Engagement By Design - CCSSE...comes by designing engagement strategies suited to their student...

Engagement By Design2004 Findings

AcknowledgmentsCCSSE is indebted to the 152 community colleges that participated in the 2004 survey. It requires continuous acts of courage to put data and evidence in front of an institution and ask hard questions about whatmust be learned from them. It requires continuous acts of will to makeand support decisions that put resources in the most useful rather thanthe most popular or familiar places. And it requires truly relentless focusto avoid all the things that can divert community colleges from the centralmission of helping students learn and achieve their academic goals.

We thank our member colleges for opening themselves to scrutiny and fordoing so publicly. We thank them for continuously reaching for excellencein learning, teaching, and student success. These commitments alone setthem apart from other institutions and help set a new standard forAmerican higher education.

Kay M. McClenneyDirectorCommunity College Survey of Student Engagement

Partially supported by grants fromThe Houston Endowment, Inc.

Lumina Foundation for Education

MetLife Foundation

Co-sponsored byThe Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching

The Pew Forum on Undergraduate Learning

ContentsEngagement By Design: A Call To Action 2

Improvement Is Essential

Why Student Engagement?

Looking Behind the Numbers: Practicing Engagement By Design 4

Reflections: How Good Is Good Enough?

The Role of Intentional, Inescapable Engagement

Engage Early, Engage Often

Stress Academic Advising

Emphasize Effective Developmental Education

Redesign Educational Experiences

Reflections: Building a Culture of Evidence

Understanding the CCSSE Benchmarks of Effective

Educational Practice 12

What Are Benchmark Scores?

CCSSE Opposes Ranking

Reaching for Excellence 13

Top Performers

Looking Behind the Numbers: Key Findings by Benchmark 14

Active and Collaborative Learning

Student Effort

Academic Challenge

Student-Faculty Interaction

Support for Learners

Overview of 2004 Survey Respondents 19

Noteworthy Facts about 2004 Participating Colleges

CCSSE National Advisory Board 20

“The Community College Survey

of Student Engagement has

provided Butler Community

College with the means to criti-

cally assess our collective efforts

to fully engage our students in

the learning process. The results

have prompted conversations

that matter, resulting in a height-

ened focus upon the success of

our students, particularly those

most at risk.”

JACKIE VIET TI

President, Butler Community College (KS)

1

Community College Survey of Student Engagement

The challenges facing community

colleges include:

★ providing full access to educationthrough open admissions;

★ serving a diverse mix of studentswith dramatically varying goals,from earning a degree to receivingon-the-job training;

★ serving students who have signifi-cant time commitments — totheir families, their jobs, and theircommunities — in addition totheir studies;

★ serving the students who wereleast well served by their previouspublic school education andtherefore are most likely to haveacademic challenges;

★ serving disproportionately highnumbers of low-income and first-generation college students; and

★ addressing all of these challengeswhile dealing with severe resourceconstraints.

Overcoming these hurdles — provid-

ing quality education and the neces-

sary support to help all students meet

their educational goals — is the driv-

ing force of community colleges. It is

their mission. It is their job. And it is

achievable.

It is true that most community

college students will continue to work,

commute, and have other demands

competing for their time. Many will

continue to feel that abandoning their

education is an easier path than con-

tinuing it.

But these challenges do not make stu-

dent engagement impossible. They

simply indicate that student engage-

ment is not likely to happen by acci-

dent. Engagement, therefore, must be

intentional. It must happen by design.

Engagement By Design: 2004 Findings

2


Engagement By Design: A Call To Action

Each year, the Community College Survey of Student Engagement

(CCSSE) presents the results of its annual survey. These survey results

help community colleges assess their educational practices so they can

improve student outcomes in one of the most challenging and least

understood sectors of American higher education.

CCSSE Students Spend Limited Time on Campus

Two-Thirds of Students Are Enrolled Part-Time

Most Students Work

Many Students Care for Dependents

Most Students Commute, ManySpend Significant Time Commuting

Source: CCSSE 2004 data.

64%

60%

34%

Part-time students

Students who work more than 20 hours per week

Students who spend 11 or more hoursper week caring for dependents

20%

Students who spend significant time (six to 20 hours per week) commuting to

and from class

Community College Survey of Students Engagement

Improvement Is Essential

This year’s CCSSE data bring goodnews about how community collegesare being intentional about engagingstudents — practicing engagement bydesign. But the data also reveal whereindividual colleges, and the field as awhole, have work to do.

And this work is essential. Communitycolleges tend to serve students whohave the fewest options; if they do not succeed in their community college, students likely will not haveaccess to productive jobs, further edu-cation, or any of the benefits thesenext steps bring. Community colleges,moreover, are not just preparing stu-dents for their own benefit. They arepreparing students to contribute totheir neighborhoods, the nation, andthe world. Providing effective learningexperiences is critical for both the students themselves and our society,which increasingly relies on everyindividual to participate productivelyin our economy, our democracy, andthe global village.

For these reasons, community collegesmust be focused on better under-standing their current performance asa necessary first step toward building abetter future.

Improving performance requires aserious, focused, and sustained effort.And it requires effective leadershipacross all levels of community col-leges. Ultimately, every action a collegetakes — in classrooms, out of class-rooms, in the ways it reaches out toand communicates with students, inthe way its campus is configured andused — should be designed to improvestudent learning. And every project,

program, and practice should be eval-uated on these terms as well.

Community colleges are working tohelp students learn and achieve theirown academic goals. The CommunityCollege Survey of StudentEngagement (CCSSE) is a tool thathelps colleges be intentional about thiswork — intentional about assessingtheir educational practice and inten-tional about improving student out-comes by designing engagementstrategies suited to their student pop-ulations. Through these efforts, com-munity college leaders are settinggoals; monitoring progress towardthem; and step by step, year by year,encouraging innovation and improve-ment that will lead to better studentoutcomes.


Research shows that the more actively engaged students are — with collegefaculty and staff, with other students, and with the subject matter they study— the more likely they are to learn and persist toward achieving their academicgoals. Student engagement, therefore, is a valuable yardstick for assessingwhether, and to what extent, an institution is employing educational practiceslikely to produce successful results — more students across all subgroupsachieving their academic goals.

CCSSE’s survey, The Community College Student Report, focuses on institu-tional practices and student behaviors that promote student engagement.CCSSE works with participating colleges to administer the survey, usingresearch-based items to measure students’ levels of engagement in a varietyof areas. The colleges then receive their survey results, along with guidanceand analysis they can use to improve their programs and services for students.

All CCSSE work is grounded in research about what works in strengtheningstudent learning and persistence. CCSSE also makes its results public at itsWeb site, www.ccsse.org.

.

Why Student Engagement?

