GLENDALE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

 

PROGRAM REVIEW/

 

PROGRAM IMPROVEMENT

 

SELF STUDY

 

 

 

 

Student Support Services Programs

 

 

 

 

 

Learning Center

 

 

YEAR 5

 

2002-2003
Contents

 

Contents

Glendale College Mission Statement

Executive Summary

 

I. Functions and Services

Service Function

Contacts

Data Sources

Standards and Comparisons

II. Service Recipients

Demographic Information

Educational Information

III.  Staff Resources

Organizational Chart

Staff Diversity

Assignments and Specialties

Staff Preparation and Training

Professional Activities and Committee Participation

IV. Facilities and Equipment

Facilities

Equipment

V. Special Accomplishments

Grants

Leadership Roles

New Programs

Staff Development Programs

Advisory Groups/Committees

VI. Influencing Factors

Categorical Funding

Legal Mandates

Program Plans

VII. Program Effectiveness

Outcome Measures

 


Glendale College Mission Statement

 

Glendale Community College is a comprehensive public community college open equally to all adults or high school graduates who can benefit from its programs and services.

 

Its primary mission is to prepare students for successful transfer to four-year colleges and universities or for successful placement or advancement in rewarding careers. Its mission is also to serve its surrounding community through adult non-credit education and community services courses and programs.

 

As part of this mission, Glendale Community College considers the following to be particularly important:

 

2.     to provide a rich and rigorous curriculum that helps students understand and appreciate the artistic and cultural heritage of this society, the history and development of civilization, the scientific environment in which they live, and the challenges of their personal lives;

3.     to emphasize the coherence among disciplines and promote openness to the diversity of the human experience;

4.     to help students develop important skills that are critical for success in the modem workplace, such as verbal and written communication, numeracy, effective use of technology for work and research, information analysis and evaluation, problem solving, and the ability to work with others and conduct their lives with responsibility;

5.     to provide an extensive array of student services and learning tools, including state-of-the-art technology, to assist students in all aspects of their college experience.

 

For this purpose Glendale Community College maintains a supportive, non-discriminatory environment which enables students to reach their educational goals in an efficient and timely manner.

 

OBJECTIVES AND FUNCTIONS

 

Pursuant to its stated mission, Glendale Community College has one objective:

education.

 

Six primary functions support this objective.

 

a. Associate in Arts/Associate in Science: Education toward the granting of AA/AS degree(s) is provided in accordance with approved graduation requirements. General education and major coursework form the core of the required curriculum, the balance being electives.

 

b. Education for meeting the lower division requirements of a university or a four-year college – The college offers many courses which are equivalent to those available in. the freshman and sophomore years at the University of California, The California State University and other colleges and universities in the United States. A student with a satisfactory high school and community college record will receive full credit for al college and university level work done at Glendale Community College provided that the work meets the specific requirements of the college or university to which the student transfers.

 

c. Education beyond the high school level for vocational competence and/or occupational certification: Training programs are offered for many occupations in business and industry. Certificates are awarded upon completion of the requirements for the occupation-centered curriculums. Courses offered in these programs serve three groups of students: those training for entry-level positions; those preparing for advancement on the job; and those seeking to improve skills to meet new job requirements. Thus, students are offered a balance of technical and general education.

 

d. Pre-Collegiate Basic Skills: Educational programs prepare students for collegiate level work. Courses are designed to provide the student with basic skills instruction with emphasis on speaking, listening, reading, writing and computation.

 

e. Education beyond the secondary level for personal improvement - Recognizing the needs of post-secondary students for education which may lead neither to education in a higher institution nor to vocational preparation, Glendale Community College offers a diversity of courses which satisfy intellectual curiosity and provide knowledge about and appreciation of our diverse cultural heritage.

 

f. Non-Credit/Adult Education level- A comprehensive program includes basic education, courses leading to the high school diploma, citizenship, English as a second language, career and vocational classes, and courses that satisfy the many special interest needs of the community.


 

Executive Summary

Instructions: Use this summary to list all of the goals that you developed in your document.  The strategies and needs should be directly linked to your prioritized goals.

