Redesigning Advising With the Help of Technology: Early Experiences of Three Institutions

A rapidly growing number of higher education institutions nationwide are implementing advising technologies—including education planning, counseling and coaching, and risk targeting technologies—to help students plan their academic paths and stay on track to graduation. Research suggests that these technologies may improve support for students if institutions also adopt advising structures and processes that leverage technology to provide a more intensive and personalized advising experience. This report from CCRC and MDRC describes how the University of North Carolina, Charlotte; California State University, Fresno; and Montgomery County Community College in Pennsylvania are approaching comprehensive, technology-based advising reforms, presenting detailed examples of their new advising practices, outreach methods, and messages to students. Based on observations of the advising redesigns at these three institutions, the report provides insights and ideas for other institutions seeking to redesign their advising practices around new technologies

Incidencia de las relaciones entre la Corporación Universitaria empresarial “Alexander von Humboldt” (CUE) – sociedad - empresa y el gobierno del Departamento del Quindío, para la generación de educación de alta calidad y de altos niveles de competitividad en los profesionales

El modelo que el Equipo de trabajo se propone construir, parte del entendido de que la educación desde el ámbito universitario debe ser concebida como un factor de desarrollo académico, empresarial y humano; ya que es a través de la gestión del conocimiento y su aplicabilidad en el imaginario empresarial, que la región y sus comunidades se forjan alternativas de competitividad y generación de fortalezas económicas, sociales y culturales, para brindar así la posibilidad de crecer e impulsar nuevas alternativas de crecimiento y desarrollo.76 p

Expanding Access to College-Level Courses

Colleges throughout the United States are evaluating the strategies used to decide whether students should be placed into college-level or developmental education courses. Usually, colleges use standardized placement tests to determine if students need developmental, or remedial, courses, which are designed to develop the reading, writing, or math skills of students deemed underprepared for college-level courses. However, increasing numbers of colleges are using multiple measures—including additional types of placement tests, high school transcripts, and evaluations of student motivation—to place students. There is no single, correct way to design and implement multiple measures assessments (MMA) to improve course placements. Colleges must decide what measures to include and how to combine them. This study was developed to add to the field's understanding about the implementation, cost, and efficacy of an MMA system using locally determined rules. As part of a randomized controlled trial, the study team evaluated MMA programs and interviewed and observed staff at five colleges in Minnesota and Wisconsin; it also wrote a short case study about one Wisconsin college. Findings The five colleges in the random assignment study targeted all students taking placement tests in the months before the fall 2018 semester. In the four colleges included in the current analysis, 5,282 students participated in the study; of these, 3,677 were tested for English, and 4,487 were tested for math. The findings suggest that while implementation (especially automation) was not easy, it was possible; and using the new MMA systems became much easier once they were established. Regarding the quantitative findings, in the first semester: As intended, colleges used MMA to place program group students in their courses, with few exceptions. As a result, more program group students than control group students were referred to college-level gatekeeper courses, by 15 to 17 percentage points. Program group students in the full sample also enrolled in more college-level gatekeeper courses than control group students (4.7 percentage points more in English; 3.9 percentage points more in math). Students in the “bump up” zone⁠—those eligible for college-level placement based only on MMA results, not a single standardized placement test—who placed into college-level English because they were in the program group were 28 percentage points more likely to have completed the gatekeeper English course by the end of their first college semester than their control group counterparts. Students in the “bump up” zone who placed into college-level math were 12 percentage points more likely to have completed the gatekeeper math course by the end of their first college semester than their control group counterparts. The next and final report will present an analysis of transcript outcomes from three semesters of follow-up and will add two more cohorts to the research sample

iPASS in Practice: Four Case Studies

A range of efforts are underway to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of advising and student supports. Among these is the Integrated Planning and Advising for Student Success (iPASS) initiative. Launched in 2015, the initiative provided three years of financial, technical, and change management support to 26 two- and four-year institutions as they redesigned their advising processes and adopted and implemented new technologies. Over the three years of the grant, Achieving the Dream and EDUCAUSE provided strategic assistance to help institutions leverage both technology and human relationships to undertake a fully scaled redesign of their advising and other student support services. Concurrently, CCRC conducted a series of qualitative and quantitative research studies to understand how institutions approached their redesign and how this work affected students. This report shares the stories of the four community colleges that participated in the iPASS initiative. Each offers a unique example of how a community college chose to implement the iPASS approach, along with a discussion of the main elements of its advising redesign and its experiences with technology integration. After presenting individual case studies of the four colleges, the authors highlight cross-case lessons, which may be useful to college administrators, student services leaders, and advisors who are planning or implementing an advising redesign. As these stories illustrate, the advising redesign process is iterative, collaborative, and challenging, calling for multiple stakeholder groups across an institution to break down silos and work together to improve student outcomes

Toward Better College Course Placement: A Guide to Launching a Multiple Measures Assessment System

Drawing on lessons from 10 Minnesota and Wisconsin colleges that piloted multiple measures systems for placing students into developmental and college-level courses, this guide from CCRC and MDRC provides recommendations for other colleges interested in implementing or testing their own multiple measures systems. Beginning with the rationale behind changing assessment practices, the guide outlines what a multiple measures assessment system is, what it takes to get started, the personnel involved, and the costs that may be incurred in the design and planning processes. Recent evidence suggests that relying on traditional placement tests misplaces substantial numbers of students, with many going into developmental education who could have been successful in college-level courses. Multiple measures placement systems that use alternative measures alongside the traditional tests will potentially provide more accurate results and better student outcomes. Still, practitioners may be hesitant to change their current practices, skeptical about the measures used, or unsure where to start. The information in this guide addresses these concerns and provides recommendations for how to approach each step of the implementation process

