Everett Community College
Improving student retention and success with some remarkable changes in college programs and services is the college’s highest priority. Some advances have been achieved through improvement and expansion of technology and others have been driven by faculty striving to offer coursework where students are actively engaged in student-centered learning. Particular attention has been given to identifying student service needs and trends related to access, financial assistance, advising, and improving the learning and college community experience for new students.
College leaders believe participation in Achieving the Dream will strengthen their efforts to engage the entire college, including students and advisory boards, to pursue improved student achievement and increased transfers by students to four-year universities. Everett’s involvement in Achieving the Dream will help the college develop a stronger overall culture of evidence-based decision making. By working with coaches and data coaches, they plan to design and implement an ongoing process for reporting data to the college community in a meaningful, usable way that results in ongoing improvements to student achievement.
Everett Community College educates more than 20,000 students every year at seven learning centers throughout Snohomish County, Washington with most students and faculty at the main campus in North Everett. Everett’s campus is one of the most diverse in the region, welcoming students with an extremely wide range of backgrounds and experiences. The college is also home to the University Center of North Puget Sound, which offers more than 25 bachelor’s and master’s degree programs.
In the 2009-10 academic year, students of color represented over 27% of the total student population, greater than the total percentage of people of color in Snohmish County communities, which is 23%. In Fall 2009, 40% of Everett’s students were low-income, first generation college students, or disabled students. Placement tests indicate that more than 90% of entering students are below college-level math, and more than 60% are below college-level English. The institution is committed to providing educational access and success for more underrepresented and underserved people in the college’s service region, including students of color, low-income students, re-entry women, LBGTQ students, disabled students, and veterans. Students go to Everett to start their four-year degrees, earn certificates, learn English, develop basic skills, and even to finish high school.
The Achieving the Dream Model
Achieving the Dream community colleges commit to our Student-Centered Model of Institutional Improvement. Based on four principles, the model frames the overall work of helping more students, particularly low- income students and students of color, stay in school and earn a college certificate or degree.
Each college approaches the work differently, but Achieving the Dream’s five-step process provides practical guidelines for keeping the focus where it belongs and building momentum over time. Throughout the process, Achieving the Dream coaches offer customized support and help each college’s core team implement data-informed programs and policies that build long-term, institution-wide commitment to student success.