 

 

Prioritized Annual Goals

Strategy

Who is responsible

Timeline

Resources  Needed

Outcome Analysis

Maintain comprehensive student services and programs to facilitate student success despite current budget realities.

Investigate additional forms of financing of our programs, including the use of volunteers and sponsorship by businesses.

Dennis Doyle

Ongoing

The goal IS to find the resources.

Obtain or maintain service, obtain more volunteers and business sponsorship

Revise Writing Center and build additional services into the program and hence build clientele

Build relationships with individual instructors, encouraging Writing Center use, promoting use directly with students

Dennis Doyle, Andy Stires, Maria Shufedlt

Ongoing

Allot time for these tasks

Increase in numbers of students and instructors using this service.

Provide adequate facilities to match exponential growth in student use of Learning Center facilities

Participate in planning for new College Services building

Dennis Doyle

Ongoing

Too early to determine

To meet the increased demand for services in the future

 


 

I.  Function and Services

 

           

                                   

Service Function

 

Contacts

 

Data Sources

 

Standards and Comparisons

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


1.01 – 1.04  Functions and Services

 

Instructions: Complete the table below. You will need to develop instruments for collecting certain data if it is not provided by Planning and Research or Human Resources.

 

1.01 Service/Function

List the Services and functions of this program

 

1.02 Contacts

How many students accessed these functions and services?

1.03 Methods

Indicate the source of your data.

1.04 Standards/Comparisons

Indicate standards for comparison such as college -wide, regional, state, or year-to-year with the program.

Writing Center

2,091 students @ 3,765 contact hours

Collected from check-in data

Up from 1,980 in 2000-2001

Tutoring Center

7,414 students @ 52,099 contact hours

Collected from check-in data

Up from 6,160  in 2000-2001

Computer Assisting Instruction Lab

*includes service below:

4,200 students @  18,424 contact hours

Collected from check-in data

Up from 4,002  in 2000-2001

*Videotape Circulation

1,452 students

Collected from check-in data

Up from 1,063 in 2000-2001

*Mini-Courses

110 students

Registration records

Up from 102 in 2000-2001

*English Placement Challenges Exams

196 students

Collected from check-in data

Up from 194 in 2000-2001

*Make-up Tests

644 students

Collected  from check-in data

Up from 469 in 2000-2001

*Proctored Distance Learning Exams

19 students

Collected from check-in data

Up from 5 in 2000-2001

In-Class Tutoring

2,543 students

Collected from check-in data

Down from 2,738 in 2000-2001

 

 

 

 

Total Learning Center

2001-2003

16,248 students @ 74,288 contact hours

Collected from check-in data

Up from 14,881 in 2000-2001

 


II.  Service Recipients

 

           

                                   

Demographic Information

 

Educational Information

 

 

 

 

 

 

                       

 

     

 

 

                                               


2.01 Demographics

 

 

Instructions:  Review and analyze the data provided by Institutional Research on service recipients in the program and answer the following questions:

 

 

1.   Given the data, how does enrollment in the program compare to the college’s ethnic, age, gender, and disability distributions?

 

 

Higher

About the same*

Lower

African American

 

X

 

Asian/Pacific Islander

 

X

 

Hispanic/Latino Citizen

X

 

 

Hispanic/Latino Permanent Resident

X

 

 

Caucasian citizen

 

 

X

Caucasian permanent resident

 

 

X

Filipino

X

 

 

Other

 

X

 

 

 

 

 

Under 21

X

 

 

21-25

 

X

 

26-30

 

X

 

31-50

 

X

 

51 & over

 

X

 

 

 

 

 

Female

 

X

 

Male

 

X

 

 

 

 

 

Disabled

 

X

 

F-1 Visa

 

X

 

*Explain when data varies more than 20% from the standard.

 

2.     What is indicated by the program data?

The data shows that the Learning Center serves a slightly higher percentage of Hispanic students, a lower percentage of Caucasian students and a slightly younger percentage of students than the College as a whole.

Comments?

This would make sense as we are often, though not exclusively, working with students who need help in reading and writing English.  We are also a safe harbor for new students who need help getting on with college.  I think this reflects well on the Learning Center as a place that encourages retention of students.