“One of the key reasons we chose

to use CCSSE is that the authen-

tic nature of the survey questions

directly evaluates the learning

environment. The questions

encourage faculty and staff to

focus on the most critical ele-

ments of student engagement as

part of the teaching and learning

process.”

HOMERO LOPEZ

President, Estrella Mountain Community

College (AZ)

★ For more information about CCSSE, and the 2004 survey, visit www.ccsse.org. ★ 3

Community college students have strong aspirations for academic and career success. Asked to name their

primary goals, more than a quarter (27%) of CCSSE 2004 respondents indicated completing a certificate

program, 59% named obtaining an associate degree, and 53% said transferring to a four-year college or

university. More than a third (39%) cited obtaining or updating job-related skills as a primary goal, while

29% named changing careers.

Unfortunately, available data show a significant, persistent, unacceptable gap between student aspirations

and student outcomes as measured by graduation and transfer rates.

★ More students aspire to earn

degrees than actually do. Onlyone-quarter of the students whoentered a public two-year institu-tion in 1995–96 with the goal ofearning a degree or certificate hadattained a credential at that insti-tution by 2001, six years later.*

★ More students aspire to transfer

than actually do. 53% of studentscite transferring to a four-yearcollege as a primary goal (anadditional 21% name it as a sec-ondary goal), but national dataindicate that only about 25% ofstudents actually do transfer.**

These facts and CCSSE data indicatethat students may too often leavecommunity colleges before theyachieve their goals. Just as important,CCSSE data indicate that many stu-dents are not certain about theirfuture educational plans. When askedabout their educational plans for sub-sequent terms, only 11% of CCSSErespondents said they had accom-plished their goals. It is encouragingthat 67% planned to return to theircommunity colleges within 12 months,

4


Looking Behind the Numbers: Practicing Engagement By Design

*American Council on Education, “Student Success: Understanding Graduation and Persistence Rates,” ACE Issue Brief. Washington, DC: ACE Center for Policy

Analysis, 2003.

**National Center for Education Statistics, Community College Transfer Rates to 4-Year Institutions Using Alternative Definitions of Transfer. Washington, DC: U.S.

Department of Education, 2001.

CCSSE and its member colleges must not shy away from the question ofwhether the performance reflected in survey results is good enough, either forindividual institutions or for community colleges nationally. Our answer — and,we think, the answer likely to emerge from most discussions at most communitycolleges — is that no matter how good we are today, it is not as good as weneed to be or as good as we are capable of becoming.

To help colleges consider this question, CCSSE presents information in two ways:

1. Benchmarks, described with a standardized mean of 50, provide overviews of key performance areas. They are useful for comparing performance across several areas within an institution and for comparing institutional performance to groups of similar institutions.*** Discussions of the five CCSSE benchmarksbegin on page 12 of this report.

2. Students’ responses to individual survey items, presented in absolute terms, help assess the performance of participating colleges on specific points. These responses are the place to see exactly what is happening and to ask the difficult question, how good is good enough?

Answering that question is a central challenge for each and every college; theanswer will define, for each institution, what quality really means.

*** The CCSSE Web site, www.ccsse.org, provides benchmark data for the fullCCSSE population, various subgroups within the population, and individual colleges. Users can create customized data searches, choosing to view data by variables including the type of institution (e.g., institutional size or location);student characteristic (e.g., full-time or part-time students, gender, or credential-/noncredential-seeking students); and combinations of these variables.

Reflections: How Good Is Good Enough?

but 17% of respondents — nearlyone-fifth of the students — said theireducational plans were uncertain.

The Role of Intentional,Inescapable Engagement

These figures identify significant per-centages of community college stu-dents who are primary candidates formore effective engagement strategies.Community colleges cannot expectthat a student will have a chanceencounter with a professor that leadsto informal academic or career advis-ing. They cannot count on students tohave unplanned discussions aboutclasswork over dinner or study ses-sions. Most students simply are not oncampus enough for these types ofengagement to occur spontaneously.

Community colleges, therefore, mustfind ways to promote student successby making engagement inescapable.The good news is that community colleges do not have to do this workalone. Taken as a whole, CCSSEresults, other community collegeresearch, and expert judgment suggesta number of strategies that can pro-vide important returns in terms ofstrengthened student engagement andimproved student outcomes.

In addition, community colleges canlearn from each other. This reporthighlights examples of studentengagement, provided by colleges of all sizes, from all regions of thecountry. It includes examples of inten-tionally engaging practices, providedby benchmark (starting on page 14),as well as examples that cut acrossmultiple benchmarks and demon-strate the engagement strategies inaction (starting on the next page).

5


★ For more information about CCSSE, and the 2004 survey, visit www.ccsse.org. ★

Students Who Earn Degrees Students Who Transfer

25% 25%

Source: American Council on Education, “Student Success:Understanding Graduation and Persistence Rates,” ACE IssueBrief. Washington, DC: ACE Center for Policy Analysis, 2003.


Source: National Center for Education Statistics, CommunityCollege Transfer Rates to 4-Year Institutions Using AlternativeDefinitions of Transfer. Washington, DC: U.S. Department ofEducation, 2001.

25% of students who entered a public two-yearinstitution in 1995–96 with the goal of earning

a degree or certificate had attained a credentialat that institution by 2001, six years later.

53% of students cite transferring to a four-year college as a primary goal (an additional21% name it as a secondary goal), but only

25% of students do transfer.

I have no currentplan to return

Students’ Plans after the Current Semester

When do you plan to take classes at this college again?

5%

17%11%

67%

Uncertain

Within the next 12 months

I will accomplish my goal(s) during this term and will not be returning

Students’ Primary Goals

Indicate which of the following are your reasons/goals for attending this community college.

Complete a certificate program 27% 19% 55%

Obtain an associate degree 59% 20% 21%

Transfer to a four-year college or university 53% 21% 26%

Obtain or update job-related skills 39% 27% 34%

Self-improvement/personal enjoyment 39% 34% 27%

Change careers 29% 16% 55%


Primarygoal

Secondarygoal

Not agoal

STRATEGY 1

Engage Early, Engage Often

Community colleges typically loseabout half of their students prior tothe beginning of the sophomore year,and data indicate that most studentswho leave college before achievingtheir goals do so early in their colle-giate experience.

Colleges can address this precipitousloss of students by designing engage-ment efforts that start from themoment of students’ first interactionswith the college — and continue withpowerful focus during their first fewweeks and months as college students.

Such efforts can focus on studentswho likely are less familiar with nego-tiating a college campus, such asfirst-generation college students, whorepresent one-third (33%) of CCSSErespondents.

Intentional Engagement StrategiesSinclair Community College (OH)increased retention rates after bettermarketing their learning support andfinancial aid services.

