EDUCATION

ENVIRONMENTAL SCAN FINDINGS

I.  ENROLLMENT

Environmental Scan findings:

• Almost half of all students entering community colleges enroll in at least one remedial course (math most common)
• Minority enrollments will increase from 2004-2015
• Demographic trends include more students of color, students from low-income homes, first generation and adult learners who may be enhancing skills or may be re-careering.
• Working poor (working 25+ hours week) are likely to be members of minority groups and are less likely to enroll in college and attain a degree due to life obstacles.
• Enrollment in online courses represent about 1/5 of all continuing & professional education enrollments at colleges & universities.
• Enrollment of male students declining at community colleges.
• 10% of K-12 students are enrolled in Arizona charter schools.
• Proposition 300 impact
• Access is only one threshold for students to achieve a post secondary career. Persistence and Success (completion) are the other two thresholds.
  • Early College; Dual-enrollment reach students who are likely to pursue a college education
  • Efforts are needed to improve the academic preparation of high school students so they will have confidence they can succeed in college.

What Do We Have/What's Working? 

• iStartSmart
• ACE/Succeed
• Early College
• CHOICES
• Learning Connections articulation discussions, partnerships

What Needs to Be Done?

• Getting students in the door isn't the whole story.  What happens to them after they're in the door.  What are their expectations? What are our expectations?
• Should we have mobile registration at the high schools early in the Spring semester?
• How can we encourage students to take advantage of the services offered?
  • Facilitate formation of study groups, cohorts, etc.
• ASU is offering private scholarship funds to undocumented students. Can we?
• Advocate for the DREAM act.
• College needs to attract a significant number of new students from year to year
• Need a stable online delivery system
• More opportunities for dual enrollment when appropriate and a natural syngergy. 
  

II.  ACCESS

Environmental Scan Findings:

• Public college/university tuition increases averaged 7.1% during 2005-06 which is faster than the rate of inflation.
• Approximately 2 dozen colleges/universities, including ASU, are promising a free education to students from poor families.
• Cultural norms may discourage Hispanic students from applying for college loans.
• Working poor working up to 25 hours per week have family incomes at or below 200% of poverty level.
  • More likely to be from ethnic minority groups
  • Less likely to enroll in college than nonworking poor.
  • Amount of financial received doesn't meet financial need, especially due to enrollment patterns and eligibility requirements.
  • Often first generation
• Some states are restructuring their higher education fee structure to an integrated approach that considers tuition, financial aid policies and appropriations together instead of individually.
• Four dimensions to improve access & success according to a Lumina Foundation report:
  • preparation
    • Effective K-12 educational system
  • awareness
    • educate public about college costs & financial aid opportunities
  • financial issues
    • costs should be shared by governments, philanthropies, business, post-secondary institutions, families and students
  • institutional responsibility
    • college administrative policies & resources should be geared toward access, retention & success
• Access dimensions for Adult Learners according to a Lumina Foundation report:
  • individual/family/community
  • institutions
  • state policies/collaborations
  • federal policies
• Large percentage of students, especially part-time students (85%) are employed. 54% of full-time students are employed.
• Majority of middle school students indicate they want to attend college, but less than 1/3 actually know how to achieve this.

What Do We Have/What's Working?

• Financial Aid office with knowledgeable personnel who are aware of the plethora of financial aid funds available to students.
• Financial Aid personnel developed learning outcomes developed around teaching students the process for applying for financial aid.
• Lowest tuition in the state-PROMOTE!
• Workshops to educate students about financial aid opportunities.

  • Included in the iStartSmart orientations
• Phone registration and online registration.
• ACE/Succeed

• Technology in the form of online classes
• AWARE Club and Course for Women in Transition
• Mentor program (Roccaforte)
• Honors Program
• Child Development Center
• Outreach program to middle schools
  

What Needs to Be Done?

• Greater outreach to current and potential students to inform them about financial aid opportunities.
  • Counselors, advisors & financial aid personnel need to be made aware of cultural issues that may discourage students from seeking college loans.

