Standard Four The Academic Program

Description

Northern Essex Community College continues to offer a variety of associate degrees in science and arts, as well as a wide array of certificates, in keeping with its mission “to serve people of the Merrimack Valley as a caring and comprehensive center of educational excellence.”  The College offers fifty two programs leading to an Associate of Arts (AA) or Associate of Science (AS) degree. In addition, NECC offers twenty-nine certificate programs.  Associate degree programs carry a minimum of 60 credits and follow a required or recommended sequence of courses. Certificate requirements vary by program and follow a recommended course sequence requiring from 12 to 50 credits. Courses are offered year-round. All courses meet the same standards and requirements regardless of mode of delivery.  Course offerings and descriptions are found online in the Academic Catalog.

Our academic programs continue to evolve under the oversight of the Academic Affairs Committee, which “makes curriculum recommendations to the president regarding all proposals for changes, additions, and deletions in all curricula offered by all divisions of the college. In addition, the committee [recommends] changes in college-wide academic policy and standards.”  In keeping with our tradition of change, however, academic oversight is now also guided by an inclusive Academic Master Planning Committee, and informed by a thorough program review process that all academic programs must complete.  This master planning and program review process reflects a larger cultural change at the college whereby decisions are made by a larger community of stakeholders and informed by data that is publicly available.

Each program’s learning goals and requirements are published in the Academic Catalog.  In addition, current descriptions for all programs of study are published online on the NECC website, ensuring that the most current information is available to current and prospective students.  If a program’s requirements change or if a program is eliminated, the college makes provisions for affected students.  A flowchart, (see Exhibit 4-1 “Process for Inactivating or Reactivating a Program.pdf”) details the procedures followed, and the form for program coordinators to submit to the Academic Affairs Committee, Recommendation to Inactivate a Program, is available on the Course/Program Development webpage.

Undergraduate Degree Programs

The undergraduate experience at NECC demonstrates the college’s commitment to “engage students as active learners” (Strategic Plan 2007) as they progress through their Transfer and Career Associate Degree or Certificate Programs. These programs are designed so that students develop the knowledge, skill, abilities and appreciation that the College has determined are essential to that field of inquiry.  The foundation for each degree program includes at least 20 credits of general education classes, although most programs require more. These classes introduce students to a variety of ways of understanding the world while preparing them for more specialized classes within their chosen programs. The courses within the student’s major or concentration usually account for 24 to 40 credits towards the completion of a degree; most include at least three or four elective choices, although these choices are often restricted to areas related to the major or concentration. These classes afford our students a solid introduction to one disciplinary area and ensure that our graduates are prepared to transfer to senior institutions or for entry level employment in the communities we serve.

The primary transfer associate degree programs are Liberal Arts, Business Transfer, and Engineering Science.  As noted on page 45 of the 2007-2008 Academic Catalog (Exhibit HC 4-1 Acad Cat), “These programs are parallel to the first two years of similar programs in most public and private senior colleges throughout the country and provide a solid basis for transfer with advanced standing.” The college’s eight Career Associate Degree Programs and all of the Certificate Programs are intended to provide the theory and technical knowledge to develop the professional skills students need to qualify for entry into the job market immediately after graduation. Many of these programs include practicum experiences while others may be supplemented with cooperative education courses for on-the-job training. Individual courses within these programs may have transfer potential into related degrees at senior colleges. With some additional courses, students in career programs may also transfer to four-year institutions.

The college’s newest program, the Associate in Applied Science degree program in Laboratory Science, illustrates our commitment to rigorous integrated academic programs that address the needs of the students and the communities we serve.  The creation of this program demonstrates the Academic Affairs Committee oversight of courses and programs, the college’s use of data from multiple courses to make informed decisions, and the college’s support of innovation through professional development.   It also illustrates the college’s efforts to integrate curriculum in direct and meaningful ways across disciplinary boundaries.  More importantly, however, creating this program shows the college’s commitment to its core values as written in the mission statement and affirmed at the most recent strategic planning summit.

