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News and Updates
This
email highlights three academic initiatives that your colleagues from
around the system are leading. All three initiatives are aligned with
CSCU’s Guided Pathways goals:
- Helping more students complete courses and, ultimately, complete credentials that lead to jobs with value in the labor market
- Advancing
equity in our colleges and in our state so all students have the
education, skills, and resources necessary for economic advancement
Areas of Study
Historically, we have tried to offer students a great number of program
options, but we now know that having too many choices overwhelms most
students. Instead, Guided Pathways helps students made informed
decisions with “meta-majors,” which organize degree programs into a
limited number of categories.
In Spring 2018, the Guided Pathways Choice Architecture team proposed grouping programs into six broad categories called Areas of Study. The Choice Architecture team includes faculty, staff, and students from the 12 community colleges.
The six proposed Areas of Study are:
- Health Careers
- STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math)
- Manufacturing and Applied Technology
- Business and Hospitality
- Humanities and Creative Arts
- Social Sciences and Public Service
These Areas of Study give students a more manageable entry point to
their college experience by helping them explore and then focus their
educational and career interests early in their academic journey.
Because academic programs within each Area of Study can share course
requirements and foundational skills, course sequencing can be
structured to allow students to complete one or more semesters of
exploration before having to choose a specific major. The Areas of Study
also help to ensure that students register for the courses they need to
complete their degree programs, increasing the likelihood of
completion.
You can learn more about “meta-majors” here {link: http://www.ct.edu/gp#resources}.
To ask questions or provide feedback about the the proposed Areas of
Study, contact your Choice Architecture team representatives {link: http://www.ct.edu/gp#groups} or the team leads, Francine Rosselli-Navarra {link: frosselli-navarra@manchestercc.edu} and Heidi Zenie {link: hzenie@trcc.commnet.edu}.
College and Career Success Course
Successful completion in college requires that students have clear
academic goals and understand what they need to do to achieve those
goals. Some students start college with clear academic goals, some have a
general sense of their interests, and some want to explore their
options. Whatever their starting point, most students need help
navigating college.
Many colleges have First Year Experience programs that address these and
other issues so students get a strong start to their college
experience. Faculty and staff from the 12 community colleges are
developing a new College and Career Success course that will help
students set academic goals; explore career options; and develop
essential 21st century skills, such as critical thinking and
information literacy. Like many existing student success courses, this
new course will help students navigate college, develop study skills,
and learn about campus support services. It is different, however, in
that it is aligned with General Education outcomes and focuses on career
exploration and academic planning. In the course, students will
research and evaluate education and career options, and they will
develop an individualized semester-by-semester academic plan that they
can follow to complete their degree or choose to modify as they make
decisions about their future.
For questions or comments about the College and Career Success course, contact Gayle Barrett {gbarrett@mxcc.commnet.edu}, Mike Buccilli {mbuccilli@gatewayct.edu}, Francine Rosselli-Navarra {frosselli-navarra@manchestercc.edu}, and Heidi Zenie {hzenie@trcc.commnet.edu}.
Transfer and Articulation Policy (TAP)
TAP Transfer Tickets, available since fall 2016, are
Connecticut Community College degree programs that transfer to
Connecticut State Universities and Charter Oak State College with the
guarantee that students will not lose credits or be required to take
extra credits in their major to complete a bachelor’s degree.
More than 5,200 students are enrolled in a Transfer Ticket Degree
Program in one of 26 majors. This fall saw the successful transfer of
the first small cohort of Transfer Ticket students to the CSUs.
Also this fall, TAP Manager Ken Klucznik visited most of the CSCU
campuses to provide updates and listen to questions, concerns, and
challenges. One significant challenge was identified by most schools:
Like most of our students, many Transfer Ticket students are not using
advising services, even when they are directly invited to meet with an
advisor. It is our hope that the implementation of Guided Pathways,
Areas of Study, and the College and Career Success course will lead more
students to use advising services.
Finally, faculty work groups are developing three more majors — in
Biochemistry, Economics, and Geography — to add to the list of Transfer
Tickets available for students. For more information, see the TAP Handbook and visit the Transfer Navigator site . Ken Klucznik {kklucznik@manchestercc.edu} also is available to answer questions or discuss concerns.
Individuals from your campus
As noted above, a team of your colleagues has been developing the
College and Career Success course. This team has worked since the spring
(including work through the summer) on this new type of First Year
Experience course. They include:
- Catherine Babbitt, Gateway
- Gayle Barrett, Middlesex
- Marie Basche, Capital
- Donna Bontatibus, Middlesex
- Caitlin Boger-Hawkins, Northwestern
- Vicki Bozzuto, Gateway
- Mike Buccilli, Gateway
- Marie Buchta, Norwalk
- Jodi Calvert, Three Rivers
- Linda Cocchiola, Capital
- Jonah Cohen, Gateway
- Tamika Davis, Tunxis
- Lisa Dresdner, Naugatuck Valley
- Dave Ferreira, Northwestern
- James Gentile, Manchester
- Samantha Gonzalez, Manchester
- Jaime Hammond, Naugatuck Valley
- Forrest Helvie, Norwalk
- Heath Hightower, Quinebaug Valley
- Mary Ellen Jukoski, Three Rivers
- Louis Lombard, Naugatuck Valley
- Adrienne Maslin, Middlesex
- Steve McDowell, CSCU
- Michaela Mullarkey, Asnuntuck
- Jane O’Grady, Northwestern
- Julia Petitfrere, Naugatuck Valley
- Rebecca Rodriguez, Housatonic
- Francine Rosselli-Navarra, Manchester
- Jill Rushbrook, Asnuntuck
- Rebecca Samberg, Housatonic
- Jason Scappaticci, Manchester
- Tim St. James, Asnuntuck
- Kathy Taylor, Naugatuck Valley
- Joanne White, Manchester
- Pam Williams, Three Rivers
- Marguerite Yawin, Tunxis
- Heidi Zenie, Three Rivers
Getting involved
Given the volume of work in front of us, we are regularly building teams
to engage in this effort. In building these teams, we aim to include
faculty, staff, and administrators with diverse perspectives and skills.
If you are interested in joining one of these teams, contact successcenter@ct.edu.
In our next issue:
In CSCU Student Success Update #4, which we’ll email at the beginning of
next semester, we’ll look at our Holistic Student Supports Redesign
team as well as our partnership with Achieving the Dream and the
upcoming development of twelve Campus Student Success Teams.
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