GOVERNING BOARD
MARCH 7, 2006
MINUTES
A strategic conversation was scheduled to be held at 4:00 p.m. in the Governing Board Room at the District Office in Tempe, Arizona, pursuant to A.R.S. §38-431.02, notice having been duly given.
PRESENT
GOVERNING BOARD
Scott Crowley, President
Ed Contreras, Secretary
Don Campbell, Member
Linda Rosenthal, Member
Jerry Walker, Member
ADMINISTRATION
Rufus Glasper
Anna Solley
Maria Harper-Marinick
Pete Kushibab
Al Crusoe
Darrel Huish
Patty Cardenas-Adame for Larry Christiansen
Ken Atwater
Debra Thompson
Mary Kay Kickels
Dr. Osaro Ighodara for Art DeCabooter
Jean Ann Abel
Maria Hesse
Linda Thor Gene Giovannini
Homero Lopez
Steve Helfgot
Attendance: Approximately 90, not including facilitators, camera staff, and campus staff.
STRATEGIC CONVERSATIONCONVERSATION (4:12 p.m. through 6:35 p.m.)
Vice Chancellor Steve Helfgot welcomed everyone present to and recounted a story from his youth when used to watch episodes of Flash Gordon every week. These episodes had a new adventure but just a different planet. In similar fashion, these strategic conversations recently have ended with continued action on student success, evidence and inquiry. Tonight’s is the latest in the series. He stated that this particular conversation includes a lot of data which will be discussed as the evening progressed.
Chancellor Glasper approached the podium and remarked that focus on student success is what we are all about. FTSE is driven by data, however, what do we do with the data? We continue to say that we are the best and the brightest but we need to connect the dots. Student success is the name of the game, not FTSE. It is imperative to change nomenclature. The environment and data are changing, and an analysis of data needs to be done. Financial aid packages have grown 20-30% and we need to change our focus and how we operate. We have seen over they years that growing is not necessarily a good thing. There is a need to talk about the community college culture and why numbers of students are not retained from one year to the next. If we focused on retaining each student, what would our numbers be? How can we remain financially stable? We need to focus on what we do well. Dr. Glasper encouraged everyone present to step out of the box and explore the possibilities.
Georgia Gudykunst, Director of Institutional Effectiveness, came forward next and addressed the following keypoints: (Copies of Powerpoint slides are included with these minutes)
• Purpose: The importance of supporting a culture of evidence and inquiry and using meaningful quantitative and qualitative information to increase understanding and move conversation into action that improves student success.
• Asking Meaningful Questions about who students are and how they may be different from students in the past; what is their educational intent; how well they do and how might the needs of the next generation of students differ, and can their success best be facilitated.
• Demographical information was provided pertaining to age, ethnicity, prior education, gender, and first language. This information is included in the copy of the powerpoint slides included with these minutes
• Comparisons were made pertaining to educational intent on students currently attending MCCCD with students attending in 1995. The comparisons were made in the categories of personal interest, workforce, transfer, and undeclared.
• Information on Transfer Students, Workforce Students Personal Interest Students, and Undeclared Students was provided pertaining to their academic preparedness, prior education, and first language.
• Successful college-level course completion on the four categories of students was also provided for the years 2001 and 2005. Ranges went from 69.8% to 77.1% for the two years researched.
• Persistence was compared for the years 2004-2005 for the four categories.
• The long-term goal achievement/highest award for the four categories was tracked for a cohort of students that started in 1996. Statistics were provided for those earning an award, how many are still enrolled, and how many have not earned an award.
• Comparison data was provided for developmental course completion and developmental student persistence for the years 2001, 2004, and 2005
• Graduations (and projections) according to ethnicity were shown for the years 1993-2018. Questions raised by this information were: Do increasing high school graduates indicate increasing MCCCD enrollments? How will the goals and needs of recent high school graduates entering Maricopa in 2015 be similar or different from today?
• Future workforce needs were discussed, as well as statistics on Arizona’s population over 65 years of age.
Georgia concluded her presentation with the thoughts that the data presented needs to be transformed into information that can support better planning and decision making; moving to proactively predict and develop scenarios, and the importance of partnering through the process.
Rio Faculty Member Laura Helminski came forward next to speak about the District Student Academic Achievement Assessment Committee, district-wide committee focused on student achievement and assessment. Ms. Helminski pointed out the makeup of the committee and the focus of this group pertaining to questions and issues concerning student success and retention. In developing a culture of evidence and a culture of inquiry, she indicated that the committee holds discussions at dialogue days and assessment forums; has discussions about assessment instruments; has discussions about resources, conferences, workshops, speakers; has discussions about best practices for student involvement, adjunct faculty involvement, etc.; and has discussions about “closing the loop” where we use data for improvements. Over the last five years, the focus on assessment and continuous improvement work has been on what increases student learning, enhances teaching, improves effectiveness, and documents achievement. The committee focuses on district outcomes, college outcomes, program and department outcomes, and finally course outcomes. (A copy of Ms. Helminski’s powerpoint slides are included with these minutes.)
After a short break, table conversations were held on the following questions:
• What other data should we be focusing on (beyond degrees and awards, retention and persistence, and increased enrollment) to understand and improve student success?
• What other information/data is needed in the three areas?
• What other questions should we be asking to develop a culture focused on student success, on becoming a culture of evidence and inquiry?
Table group discussion report outs were facilitated by Acting Vice Chancellor Maria Harper-Marinick and are summarized on the attached report.
Closing comments were made by Vice Chancellor Helfgot. Dr. Helfgot introduced members of his doctoral class that were present for the conversation. He stated that many times students don’t know what they don’t know and the same applies to other groups, therefore there is a need to explore what we don’t know. We need to ensure that Maricopa Students have a positive experience.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting concluded at 6:35 p.m.
________________
Ed Contreras
Governing Board Secretary