The Phoenix Project

THE PHOENIX PROJECT

Using Data to Develop a Comprehensive Academic

Probation Program at a Large College

Session Objectives Identify stakeholders at your institution for this work

Understand why data is key to the development of this process

Identify your population and the challenges this entails

Identify learning centered strategies to reach this population of students

Introduction Dr. Julie Corderman, Manager of Student Services at the

Winter Park Campus of Valencia College

Oversee front line staff for Student Services at our campus-includes Answer Center, Career Center and Atlas lab

Adjunct Instructor in Psychology

Developing a comprehensive Probation and Suspension program at Valencia

How We Got Started Our campus Dean tasked the Career Center with working

with Probation and Suspension students The idea behind this appointment was following the

O’Banion Model of assisting students with focusing on long term goals and goal setting

Life Goals Career Goals Educational Goals (Major) Course Selection Schedule

On-going conversations with my advisors about the probation student population

Created an ad hoc system for my advisors to use as a method of keeping each other in the loop with regards to student we were seeing

First Steps Began to collect and tally Probation Passes

(We had passes collected from a three year period) Began discussions with OIT on creating a data

report (18 months) Sent a team of Student Services staff members

to Destinations program during Summer to begin discussion of interventions (3 months)

Sent team members to NACADA conference Developed a work team of key stakeholders

Stakeholders

Who are the stakeholders at your school? Who might be invested in this work? Who do you need at the table for

discussion? Who are the best advisors for the job? Think broadly and forward

Stakeholders at Valencia Project Facilitator Academic Deans (2) Faculty (2) Deans of Students (2) Counselors (2) Conduct Coordinators (2) Career Advisors (2) Financial Aid Liaison (1) Black Board Liaison (1) OIT Liaison (1)

Why Data is Key Helps you to separate fact from fiction Enables you to have important

information when speaking to various stakeholder groups at the college

Enables you to begin to formulate a plan Enables you to determine if your plan is

working Enables you to tweak portions of your

program as supported by the data

Examples of How Data Directed Us

Redesigning our probation pass Identifying our population and developing

interventions based on numbers Flex courses - should students on P2 be

able to take them?

The Probation Pass Advisors began to see more and more students rolling onto

academic probation as Banner helped us to “clean up” reports

Many of the probation students we were seeing were not able to articulate reasons for being on probation

Many of the probation students did not have clear educational goals; supporting O’Banion’s Model

Many of these students had unrealistic expectations about how many classes they could successfully navigate in a term

Many of the students were not taking responsibility for changing their academic behavior

Probation Pass Data: Q. Why are you on Probation?

Blank

Poor time manageme

nt

Personal or Family

problems

Lack of focus or

motivation

Working too much/work schedule

Accident or sickness

Failing grades/low

GPA

Misunderstood the

question

1 0 14 23 29 24 10 99 172 0 9 14 21 14 0 93 183 2 2 13 28 7 4 36 64 3 36 45 66 19 12 159 1025 19 4 36 70 8 31 27 636 5 52 35 108 36 7 119 987 2 24 18 48 29 3 138 108 1 6 5 12 1 0 47 39 0 7 9 20 20 1 80 4

10 2 16 19 60 15 2 28 66

Total 34 170 217 462 173 70 826 387

Percentage 2% 9% 12% 26% 10% 4% 46% 21%

Probation pass data: Q. What will it take to get off Probation?

Blank

Pass my classes/try

harder

Manage time more

wisely

Use Valencia ressources

(skill shops, labs etc)

Retaking failed

classes to raise GPA

Quit job/reduce

working hours

Seek help from teachers and advisors

Misunderstood the question

1 9 91 29 1 46 19 2 22 45 55 22 5 10 9 5 153 2 67 7 2 4 9 2 44 29 182 61 33 15 30 28 275 6 4 23 8 11 1 0 276 42 198 85 23 37 49 18 157 25 109 52 11 32 24 11 58 4 27 2 1 41 2 0 09 8 42 30 10 20 40 8 5

10 8 129 39 12 6 23 10 6Total 178 904 350 106 222 206 84 106

10% 50% 19% 6% 12% 11% 5% 6%

Building the Database (2 years in the making)

We had to determine how to gather the population information from our data warehouse

We had to define our population (different parameters AW, P1, P2, SU) We had to determine what types of data were important to mine:

Term GPA CUM GPA Major HS Zip Code Sex Ethnicity Cleared vs. registered

We had to determine when to run the report during a term cycle We had to determine which fields to mine the data from to get correct

data

Defining Our Population: Our First Look at the Data

Our first usable report was run at the end of Summer term 2011

We just ran our 5th report at the beginning of December 2012

Each term we run a college wide report plus a report on our pilot group vs. a control group

In addition, each term we begin to experiment with digging deeper into the data to answer theories about our work such as:

“Do flex term courses have an impact on student outcomes?”“What impact is withdrawing having on this population?”