• Greater outreach efforts to inform the community especially first generation that college is an option

• More financial aid funding on all levels: federal, state, institution, and private
  • Raise private scholarship money through alumni, corporate partners, etc.
• Respond, in kind, to ASU's offer of a "free" education.
• Improve student awareness
• Improve academic preparation
• Review college policies for possible obstacles
• Counselors, advisers, and financial aid officers need to be aware of cultural issues
• Be at the forefront of Arizona state legislative discussions concerning funding structure for community colleges.
  • Research alternative funding structures and develop a proposal to present to appropriate district & state entities and ultimately to the state legislature.
• Create a program that reaches out to working adults with several dimensions included:
  • Financial aid
  • Expand child care opportunities (infants, toddlers, before & after school) with grants/scholarships/subsidies to pay for child care.
  • Mentoring/Buddy system
  • etc.
• Increased outreach to middle schools in service area.
• Many support services and college activities close by 7pm. They should be open for students who work daytime hours.
• Adult students might benefit from more flexible scheduling rather than standard 16 week semesters.
• Child care center needs to be utilized more by students.
• Coordinate a state grant program for students.
• Increase the size and exposure of the College's outreach program. 

III.  ACCOUNTABILITY

Environmental Scan Findings:

• Technology enabling easier, public access to data
• External constituents calling for accountability

• Shift from traditional measures of performance such as grades and retention to evidence of student learning.
• Arizona received C's-F's in all categories of the State Teacher Policy Yearbook 2007.

What Do We Have/What's Working?

• Assessment institutionally & faculty driven
  • in and out-of-classroom assessment
  • Refining General Education assessment
• CCSSE
• Office of Institution Effectiveness
• Mission and Vision documents
• Higher Learning Commission (HLC) self-study process and report
• Teacher Development Center (http://www.pvc.maricopa.edu/tdc/) 

What Needs to Be Done?

• HLC Progress report addressing prior concerns
• College needs to disaggregate the data related to student enrollment and completion in the Science Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) courses
• Track students in the PVCC EDU program to determine their success rates in upper division, obtaining employment, and qualifying in the various No Child Left Behind measures.
• The college needs to define its definition of success.
• Assessment needs to be linked strategically to funding.
• Continue to build a culture of assessment

IV.  SUCCESS

Environmental Scan Findings:

• The U.S. ranks 16th in degree attainment. Arizona has a substantial degree gap compared with other states.
  • To raise Arizona's ranking an estimated
  •  86.2% increase in state support and a 187% cost increase to students would be necessary.
• Part-time students lag behind full-time students in persistence, retention, degree attainment.
  • Part-timers likely to be older, female, Hispanic, financially independent of parents, first-generation
  • Although about 25% are "part-timers who look like full-timers", under 23 and receive financial help from parents
• 60% of students taking College Success courses have academic success compared with 40% that don't take a success course
  • More likely to earn a degree or certificate
  • Persist in the community college and then transfer to a state university
• In urban high schools the chances of students dropping out is 50-50, or worse.
  • Drop out rates for Black and Hispanic students, especially males, are especially high
• Continued increase in under prepared students entering college
  • MCC & Mesa Public Schools pilot: high school juniors taking placement tests a year early as a wake up call to students
• Charter school students AIMS scores plummet in high school, especially 10th graders in every subject.
• Students with an AGEC are 50% more likely to persist after one year than other transfer students.
  • 30-40% more likely to graduate within 2 years than all other transfer students
  • MCCCD students experience a lack of smoothness with transferring, especially to ASU
• Midwestern University, the state's largest medical/pharmacy school @ nearly 1400 students (dental has attracted 1,000 applicants)
  • This is an example of partnerships that have developed and could develop in the future

What Do We Have/What's Working?

• ACE/Succeed
• Service Learning
• Student Life: (clubs, emerging leaders,peak institute)
• Honors Program
• iStartSmart/iGoal
• Learning Connections
• Learning Support Center
  

What Needs to Be Done?

• Make child care center more known and affordable
• Early warning programs
• STEM program Clubs
• Multicultural Cultural Center
• Culturally inclusive pedagogy & curricula
• Find ways to help students successfully complete English and Math courses

• Students on academic and financial aid probation or suspension  need clear expectations and follow-up

• Need to be sure our information about AGEC & transferring is clear and accurate

V.  P-20 ALIGNMENT

Environmental Scan Findings:

• Governor Napolitano's Innovation America initiative
  • K-12 focus on math and science education to prepare students for technology industries careers
  • State universities provide the higher education in these areas and also provide research and development to produce products to spin off new companies.
• P-20 Council chaired by Governor Napolitano and Chancellor Glasper
  • 2006 findngs
    • Arizona's secondary system is not well alighed with the requirements of post-secondary study and the workforce
    • High school graduation requirements do not adequately prepare students for post-secondary study or careers
    • Large percentage of Arizona students are not performing well based on AIMS results
    • Graduation requirements, state academic standards & performance levels required on AIMS appear significantly less demanding than national experts recommend.
• ASU Maricopa Alliance
   

What Do We Have/What's Working?