 

3. Should a goal be written addressing the data?                     Yes           X   No

       (List any goals in the Summary.)

      


2.02 Educational Information

 

Instructions: Examine the educational information data provided by Institutional Research and answer the following questions:

 

1. How does this data compare with other college services?

 

 

Higher

About the Same

Lower

Enrollment Status

 

X

 

Educational Goal

 

X

 

Major

 

NA

 

Units Completed

 

NA

 

Units Currently Enrolled

 

X

 

Current Grade Point Average

 

X

 

 

2. How does this data compare with other programs in this region?

 

 

Higher

About the Same

Lower

Enrollment Status

 

NA

 

Educational Goal

 

NA

 

Major

 

NA

 

# of Units Completed

 

NA

 

# of Units Curr. Enrolled

 

NA

 

Current GPAs

 

NA

 

 

3. How does this data compare with previous years?

 

 

Higher

About the Same

Lower

Enrollment Status

 

NA

 

Educational Goal

 

NA

 

Major

 

NA

 

# of Units Completed

 

NA

 

# of Units Curr. Enrolled

 

NA

 

Current GPAs

 

NA

 

 

 

3.     Highlight any significant changes since this information was last reviewed. Provide explanations for changes.

Since this is our first year of program review there is no data with which to make a comparison.  Additionally, it is impossible to obtain regional data.

 

 

5. Should a goal be written addressing the data?               X   Yes                 No

            (List any goals in the Summary.)

 


III.  Staff Resources

 

           

                                   

Organizational Chart

 

Staff Diversity

 

Assignments and Specialties

 

Staff Preparation and Training

 

Professional Activities and Committee Participation

 

 

 

 

 

 


3.01Organizational Chart

 

Instructions: Develop an organizational chart that describes the internal structure of the program as well as its relationship to College Services.

 

 

 




3.02 Staff Diversity

 

Instructions:  Analyze the data on staff diversity provided by Human Resources and answer the following questions:

 

How does this program information compare to the College Services diversity percentages?

             Higher                        About the same                X   Lower

________________________________________________________________________

 

1.  Given the program data, how does the ethnic and gender distributions compare to those in the labor force population?   (Note: Explain when data varies more than 20% from the standard.)

 

 

 

Higher

About the Same

Lower

Ethnic

85% Caucasian/European

14%

Armenian

 

 

X

Gender

42% male

57% female

 

X

 

Disability

none

 

X

 

Age

Average

 

X

 

 

Please comment.

 

By far, most of the staffing in the Learning Center is done by part-time student workers. These figures represent contract staff:  Part-time student workers reflect about the same levels of diversity as in the student body.

 

 

2.  What else (if anything) is indicated by the program data?

            Perhaps the issue of diversity should be considered when hiring new staff.

 

 

 

3. Should a goal be written addressing the data?                     Yes           X   No

            (List any goals in the Summary.)


3.03 Assignments/Specializations

 

Instructions:  Administer the Employee Survey provided by Institutional Research.  Analyze the responses and other information and fill in the data below.

 

Program staff

Professional Assignment(s) – Over three year period

Specialty Area(s)

Dennis Doyle

Director (60%) Faculty

Reading, Learning Skills

Betty Myers

Coordinator Sr.Student Services Technician, Manager

Tutoring Coordinator

Maria Shufeldt

Sr.Instructional Lab Technician

Writing Center/CAI Lab

Andy Stires

Sr.Instructional Lab Technician

Writing Center/CAI Lab

Frederick Melikian

Instructional Lab Technician

Tutoring

Agnes Rudnick

Administrative Assistant

Challenge exams, Video tapes

Gretchen Davidson

Sr.Instructional Lab Technician

Night Service, Tutoring

 

4.     How are the strengths and experiences of staff being used effectively to improve student outcomes?

The staff is well suited for their particular jobs.  On staff we have experts in reading, writing and tutoring with nearly a 100 years of combined experience.  Beyond the credentials and experience, we have very good rapport with students.  Surveys indicate to the statements:

