EDACE 854 Field Study Access, Equity, and Success Assignment List

SESSION PARTICIPATION & PREPARATION- Each Class Meeting

Students will be expected to participate in each session in a variety of activities including self-reflection, class exercises, and group projects. In addition, students will be expected to have mastered the course materials for the week for EDACE 853 Making Good on the Promise of the Open Door: Access, Equity, and Success and be prepared to apply these materials to the session activities.

Session participation and preparation points will be graded based on:

Attendance during the session, including live video and audio feed
Activity level and engagement as demonstrated in interaction with peers, meaningful participation in exercises, and completion of assigned tasks

Week 1 Discussion Board #1 due Aug 28

By (a) Wednesday of each week, each student will need to post a response to the discussion topic(s) and then (b) comment on at least two other students’ responses by the end of the week. The post must include at least one citation from the readings in APA format. The length of the discussion topics posts is not as important as the quality of thought demonstrated. Discussion posts will be graded weekly.

What is the “promise” at the core of the college promise movement and is that promise really being kept?

Week 1 Discussion Board #2 Due Aug 28

Many financial resources available for students, such as Pell grants and scholarships, often assume a certain student age and the ability to attend full-time. If you were to build a financial resources program for all students, how might it look different from these existing resources?

Group Project Individual Institution Strategic Summary Due Aug 28 by 11:59pm

The course is built around a group project in which you will be making recommendations to a specific community college on the best strategies to employ to increase student success and close equity gaps. The first component of this project will be to create a 2-page strategic summary document capturing key data points your group will need to consider in determining recommendations. This Institution Strategic Summary should include data similar to the items listed below:

Institutional demographics for students and employees and total numbers;
Demographics of the college’s service area;
Student performance metrics, including persistence, completion, transfer, & job placement (if available)
Breakdown of instructional program offerings (career technical vs. transfer) by location
Primary industry sectors in the college’s service area
Primary transfer institutions

While this Institution Strategic Summary document will support the group project, this is an individual assignment and each student will create their own summary.

Week 2 Discussion Board #1 due Sep 4 The Discussion Board Posts are now a Team Assignment!

Each team will be responsible for posting an initial response to BOTH of the discussion board questions. This initial response needs to be posted by Wednesday. Each individual student then needs to respond to at least TWO of their peers’ comments with at least one of those responses being under each discussion board question.

The ‘bread and butter’ of for-profit institutions often lies in their investment in the student enrollment funnel and their streamlined matriculation processes, and community colleges are forced to compete in these areas with less resources and more regulations. In response, community colleges often frame for-profits as unethical and “what not to do,” but are there things we can learn from this education sector?

Week 2 Discussion Board #2 due Sep 4 The Discussion Board Posts are now a Team Assignment!

Each team will be responsible for posting an initial response to BOTH of the discussion board questions. This initial response needs to be posted by Wednesday. Each individual student then needs to respond to at least TWO of their peers’ comments with at least one of those responses being under each discussion board question.

Often when we discuss racial and ethnic diversity we assume a certain amount of homogeneity within a racial or ethnic group, believing the commonalities between different communities of Asian, Hispanic, or American Indian descent are greater than their differences. In what ways is this helpful? In what ways does this limit our ability to close equity gaps?

Group Project: Strategy Assessment Paper 1 Due Sep 4 by 11:59pm

Each group will submit a strategy assessment paper that adheres to APA guidelines and include citations. Each strategy assessment paper should include the following components:

A concise summary of a national best-practice strategy either covered in the course materials or similar, including the objectives of the strategy and any initial evidence demonstrating the strategy is successful;

An application of the strategy in the context of the group’s specific community college, including benefits and challenges, which student populations would be impacted (positively and/or negatively), which college locations would be impacted (positively and/or negatively), and the financial implications of the strategy;

A recommendation on a scale of 1 to 5 (with 1 being strongly disagree and 5 being strongly agree) as to whether your group feels like the strategy should be considered by the college you are assisting and why.

Case Study 1 Due Sep 4 by 11:59pm

Students will work in smalls groups to explore real-world scenarios involving educational value choices and will develop and present leadership response plans. Specific assignment details will be provided during the session. Case studies will be graded on individual participation (4 points) and the group’s quality of analysis, thought and potential effectiveness of the leadership response (4 points).

