
-
HCC regularly collects, analyzes, and reports data pertaining to the following:

D/K NI UD MI PI FI
-
Successful completion of remedial/developmental courses
-
Developmental students' success in entry-level college courses
-
Successful completion of selected gatekeeper courses (e.g.,high enrollment/high failure-rate courses such as college algebra and
freshman composition, etc.)
-
Rate of successful course completion for all courses (C or better)
-
Student persistence - re-enrollment from one term to the next
-
Completion of certificates and associate degrees, or transfer
-
Data depicting student persistence, learning, and attainment are routinely disaggregated and reported by student characteristics including:

D/K NI UD MI PI FI
-
Gender
-
Ethnicity
-
Income level
-
HCC regularly assesses its performance and progress in implementing educational practices which evidence shows will contribute to higher levels of student persistence and learning.
-
The results of student and institutional assessments are used routinely to
inform institutional decisions regarding:

D/K NI UD MI PI FI
-
Strategic priorities
-
Resource allocation
-
Faculty and staff development
-
Improvements in programs and services for learners
-
Beliefs and assertions about “what works” in promoting student learning
and attainment are evidence-based.
-
PART III STRATEGIC FOCUS, PLANNING, AND RESOURCE ALLOCATION

D/K NI UD MI PI FI
-
HCC has a strategic plan that clearly and succinctly states its
goals for future development.
-
The HCC strategic plan is used to guide operational planning for each fiscal
year.
-
Strategic focus is created through the identification of a small number of
clear priorities for institutional action.
-
The college demonstrates its ability to stop doing things that are off mission,
low-priority, and/or ineffective in promoting student persistence,
learning, and attainment.
-
The results of student and institutional assessments are used routinely to
inform plans for improvement in programs and services.
-
Members of the campus community participate extensively in the
planning and priority-setting processes.
-
Resources are consistently allocated and re-allocated to address priorities
identified through the planning process.

-
PART IV STUDENT LEARNING
-
HCC has clearly defined required student learning outcomes:

D/K NI UD MI PI FI
-
for core abilities/ general education (degree level)
-
for each program/major area
-
for each course
-
Statements of required learning outcomes reflect consensus achieved by
teaching faculty.
-
Statements of required learning outcomes are congruent with the mission
and values of the institution.
-
Statements of required learning outcomes are prominently and publicly
displayed and communicated.
-
Faculty members have designed and/or identified and implemented an array of appropriate assessments of student learning:

D/K NI UD MI PI FI
-
In all credit courses
-
In the program/major area
-
In core abilities/general education
-
Faculty members have developed common criteria or rubrics that are used in ascertaining and documenting each student’s level of attainment of
required learning outcomes.
-
Third-party judgment or validation is routinely incorporated in assessment approaches.
-
Faculty design curriculum and teaching strategies to ensure alignment with required student learning outcomes.
-
The college has designed and implemented across-the-curriculum teaching/learning strategies in areas such as:

D/K NI UD MI PI FI
-
Writing
-Quantitative reasoning
-
Technology /computing
-
Faculty members clearly articulate learning outcomes at different levels
of the curriculum; consequently, prerequisites are clear and rational, and
sequential levels are appropriately aligned with one another.
-
Faculty members implement diverse approaches to learning that address and challenge the variety of learning styles among their students.
-
Faculty members document their teaching approaches, and students use the information in their selection of courses and other learning options.
-
The college has built partnerships with employers and community-based organizations leading to hands-on experiential learning experiences for students.
-
Students typically participate in opportunities for experiential learning
(e.g.,service learning, internships, cooperative learning).
-
Students frequently engage in other active and collaborative learning experiences (e.g., learning communities, team learning, problem-based learning, mentoring, peer tutoring, etc.).
-
Frequent student interaction with peers, faculty, and academic/student support staff is purposefully incorporated into the design of learning experiences and course requirements.
-
Course requirements are purposefully designed to promote out-of classroom learning experiences for students (e.g., group projects, faculty
conferences, related community service, etc.).
-
Faculty members routinely identify high-failure-rate courses and undertake collaborative re-design of those courses to promote student success while maintaining high quality standards.
-
HCC has developed curricula with explicit career pathways that feature:

