This interventions was developed for academically underprepared, pell grant recipients, first-generation in college students. The College paired a beginning Algebra course with a Self-Improvement, tutor - embedded course.
Cuyahoga Community College
Active in Achieving the Dream:
2005 - present
Leader College:
2009 - 2012
Leader College
Participating Institution
Orientation seemed to improve fall-to-spring retention so significantly that Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C) instituted a “No Late Registration” policy in 2011 to ensure new students take either the in-person orientation or online program.
What We Are Doing:
Strengthening students’ entrée to Tri-C extends from orientation to developmental math improvements.
Since 2006, experiments with Paired Math have made small positive improvements in student outcomes. This intervention connects Beginning Algebra (Math 0950) with a two-credit course (Math 0850) that addresses study skills, math practice time, and math attitudes.
Tri-C is now also pilot testing Quantway. This new Carnegie Foundation-developed curriculum focuses on quantitative literacy and alternative pathways for engaging students in mathematical applications and numerical reasoning.
Who We Are:
Tri-C is the largest and oldest public community college in Ohio. It served 31,262 credit students on three campuses in metropolitan Cleveland in Fall 2011. The average age of Tri-C students is 29 years old. Sixty-one percent of the college’s students are women; 32% are African American; 4% are Hispanic.
In recent years, Cleveland and Cuyahoga County residents have struggled with unemployment in excess of 9% and high home foreclosure rates. Cleveland’s population declined by 80,000 residents between the 2000 and 2010 censuses, and now ranks as the 45th largest U.S. city. In 1970 it was 10th.How We Work:
Tri-C has aligned its Achieving the Dream interventions with its five-year strategic plan and Academic Quality Improvement Program efforts. In addition to orientation and developmental math innovations, the interventions include:
- Supplemental Instruction led by students who have completed developmental education. During 2010-2011 these sessions served 800 students.
- Mentoring of first-time-in-college students by faculty and staff members. While serving approximately 500 students per semester, fall-to-spring retention was 74% for mentored students compared to 67.8% for non-mentored students.
- Learning Communities that link the highest developmental English course with popular 1000-level courses in business administration, history, and political science.
I’m really passionate about completion. ‘Some college’ is not acceptable. That’s why Tri-C is an Achieving the Dream Institution.
Jerry Sue Thornton, President, Cuyahoga Community College
PDF Version:
Student Success Strategies
Cuyahoga Community College is using the following strategies to impact student success:
Student Orientation: An in-person new student orientation session that includes a required counseling session and engagement activities. Orientation also provides an introduction to the College and its policies and practices.
FTIC students are assigned a peer mentor. This mentor works with the student throughout the term. The mentor and student agree to uphold certain requirements to fulfill the relationship.
Supplemental Instruction is an academic support model that uses peer-assisted study sessions to improve student success in targeted courses.