The Start Right program at Valencia

Community College (FL) mandatesdevelopmental and prerequisitesequences, giving students a betterchance at early success. In addition,

application deadlines are enforced,and students are not added to classesafter the class has met just once, soreal work can begin on the first day.

Tallahassee Community College

(FL) creates a positive, helpful envi-ronment at the beginning of eachterm. Throughout the campus, stu-dents can stop at information tents for help finding classes or otherresources. Office employees wear “Ask Me” buttons, and faculty and staffcreate welcome stations stocked withrefreshments, maps, and other infor-mation in academic building lobbies.

6


CCSSE Respondents by Credit Hours Earned at the College

A typical semester for a full-time student is 12–15 credit hours. Sixty credits is the typical point atwhich students obtain an associate degree. If all students who started college completed an associate

degree or the first half of a baccalaureate degree, the line between one and 60 credits would be flat.

Total credit hours earned at the college

0 credits 1–14credits

15–29credits

30–44credits

45–60credits

more than60 credits

Perc

enta

ge o

f CCS

SEst

uden

ts

33.69%

12.96%

20.48%

13.52%

10.74%8.61%

35

30

25

20

15

10

5


“Faculty members have used the

CCSSE results to create a series

of classroom and out-of-class

projects that focus on critical

thinking and improved course

retention, student success by any

definition.”

BILL L AW

President, Tallahassee Community College (FL)

STRATEGY 2

Stress Academic Advising

Having a plan — a clear goal and astep-by-step strategy for attaining it— plays a critical role in students’choosing to return to school the nextday, next month, and next year. Thereare indications from college data thatthe simple act of declaring a major (aform of articulating a plan) can be akey factor in student persistence.

Thus, engagement efforts that encour-age students to set and meet goals —such as academic and career advising— can have a significant impact onstudent retention and, ultimately, stu-dent success. Certainly the 17% ofstudents who report that they are unde-cided about whether they will return tocollege after the current semester arelikely candidates for such advising.

Unfortunately, more than a third(36%) of CCSSE respondents reportthat they rarely or never use academicadvising/planning services, eventhough 88% cite advising as impor-tant. Nearly half of students (49%)report that they rarely or never usecareer counseling services.

Intentional Engagement StrategiesThe LifeMap program at Valencia

Community College (FL) providesdevelopmental advising that supportsstudent planning (for education,career, and life) and aims to strengthenstudents’ self-confidence and decision-making skills. Developmental advisingrefers to the process of making stu-dents self-sufficient. Faculty and staff are students’ advising partners,providing significant information andsupport initially. The expectation,however, is that as students gain experience they will increasingly takethe lead in defining and implementingtheir educational and career goalsuntil, ultimately, they are completelydirecting their own learning process.LifeMap includes a variety of electronictools, including MyCareerPlanner andMyEducationPlan.

Sinclair Community College (OH)saw significant increases in new, at-risk student persistence and successrates as a result of its Student SuccessPlan system, which stresses individuallearning plans and includes counselingand intervention.

7



Students’ Use of AcademicAdvising/Planning Services

36%

42%

10%

12% oftensometimes

rarely/never don’t know or n/a

Students’ Use of Career Counseling Services

often

sometimes

rarely/never

don’t know or n/a


49%21%

24%

6%

“As we work to uncover best-practice models in transitions along career

pathways between high schools, community colleges, and the workplace,

CCSSE helps us stay connected to the student experience. There literally is

nothing like it. CCSSE spurs those important and complex conversations

about the student experience in the transitions process and challenges

thoughtful educators to reach for more.”

MARK MILLIRON

Executive Director, Education Practice, SAS Institute, Inc.

STRATEGY 3

Emphasize EffectiveDevelopmental Education

Almost 50% of all first-time commu-nity college students are assessed asunderprepared for the academicdemands of college-level courses,and the numbers are far higher in somesettings.* Colleges that design strategiesto retain these students learn that effec-tive remediation pays high dividends.

First and most important, studentswho benefit from effective develop-mental education will then have theopportunity to be successful in college-level studies. The reality is that with-out developmental education to levelthe playing field, they will not havethat opportunity.

In addition, most students who successfully complete the prescribedremedial course sequence becomeproductively employed: 16% as pro-fessionals; 54% in mid-level, white-collar, or technical positions; and 20%as high-skill, blue-collar workers. Only9% remain in unskilled or low-skilljobs.**

There is other good news: Accordingto results on a variety of CCSSE items,developmental students appear to bemore engaged in their communitycollege experience than their academi-cally prepared peers. For example,developmental students are signifi-cantly more likely to:

★ Talk about career plans with aninstructor (26% vs. 19%).

★ Prepare multiple drafts of assign-ments before turning them in(56% vs. 42%).

★ Work harder than they thoughtthey could to meet an instructor’sexpectations (52% vs. 43%).

★ Indicate higher educational out-comes in nearly all areas. Forexample, when asked if their col-lege experience contributed totheir ability to think critically andanalytically, 70% of developmen-tal students answer “very much”or “quite a bit” as compared with59% of academically preparedstudents.

They also report, unfortunately, thatthey are more likely to withdraw fromcollege because they are academicallyunprepared or lack finances.

8


The Need for Developmental Courses Is High

Intentional Engagement StrategiesPrince George’s Community College

(MD) requires aspiring college stu-dents who lack sufficient reading,writing, and computational skills tocomplete the college’s developmentalprogram. The later academic perform-ance of those who successfully com-plete the developmental program is asstrong as the performance of studentswho never needed remediation.

Miami-Dade College (FL) has learn-ing communities that combine mathe-matics and student life skills (SLS)courses. The math classes focus onmath competencies while payingattention to study skills and habits.The SLS courses address time manage-ment, math anxiety reduction, test-taking strategies, learning styles, andself-confidence. This approach leads tomath retention and pass rates that areconsistently above the norm.

Which of the following have you done, are you doing, or do you plan to do while attendingthis college?

Take a developmental reading course 27%

Take a developmental writing course 31%

Take a developmental math course 47%

Take developmental study skills 31%


*Roueche, J.E., and S.D. Roueche, High Stakes, High Performance: Making Remedial Education Work. Washington, DC: Community College Press, 1999; Grubb,

W.N., From Black Box to Pandora’s Box: Evaluating Remedial/ Developmental Education. CCRC Brief 11. New York: Community College Research Center, Teachers

College, Columbia University, 2001.

**McCabe, R.H., No One to Waste: A Report to Public Decision Makers and Community College Leaders. Washington, DC: Community College Press, 2000.

munities tend to emphasize collabora-tive work and student-directed work.Most include activities outside theclassroom, as well, and they some-times involve counselors or advisorswho bring support services directlyinto the learning experience.