Population by Status

201130 201210 201220 201230 2013100

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

929

1392

1173

701

1176

279

488441

282

434

63120

74 59105

P1

P2

SU

Grouped by Goal

201130 201210 201220 201230 2013100

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

807

1282

1060

675

1171

440

671

507

278331

44 75 55 37 6023 47 26 12 1515 38 26 25 34

AAASPersonalAAST-Cert

Allied Health Pending Students

201130 201210 201220 201230 2013100

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

131

186

151

79

135

15

29 2513 14

20 17 209 1414 14 17

1122

2 7 2 6 42 3 6 1 4

NursingRadiographyDental HygieneSonographyRespiratoryCardiovascular

Our Initial Thoughts Large numbers –how are we going to manage?

How can we manage the flow of these students so they can be evenly distributed (by Campus? By Advisor?)

With the varying numbers in each group, do we want to have different levels of intervention for each group?

Does there need to be a different strategy with our Allied Pre-Clinical students?

What about including our Academic Warning students?

Blackboard Course: A Solution for the Masses

Schools that we studied were dealing with much smaller numbers Began seeing some schools with online tutorials and forms for

students We already had a form called the “Probation Pass” for students

online We initially created a Blackboard course as a way to “corral”

students college wide The course enables us to direct flow where we can manage it Allows students to check in via e-mail Contributes to ongoing dialogue during the term Allows same advisor to follow a student throughout their time on

Probation Allows us to gather data on effectiveness of assignments

Building the Course We went through many attempts at this (still a work in

progress) Created a set of online assignments that students are given

each term they are on probation Manually load names each term AFTER previous term

grades have rolled Advisor is the “Instructor” of the course and determines

what assignment to give a student based on questionnaire information

Advisors can send reminders to their students as well as personal e-mails encouraging students during the term

Assignments are built to be self-gradeable Student must receive 80% or more on every assignment to

be cleared for future courses Credit restrictions apply to probation and suspension

students

Blackboard 101: P2 Population All students go through the “Orientation assignment”

their first term on Probation This assignment includes:

Catalog definitions of Probation and SuspensionProbation process and student responsibilityProbation ContractQuestionnaire - reasons for being on Probation (student selects from options)Quiz regarding understanding of the process

In subsequent terms, students are given assignments to complete BEFORE registration for the next term

These assignments are based on the results of the students’ questionnaire

Academic Probation Questionnaire My academic performance may have been affected by the following reasons:

Poor time managementTransportationProblems with class attendanceJuggling work and schoolChildcare issuesCourse difficultyLack of Communication with instructorsNo chosen majorFamily/relationship concernsIllness

Financial issuesEarly morning classes or late classesLack of motivationEmotional/psychological issues College adjustment/transition problemsToo much socializingDid not meet with Academic AdvisorDid not use tutoring services or labsStudy problemsOther

Solutions (check all that may apply)Academic/Study SkillsUse tutoring services and labsCommunicate/visit with instructorsChange study environmentForm a study groupAttend Academic WorkshopsLearn about goal settingBe aware of academic calendarGet career counseling

Time ManagementSet goalsSay “No”Make a “To Do” listReward yourselfTurn off cell phoneOther

Work related/ FinancialGet a different jobQuit job/remain unemployedReduce working hoursSee Financial Aid Counselor

Family/PersonalDiscuss goals with family membersDelegate dutiesMake appointment with Counseling/ConsultationDevelop routines Get medical helpSay “No”

I commit to the following actions this semester:Complete __ _ study hours per weekMake college a priorityKeep a time management log that outlines classMaintain regular class attendanceManage work, personal, and study timeConsult regularly with instructors about progressSeek tutoring from Valencia’s Support LabsAttend workshop(s)Consult with Advisor regarding academic progressComplete required probation assignments by deadline(s) Other

Blackboard Assignments Orientation (In Development) Time Management Math Support Learning Styles Writing Support Procrastination Study Habits GPA Calculator Communicating with your Instructors Defining Your Career Path Financial Planning Academic Resources Educational Planning Reading and Writing Skills Test Anxiety Loneliness/Depression Is Online for Me?