Student groups will be expected to summarize and share conversations that occur in the team surrounding the case study.

Using the data on your selected college, make recommendations as a team regarding:

Identify the 2-3 most significant equity gaps in student access, learning, and/or completion;
Select which one equity gap, if closed, would have the most meaningful impact on the college’s student outcome performance;
Present (a) the metric where the equity gap exists, (b) the specific student sub-population impacted by the equity gap, and (c) a measurement of, based on our assessment, what change in the metric would reflect a significant improvement.

Resources for the Case Study:

California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office. (2013). Management information systems data mart. https://datamart.cccco.edu/datamart.aspx (Links to an external site.)

Week 3 Discussion Board #1 due Sep 11 The Discussion Board Posts are now a Team Assignment!

What does it mean for a college to be ‘student ready’? Does that mean students don’t need to meet certain skill or knowledge requirements to be prepared to enter college?

Week 3 Discussion Board #2 due Sep 11 The Discussion Board Posts are now a Team Assignment!

Racism is a complicated issue that plays out in the behaviors and beliefs of individuals and in structures and systems embedded within organizations. If a college commits to being “antiracist” and creating an environment where no individual is treated lesser based upon race or ethnicity, how much of the college’s focus should be on changing individuals? How much should be focused on changing college systems and structures?

Group Project: Strategy Assessment Paper 2 Due Sep 11 by 11:59pm

Each group will submit a strategy assessment paper that adheres to APA guidelines and include citations. Each strategy assessment paper should include the following components:

- A concise summary of a national best-practice strategy either covered in the course materials or similar, including the objectives of the strategy and any initial evidence demonstrating the strategy is successful;
- An application of the strategy in the context of the group’s specific community college, including benefits and challenges, which student populations would be impacted (positively and/or negatively), which college locations would be impacted (positively and/or negatively), and the financial implications of the strategy;
- A recommendation on a scale of 1 to 5 (with 1 being strongly disagree and 5 being strongly agree) as to whether your group feels like the strategy should be considered by the college you are assisting and why.

Reflection Journal Entries: Week 1-3 Due Sep 11 by 11:59pm

Time spent in self-reflection is critical as a professional in higher education’s ever-changing and evolving landscape, especially as leaders consider new institutional structures and strategies and come to understand their role in promoting diversity, inclusion, and equity. Students will be required to maintain a reflection journal during the first five weeks of the course and complete (2) two entries per week that capture thoughts, feelings, insights, and/or questions regarding the course material and its application to the student’s own practice as an educational leader, specifically focusing on an asset approach to implemented student success strategies. The length of journal entries is not as important as the quality of reflection demonstrated.

Students should submit reflection journal entries for Week 1 – 3.

Week 4 Discussion Board #1 due Sep 18

The Discussion Board Posts are now a Team Assignment!

One of the most vocalized arguments against guided pathways is about the value of choice: that community college students should not be expected to know their path when they enter the institution and should be allowed to ‘wander’ and experience the various programs the college offers. Are we causing potential future damage by pushing students to select a pathway early?

Week 4 Discussion Board #2 due Sep 18.

The Discussion Board Posts are now a Team Assignment!

As open-access institutions, community colleges try to provide all of the supports students need to be successful. Some colleges have begun to offer food pantries, on-campus government food assistance registration, long-term mental health counseling, and even housing for homeless students. However, these services are expensive to maintain, and many colleges don’t provide such programs due to cost. What is the level of responsibility of a community college to take care of these non-academic needs for students?

Case Study 2 Due Sep 18 by 11:59pm

Students will work in smalls groups to explore real-world scenarios involving educational value choices and will develop and present leadership response plans. Specific assignment details will be provided during the session. Specific assignment details will be provided during each field study session. Case studies will be graded on individual participation (4 points) and the group’s quality of analysis, thought and potential effectiveness of the leadership response (4 points).

Student groups may be expected to submit case study presentation notes as part of grading process.

Group Project Presentation Due Sep 18 by 11:59pm

Group projects will reinforce the learning material addressed in the sessions leading up to the presentation session and should adhere to APA guidelines and include citations. Group projects will be graded on individual contribution (10 points), the depth and quality of the recommendations made by the group (15 points), and presentation skills (5 points).