Despite NECC’s status as one of only two Hispanic Serving Institutions in Massachusetts, science faculty noted the lack of minority and ESL students participating in the sciences and initiated a project to rectify that imbalance.  After a series of community and college surveys, they determined a need for a new applied science program that would provide two outcomes; transfer to a four-year institution and entry into the workforce.

In July 2008, the faculty were awarded an NSF-ATE grant and moved ahead with developing the program.  Curriculum planning involved several steps including an approval process through both the College’s Academic Affairs Committee and the Commonwealth’s Department of Higher Education (DHE). The Science Faculty designed a program and courses that met those requirements as well as many of the requirements for transfer to four-year institutions.

 

The DHE required the completion of an application and a visit by two external evaluators. Finally, a team that included the college president, the Vice President for Academic Affairs, a dean and two faculty members presented the complete program to the DHE. The proposal was approved in spring 2009, and members of the Laboratory Science Advisory Board praised the program for its use of current research in effective instruction delivery and its clear connection to employers in the community. While this new program demonstrates our commitment to the college’s mission and our academic strengths, in particular our focus on our students’ specific needs, the underlying elements mirror those already established at the college.

General Education

The general education requirement is coherent and substantive. NECC’s course framework for this requirement remains driven by the 1990 Massachusetts Transfer Compact, an agreement that affords Massachusetts community college graduates guaranteed admission and a full transfer of credits towards a bachelors degree at state four year institutions if certain GPA and minimum general education core class requirements are met. As a member of this compact, NECC requires all NECC students to complete 6 credit hours of English composition, 9 credit hours of behavioral and social sciences, 9 credit hours of humanities and fine arts, 8 credit hours of natural or physical science and 3 credit hours of mathematics. Under these guidelines, students are exposed in a balanced manner to the modes of inquiry within the traditional fields of higher education.

Students attaining a degree from NECC are required to pass ENG101 and ENG102, ensuring that they demonstrate collegiate-level skills in the English language.  The Department of Developmental Education offers coursework and tutoring for students who are identified through the assessment testing process as needing skills development in English (reading, writing, and English as a Second Language) and math prior to enrolling in most college-level courses.  The Academic Resource and Tutoring Center (ARTC) provides professional and peer tutoring for students in college-level courses, including ENG101 and 102.

Students’ understanding of current information resource and technology begins with a required research essay in ENG101; computer and technology fluency is addressed by the college’s computer fluency requirement.  The math proficiency required for Associate Degree programs ensures that students attain an appropriate grounding in quantitative literacy.  The math requirement for certificate programs reflects the needs of the coursework and industry.  The new college-level math lab, an outgrowth of the ARTC and the increasing need for math tutoring, provides drop-in tutoring for all college-level math courses.

 

While the course framework for the general education requirement remains restricted by the transfer compact, the underlying what and how our students learn in these courses and in their majors is undergoing a radical but methodical change since the NEASC 2000 Self Study.  By 2002, the college had agreed to three general education competencies: Writing, Critical Thinking, and Computer Fluency which were incorporated within the framework of program outcomes. 

The college’s latest Strategic Planning Process in 2007 identified five strategic directions for the college, the first one being ‘Engage Students as Active Learners.’  As part of the definition, the plan stated, “By promoting a deeper level of student engagement, we will help students to develop the academic, interpersonal, and collaborative skills essential for them to thrive in the 21st century global economy” (Strategic Plan).

With this strategic direction in place, the new Academic Master Plan Steering Committee set out to turn this vision into something more workable, a task that is still in progress. The college has adopted a new Core Academic Vision Statement that broadly defines what our graduates will be able to do and perhaps also who they are as a result of attending NECC.  The introduction of this report says that, “Northern Essex Community College (NECC) students will emerge from our caring academic community prepared and motivated to become self-aware, engaged members of the communities in which they live and work.” Central to this is “the development of these five core academic skills: Communication; Global Awareness; Information Literacy; Quantitative Reasoning; and Science and Technology.” The implementation process and details of these Core Academic Skills remain to be worked out by various committees charged to do so.