Intentional Engagement StrategiesNorthwest Vista College (TX) useslearning communities to engage stu-dents in multidisciplinary environ-ments. In the Weekend College learn-ing community, for example, two orthree disciplines are combined in ateam-taught, multidisciplinary atmos-phere. For their final project, the stu-dents — either as a whole class of40–45 or in smaller groups of four tofive students — develop a play thatincorporates what they have learnedin all of the disciplines over the entiresemester. Working together, the stu-dents write the script, direct, act, makecostumes and props, design lightingand sound, and create handouts.

Ideally, engagement happens both inand out of the classroom. To promotemeaningful student-faculty interac-tion outside the classroom, facultyoffices at Santa Fe Community

College (FL) are in interdisciplinaryunits that combine private offices with comfortably furnished commonareas that become sites for review sessions, informal advising, and intel-lectual discussions.

Commuter students at Prince

George’s Community College (MD)can become members of a communityof scholars when they participate inone of five Collegian Centers. Thesediscipline-based centers provide facultymentoring and advising, offer peersupport and a place to belong, andemphasize scholarly activities andopportunities.

9


STRATEGY 4

Redesign EducationalExperiences

Most community college studentswork, nearly all commute, and manyspend time caring for dependents.With these competing priorities, moststudents spend little time on campus.In fact, CCSSE data indicate that over-all the most successful engagementstrategies currently occur in classrooms.

This data notwithstanding, however,engagement does not have to be limited to in-classroom activities.Colleges can redesign educationalexperiences to promote engagementboth in and out of the classroom.Every interaction with students pres-ents the potential to engage them.Community colleges can make engage-ment inescapable by promotingengagement through each syllabus —each assignment, each course require-ment, and each mode of assessment.They can require students to work onprojects with other students outside of class, require a service learningproject, require students to see facultymembers in their offices at least oncebefore mid-semester, make the end-of-course assessment a group project,and so on.

Colleges are using these and otherapproaches to design intentionallyengaging experiences for their stu-dents. More and more colleges, forexample, are structuring courseworkaround learning communities — multidisciplinary, highly interactive,linked courses that usually are team-taught. Many learning communitiescombine classes from two or moredisciplines (e.g., world history andworld literature), and students earncredit for both classes. Learning com-



Collaborative Learning among Students

Interactions with Faculty Members

Students Who Never Participate inCollege-Sponsored Activities

(organizations, campus publications, student gov-ernment, intercollegiate or intramural sports, etc.)

Students who often or very often worked onprojects with other students during class

Students who often or very often asked questionsin class or participated in class discussions

Students who often or very often used e-mail tocommunicate with an instructor

Students who often or very often discussed ideasfrom readings or classes with instructors outsideof class

Students who often or very often worked withclassmates outside of class to prepare classassignments

44%

63%

84%

35%

15%

21%

0 10 20 30 40 50

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Engagement In and Out of Class

10


* Price, D.V., “Defining the Gaps: Access and Success at America’s Community Colleges,” Keeping America’s Promise. Denver, CO: Education Commission of the

States, 2004.

The strategies outlined in this report are data-driven.They are predicated on the willingness of collegeadministrators, faculty, and staff to build and work within a culture of evidence.

Better educational outcomes do not just happen. Theyare the result of using data wisely and of marshalling thewill to be honest about current student performance inorder to identify means for improving. They are theresult of setting goals and implementing strategies toachieve those goals.

This means being relentless and courageous about putting data in front of faculty and staff — and using thedata to focus effort and promote positive change. It isdifficult work. Data can challenge assumptions and tra-ditions. Data can disrupt informal power structures andthreaten the status quo. Data also, however, help charta course to excellence. In fact, given community col-leges’ limited resources, it may be impossible to createreal change without basing every decision — about pro-grams, policies, budgets, and staffing — on whichaction will have the best effect on student learning. Inother words, building and working within a culture ofevidence.

Disaggregating the Data

Community colleges should disaggregate data. Eachcollege should break down data by race and ethnicity,income, gender, and age to develop a genuine under-standing of how different student groups are faring intheir colleges.

Disaggregating data in this manner might highlight, forexample, an alarming difference between both collegeparticipation and attainment levels of low-income stu-dents and students of color, as compared to their moreaffluent and white peers. National degree completionrates show that 38% of white students who begin at acommunity college earn a degree or certificate withinsix years. Only 26% of African American students and

29% of Hispanic students do so.* Similar attainmentgaps separate academically prepared students andthose who begin their college experience in develop-mental courses.

Colleges and their students would be well served bybecoming familiar with their own college data at thislevel of specificity. Then, as a standard of quality suitableto the challenge of the new century, a college’s overallperformance should be considered no better than theoutcomes of its lowest-achieving student group.

Intentional Engagement StrategiesFaculty members at Lorain County CommunityCollege (OH) review programs and plan for improve-ments using the Course Assessment Record Database(CARD), which focuses decisions on data. ThroughCARD, faculty assess course outcomes using a varietyof criteria, including student learning outcomes, generaleducational outcomes, learning processes and activi-ties, performance criteria, assessment techniques and analysis, and recommendations for continuousimprovement. Individual faculty members’ assessmentsof their own courses are aggregated into a programassessment. Faculty who teach the program then usethat data to identify both successful strategies and specific actions that should be taken to furtherimprove results. For example, as a result of CARD, the humanities program faculty decided to use a com-mon essay test to establish a baseline for measuringcognitive outcomes.

Valencia Community College (FL) has several facultydevelopment programs that support the college’sengagement efforts and work toward building a cultureof evidence. The Teaching/Learning Academy, thetenure-track community of new hires, explores thelearning literature with discussion on theory and relatedteaching strategies. Essential Competencies of aValencia Educator ensures that faculty are competent inthe college’s engagement initiatives, such as LifeMap(described on page 7). The Scenarios Online program is

Reflections: Building a Culture of Evidence

11



an online forum through which faculty discuss chal-lenges and work together to solve problems andimprove their practice.

Sinclair Community College (OH) took a serious lookat data on student retention in distance learning classesand then implemented a series of steps aimed at

strengthening student success. The college developedan interactive Web site to give students the look andfeel of online learning. Sinclair also revamped collegepolicy to reduce the sizes of distance classes, restricteddistance-course access to students who demonstratedsufficient preparation, and discontinued late entry intodistance courses.

CULTURE OF EVIDENCE INDICATORS

In a culture of evidence, institutional and individualreflection and action typically are prompted and sup-ported by data about student persistence, studentlearning, and institutional performance. Indicators ofa culture of evidence include the following:

★ The institutional research and information systemsprovide systematic, timely, useful, and user-friendlyinformation about student persistence, learning,and attainment.