                                                Strongly agree   agree    somewhat agree  agree totals

“Staff is courteous and helpful.”                    46%     34%     15%                 95%

“Staff is knowledgeable.”                                43%     33%     15%                 91%

“Staff explained information clearly.” 43%     38%     13%                 94%

“The information was accurate and useful.”   45%     37%     15%                 97%

“All my questions were answered.”               41%     34%     19%                 94%

“It helped me to use this department.”          45%     36%     15%                 96%

 

 

5.     What else (if anything) is indicated by the program data?

Students surveyed indicate that they use the Learning Center:

1-3       times               14%

4-6       times               33%

7-9       times               12%

10 or more times         40%

 

The Learning Center enjoys an 83% recognition rate from Glendale College students overall with an 85% satisfaction rate and a 34% usage.

 

Please comment.

            These figures show that most of our students are aware of the Learning Center and when they use the Learning Center, they tend to use it several times.  When students are in the Center, they like the service and are generally very happy with the staff.

 

 

 

 

3. Should a goal be written addressing the data?                     Yes           X   No

            (List any goals in the Summary.)


3.04 Staff Preparation/Training

 

Instructions: Analyze the Employee Survey  responses (see 3.03 Assignments and Specializations) and other information and fill in the data below. Answer the following questions:

 

Program staff

Education

Service years

At GCC

Staff development workshops attended and courses taken.

Skills learned

Dennis Doyle

MA

23 years

full-time

Recently: attendance at the Annual Winter Institute for Learning Center Professionals, University of Arizona 1999-2003

Various Humanities/Social Science Lectures:

“San Fernando Valley”

Rep. Adam Schiff”

“John Robinson: Trails of the San Gabriels”

Learning skills development, using the internet for instructional support, writing center improvement, distance learning support systems

Gretchen Davidson

MA

15 years, adjunct faculty and full-time classi-fied

Recently: took Library 191, various Math-Science lectures

Research on the internet, library use of printed material including online references

Andrew Stires

BA

6 years

MA in progress, workshops on Microsoft suite

Word processing, database, web page construction

Maria Shufeldt

BA

7 years

MA in progress, on campus workshops on MS Frontpage, Safety, Conflict Management, Mentoring, Customer Service

Web page design, Safety, Conflict Management, Mentoring, Customer Service

Betty Myers

BA

26 years

Officer in the College Reading, Learning Association. Numerous workshops as chair and mentor. Master Plan Task Force Lectures, Various Internet, Microsoft suite, First aid CPR, Web CT, Great Teachers Retreat-199c

Tutoring, recruitment, training, professional standards, testing, student preparedness, trends in technology.

Frederick Melikian

BA

6 years

Part-time

Helps prepare time reports for student workers.

Agnes Rudnick

Certificate

Fulda Business College, Germany

12 years

On campus workshops:

Microsoft suite, numerous Math-Science Lectures

Microsoft Word, Windows, Excel, e-mail, using the internet

 

 

1.  How have these skills improved services that you provide?

 

Staff is well prepared to meet student needs.  Mr.Doyle, Mrs.Myers, and Mrs.Davidson are experienced instructors with appropriate credentials.  As the staff is active in ongoing conferences and staff development, they are keeping current in their fields.  Mr.Stires and Ms. Shufeldt are working on MA degrees and have shown innovation in reworking the Writing Center program despite lack of funding.

 

 

2. What else (if anything) is indicated by the program data?

Please comment.

Lack of funding may result in fewer staff development activities.  It is already impacting on our ability to participate in professional conferences.

 

 

 

3. Should a goal be written addressing the data?                     Yes           X   No

            (List any goals in the Summary.)

 



3.05 Professional Activities and Committee Participation

 

Instructions:  Fill in the data below for each full-time staff member for the period since the last program review, and answer the questions that follow.