Students attaining a degree in one of the Transfer or Career Associate programs progress through a course sequence clearly defined in the college’s Academic Catalog and on the Programs of Study Site Map website.  The overall objectives for each program are stated at the beginning of each program’s description. The most broad and traditional transfer programs such as the Liberal Arts Program define their objectives in part as follows:

The associate in arts degree in Liberal Arts is designed to give students the knowledge, skills and abilities to make sound judgments, to reach reasoned conclusions and to express themselves confidently and effectively. It also offers a course of study appropriate for students who plan to transfer to a four-year educational institution. A minimum of 62 credit hours are required for graduation.

These objectives allow NECC students in the program the flexibility to explore their options for transfer while also ensuring that their classes they take will transfer to all State supported institutions of higher education. The objectives for more specific transfer programs, like the Business Transfer Program, still provide students with a solid general education foundation while also focusing on a more clearly defined transfer objective.

 

By structuring its transfer programs with as wide range of objectives as possible, the college offers its students the variety of transfer opportunities necessary for the range of students we admit. Students are able to routinely move from the more general transfer programs to the more specific and vice versa, while also ensuring that they will be able to apply the credits they earn in a program for successful transfer to a four year institution. Meanwhile, the underlying course sequences of these programs ensure that graduates have attained a solid foundation in the knowledge, theories and practices of their chosen area of study.

The objectives for the college’s career associate programs also offer a necessary balance that reflects the educational and professional needs of the students we serve. Because admission to the college’s career programs is competitive and enrollments are often limited, qualified students who are not initially accepted to their career program of choice are offered admission to the General Studies Degree Program. This ensures that students can make progress through a sequence of courses designed to allow for potential admission to the career program and attain a degree or certificate during this process.

Like all of the college’s career programs, the clearly defined course sequence for the Early Childhood Education Program (ECE) gives the students a solid general education foundation which they may transfer to a four-year institution.  It also prepares them for a successful practicum and/or field placement for those intending to move on to an entry-level position once they attain their associate degrees. The ECE program objectives clearly explain these paths.

Many of the career programs are accredited by various licensing boards and agencies, further ensuring that the appropriate relationships exist between the academic content and the professional field placements or practicum experiences of these programs. This accrediting and licensing information is part of the program description available on the college Web site.

Integrity in the award of academic credit

The college is cognizant of the need to benchmark its certificate and degree programs so that they maintain consistency with nationally accepted norms for such areas as length, content, class contact time, and credit hours. The Division of Academic Affairs maintains primary oversight of academic programs, working in collaboration with the Registrar to ensure that the college adheres to mainstream practices.

The schedule of courses is available electronically on the college’s web site through Banner Self Service on the home page and is updated continually.  Classes are offered in the day, evening, weekend and online.  Additional options are available to students who need a course for graduation through Directed Studies, Northeast Consortium of Colleges and Universities in Massachusetts (NECCUM), and Mass Colleges Online (MCO). Recently the college instituted an annual master scheduling process that allows students to plan their schedules for a full year in advance.

 

The Academic Affairs Committee exercises administrative oversight for the academic departments in the awarding of institutional credit or credentials.  No graduation credit is offered for ESL or developmental coursework; students receive institutional credit for these courses which allows them to apply for scholarships and financial aid.  The committee defers to the professional judgment of faculty and deans to ensure that course content and delivery of instructional programs meet the course description and the learning objectives outlined in the syllabus.  This is accomplished through the evaluation of faculty, materials, and course content by deans and students.  All instructors are required, in accordance with the Collective Bargaining Agreement, to submit a syllabus to their dean who verifies that the criteria on the Checklist for Course Materials are being met.   Faculty of online courses must also submit a Distance Education Course Interaction Plan.

