University Business - May 2007 - (Page 35)

COMMUNIT Y COLLEGES Paving the Way for Persistence Community colleges don’t just open their doors. They help make exits—at least those to transfer and degree completion—recognizable to students too. By Caryn Meyers Fliegler HE EARLY MONTHS OF 2007 have been a bit treacherous for community colleges. Several reports have concluded that while these institutions must be admired for making higher ed accessible, they aren’t ensuring that enough students graduate or transfer. The Institute for Higher Education Leadership & Policy at California State University, Sacramento, released the report “Rules of the Game: How State Policy Creates Barriers to Degree Completion and Impedes Student Success in California Community Colleges.” As authors Nancy Shulock and Colleen Moore note, only about one in four of the 60 percent of those students seeking a degree or certificate succeeds in transferring to a four-year university and/or earning an associate degree or certificate within six years. The report decries state policy barriers, including a funding formula that rewards colleges for enrollment and fails to provide incentives for transfer and degree completion. “Most of the funding is based on the number of students enrolled by about the third week of the term,” says Shulock. Another report, “California Community Colleges: Making Them Stronger T The thinking at the Community College of Denver is that simply making services available won’t get students through the pipeline and on to the graduation list. by the costs of textbooks, child care, housing, and other expenses. A tuition increase should be matched by the state and go to programs that improve persistence, degree completion, and transfer, argues William Zumeta, co-author of the study and a senior fellow at the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. David Longanecker, executive director of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education, agrees, noting Washington and Oregon as examples of states are a few promising strategies that can help students reach out and grab success. UNIFIED SERVICES At the Community College of Denver, all first-generation college students receive the assistance of a case manager. Rather than have these students meet separately with aid officers, academic advisors, and career counselors, the case manager offers a unified front. Students may discuss everyday duties such as jobs or family that could keep them from persisting in school. CCD subscribes to the idea that making services available isn’t enough. Raising student expectations and requiring them to learn what success takes is better. “We consider it our main responsibility to increase graduation rates and help students transfer,” says President Christine Johnson. COLLEGE SUCCESS COURSES “It’s important to provide information in as structured a way as possible,” says Washington and Oregon have increased community college tuition and seen improved student persistence. and More Affordable,” blames the state’s low tuition for restricting financial aid and student eligibility for Pell Grants. While it seems strange to raise tuition to help students stay in school, doing so would provide more funds for support programs and boost financial aid for students pressed that have increased tuition and seen improved student persistence. “We’re talking about serving the students who have the most significant educational deficiencies.” Administrators at two-year and fouryear institutions are also putting forth ideas for improving student persistence. Here universitybusiness.com May 2007 | 35 http://universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - May 2007

Contents
College Index
Advisory Board
Company Index
Editor's Note
Behind the News
Viewpoint
Money Matters
Marketing
Human Resources
Financial Aid
Community Colleges
The Innocents Abroad
The Big Business of Research
What’s New in A/V
The Kids Are All Right
Designing a Unified Campus
Business Technology
What's New
Calendar of Events
Direct Connect
End Note

University Business - May 2007