Pilot Project Has run for 4 terms

Served between 50-150 students per term

60/40 Success Rate

Team consists of 4 full-time advisors & 7 part-time advisors (only 1 FT advisor is one of my direct reports. The others are “volunteering”)

Summer 2011Pilot Group (n=52) Summer 2011 Unrestricted Group (n=52)

Bad News: (34%) Bad News: (26%)

P1 to P2=7 (13%) P1 to P2= 5 (9%)

Suspended=11 (21%) Suspended=9 (17%)

Good News: (66%) Good News: (74%)

Maintained=18 (35%) Maintained= 19 (37%)

Good Standing=16 (31%) Good Standing= 19 (37%)

*6TWs (Term Withdrawals)

Fall 2011 Pilot Group (n=76) Fall 2011 Unrestricted Group (n=76)


P1 to P2=19 (25%) P1 to P2=22 (29%)



Maintained=19 (25%) Maintained=15 (20%)


*9TWs

Spring 2012 Pilot Group (n=91) Spring 2012 Unrestricted Group (n=91)


P1 to P2= 20 (22%) P1 to P2= 22 (24%)

Suspended= 10 (11%) Suspended=14 (15%)


Maintained= 45 (41%) Maintained=33 (36%)

Good Standing= 24 (26%) Good Standing 22 (24%)

*8TWs *3TWs

Summer 2012 Pilot Group (n=53) Summer 2012 Unrestricted Group (n=53)


P1 to P2= 8 (15%) P1 to P2= 10 (19%)

Suspended=7 (13%) Suspended= 9 (17%)




*11TWs *2TWs

Fall 2013 Pilot Group (n=151) Fall 2013 Unrestricted Group (n=151)


P1 to P2= 41 (27%) P1 to P2=51 (27%)





*10TWs *4TWs

Trends Students who do not respond to e-mails during the term tend

to do worse Students who are engaged with their advisor tend to improve Students are coming in earlier during the registration process Financial Aid has become more aligned with this process due

to changes in Satisfactory Academic Progress terms Students who take ownership of their performance and take

steps to make changes have the best improvement Many students are not willing to make changes The population’s overall GPA is slowly rising

Many of the low performers have stopped coming to schoolMany have lost Financial Aid and are no longer able to attend schoolWe are intervening earlier

Subject: RE: Summer Registration

Hey mrs Natalie question my math class idk if I'm doin gd n it what do u think is the best opinion I do? Bein that I'm on academic probation and I'm on an appeal D plan for financial aid please write me back ASAP to let me know if there is anything I can do!!!! Could I withdraw and pick up another class to make up for it? Or no? I dnt wanna be penalized cause I'm doin gd so far.

Brit.

Hi Kera, this is Ally. I'm having issues being motivated for school; I work a lot and its very labor intensive. I don't think college is for me but I know I have to do it. I withdrew from my class because I was doing awful, I really want to do good and I know I can I'm just having trouble adjusting to the college life, I took the personality test in the my portfolio and it said I would be best doing something technical. I really enjoyed my programming concepts it just was a little above my skill set. I finished the probation module, I’m not sure what to do next or if you think I should take a semester off to get my life situated or drop out. I really don't want to drop out. Hello Ally, First, I want to commend you for being proactive about your classes and possible academic goals. Many other students haven’t put the kind of consideration into their classes that you have – so you’re already taking the right steps. If you want to take a semester off from classes to further explore your academic options, I would like to recommend that you not take the time off completely. Instead, I would recommend coming in to set up an intensive three-meeting career assessment series at the Career Center. This career assessment series will go in depth and help you clearly define different career options that best fit your personality and goals. Then, it will help you identify possible degree programs that match those goals. I think this will give you a better idea of what steps to take next as far as picking out classes to take. If you are interested in setting this up for the spring, please let me know and I will get you in touch with one of the Career Advisors here at Winter Park Campus. After you’re done with the career assessment series, we can meet again to regroup and decide what your plans will be over the summer semester. How does this sound? That sounds wonderful. I contacted a friend of the family to think about getting into something computer-related so I'm really interested in trying that. If I could do the three Career meetings that would be fantastic. My life has a lot of stuff happening really quick so I'm trying really hard to juggle everything. I'm excited that I have an advisor because I have been having to do everything by myself and I have made bad choices and realizing it too late and I just really, really don't want to be a failure.

P2s and Flex Start Grades

A B C D F W0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

13%

23%

19%

15%16%

14%

20%

15% 15%

10%

25%

15%

23% 23% 23%

7%

10%

14%

FullTWKH2

Future Work Moving all forms that students use to Dynamic Forms Rolling out a website for students in Academic Distress Creating a timeline for scaling the program college wide Separate strategies for P1, P2, and SU statuses

P1=Hold and Advisor meeting; course load may be limited

P2=Hold and Blackboard course; course load will be limited

SU=Sit out a term and while sitting out, student needs to complete workshop and remediation plan before readmit

Implement a strategy for Academic Warning students Faculty to examine Early Alert programs

Contact Information

Dr. Julie Corderman, Manager Student Services, Winter Park Campus

407-582-6868, [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

Documents

The Phoenix Project