Student evaluations of all courses taught by DCE (adjunct) faculty are completed each semester.  Full-time faculty are evaluated according to the schedule outlined in the Collect Bargaining Agreement (CBA).  The office of Academic Affairs is responsible for distributing, collecting and reporting the evaluation data for review by division deans.  Classroom observations by the deans occur on a regular schedule according to the current CBA.

NECC is piloting a Quality Matters (Excellence in Distant Learning) project on campus that is part of an inter-institutional, faculty-driven, collegial peer review process. It has developed a set of tools - linked to the research literature and commonly accepted standards of good practice - for assessing the quality of online courses. The primary tool is the QM Rubric, which is designed to provide a rigorous set of standards that can be consistently applied to online courses as part of a commitment to their continuous improvement.

The Credit for Life Learning Program, overseen by the Center for Adult & Alternative Studies, recognizes the value of the breadth of experience and skills adults returning to college bring with them, and for which they may be entitled to college credit.  Candidates must have matriculated into a certificate or associate degree program of study and must be able to demonstrate, in a verifiable manner, that they have obtained the same level of academic knowledge that would be obtained by taking the NECC course.  The standards applied to the evaluation process are consistent, documented and meet guidelines developed by the American Council on Education (ACE).  These guidelines and the Credit for Life Learning Handbook are available at Credit for Life Learning . 

The college is also a Military Friendly School. The Director of the Center for Adult & Alternative Studies obtains faculty input as needed, and evaluates military transcripts using the ACE recommendations for granting of credit.

 

Program requirements, including criteria for continuation in, termination from, and re-admission to are clearly stated and accessible to students in both print form and electronically. The criteria were developed with student success in mind.  The college continually reviews programs to ensure that they are compatible with their educational purposes.  Requirements for students to remain in good academic standing are published electronically in the Academic Catalog. The Banner system automatically places students on academic suspension based on the Grade Point Average and progress toward degree or certificate completion.  The Dean of Academic Advising, Transfer and Articulation reviews every transcript for all suspended students each semester.

The course repetition policy is clearly stated in the catalog and in the Academic Advising Handbook (Exhibit HC 4-2 AcadAdvis).  The Student Code of Conduct and Grievance Procedure has a complete listing of all college and academic policies that are available online.   Also on the website are the criteria packets for each program in the special acceptance category, which include the Health Professions Programs, Deaf Studies, Paralegal, and Human Services.

Graduation requirements are listed in the Academic Advising Handbook and in the Academic Catalog.  Each degree or certificate program is designed to reflect student attainment of stated outcomes.  Students and their advisors can check their progress toward their degree requirements by doing an electronic audit in the Self Service system.   Updated audit sheets are available in Academic Advising and online. All students are held to the specific program requirements listed for graduation and are instructed to meet with an advisor when choosing electives as part of their program.  If course substitutions are to be made for graduation requirements, they must be approved by the Program Coordinator.

The college expects all students to maintain high standards of academic honesty and integrity.  Instructors are required to provide students with a clearly written definition of plagiarism applicable in their discipline as part of the course syllabus. In most cases, plagiarism will be dealt with by the faculty member in charge of the course, and students will be sanctioned according to the severity of the offense as outlined in the Student Code of Conduct and Grievance Procedure.  The SafeAssign plagiarism detection service will be available to all Blackboard users beginning in the fall 2009.  Instructors can submit student papers themselves or have students submit papers (”SafeAssignments”) to them using/via the SafeAssign tool.  Faculty also consult with the Library reference staff to investigate cases of plagiarism.

All courses and programs offered for credit in concentrated time periods, via distance learning, or off campus receive support for instructional needs and follow the same guidelines as traditional courses in terms of contact hours, completion criteria, and evaluation.  Off-campus students have access to a wide array of academic support services including online advising (including live chat), E-Tutoring, and Library Services such as online journals, ebooks and other library materials 24/7 via the Library website.  Students have been using the SMARTHINKING online tutoring system (www.smarthinking.com) since 2008 in place of the Connecticut Distance Learning Consortium (CDLC) online tutoring program the college piloted in 2005/6. The most accessed subjects include writing, calculus, chemistry, and physics. Faculty and student response to SMARTHINKING has been positive.

