Glen Oaks Community College
Being able to use data more effectively to improve student learning is a high priority for Glen Oaks Community College. The college seeks a data-driven, holistic approach to student success.
With Achieving the Dream, the college will:
- Provide opportunities to network, strengthen skill-sets, resources and tools within the offices of Institutional Effectiveness and Research (IER)
- Increase IER capacity
- Improve college readiness and term-to-term retention by instituting a Student Success Course
- Focus attention on developmental education improvements
The college recently launched a College Readiness Initiative to work with its current programs as well as provide additional services to low-income students and those with multiple risk factors. The college also plans to mesh its Achieving the Dream efforts with Academy for Assessment of Student Learning projects and Academic Quality Improvement Program accreditation processes.
Glen Oaks Community College serves the rural residents of the southern-most section of central Michigan. Many students are place-bound, so in addition to offering 11 associate degree programs, the college collaborates with university partners to provide access to baccalaureate degrees from its 300-acre campus. The school also features a Center for Business Services with custom designed programs to benefit business and industry. Glen Oaks had 1,690 students in Fall 2009; 14% were students of color and eighty-four percent received some type of financial aid.
In 2009, 60% of the college's entering students were placed in developmental courses. The majority of underprepared students are first-generation college students; many are also single parents. As the economic situation in Michigan has deteriorated, the college's enrollment has grown dramatically. Many of the newest students are from exceptionally low-income households. In general, these new adult students are highly stressed and possess fewer academic skills than students who enrolled just a few years ago.
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.