★ The institutional culture promotes willingness ofgoverning board members, administrators, faculty,staff, and students to rigorously examine and openlydiscuss institutional performance regarding studentpersistence, student learning, and student attain-ment (certificates, degrees, transfers to four-yearinstitutions).

★ The institution is committed to cohort tracking ofentering students to determine rates of attainmentand identify areas for improvement.

★ The institution regularly collects, analyzes, andreports data pertaining to successful completion ofremedial/developmental courses; progress fromremedial/developmental courses to college-level

courses; successful completion of selected gate-keeper courses (e.g., high-enrollment/high-failure-rate courses, such as college algebra and freshmancomposition); rate of successful course completion(grade of C or better) for all courses; student per-sistence (enrollment from one term to the next);and completion of certificates and associatedegrees.

★ The institution routinely disaggregates and reportsdata depicting student persistence, learning, andattainment by student characteristics, includingage, gender, race/ethnicity, and income level.

★ The institution regularly assesses its performanceand progress in implementing educational prac-tices that evidence shows will contribute to higherlevels of student persistence and learning.

★ The results of student and institutional assessmentsare used routinely to inform institutional decisionsregarding strategic priorities, resource allocation,faculty and staff development, and improvementsin programs and services for learners.

★ Beliefs and assertions about “what works” in promoting student learning and attainment areevidence-based.

Source: McClenney, B., and K. McClenney, Student Learning, Persistence and Attainment. 2003.

Understanding the CCSSE Benchmarks of Effective Educational Practice

12


Community colleges use the bench-marks to compare their performance to that of similar institutions and to thefull CCSSE population of communitycolleges; compare their own perform-ance across benchmarks and acrosstime; and identify areas in need ofimprovement.

Because the results are public, bench-marks also can stimulate conversation— within colleges and among policy-makers — about effective educationalpractice.

The CCSSE benchmarks are:

Active and Collaborative Learning.

Survey items associated with this benchmark assess whether students areactively involved in their education, haveopportunities to think about and applywhat they learn in different settings,and collaborate with others to solveproblems or master challenging content.

Student Effort. These survey itemsindicate to what extent students areapplying themselves in the learningprocess and engaging in activitiesimportant to their learning and success.

Academic Challenge. Survey itemsincluded in this benchmark address the nature and amount of assigned academic work, the complexity of cog-nitive tasks presented to students, andthe standards faculty members use toevaluate student performance.

Student-Faculty Interaction.

Interaction with faculty membersstrengthens students’ connections to the college and helps them focus on

their academic progress. The items usedin this benchmark assess the extent ofthese interactions, both in and outsideof the classroom.

Support for Learners. Items associatedwith this benchmark indicate to whatextent students are using key academicand student support services and howmuch importance they ascribe to servicessuch as advising, academic and careerplanning, academic skill development,financial aid, and others that may affectlearning and retention.

To see the specific survey items associated with each benchmark,visit www.ccsse.org.

What Are Benchmark Scores?

Every college has a score for eachbenchmark. These individual bench-mark scores were computed by averag-ing the scores on survey items thatcomprise that benchmark. Benchmarkscores are standardized so that themean — the average of all participat-ing students — always is 50 and thestandard deviation is 25.

A valuable use of benchmarks is to seean individual college’s deviation fromthe mean — or better yet, its compari-son to a standard higher than themean. The standardized score providesan easy way to assess whether an indi-vidual college is performing above orbelow the mean (50) on each bench-mark. The standardized scores make itpossible for colleges to compare theirown performance across benchmarksand with groups of similar colleges.

CCSSE Opposes Ranking

CCSSE opposes using its data to rankcolleges for a number of reasons.

★ There is no single number that canadequately — or accurately —describe a college’s performance;most colleges will perform relativelywell on some benchmarks and needimprovement on others.

★ Each community college’s perform-ance should be considered in termsof its mission, institutional focus,and student characteristics.Because of differences in theseareas — and variations in collegeresources — comparing surveyresults between individual institu-tions serves little constructive purpose and will likely be misleading.

★ Demographically, CCSSE membercolleges and their students are rep-resentative of the national populationof credit-enrolled community collegestudents. However, because of thegrowing incidence of statewide par-ticipation in the survey, data in anygiven year will reflect some statesmore extensively than others.

★ More important, the 152 CCSSEmember colleges are a self-selectedgroup. Their choice to participate inthe survey demonstrates their inter-est in assessing and improving theireducational practices, and it distin-guishes them. Ranking within thisgroup of colleges — those willing tostep up to serious self-assessmentand public reporting — might dis-courage participation and certainlywould paint an incomplete picture.

★ Ranking does not serve a purposerelated to improving student out-comes. Improvement over time —where a particular college is now,compared with where it wants to be— likely is the best gauge of a col-lege’s efforts to enhance studentlearning and persistence.

Benchmarks are groups of conceptually related survey items that

address key areas of student engagement. CCSSE’s five benchmarks

denote areas that educational research has shown to be important in

quality educational practice, and they provide useful ways to look at

each college’s performance.

students across all racial, ethnic, andincome groups, etc.) engage in theireducation at similarly high levels.

4. Gauge their work in areas their college strongly values. They mightfocus, for example, on survey itemsrelated to service to high-risk stu-dents or on survey items related toacademic rigor (e.g., are they askingstudents to read enough and writeenough?).

5. Make the most important com-

parison: Where they are now, con-

trasted with where they want to be.

Reaching for Excellence

Affirming the spirit of benchmarking, throughout this report, CCSSE offers examples of promising educa-

tional practices at colleges that demonstrate outstanding performance on particular benchmarks. These are

examples of both innovative thinking and intentional engagement.

1. Compare themselves to the nationalaverage (the average of participatingcolleges, which is at the 50 mark).

2. Compare themselves to high-performing colleges. A collegemight, for example, aspire to be at or above the 80th percentile onsome or all benchmarks.

3. Measure their overall performanceagainst results for their least-engagedgroup. A college might aspire tomake sure all subgroups within itspopulation (e.g., full- and part-timestudents; developmental students;

Although it is useful for colleges tobenchmark against the national aver-age, this work takes us only so far.Colleges, policymakers, and otherstakeholders must continually askwhether current performance is goodenough; whether the national averageis good enough; and what measures ofsuccess ultimately are most appropri-ate, relevant, and useful.