The Center for Instructional Technology (CIT) offers resources and faculty support for technological, instructional and pedagogical design of courses offered through Distance Education. CIT offers initial support to assist faculty in the development of online and hybrid courses through iTeach (formerly WebCamp), a semester-long training program.  The center also offers ongoing drop-in support for faculty using Blackboard.  In response to faculty demands for similar support in Lawrence, CIT was allocated space on the Lawrence campus with new equipment and a rotating staff schedule for fall 2009.

Study abroad programs are vetted by the Director of International Studies through the College Consortium for International Studies.   College faculty who develop programs meet with students in advance and outline the requirements so that students may receive NECC credit for their work.  In 2008, students participated in a summer trip to Ecuador and received four lab science credits for integrated field work and academics in biology and geology, a more rigorous course than the stand-alone college classroom experience.

To receive transfer credit, students must be matriculated into a program of study and submit an official transcript to the college. The registrar maintains a database of previously-evaluated courses for reference and consistency in the award of transfer credit. If courses have not been previously evaluated, the decision lies with the Dean of Academic Advising, Transfer, and Articulation or is sent to the appropriate Academic Division for review.  With some exceptions, only grades of C or better are accepted for transfer.  The residency requirement is 24 credits for an associate degree and 12 credits for a certificate at NECC, and is published in the Academic Catalog.  The college has numerous articulation agreements in effect with both public and private colleges, all of which are available for viewing on the Transfer Agreements web page.  As a general practice of the institution, graduate credits are not accepted.  An exception is made for non-matriculated students who need to take an NECC course that has a pre-requisite, but these credits do not count toward an NECC certificate or degree.

Assessment of Student Learning

NECC’s approach to the assessment of student learning at the program level took its current form in the fall of 2005 with the hiring of a Director of Academic Program Review and Assessment.  The Director works closely with program coordinators and faculty to develop assessment plans and to implement assessment activities.  With the first plans developed in the AY 05-06, the first assessments were completed in AY 06-07.  Once they begin, programs continue to perform assessments every year.

To insure a systematic and comprehensive process, all degree as well as many certificate programs at the college across all academic divisions were assigned a specific year to develop their program reviews. (See the NECC Program Review Schedule and the Program Review Cycle on the NECC website).

 

The format of these reviews includes a requirement that programs have in place outcomes assessment plans.  These plans provide a basis and structure for program level outcomes assessment activities.  The Guide for Developing and Implementing an Outcomes Assessment Plan, developed by the Director in the fall of 2005, provides a comprehensive description of the NECC process to ensure a systematic approach.

The basic requirement of this process, emphasized in the Guide, is the use of a team approach in all assessment work.  The assessment plans completed to date have been developed by teams which typically include the program coordinator, program faculty, faculty from other academic areas, and external representatives in the form of area employers or faculty from four-year colleges to which graduates of the program often transfer.  The inclusion of representatives from four-year colleges and/or from area employers on the teams that develop assessment plans helps insure that their input is considered  in the description of educational objectives and learning outcomes, as well as in the examination of the curricular offerings that would meet those objectives.  Overall, this team approach insures the inclusion of relevant perspectives as well as college-wide faculty involvement in the process.

The central document in the outcomes and assessment plan is a program’s curriculum map.  This map details program objectives and associated student learning outcomes - “what” students are expected to know or be able to do after they complete the program - as well as the curricular contexts or experiences that are designed to contribute to or support this learning - “how” will the objectives be accomplished.  Completed Program Outcomes and Curriculum Maps, which include program mission statements, are posted on the website. In addition to program-specific outcomes, every degree program has been required to include outcomes associated with the institutional-level competencies of Critical Thinking, Writing, and Computer Fluency. (See discussion in the following section on “Institutional Level Assessment.”)The curriculum map further serves as a guide for the development of the assessment map and assessment schedule.  The assessment map shows possible methods that will be used to assess each of the learning outcomes, while the schedule details the specific outcomes on which each year’s assessment efforts will be focused.