Student groups will present their recommendations and may be asked to submit their presentation notes.

Week 5 Discussion Board #1 due Sep 25

Remember, you each need to post a response to ONE of the two discussion board questions with a source citation in APA formatting. This initial response needs to be posted by Wednesday. You then need to respond to THREE of your peers’ comments, with at least one of those responses being under the discussion board question that you didn’t respond to with a citation in APA formatting, by the end of the week. As a TEAM, you need to make sure your team has posted a response with a citation in APA formatting for both of the discussion board questions.

Example: Sarah, Dr. Mathis, and I are on Team Z. Sarah posts a full response to Discussion Board Question #1 for Week 2, and Dr. Mathis posts a full response to Discussion Board Question #2. Technically, Team Z has met its team requirement to post at least one full response to each discussion board question. I can choose to post a full response to either Discussion Board Question #1 or #2. Then all three of us need to make sure we respond to at least three other classmates’ posts.

Case management advising and integrated students supports are based on the premise that college resources can be organized in a way that are customized to individual students. Typically, colleges provide generic programs and services and think in terms of large categories of students, and many have never customized services to individual students at any level of significant scale. How does a college move from generic to customized? Where should it start?

Week 5 Discussion Board #2 due Sep 25

Reflection Journal Entries: Week 4 – 5 Due Sep 25 by 11:59pm

Time spent in self-reflection is critical as a professional in higher education’s ever-changing and evolving landscape, especially as leaders consider new institutional structures and strategies and come to understand their role in promoting diversity, inclusion, and equity. Students will be required to maintain a reflection journal during the first seven weeks of the course and complete (2) two entries per week that capture thoughts, feelings, insights, and/or questions regarding the course material and its application to the student’s own practice as an educational leader. The length of journal entries is not as important as the quality of reflection demonstrated.

Group Project: Strategy Assessment Paper 3 Due Sep 25 by 11:59pm

Each group will submit a strategy assessment paper that adheres to APA guidelines and include citations. Each strategy assessment paper should include the following components:

- A concise summary of a national best-practice strategy either covered in the course materials or similar, including the objectives of the strategy and any initial evidence demonstrating the strategy is successful;
- An application of the strategy in the context of the group’s specific community college, including benefits and challenges, which student populations would be impacted (positively and/or negatively), which college locations would be impacted (positively and/or negatively), and the financial implications of the strategy;
- A recommendation on a scale of 1 to 5 (with 1 being strongly disagree and 5 being strongly agree) as to whether your group feels like the strategy should be considered by the college you are assisting and why.

Week 6 Discussion Board #1 due Oct 2

Many community colleges engage in ‘pockets’ of integrative learning by which small numbers of students ‘luck into’ these powerful experiences while the majority of students don’t benefit. Should integrative learning models be the default experience for all students, and if so what would that look like?

Week 6 Discussion Board #2 due Oct 2

Many students are in the process of developing their self-identity, which can include gender and sexuality, while they are in college. To what extent should a college support students exploring and expressing non hetero-normative identities? What does that type of support look like in the classroom or on campus?

Group Project: Strategy Assessment Paper 4 Due Oct 2 by 11:59pm

Each group will submit a strategy assessment paper that adheres to APA guidelines and include citations. Each strategy assessment paper should include the following components:

- A concise summary of a national best-practice strategy either covered in the course materials or similar, including the objectives of the strategy and any initial evidence demonstrating the strategy is successful;
- An application of the strategy in the context of the group’s specific community college, including benefits and challenges, which student populations would be impacted (positively and/or negatively), which college locations would be impacted (positively and/or negatively), and the financial implications of the strategy;
- A recommendation on a scale of 1 to 5 (with 1 being strongly disagree and 5 being strongly agree) as to whether your group feels like the strategy should be considered by the college you are assisting and why.

Week 7 Discussion Board #1 due Oct 9

Student success is defined in many different ways by different students. Some advocates say colleges should focus on whatever goal a student has, even if that goal is just taking one class. Others argue that economic data show a student needs to complete a degree and/or transfer to earn a living wage. How important is it to focus on program completion and transition, either in the workforce or transfer?