D/K NI UD MI PI FI
-
Articulation with secondary school programs
-
Strong links between basic skills/ ESL/ developmental courses and college-level courses
-
Certificate programs providing the first step to the A.A.S. degree
-
Articulation with related baccalaureate programs
-
Expectations regarding students’ responsibilities in the learning process are explicitly stated and are communicated to all students by faculty, counselors, and fellow students.
-
Students frequently engage in self-assessment and reflection on their learning processes and goals.
-
Faculty members provide students with frequent and timely feedback on their progress in learning.
-
HCC conducts thorough reviews of current programs for underprepared students to determine student success rates and identify needs for improvement.
-
Mandatory assessment and course placement policies have been implemented for entering students.
-
Exit competencies for developmental education and ESL courses are fully aligned with competencies required for success in entry-level college courses.
-
Faculty who teach developmental courses do so voluntarily and have undergone training in appropriate teaching strategies.
-
The college has created learning communities that link developmental courses to courses in other disciplines.
-
PART V STUDENT AND ACADEMIC SUPPORT SERVICES

D/K NI UD MI PI FI
-
All college processes (financial aid application, registration, etc.) are
student-friendly
-
A strong and systematic advising system ensures that each student
develops an academic plan.
-
The advising process stresses steps toward degree attainment.
-
The institution employs informational and instructional technology in ways
specifically targeted to improve student persistence, learning, and
attainment
-
Fundraising efforts are focused on providing financial aid to low-income
students.
-
Student needs drive class schedule development.
-
Strong partnerships with K-12 systems ease the transition for high school
graduates coming to the community college.
-
Strong articulation agreements with senior colleges promote smooth
transfer without inappropriate loss of credit for community college students.
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PART VI THE PEOPLE OF THE COLLEGE

D/K NI UD MI PI FI
-
The roles of faculty, staff, and administrators are defined in terms of
functions and behaviors that contribute to student success.
-
Staffing patterns and workload arrangements reflect a focus on student
persistence, learning, and attainment.
-
Employment practices reflect high value placed on diversity.
-
Personnel recruitment, selection, and orientation processes explicitly
reflect the focus on student persistence, learning, and attainment.
-
Systematic evaluation of teaching effectiveness includes evaluation by
both peers and students.
-
At all levels of the college, personnel evaluation criteria and processes
reflect a focus on activities and behaviors that contribute to student learning
– and promote learning by the person being evaluated.
-
Reward systems recognize and reward outstanding contributions to
improving student persistence, learning, and attainment and creating more
effective learning environments.
-
Faculty and staff development opportunities are focused on improvement
of student persistence, learning, and attainment and informed by the results
of student and institutional assessments.
-
PART VI I LEADERSHIP FOR LEARNING

D/K NI UD MI PI FI
-
Administrative and faculty leaders demonstrate a commitment to strengthening student persistence, learning, and attainment - a commitment that extends beyond rhetoric to actions in resource allocation, policymaking, and data-driven decision making.
-
The Chancellor and other HCC leaders frequently use data about student
persistence and learning to drive decisions.
-
PART VIII - INSTITUTIONAL POLICY

D/K NI UD MI PI FI
-
Key institutional documents (e.g., mission and vision statements, college catalogue, program descriptions) reflect the focus on student success.
-
Academic policies (e.g., provisions for registration, assessment and course placement upon entry, class changes, college orientation, first-year experience, feedback on academic progress, etc.) reflect priority placed on student persistence, learning, and attainment.

DEMOGRAPHICS

Please provide information about yourself in each of the demographic categories. The results of the Inventory will be reported in a manner to assure the privacy of each respondent. Thank you for taking the time to complete the Inventory.

Female Male
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Your GENDER:
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YOUR ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISION:
TECH 1
TECH 2
UC - HUMANITIES & SOCIAL SCIENCES
UC - LANGUAGE ARTS
UC - MATHEMATICS & NATURAL SCIENCES
PATC
STUDENT SERVICES (Includes: Financial Aid, Admissions, Counseling, Student Life, Native Hawiian Center, Student Health Office, and the Career and Employment Office)
ACADEMIC SUPPORT (Includes: Library, Educational Media Center, College Skills Center, Information Technology Center, Management & Institutional Research, Student Records, and Disabilities Services)
PUBLIC SERVICES (Includes: Continuing Education & Training, PCATT, and Apprenticeship)
INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT (Includes: Human Resources, Business Office, and Operation & Maintenance)
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YOUR POSITION:
Faculty APT Managerial Civil Service
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NUMBER OF YEARS AT HCC:
Fewer than 5 years 5 Years to 10 Years More than 10 Years