Completed assessment plans are included with program reviews in specially prepared program review binders which are distributed to various interested parties and which are also available for review in the college library and as part of sample completed program reviews on the Program Review  webpage.  Sample plans are also available on the Outcomes Assessment webpage.

During the 2005-06 academic year, six degree and certificate programs developed outcomes assessment plans in conjunction with the completion of their reviews.  Each academic year since, additional degree and certificate programs have completed these plans, usually in conjunction with their reviews, with the total at the end of the 2008-09 academic year being 24.  Included on the teams that developed plans for these 24 programs were approximately 70 full and part-time faculty members from 26 different programs or departments across all 4 academic divisions of the college, 6 NECC administrators, 10 representatives from area colleges, 2 area high school principals, and 10 representatives of area employers, participation which demonstrates the significant representation of and involvement of these various groups in the outcomes assessment work.  By the winter of 2009, it is expected that 8 more programs will be added to this group with completed plans as they move through the program review cycle.

Reports of assessment activities at NECC follow a suggested format, detailed in a template on the website, Template for Assessment Documentation.

In addition, an annual process for the presentation and sharing of program assessment activities and findings has been instituted.   Information about these Assessment Summits, including agendas and sample PowerPoint presentations, is posted on the website.

 

Programs which follow the internal assessment process described above include many programs which receive specialized accreditation, approval, or certification (e.g. Dental Assisting, Paralegal Studies, Early Childhood Education, and Human Services.)  Some, however, including Radiologic Technology, choose exclusively to follow a process outlined by the external organization.  Developing learning outcomes vis-à-vis explicit agency standards and providing evidence of students’ achievement of these outcomes are typically requirements built into these external processes. 

There is extensive information about the program review and assessment process on the college’s website with highlights of current activities included in the Program Review and Outcomes Assessment Newsletters.   All completed program reviews and reports of assessment activities are available as workroom documents (Exhibits HC 4-3 to 21 for Program Reviews and Exhibits HC 4-22 to 32 for Assessment Reports). For a comprehensive report on NEASC Standards 4.44-4.50, Assessment of Student Learning, see http://www.necc.mass.edu/program_review_and_outcomes/docs/fs-assess-neasc-report.pdf.

Institutional Level Assessment

Institutional level understanding of student learning has been represented to date by three college-wide competencies, developed in 2002.   These three competencies - Critical Thinking, Writing, and Computer Fluency - were detailed in the form of outlines which provided information concerning the specific learning outcomes that would be associated with each.  During the academic year 2008-09, in response to the Strategic Plan, a committee of faculty and administrators from the Academic Affairs area met to revisit the three competencies, and determine if revisions were indicated.  The result was the development of a new Vision for Core Academic Skills at NECC.   This vision statement is currently being translated into five core academic skills with associated learning outcomes. Institutional level assessment methods are also being explored.

 

Course Level Assessment

Course objectives, which focus on intended learning, are posted on course syllabi, consistent with requirements of the current applicable Massachusetts collective bargaining agreement as described earlier.  The objectives statements are also reviewed to insure that they address all of the essential curricular components of the courses.  For examples of course syllabi, see workroom document (Exhibit HC 4-33 SAMSYLL).

Courses typically include a variety of pedagogical approaches including lectures, group discussion, demonstrations, and research projects.  Courses with laboratory sections, required by close to 80% of the degree programs, emphasize hands-on experiences.  Assessment methods used vary widely and include objective tests, skills tests or demonstrations.  Course assessments are typically administered on multiple occasions during a term, allowing faculty to review student work so as to provide timely and detailed feedback and inform their teaching.