Week 7 Discussion Board #2 due Oct 9

When serving students with different lived experiences, community colleges often receive requests for attribute-specific student spaces on campus. For example, there may be requests for a Veterans Resource Center, and international student lounge, a prayer room for Muslim students, a Multicultural Center, or a gathering space for former foster youth. As most community colleges have facility limitations, how should they respond to these requests? How should they prioritize spaces?

Reflection Journal Entries: Week 6 – 7 Oct 9 by 11:59pm

Time spent in self-reflection is critical as a professional in higher education’s ever-changing and evolving landscape, especially as leaders consider new institutional structures and strategies and come to understand their role in promoting diversity, inclusion, and equity. Students will be required to maintain a reflection journal during the first seven weeks of the course and complete (2) two entries per week that capture thoughts, feelings, insights, and/or questions regarding the course material and its application to the student’s own practice as an educational leader. The length of journal entries is not as important as the quality of reflection demonstrated. Students should submit reflection journal entries for Week 6 – 7.

Group Project: Grant Competition Due Oct 9 by 11:59pm

Group projects will reinforce the learning material addressed in the sessions leading up to the project. The group project will be a grant competition simulation. Grading of the activity will be based on performance in the grant competition, including (a) active participation, (b) persuasiveness of grant proposal efforts, and (c) success in earning votes for a team’s grant proposal.

Grant Competition:

The EDACE 854 Foundation will be awarding college(s) two grants: one (1) $750k over three years, and one (1) $250k over 3 years. Up to two colleges will be awarded; grants cannot be split between colleges.

Simulation Objective: Win a grant for your team’s selected college to implement your student success/equity strategy recommendation

winning college(s) must be able to implement strategy successfully in time-frame
winning college(s) must demonstrate (i) the strategy will be effective in closing the specific gap identified and (ii) have a significant result that will inspire other colleges to adopt the strategy

Selection Process

Will be shared before the presentations.

Decision Making Process

The selection process will occur through the following rounds:

Round 1: Class norming on winning criteria (10 minutes)
Round 2: Team time to select strategy and campaign approach (80 minutes)
Round 3: Advocacy session 1 (30 minutes)
Round 4: Team debrief (20 minutes)
Round 5: Voting (10 minutes)

Week 8 Discussion Board #1 due Oct 16

Remember, you each need to post a response to ONE of the two discussion board questions with a source citation in APA formatting. This initial response needs to be posted by Wednesday. You then need to respond to THREE of your peers’ comments, with at least one of those responses being under the discussion board question that you didn’t respond to with a citation in APA formatting, by the end of the week. As a TEAM, you need to make sure your team has posted a response with a citation in APA formatting for both of the discussion board questions.

Example: Sarah, Dr. Mathis, and I are on Team Z. Sarah posts a full response to Discussion Board Question #1 for Week 2, and Dr. Mathis posts a full response to Discussion Board Question #2. Technically, Team Z has met its team requirement to post at least one full response to each discussion board question. I can choose to post a full response to either Discussion Board Question #1 or #2. Then all three of us need to make sure we respond to at least three other classmates’ posts.

With limited resources, community colleges often have to be strategic in deciding which few of many gaps in student performance to address. For example, many colleges choose to target strategies for only new-to-college students, or maybe for only female students in science courses. What should they do, if anything, about all of the students who may not benefit from these key strategies? Do they need to include everyone in every strategy?

Week 8 Discussion Board #2 due Oct 16

Students often represent multiple characteristics of diversity, from age, socioeconomic status and race/ethnicity, to gender, sexual orientation, and other lived experiences. This can add significant complexity in addressing equity gaps in student performance. How should colleges factor in this complexity when developing and implementing student success strategies?

Group Project: Final Strategy Report Due Oct 16 by 11:59pm

The assignments in the course build on each other in the creation of the 20-page Group Project: Final Strategy Report. The report should both adhere to APA guidelines and include citations. The report should include the following components:

- An executive-summary level overview of the community college and information points critical to understand in making good on the promise of the open door at that specific institution;
- An analysis of where the greatest gaps exist in the college’s student success metrics and where the greatest gains could be seen by investing in a “best-practice” strategy;
- A recommendation as to which “best-practice” strategy(ies) should be adopted by the community college;
- An overview of a proposed implementation plan.
- Additional details that would enable a college to make a case in support of the recommendations and have clarity on how the recommendations could be implemented in a timely and effective manner.