For these reasons, CCSSE offers fiveways that colleges might reach forexcellence in student engagement.Colleges can:

13



Extra-Large Colleges (15,000 or more students)Miami-Dade College (FL)Montgomery College (MD)St. Petersburg College (FL)Valencia Community College (FL)

Large Colleges (8,000–14,999 students)Daytona Beach Community College (FL)Manatee Community College (FL)Prince George’s Community College (MD)Santa Fe Community College (FL)St. Philip’s College (TX)Tallahassee Community College (FL)

Medium Colleges (4,500–7,999 students)Central Community College (NE)Doña Ana Branch Community College – NMSU (NM)Estrella Mountain Community College (AZ)Housatonic Community College (CT)Lehigh Carbon Community College (PA)

Northwest Vista College (TX)San Juan College (NM)

Small Colleges (4,499 or fewer students)Cecil Community College (MD)Coastal Bend College (TX)Hawaii Community College (HI)Maui Community College (HI)Mayland Community College (NC)New Mexico State University – Grants (NM)North Florida Community College (FL)Texas State Technical College – Marshall (TX)Texas State Technical College – West Texas (TX)West Virginia State Community and Technical

College (WV)Windward Community College (HI)Wor-Wic Community College (MD)Yakima Valley Community College (WA)Zane State College (OH)

TOP PERFORMERS

The following colleges, presented in alphabetical order within their size categories, were among the top performers onthree or more CCSSE benchmarks in 2004.

Active and CollaborativeLearning

Key findings for this benchmarkinclude:

★ Close to two-thirds (63%) of stu-dents often or very often askedquestions in class or contributedto class discussions. That leavesmore than a third (37%) whoengaged in these activities less fre-quently or not at all.

★ Fewer than half (44%) often orvery often worked with other stu-dents on projects during class,while 14% never did.

★ Only 27% often or very oftenmade a class presentation.

★ Less than a quarter (21%) oftenor very often worked with class-mates outside of class to prepareclass assignments.

★ Only 6% participated in a com-munity-based project as part of aregular course.

Intentional Engagement StrategiesTo increase success rates in selectedgatekeeper courses (typically, coursesthat students must complete success-fully to achieve their goals), Miami-

Dade College (FL) built a learning-community-style program around itsAcademic Resource Center (ARC).The ARC, which includes a computerlaboratory, tutoring rooms, a library,and rooms for socializing, is designedto be a “belonging” place. Outcomesfor the 383 students in the targetedgatekeeper classes — two-course

sequences in biology, organic chem-istry, and calculus — show dramaticincreases in student success and reten-tion. In biology, for example, 87% ofstudents received a final grade of A, B,or C, more than double the studentsuccess rate of 38% using a traditionalapproach. Withdrawals from the sameclass declined from 44% in the tradi-tional course to just 3% in ARC.Outcomes for the other coursesshowed similar success rates.

At James A. Rhodes State College

(OH), early childhood education students select and work with localcommunity organizations that assistfamilies. Working in small groups, thestudents interview the organization’semployees and undertake projects thatbenefit their selected organizations.This volunteer work is completed out-side of regularly scheduled class time.

Santa Fe Community College (FL)recognizes the importance the campusenvironment plays in promoting col-laborative learning among commuterstudents. The college’s Tyree Libraryprovides 10 group study rooms, a café,and a covered patio where studentswork together. The entire libraryoffers wireless Internet access.

A community development class atHawaii Community College (HI)spearheaded an effort to start a com-munity center in a nearby town. Theyorganized community meetings, metwith the mayor to request space in anold school building, and solicited vol-unteers and donations to open thecenter. The center is now operatingand serving as a service learning sitefor students.

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Looking Behind the Numbers: Key Findings by Benchmark

Benchmarks — which denote areas important in quality educational practice — are useful for gauging col-

leges’ success at making the most of “capture time,” that limited opportunity for engaging students in mean-

ingful ways. Here we present results of selected survey items that make up each benchmark. We also share

stories from CCSSE member colleges — colleges that are producing results with efforts specifically designed

to boost student engagement.

Students Who Asked Questions In Class

sometimesor never often or

very often


37%63%

Students Who Collaborated on Projects During Class

never

often orvery often

14%

44%

never 33%

never 42%

Students Who Made aClass Presentation

often orvery often27%

Students Who Collaboratedon Classwork Outside of Class


Student Effort


★ Half of students (50%) often orvery often prepared two or moredrafts of a paper or assignmentbefore turning it in, although 21%report that they never do so.

★ 59% often or very often workedon a paper or project thatrequired integrating ideas orinformation from various sources.

★ Only 12% of full-time studentsreport spending 21 or more hoursper week preparing for class.More than two-thirds (68%) offull-time students spend 10 orfewer hours preparing for class.Among all students, 71% reportthat they come to class unpre-pared at least some of the time,while 28% report that they neverdo so.

★ Only one-quarter (25%) of sur-veyed students participate some-times or often in tutoring, while45% do so rarely or never. Use ofskill labs by 40% of students maybe an encouraging result, and theuse is more common among stu-dents who are academicallyunderprepared.

Intentional Engagement StrategiesAt San Juan College (NM), facultyfrequently provide flexible, student-directed assignments that allow stu-dents to tailor the projects to theirown interests and goals, giving stu-dents greater ownership of their work.For example, the English departmentemphasizes individual responses tothematic assignments. Students workon several drafts of essay assignments,working individually, in writinggroups, and with the writing center.The essays are not graded until thefinal form is submitted.

Texas State Technical College –

Marshall (TX) appoints students asteam leaders and group facilitators ofcourse projects. Expectations and con-sequences are clearly outlined at thebeginning of each course, and stu-dents accept responsibility for theirown learning processes. Leadershiprotates during each project so everyclass member has the opportunity tolead.

At James A. Rhodes College (OH),students self-assess papers, usingestablished criteria, before turningthem in. The student’s self-assessmentis later compared with the instructor’sor a peer’s assessment based on thesame standards.

Miami-Dade College (FL) films labexercises in digital format and createsCD-ROMs with content that mirrorscourse content. The CD-ROMs usethe same terms, charts, models, anddissections that are used in regular labclasses so students can use them topreview, review, and study topics fromthe use of the microscope to the car-diovascular system.

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Hours Full-Time StudentsSpend Studying

Students Who Come to Class Unprepared

10 or fewerhours perweek

none

11–20hours per

week

21 or morehours per

week

68%20%

never at leastsome of the time

28%

71%

Students Who PreparedMultiple Drafts of Assignments

never

often orvery often

21%50%

12%

1%

“CCSSE has allowed the voices

of our students to be heard. We

know their perceptions about us

— both inside and outside the

classroom. We are integrating

this information into our quality

improvement initiatives through-

out the institution.”

PAUL R . BROWN

President, Zane State College (OH)

Academic Challenge


★ 48% of students indicate that theyvery often or often worked harderthan they thought they could tomeet an instructor’s standards orexpectations.

★ 69% of students surveyed indicatethat their college encourages themto spend significant amounts oftime studying, either “quite a bit”or “very much.”

★ 31% of full-time students reportthat they have read four or fewerassigned textbooks, manuals,books, or book-length packs ofcourse readings during the cur-rent school year. (The survey isadministered in February–April.)