Institutional Effectiveness

NECC is committed to evaluating the quality, integrity and effectiveness of its academic programs.  The hiring of the Director of Academic Program Review and Assessment clearly demonstrates the college’s continuing commitment to these endeavors. The updated program review process outlined in this chapter highlight’s the centrality of this process in evaluating and assessing our academic offerings and student learning. The work of the Office of Institutional Research and Planning supports these efforts with additional data gathering and analysis. The Office of Academic Affairs consistently engages with the program review process to ensure that the recommendations from this process are carefully considered. The President of the College and the college community participate in the college’s annual program review summit. The results of these efforts are visible in the college’s devotion to embrace change to support student achievement.

APPRAISAL

One of the greatest strengths of the college is the willingness of staff, faculty, and administrators to embrace change in response to student and community needs, as identified through the Strategic Planning process and the Achieving the Dream data gathering.  This is reflected in the Academic Program in part by the adoption of new pedagogies, flexible course scheduling and alternative modes of course delivery while maintaining the quality and coherence of programming.  Examples include:

• The new Applied Science Program which has attracted 26 students in the first year.
• Flexible scheduling, including hybrid blocks.
• The accelerated Business program which is in its third year and has approximately 24 students enrolled.
• A variety of alternative instructional models and interventions have been put in place for math courses largely in response the Achieving the Dream information regarding low completion rates for math students. Examples include supplemental instruction, a modular section format, self-paced/individualized instruction, accelerated options, and short refresher courses- completely online or with assistance in the tutoring centers. An inter-departmental math retention team is working on professional development in these areas and on the continuum of skills from developmental through college-level math.

Another strength is the inclusiveness and transparency in goal-setting and decision making with regard to the academic program.  This began with the strategic planning summit in 2007 that drew participation from the college and the community at large in determining the direction the college would take for the next three year period from 2008-2011.The makeup of the Academic Affairs Committee is further evidence of inclusiveness and transparency as it includes faculty and staff from all of the divisions, and from both the academic and student services “sides of the house”.  There is a shared folder that gives each division access to the discussions and decisions made by the committee.    A broad-based Academic Master Plan Steering Committee undertook the task of organizing how the identified goals would be addressed in a systematic way and with the participation of all interested parties at the college.  Committees were formed and the work is ongoing; regular reports are made to the college community and feedback is solicited.  For example, the work of the Core Academic Skills Committee was presented at the All College Assembly and sent in advance to everyone at NECC through broadcast email for their input.  Feedback was incorporated into the final vision statement and the selection of the Core Academic Skills.

The willingness of faculty and staff to participate in these college-wide efforts (in addition to all that is going on with standing committee work, staff/faculty interest groups, etc.) has stretched them to the point of feeling overcommitted, with limited time for reflection.  The Academic Master Plan was created to provide a structure within which to organize and prioritize all of the campus-wide initiatives. It has succeeded in doing so, but not necessarily in reducing the amount of work for the community at large.  Change is happening at such a rapid rate and is taking much effort on the part of staff and faculty to implement, so that people are becoming overloaded.  There is a core of individuals involved in most of the college initiatives; there is a need to broaden the work groups for support and greater input.

The use of data to inform decision making has been accelerated by our participation in the Achieving the Dream initiative.  The identification of student cohorts who are completing courses and graduating (or transferring) at a lower than average rate for the college has helped guide the allocation of funds, space, and personnel to various activities designed to improve student success.  Although it is very early in the process- most of the interventions have been in place for a year or less- the numbers in targeted areas have improved.  For full data reports regarding Achieving the Dream, please see the Achieving the Dream Data Reports webpage. 

