New Survey Findings Urge Community Colleges to "Imagine Success" - March 20, 2009

The Survey of Entering Student Engagement (SENSE), a national assessment of and for community and technical colleges, released its 2009 preliminary survey findings on March 18, in a report titled “Imagine Success: Engaging Entering Students.”

SENSE is a product of The University of Texas at Austin’s Community College Center for Student Engagement, which is in the College of Education’s Department of Educational Administration.

This year’s report focuses on the need for major redesign of college practices so colleges can more successfully engage entering students.

“Given today’s unprecedented economic challenges, community and technical colleges across the country are caught in the conundrum of decreasing financial support and increasing student need,” said Dr. Kay McClenney, director of the Community College Center for Student Engagement, which developed the survey. “That reality collides with the fact that the way our colleges currently are designed typically produces significant student attrition in the early weeks and first year of college. That situation has to change, for students’ sake and for the country’s.”
Community colleges must contend with entering student attrition rate—nationally, nearly 50 percent of entering students drop out before the second year – while those who stay in school often struggle with developmental courses. In response to these challenges, an increasing number of colleges are taking steps to examine the experiences of entering students, analyze why some succeed and others do not and find ways of improving entering student retention and outcomes.

“We’re encouraging colleges to ponder the prospect of genuine, large-scale success,” says McClenney. “If significantly more students were successful, think what that would mean for those students, our communities and our economy. Imagine the return on investment we would realize if more entering students persisted to complete their educational goals. Also, consider the impact that would have on our colleges. With drop-out rates hovering for years at 50 percent, are we prepared to serve many more students all the way through graduation?”

“Imagine Success” features data from 57,547 students who participated in the survey during the fourth and fifth weeks of the 2008 fall academic term at 89 participating community colleges in 29 states and the Marshall Islands.

The report is organized around six features found in colleges that are designed for student success. These six “design principles” are:

• personal connectionshigh expectations and aspirations
• a plan and a pathway to success
• an effective track to college readiness
• engaged learning
• an integrated network of financial, social and academic support

Each of the six features is presented with data from the SENSE survey; student, faculty and administrator comments and other findings from qualitative research conducted through the Center’s Starting Right Initiative; and examples from colleges that illustrate successful implementation of the principles.

Included in the survey data highlighted in the report are these preliminary findings:

• Asked whether they agree with the statement, “The very first time I came to this college, I felt welcome,” 80 percent of entering students agree or strongly agree.
• However, fewer than one-quarter of entering students (24 percent) reply yes to the question, “Was a specific person assigned to you so you could see him/her each time you needed information or assistance?”
• In response to the statement, “I have the motivation to do what it takes to succeed in college,” 68 percent of entering students strongly agree.
• Yet, despite high aspirations, one in five (21 percent) of entering students is not sure when he or she plans to take classes again.
• More than three-quarters (76 percent) of entering students agree or strongly agree that an advisor helped them select their courses, but only 39 percent of entering students agree or strongly agree that an advisor helped them to set academic goals and create a plan for achieving them.
  
• Nearly a third (32 percent) of entering students report they turned at least one assignment in late; 25 percent say they failed to turn in one or more assignments; 47 percent report that they came to class unprepared; 29 percent say that they skipped class; and 10 percent report skipping class multiple times — all during the first three weeks of their first academic term.
  
• 22 percent say they never worked with other students on a project or assignment during class, and 69 percent never did so outside of class.
• 27 percent report never asking for help from an instructor regarding questions or problems related to class, while 71 percent say they never discussed ideas from readings or assignments with instructors outside of class.
• well over half (64 percent) of entering students tested into at least one developmental area.
• 29 percent of SENSE respondents are enrolled in developmental reading; 32 percent are enrolled in developmental writing; and 54 percent are enrolled in developmental math.
• 75 percent of entering students say they are not enrolled in a student success course, while nearly three-quarters (74 percent) of entering students enrolled in a student success course say such courses should be mandatory for all entering students.
• 58 percent of entering students who enrolled in a student success course developed a written plan for how and when they can achieve their academic goals, compared to 30 percent of all entering students.
• Fewer than a third of entering students were aware of key student services during the first three weeks of college: 29 percent of entering students say they did not know about academic advising/planning services; 27 percent reported not knowing about face-to-face tutoring; 32 percent said they were unaware of skill labs; and 27 percent said they did not know about financial aid advising.

“SENSE helps colleges focus their assessment efforts and improvement strategies on the critical early weeks of students' college experiences, with the goal of keeping more entering students engaged in school—the first step toward achieving their academic and professional goals,” said Dr. Angela Oriano-Darnall, assistant director for SENSE. “SENSE’s unique sampling provides rare insights from entering students—not only those who are on-track to successfully complete programs of study, but also those who may drop out before the end of their first academic term.”

Like its parent survey, the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE), SENSE is based on institutional practices and student behaviors that research shows are related to student persistence and success but focuses on students’ experiences during the college entry process and the critical first three weeks of class.

SENSE is open for nationwide participation in fall 2009, and colleges have until April 3, 2009, to register (www.enteringstudent.org). SENSE is supported through start-up funding from Houston Endowment Inc. and Lumina Foundation for Education. The Starting Right Initiativeis supported by the MetLife Foundation and Houston Endowment Inc.

Learn more about SENSE and Starting Right at www.enteringstudent.org.

—Kay Randall, Office of the Vice President for Public Affairs, 512-232-3910
and Angela Oriano-Darnall, SENSE Assistant Director, 319-850-0595