★ 29% of full-time students reportthat they have written four orfewer papers or reports of anylength during the current schoolyear.

★ 67% indicate that their exams arerelatively to extremely challeng-ing, while 9% find them relativelyto extremely easy.

★ 63% of surveyed students reportthat their coursework emphasizes“very much” or “quite a bit” ana-lyzing the basic elements of anidea, experience, or theory; butsmaller percentages of studentsreport a similar emphasis onusing information to perform anew skill (57%) or using the men-tal processes of synthesis (56%),application (52%), and judgment(48%).

Intentional Engagement StrategiesSan Juan College (NM) has capstonecourses that are considered the culmi-nation of earlier work and often arethe last required courses of a specificcontent area in the degree or certifi-cate program. Capstone courses focuson projects that require students touse skills developed in earlier classesto perform higher levels of idea synthe-sis, analysis, writing, and presentation.For example, the small-business man-agement course applies entrepreneurialprinciples to establish, organize, andmanage a business. This practical andextended application of learning helpsstudents internalize their knowledgeand apply it in a new situation.

At Wor-Wic Community College

(MD), all courses require at least onewriting assignment and one electroniclibrary assignment.

Prince George’s Community College

(MD) has a 98% graduation andtransfer rate at its Honors Academy.Academy graduates’ success rate atfour-year institutions is equally high.The Honors Academy includesdemanding courses, community serv-ice and leadership requirements, one-on-one mentoring, full scholarship,and seamless transfer to partneringfour-year institutions where financialhelp also is provided.

At Montgomery College (MD),students in the History of VictorianWomen course assume responsibilityfor conducting an in-character and in-costume social tea typical of theera. Students research the cultural,social, and political norms of the period; hand write invitations; developa script; rehearse; and conduct the teaas it would have occurred in late 19th-century England.

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29% of full-time students wrote four orfewer papers or reports of any length during

the current school year.

31% of full-time students read four or fewerassigned textbooks, manuals, or books during

the current school year.

Even as students indicate that their collegeencourages study time, they still struggle tofind the hours in a packed schedule. Amongall students, 76% report that they spend 10

or fewer hours per week preparing for class.

Students Who Worked Harderthan They Thought They Could

never

often orvery often

12%

48%

Students Who Say Their CollegeEncourages Them To Spend Significant Time Studying

quite a bitor very

much69%

Are Students Reading Enough?

31%

Are Students Writing Enough?

29%


Student-Faculty Interaction


★ More than a third (35%) of stu-dents have used e-mail to com-municate with an instructoreither often or very often; 29%have never done so.

★ 43% report that they have dis-cussed grades or assignments withan instructor either often or veryoften, leaving more than half whohave done so occasionally ornever.

★ While 22% of students have oftenor very often talked with an advi-sor or instructor about careerplans, 34% say they have neverdone so.

★ Only 15% of students report hav-ing often or very often discussedideas from their readings or classeswith instructors outside of class,and nearly half (49%) have neverengaged with faculty in that way.

★ Only 8% of students say that theyhave often or very often workedwith instructors on activities out-side of class.

★ 56% state that they often or veryoften received prompt feedbackfrom instructors on their perform-ance, a practice known to be animportant factor in student learn-ing and retention. And communitycollege students generally give faculty members quite positive ratings regarding their availabilityand helpfulness.

Intentional Engagement StrategiesValencia Community College (FL)has a creativity course in which theinstructor invites inspiring leaders totalk with students about channelingcreativity into educational, career, andlife choices. In this course, the collegepresident, for example, has talked withstudents about using his own poetryand music in his quest for balancebetween life and work.

New Mexico State University –

Grants (NM) uses ethnography (the science of describing a culture or group) as a framework to teachwriting. This approach results in aportfolio of work and provides sub-stantial opportunity for shared reflec-tion between students and facultymembers.

With a focus on early engagementwith students, all Tallahassee

Community College (FL) facultyreceive electronic rosters that includestudent photos. In addition, each stu-dent receives a TCC e-mail address,and faculty are given student e-mailgroups for each section they teach.

Similarly, Santa Fe Community

College (FL) has followed its students’lead in embracing e-mail as the mostefficient and often most effectivemeans of communication. Student e-mail addresses are provided to facultyvia interactive, online class rosters sofaculty can easily e-mail individualstudents or the entire class with a single click.

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Students Who Discussed Grades andAssignments with Instructors

occasionallyor never

often orvery often

57%

43%

Students Who Talked with Advisorsor Instructors about Career Plans

often orvery often

34%

22%

never

Students Who Discussed Ideas with Instructors Outside of Class

often orvery often

49%

15%

Students Who Worked with Instructors on Activities Other Than Coursework


never

74% never


Support for Learners


★ While students attribute relativelyhigh importance to academicadvising and career counseling,one-third to one-half of studentsrarely or never take advantage ofthose services.

★ The highest levels of dissatisfac-tion are expressed with careercounseling, job placement assis-tance, and financial aid advising.

★ While 68% of students indicatethat their college provides thesupport they need to succeed atthe college either “quite a bit” or“very much,” a smaller percentage(42%) report that the college pro-vides the financial support theyneed to afford their education.

★ Less than one-quarter (22%)report that the college helps themcope with nonacademic responsi-bilities (work, family, etc.) either“quite a bit” or “very much,” and44% say that “very little” help isprovided on that front.

★ 45% report that their college putsemphasis on encouraging contactamong students from differenteconomic, social, and racial orethnic backgrounds.

Intentional Engagement StrategiesSinclair Community College (OH)serves many first-generation studentswho often have trouble navigating thecollege system. All full-time employeesof the student services division attend16 hours of customer service trainingper year. (Part-time staff membersattend slightly less training.) Sinclairalso created a communications callcenter, a “verbal one-stop shop,” wherestudents can get answers to questionsabout admissions, financial aid, regis-tration, and fee payment.

At Housatonic Community College

(CT), academic advising is mandatory;students’ advisors must approve theircourse selections before they can register.

English for Academic Purposes (EAP,formerly ESL) Reading Clinics atMiami-Dade College (FL) emphasizecritical thinking and comprehensionso students can improve their CollegePlacement Test (CPT) reading scores.Before starting the clinic, students takethe PASS Test (pre-CPT). Miami-Dadehopes to see a 15% improvement inperformance for at least 80% of par-ticipating students.