• Learning Connections
• 2+2+2 programs
• Outreach efforts
• Partnerships with: NAU, Indiana, Midwestern, ASU/MCCCD Alliance
• Dual Enrollment @ Cactus Shadows/Co-enrollment with PVUSD, AAEC, etc.
• P-20 Council
   

What Needs to Be Done?

• Outreach focus on a younger age group
• Outreach outlining the financial aid process
• We need to have a solid relationship with high school students
• Continue leveraging relationships developed in Learning Connections to work on solutions to under-prepared students.
  • Use the findings of Governor Napolitano's statewide P-20 Council inform decisions at PVCC. (http://www.governor.state.az.us/P20/)
    

VI.  EFFECTIVE TEACHING AND LEARNING

Environmental Scan Findings:

• Nursing Faculty Shortage continues
• Enrollment in e-learning continues to increase
• MCCCD education programs need to address concerns for preparing P-12 teachers in mathematics and science disciplines
  • Current proposal before the state Board of Education:
    • Beginning 2008 high school freshmen will be required to take 3 credits in math
    • Beginning 2009 high school freshmen will be required to take 4 credits in math and 3 credits in science.
• Math and reading software products should be used with caution
• HR managers are saying that applicants are lacking in soft skills(teamwork, tack and diplomacy, organizational skills etc.)
• Emerging technologies such as educational gaming and social networking will impact higher education
• Teacher Certification
  • New challenging exam for new teachers in order to be permanently licensed
• Biomedical engineering technologies and programs related to homeland security top response by college administrators as to what cutting edge program is needed to prepare for the future (2004 survey)
   

What Do We Have/What's Working?

• Nursing program with JC Lincoln
• Distance Learning
• Honors Program
• Service Learning

• Emerging Leaders

• CCSSE surveys
  

What Needs to Be Done?

• Address the shortage of qualified nursing faculty
• Address the shortage of space to accommodate this program

• Culturally inclusive pedagogy & curricula

• All PVCC students should have an email address
• Tie instructor evaluations to learning opportunities

• Find more space or technology so Adjunct faculty can meet more effectively with students

• Be sure that the college is clear about what is working in regards to teaching and learning(research based)

• Make sure CCSSE survey findings produce meaningful changes.

• Offer a course on emotional intelligence 
   

VII. COMPETITION

Environmental Scan Findings:

• Growth in private schools and distance learning
  • Axia College (University of Phoenix' college targeting younger students with little or no college experience)
  • University of Phoenix
  • Grand Canyon University - 70% online students
  • Online courses, in general, an integral part of mainstream higher education
  • Emergence of tribal colleges
  • Goodyear's agreement with Franklin Pierce College and another private college. 
    • Leasing city owned land for $1.00 per year
    • In exchange Goodyear residents and employees receive a 15% tuition discount
• Access ASU & ASU Advantage
  • Aggressive marketing and programming by state universities
• Universities developing programs targetted to drop-outs providing incentives such as: online courses they need to complete their degrees; financial assistance and additional academic advising.
• Joint degree programs
  • e.g. ASU's collaborative programs with 3 Mexican universities
• International competition (Tough Choices or Tough Times report)
  • U.S. competing with countries that have highly educated workers willing to work for low wages
  • Percentage of U.S. college students has fallen in the world from 30% 30 years ago to 14%
  • Achievement in math, science and general literacy place U.S. students in lower half compared with international counterparts
  • Digital technology creates direct competition with workers around the world

What Do We Have/What's Working?

• Low tuition costs
• Smaller classes
• Teachers whose main interest is teaching, not research
• Open Entry Open Exit Classes
• Flex Express
• Distance Learning
• Partnership programs: 2+2, 3+1, AAEC, Midwestern, etc.
    

What Needs to Be Done? 

• Design or promote programs like Express College
• Consistent Technology

• Help student have a clear understanding of what is required of an online class

• Increase student access to technology
• Encourage students to have an email address
• Develop an active alumni association
  • Encourage alumni to act as sponsors, mentors, funding
• Seek local business sponsors for private scholarships 
• Market the cost savings of the community college
• Develop tracking system for students who do not persist
  • Provide incentives for them to pursue their educational goals
• Some recommendations of Tough Choices or Tough Times report
  • Make more efficient use of available resources
  • Recruit from the top third of high school graduates to become the next generation of teachers
  • Develop standards, assessments & curriculum to reflect today and tomorrow's requirement
  • Give strong support to students who need it most
  • Enable every member of the adult workforce to get new literacy skills