 

Program staff

governance committee

other  college related committee work

other  campus participation

Dennis Doyle

Instructional Technology                                                                                     Campus-wide Computer Coordinating                                                                                        Student Affairs

Network Planning

Reading Program Chair

 

English Technology Committee

English Lab Coordinator

Study Abroad: Ireland

Agnes Rudnick

International Students

 

 

Andrew Stires

None

 

 

Gretchen Davidson

None

 

 

Maria Shufeldt

Community Relations

Employee Handbook Ad Hoc

CSEA  Negotiating Team

Frederick Melikian

Part-time

None

 

 

Betty Myers

Scholarship subcommittee

College Services Division, Nominating Committee for the DeRowe and Connett Scholarships

CRLA Officer,

Mentor AMP, Mentor Adult Re-entry,

Classified Council, Classified CPU

Total ful-time staff _____6________

Total governance. com ___7_____

Total other coll. com ____5___

[not included in CPF below]

 

CPF index (Committees per full-time staff in the program) (most recent year)

[Total Committees divided by Total number of full-time staff]:  #____2_____  

 

How do the program data compare to the college-wide CPF?          

             Higher                  NA                                        About the same                                Lower

_______________________________________________________________

 

1.     Given the data, discuss the involvement of faculty in the program in campus activities.

While many of our staff are very busy with campus committee work, a few are not and likely should be encourages to participate more.

 

 

 

2. Should a goal be written addressing the data?                     Yes           X   No

            (List any goals in the Summary.)


IV.  Facilities and Equipment

 

           

                                   

Facilities

 

Equipment

 


4.01 Facilities

 

Instructions: Fill out the data below and respond to the following questions.

 

Service

Type of Student

Number of students served

Comprehensive learning resource services including tutoring, writing center and computer assisted instruction

Tutoring clients, students doing research, lab work, studying alone and in groups

16,248 students

 

1. Are your facilities adequate based on the services provided?       

 

                                                                                          X   Yes                 No

 

 

2. Are your facilities adequate based on the number of students served?     

 

                                                                                          X   Yes                 No

      The facilities are generally adequate, however, the Learning Center becomes very full most mornings in regular semesters.  Due to a lack of funds, the Center will no longer be open on Saturday and will close at 2PM on Fridays.

 

3. Given the data, discuss how your facilities should be improved.

 

      While the facilities are adequate now, the trend has been a steadily increasing number of clients, from about 8,000 students using the Center in 98-99 to over 14,000 in 2001-2002.  We will need to look carefully at what impact, if any, the increase in student tuition and fees will have on student population.  If  the numbers of students continue to rise then larger facilities are necessary.

 

4. Should a goal be written addressing the data?                     Yes           X   No

            (List any goals in the Summary


4.02 Equipment

 

Instructions: Fill out the data below and respond to the following questions. Refer to the table in section 4.01.

 

1. Is your equipment adequate based on the services provided?       

 

                                                                                          X   Yes                 No

 

 

2. Is your equipment adequate based on the number of students served?    

 

                                                                                          X   Yes                 No

 

3. Is your equipment adequate based on the services provided?       

 

                                                                                          X   Yes                 No

 

4. Given the data, discuss how your equipment should be improved.

 

      There are about 50 computer and 9 video stations in the Center.  Good practice dictates that we should cycle in new systems and cycle out old systems annually.  Updates of software frequently will not work on old systems, and the computers themselves become irreparable due to daily wear and tear.  We have had to stop this practice due to a lack of funds.  Stopgap activities include upgrading old equipment or making do with computers borrowed from other departments.

 

 

 

5. Should a goal be written addressing the data?                     Yes           X   No

            (List any goals in the Summary.)


V.  Special Accomplishments

 

           

                                   

                           Grants

 

                           Leadership Roles

 

                           New Programs

 

                           Staff Development Programs

 

                                    Advisory Groups/Committees


5.00 Special Accomplishments

 

Instructions:  Fill in the chart below with the number of each type of activity completed in the last three years and respond to the following questions:

 

Program staff and year(s) of involvement.

Service Years

5.01 Grants

5.02 New Programs Developed

5.03 Staff Development Workshops Taught

5.04 Leadership Roles/

Advisory Groups and Committees

Dennis Doyle

23

­Von’s Supermarket donated $3,400 for tutoring services in the Learning Center,

December 6, 2001

Various Innovative Project Grants over the years on developing College web pages, using the Internet for instructional support.