Estrella Mountain Community

College (AZ) is piloting cohort-basedmentoring programs. For example,in exchange for scholarships (fundedthrough the National ScienceFoundation), students work with faculty mentors and attend college-sponsored events in preparation forcareers in math and science. EstrellaMountain Community College alsohas an early alert system, throughwhich faculty members use a secure

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Most Important

1. Academic advising/ 2. Financial aid advising 3. Computer lab 4. Career counseling

planning and transfer credit

assistance (tie)

Most Frequently Used

1. Computer lab 2. Financial aid advising 3. Skills lab 4. Academic advising/

planning

Most Satisfied With

1. Computer lab 2. Academic advising/ 3. Financial aid 4. Skills lab

planning advising

Least Satisfied With

1. Career counseling, Financial aid advising, Job placement assistance (tie) 2. Transfer credit

assistance

Students’ Views of Academic and Support Services


Students Who Say Their College Providesthe Support They Need To Succeed

quite a bitor very

much68%

Students Who Say Their College Providesthe Financial Support They Need

quite a bitor very

much42%


Web form to supply feedback on stu-dents’ progress early in the semester. Astudent success coordinator managesthe process, identifying appropriateservices for each student and contactingthe students directly.

Overview of 2004 Survey Respondents

The 2004 CCSSE survey was administered in spring 2004 during class sessions at CCSSE member colleges.

An overview of the participating colleges and their students follows. Details about the member colleges, stu-

dent respondents, and the survey sampling and administration process are available at www.ccsse.org.

respondents are enrolled part-time, and 66% are enrolled full-time. IPEDS shows that thenational figures are 64% part-time and 36% full-time.) Toaddress this discrepancy, CCSSEresults are weighted by part-timeand full-time status to reflect theinstitutions’ actual proportions ofpart- and full-time students.

★ Of the survey respondents, 60%were female and 40% were male.These figures are similar to thenational community college stu-dent ratio, which is 58% femaleand 42% male.*

★ 2004 CCSSE student respondentsrange in age from 18 to 65+ yearsold.

★ With respect to race/ethnicity,2004 CCSSE respondents andthe national community collegepopulation may be compared asfollows:

★ A total of 92,301 students from152 institutions in 30 states areincluded in the CCSSE nationalsample.

★ The more than 92,000 respon-dents in 2004 comprise about1.5% of the 6.3 million studentsenrolled in U.S. public communitycolleges. 2004 CCSSE membercolleges enroll 18% of all U.S.community college credit students.

★ Of the 152 participating colleges,49% are classified as small (up to4,499 students), 23% as medium(4,500–7,999 students), 16% aslarge (8,000–14,999 students), and11% as extra large (15,000 ormore students). Nationally, 58%of community colleges are small,19% are medium, 14% are large,and 8% are extra large.

★ Colleges reported their locationsas 26% urban, 34% suburban, and40% rural. Fall 2002 IPEDS dataindicate that among all U.S. com-munity colleges, 38% are urban,24% are suburban, and 38% arerural.

★ Students who responded to thesurvey generally reflect the under-lying student population of theparticipating colleges in terms of gender, race, and ethnicity.Part-time students, however,were underrepresented in theCCSSE sample because classes aresampled rather than individualstudents. (About 34% of CCSSE

Noteworthy Facts about 2004Participating Colleges

★ All or most of the public community colleges in five states— Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii,Maryland, and New Mexico —participated in the 2004 CCSSE

survey. This statewide participationaffects respondents’ geographicdiversity.

★ At least 15% of the total statewidecommunity college population inArizona, Ohio, and Texas partici-pated in 2004.

★ The 2004 membership includes eight consortia: a consortium ofsmall Texas colleges (23 colleges);the Hispanic-Serving Institutions/Hispanic Association of Colleges and Schools consortium (15 col-leges in two states); the consortiumfor the College and CareerTransitions Initiative (CCTI) of the League for Innovation in

the CommunityCollege (17 collegesin 13 states); andmember collegesfrom Connecticut,Florida, Illinois,Maryland, and New Mexico.

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*AACC, National Profile of Community Colleges: Trends and Statistics, 3rd Edition. Washington, DC: Community College Press, 2000.

Race/ethnicity CCSSE respondents National percentagesWhite 61% 59%

Latino/Hispanic 13% 14%

Black 10% 12%

International* 7% 2%

Asian 4% 6%

Native American 2% 1%

Other 3% 6%

*International students are not citizens or nationals of the United States and are inthe country on a visa or temporary basis.

Sources: CCSSE 2004 data and IPEDS, Fall 2002 data.

CCSSE National Advisory Board

Peter Ewell, Chair

Vice President

National Center for Higher Education

Management Systems

David Armstrong

Chancellor

Florida Community Colleges

George Boggs

President and CEO

American Association of CommunityColleges

Susan Conner

Executive Vice President and COO

The Lumina Foundation forEducation

Russell Edgerton

Director

The Pew Forum on UndergraduateLearning

Joni E. Finney

Vice President

National Center for Public Policy andHigher Education

George Grainger

Grant Officer

The Houston Endowment, Inc.

Zelema Harris

President

Parkland College (IL)

James Hudgins

Executive Director

The South Carolina Board ofTechnical and ComprehensiveEducation

Christine Johnson

President

Community College of Denver (CO)

George Kuh

Chancellor’s Professor and Director

National Survey of StudentEngagement Indiana University

Byron N. McClenney

Program Director and Adjunct

Professor

Community College LeadershipProgram The University of Texas at Austin

Alexander McCormick

Senior Scholar

The Carnegie Foundation for theAdvancement of Teaching

Mark Milliron

Executive Director, Education Practice

SAS Institute, Inc.

Steve Mittelstet

President

Richland College (TX)

Michael Nettles

Executive Director

Center for Policy Studies and ResearchEducational Testing Service

Margot Perez-Greene

Director

NISODThe University of Texas at Austin

Victoria Muñoz Richart

President

Miracosta Community College (CA)

Jerry Sue Thornton

President

Cuyahoga Community College (OH)

Vincent Tinto

Distinguished Professor

Department of Higher Education Syracuse University

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CCSSE Staff

Kay McClenney

Director, CCSSEAdjunct Professor, Community College Leadership Program

Alicia Betsinger

Survey Operations Coordinator

Jeff Crumpley

Senior Research Associate

C. Nathan Marti

Senior Research Associate

Christine McLean

College Relations Coordinator

Courtney Adkins

College Liaison

Chris Cosart

Research Associate

Sarah Supulski

Senior Administrative Associate

Kathy Thatcher

Senior Administrative Associate

Pat Didner

Administrative Assistant

Rowland Cadena

Project Associate

Adrienne Sneed

Senior Office Assistant

CCSSE Member Colleges 2004For a list of CCSSE member colleges, visit www.ccsse.org.

Editorial and design by KSA-Plus Communications, Inc.

Community College Leadership Program,

The University of Texas at Austin

1 University Station D5600Austin, TX 78712-0378Telephone: (512) 471-6807Fax: (512) 471-4209E-mail: [email protected] site: www.ccsse.org

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