Five Years Later: Technology and Advising Redesign at Early Adopter Colleges

In 2015, 26 broad-access two- and four-year colleges from various regions across the nation began steps to adopt or enhance technology-mediated advising practices in an effort to improve the way they support students. These institutions were part of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Integrated Planning and Advising for Student Success (iPASS) initiative, aimed at promoting technology-supported advising redesign with implementation guidance from Achieving the Dream and EDUCAUSE. Understanding the iPASS colleges’ long engagement in advising reform provides insights about sustainable and scalable redesign strategies that may work well at other institutions. Based on interviews with college personnel, this brief discusses the iPASS colleges’ experiences, achievements, and challenges. The authors’ findings align with and build on CCRC’s previous iPASS and advising redesign research, which recognizes several elements connected with successful redesign efforts: the importance of strong support from senior leadership; a focus beyond technology adoption that considers structural changes at the college that are central to the student experience and advising practice; and a clear shift in outreach and communication with students—both in-person and electronically—that is more targeted and personalized. This brief also discusses how the early adopter colleges have worked with technology vendors, the ways in which they have leveraged internal resources to move the redesign work forward, and how they have maintained momentum in reform over a substantial period of time

Caring Campus: An Initiative to Involve Community College Staff in Increasing Student Success

Despite research pointing to the crucial role nonacademic staff play in student success in higher education, large-scale reform efforts at community colleges and elsewhere typically focus little direct attention on interpersonal interactions between students and staff. Caring Campus is a program developed and administered by the Institute for Evidence-Based Change (IEBC) to engage faculty and nonacademic staff—including individuals from financial aid, counseling, public safety, facilities, and enrollment management—in improving interactions with students and creating a culture of caring at community colleges. This brief introduces CCRC’s research on the staff-focused Caring Campus initiative. It discusses the importance of nonacademic staff to the postsecondary experience and then presents a theory of change for the Caring Campus approach. Drawing on observations at six colleges and interviews conducted with 20 representatives from nine colleges and IEBC staff, the brief also describes initial findings related to the initiative’s potential to affect college culture and ground further change efforts

Helping Underserved Students at Higher Performing iPASS Colleges: An Exploration of Support Practices

Good advising and support services are instrumental in helping college students—especially Black, Latinx, and low-income learners—stay in school and complete a college credential. The authors of this report analyzed KPI (key performance indicator) data from iPASS institutions and chose five colleges with comparatively strong outcomes among underserved student groups for further study, with the aim of gaining a deeper understanding of how the colleges provide advising and student support both inside and outside of the classroom. The authors describe how the climate of the colleges affects student experiences, and examine practices the colleges have been undertaking to improve outcomes and prioritize equity across racial and socioeconomic subgroups. The authors also detail situational factors, including the pandemic and the fraught political climate at the time of data collection, that their research suggests may have both catalyzed efforts to promote racial equity and slowed progress in improving supports aimed at underserved students. The report is accompanied by a standalone resource guide that describes and provides hyperlinks to useful relevant resources at each of the five colleges

Lessons Learned From Advising Redesigns at Three Colleges

This report presents findings on the implementation of a technology-mediated advising redesign within the context of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) at three institutions—the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, California State University at Fresno, and Montgomery County Community College. These colleges aimed to improve their advising systems using a three-pronged approach: expanding informational communications to students, identifying and supporting students who are struggling, and improving advising sessions. Though the RCT did not find significant changes in quantitative student outcomes such as grade point average, qualitative fieldwork suggests that stakeholders across the three institutions gained valuable experiences that may provide lessons for other colleges considering advising reforms. In this report, the authors explore how advisors adjusted their approach to advising work, how they used relevant tools and resources, and some of the challenges that arose during the redesign’s implementation. Based on these implementation findings, the authors offer several suggestions for other colleges entering this work: Acknowledge up front that technology alone cannot resolve advising and student support issues, nor can it replace face-to-face conversations about education and career planning. Consider ways to encourage or make it easier for students to self-report concerns. Call for input from advisors, faculty, students, and communications or marketing teams on the content of risk-related messages and alerts. Consider alternatives to registration holds to incentivize students to meet with an advisor, as registration holds may have unintended consequences. Give advisors the time, resources, and professional development to proactively engage with students. Provide ongoing support for staff in implementing reformed advising practices

Hoja de ruta para la implementación de acciones que permitan enfrentar la nueva dinámica económica, por el cambio de vocación de usos del suelo del Municipio de La Ceja del Tambo, Antioquia.

El presente trabajo plantea una hoja de ruta para afrontar los desafíos que plantean los cambios del uso del suelo en el Municipio de La Ceja del Tambo, Antioquia, en clave de su Política Pública de Empleabilidad y Cultura para el Trabajo Decente, y con base en experiencias y propuestas similares desarrolladas en el país y el departamento. Se aborda también la normatividad vigente que define y regula el trabajo decente, con el fin de ampliar el análisis prospectivo que oriente las estrategias que se deberían implementar para la sostenibilidad de la política pública y sus relaciones de fuerza, dependencia e influencia, aplicadas por cada uno de los actores involucrados durante su ejecución y desde sus diversos roles, esferas y competencias; todo ello sin perder de vista la normatividad vigente y las iniciativas de la sociedad civil en cuanto a lo que tiene que ver con el trabajo decente. Finalmente, se proponen una serie de escenarios posibles como oportunidades de operatividad, proyección y sostenibilidad de la política pública con miras al incremento de los índices de desarrollo local del municipio y la creación de condiciones que propicien el emprendimiento de iniciativas que contribuyan a la innovación social