National Park Community College
National Park Community College (NPCC) has adopted a culture of evidence with a thorough and unflinching examination of retention, grades, course completion and graduation rates. NPCC analyzes data, conducts student and community focus groups, and makes change recommendations to improve student success rates.
The college examines quantitative and qualitative student data to discover those areas that would be best served through more extensive and deeper study. The use of evidence uncovered a 20% gap in achievement between the college’s full-time and part-time students.
The major achievement gap the college has identified through its research-driven inquiries has been addressed by the college’s pursuance of the following initiatives:
- The college is scaling Tutoring for students in a variety of academic areas.
- Connections to Success: Mentoring initiatives designed support student success.
- Great College Workshop and Adjunct Institute: Designed to enhance the teaching abilities of full and part-time instructors.
- Math Cascade: Dividing developmental and intermediate math courses into ‘modules’ designed to permit more efficient movement through the sequence.
National Park Community College was formed in 2003 when Garland County Community College and Quapaw Technical Institute joined to become a truly comprehensive community college. The campus is located in Mid-America Park, just outside the city limits of Hot Springs, America’s oldest national park site.
Fifty-eight percent of students received Pell grant funding in Fall 2009, and this percentage will continue to grow as the college implements programs targeted at helping low-income students enroll, attend and succeed in higher education.
The college’s motto is “Learning is our focus; student success is our goal.” NPCC is devoted to helping all students achieve their individual educational goals by creating a learning community that is accessible, convenient, caring, affordable, and secure. NPCC offers courses and programs in the liberal arts and occupational education in order to help students transfer to a four-year college or enter the workforce.
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.