English 197 (Literacy Training Methods)

Nov, 1999,

Revised English 182 (Basic Communication –     Vocabulary) Jan 2000

Revised  English 183 (Basic Communication – Grammar) Jan 2000

English 200 (Speed Reading) May 1988

Various Staff Development Classes on the Internet, Using the Internet to Support Instruction, Using e-mail, Irish Culture and Music

Tenure Review Committee Chair: Nancy Phillips,

Tenure Review Peer Mentor: Shelley Aronoff

Co-Chair Accreditation Committee: Educational Programs

Study Abroad: Ireland 1999,2001,2003,

Validating Committee Self Study: Music Department

Oct.. 2000

Created a 10-minute video:

“Guide to the Learning Center”

Betty Myers

26

 

Tutor Training Certification through the California Reading, Learning Association (CRLA)

 

Accreditation Committee: Standard 6

Participant: Start Smart Program, College Information Day, various College Services Fairs

CRLA Officer

Frederick Melikian

Part-time

 

 

 

Lecture on “Digital Systems” for the Math-Science Center Staff

 

Andy Stires

 

 

Initiated Writing Center 2.0, a general reform of the mission and services provided by the Writing Center

 

 

Maria Shufeldt

 

 

Initiated Writing Center 2.0, a general reform of the mission and services provided by the Writing Center

 

 

 

 


VI.  Influencing Factors

 

           

                                   

                           Categorical Funding

 

                                    Legal Mandates

 

                                    Program Plans


6.01 Categorical Funding

 

Instructions: List all categorical funding in the table below and respond the following questions:

 

 

Categorical Fund

Source of fund

Use of Funds

Vocational Educational and ESL VocEd

VETEA VOC ED/Career Ed/Work Force & Development Program (Federal)

Funds are placed in the Job Placement/Student Employment Budget to pay for student peer tutors who work with vocational education student

Federal Work Study/Financial Aid

Federal Work Study/Financial Aid

Funds are placed in the Job Placement/Student Employment Budget to pay for student peer tutors who meet the Work/Study criteria

EOPS

Extended Opportunity Program and Services (Federal)

Funds are placed in the Job Placement/Student Employment Budget to pay for extra student peer tutors for student who meet the EOPS criteria

Partnership for Excellence

Partnership for Excellence (state)

For students enrolled in the Adult Community Training Center.  Grant helps pay for tutors for noncredit students transferring into various credit vocational programs

 

 


6.02 Legal Mandates

 

Instructions: List all legal mandates that affect this program in the table below and respond to the following questions:

 

Mandate

Source of mandate

Relationship to program

Keep records and provide documentation of services provided to vocational education students

VETEA VOC ED/Career Ed/Work Force & Development Program (Federal)

Provides about 45% of funding for peer tutors

 

Keep records and provide documentation of services provided to Extended Opportunity Program and Services (EOPS) students

Extended Opportunity Program and Services (EOPS)

Provides about 8% of funding for peer tutors

Keep records and provide documentation of services provided by tutors on Federal Work Study/Financial Aid

Federal Work Study/Financial Aid

Provides about 25% of funding for peer tutors

 

1. Is this mandate linked to the source of the fund. If so, how is it linked?

            We must provide documentation of meeting the criteria for each of these mandates to ensure future funding.

 

2. Is the mandate fully funded through categorical funding? If not, explain.

            Our mission to provide free student tutoring is partially funded by these programs.  Additional funding (about 22%) is from College “01” funds.

 

3. Does the program currently have adequate resources to meet mandates?

            No.   We do not have sufficient funding to serve all the students who wish to use the Learning Center.  We currently budget our resources by limiting clients to one hour of individual tutoring a week per person per subject.

 

4. Should a goal be written addressing this issue?            X   Yes                 No

            (List any goals in the Summary.)


6.03 Program Plans

 

Instructions: List all program plans for the near future in the table below and respond to the following questions:

 

            The Learning Center plans to continue offering excellent services in peer tutoring of writing and every subject as well as to provide access to instructional programs via the computer or through video materials.  We intend to provide these services for all students and staff in our Glendale College community.  All of us are “remedial” in some area or another: we plan to aid any student who wishes to learn and to support the instructional program of any instructor who wants our help.

            In these troubled times of limited budgets, we will, first of all, seek to maintain current programs or reform those programs so that there is no interruption of service for our students.  In specific area we intend to work on the following:

 

            The staff of the Writing Center is in the process of reworking their entire program.   In the past, it had become a type of “triage” center for last minute quick fixing of student papers.  The Writing Center is building up a program in which the process of writing is seen as a collaboration between our staff, client and instructor.  Features of this collaboration would include:

-more use of referral forms aiding communication between staff and faculty

-better record keeping so staff can remember what they did with a particular student

-a library of exemplar essays from each instructor

-encouraging instructors to bring entire classes into the Writing Center for group orientations and also for the Center staff to provide mentoring and materials while the instructor teaches his or her class.

-install a digital projector in the Writing Center to make instruction using digital materials easier.

-initiate making appointments for Writing Center tutoring which is much more efficient than drop-in services.

-providing one-shot workshops on various writing related topics, for example, writing research papers.

-meet frequently with “pioneer” instructors willing to experiment with a higher level of collaboration.

-facilitate group-editing sessions among groups of students in specific classes. 

-initiate a non-credit 1-unit Writing Center class, which allows students to have a weekly appointment time with a writing tutor during the semester.

-schedule time for first-time drop-in students for an appropriate orientation to Writing Center services.

-we have also had some success with having instructors volunteering an office hour to help tutors in the Writing Center.  We’d like to get more involved.

 

            The Tutoring program already has an excellent program and serves the bulk of Learning Center clients (over 7,000 students).  Our goal for the Tutoring program is to keep it alive, functioning and funded.  From this report, one can see that the program depends on a patchwork of funding sources.  Although the funding for peer tutors is not in our basic “01” budget, we rely very much on money funneled through Student Employment.

 

            In regards to the other services provided by the Learning Center:

-We will continue to experiment with delivering learning resources over the Internet and providing better support of Distance Learning classes.

-We will be working to widen the software offering in a our CAI lab to include software which addresses the needs of the traditional ESL students.

-We will seek to develop additional computer oriented mini-courses in reading and writing.

-We will purchase new computers and surplus old machines, and otherwise work to keep our equipment current.

-We will continue to allow instructors to use the Learning Center to administer make-up tests.

-We will continue to foster usage of the Center as a helpful place for learning and study.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

           

 

           

 

           

 


VII.  Program Effectiveness

 

           

                                   

                                    Outcome Measures


7.00  Program Effectiveness

 

 

Instructions: Review and analyze the data provided by surveys, studies, etc. and answer the following questions.

 

1. Based on the data provided, how does the program contribute to access, retention and success?

For students who used the Learning Center for any service in the Fall 2001 semester (our latest figures) about 71% passed their classes or got CR in their coursework. About 7% dropped, withdrew or got an incomplete.  The percentage of students college-wide who successfully completed their classes was 73%, so this is near average.

For students who used the Learning Center for tutoring in a specific class, about 80% passed or got a CR in their coursework. About 12% dropped, withdrew or got an incomplete. The percentage of students college-wide who successfully completed their classes was 73%, so this is 7 points above the expected outcome.

For students who used the Writing Center, about 77% passed or got a CR in their coursework.  About 5% dropped, withdrew or got an incomplete. The percentage of students college-wide who successfully completed their classes was 73%, so this is 4 points above the expected outcome.

The data shows that students who use the tutoring program have a higher than average grades than those who don’t.  This data is even more dramatic considering that our students tend to be more Hispanic and younger than the rest of the College.  Additionally, English is the first language of only 18% of our students.  Clearly we are helping students survive in their classes and succeed.

 

 

2. How can this program effectively increase its contribution to access, retention, and success?

            Clearly, we need to maintain and expand our program of peer tutoring.  It is effective, helps students stay with their educational goals and is relatively inexpensive.

 

2. Should additional goals be written addressing the data?    

                                                                                                 Yes           X   No

                                                                        (List any goals in the Summary.)