 

Other efforts involve collecting both quantitative and qualitative information regarding the success of these interventions.  A computer based log-in and tracking system was created for the college level Math Tutoring and Resource Center. The system was implemented in spring of 2009. It gathers statistical data on students and tutoring services. The system can also be merged with the college’s Banner Information System to gather grades and other information that will assist in the measure of student success rates.  In addition, student users completed an evaluation of their experience in the center (Exhibit 4-2 Math Tutoring and Resource Center Tutee Evaluation.pdf).

The increase in demand for data and a significant increase in interest and trust in data and data-informed decision making over the past several years have not been met with a corresponding increase in resources to meet this demand.  Resources in the form of time and expertise are needed to support research design, data collection, and data analyses.  The role of Institutional Research is to serve both external and internal entities.  For external purposes, data management and reporting is critical and may take precedence over internal requests for data.

 

Similarly, there is increasing demand for Blackboard accounts for faculty and students, and interest in the development of online courses to in part ease the demand for classroom space at the college.  As part of the college’s continuity plan in response to a possible flu pandemic in fall 2009, faculty have been encouraged to use Blackboard to disseminate and collect student assignments.  The CIT staff, with IT support, has made every effort to address the demands without a corresponding increase in staffing (or staff hours).

 

The priorities of resource allocation are an issue across the college.  Programs and instructional areas are underfunded relative to other areas of the college and as compared to other community colleges in Massachusetts.  Despite this and the current budget constraints, we have accomplished much in the academic area under the leadership of the new Vice President for Academic Affairs including:

• o A multi-year plan to increase the number of full-time faculty and the percentage of courses they teach.
• o The development of a capital asset inventory along with a multi-year plan to replace capital inventory such as computers and lab equipment.
• o An increase in the percentage of the budget allocated to Academic Affairs to approximately 50%.

 

Because of the strengths mentioned above: willingness of staff, faculty, and administrators to embrace change, inclusiveness and transparency in goal-setting and decision making, and use of data to inform decision making, we believe our Academic Programs are strong. NECC’s undergraduate programs and offerings continue to reach for the goals outlined in the college’s latest Strategic Plan. Many parts of these goals have already been realized in pockets throughout the college, as shown by the following endeavors.  They demonstrate the college’s commitment to a more holistic, community-oriented approach to learning and the undergraduate experience.

1. The college continues its support of integrated learning communities that help break down traditional disciplinary barriers.

2. The college’s honors program continues to expand, drawing more students as it offers classes from an even wider variety of sources. Honors sections of English composition are now also offered every semester.

3. The Newburyport Tree Project, a service learning project that grew out of a professional development effort took students and learning directly into one of the communities the college serves, integrating learning while changing students’ lives.

4. Service Learning efforts at the college continue to earn institutional support. Many classes in the college now offer formal and informal service learning opportunities with the guidance of the service learning committee.

Although the college has pursued parts of this engaged student vision through these efforts, formalizing this goal is helping the Academic Master Planning Committee organize these efforts into a more coherent vision of engaged student learning at NECC.

The success of our transfer programs is difficult to measure accurately, but is easier to observe. The college’s steady enrollment growth in many transfer programs is the most obvious testament that these programs continue to serve our students.  The college’s participation in the Joint Admissions Program, the Commonwealth Transfer Compact, and the Tuition Advantage Program all demonstrate the success of our efforts to make transfer to four year schools barrier free.   However, it must be noted that a new transfer program, called Mass Transfer, has been approved by all state colleges for implementation beginning in fall 2009.  In additions, the college has developed direct partnerships with area four year colleges to offer specific transfer programs for NECC graduates.  Students may opt to continue their baccalaureate degree at either the four-year campus, or at continuation programs offered on the NECC campus. Finally, the college’s office of Institutional Research is attempting to track the success of our students once they transfer to our 4-year state institutions. The latest NECC Transfer Study of 2005 NECC graduates who were present in Massachusetts Public Four Year Colleges and Universities in the fall of 2007 shows that our students do well once they leave NECC.

The question of how the students performed academically was answered by looking at the average Quality Point Average (QPA) by institution.  Not all students had an earned QPA because they may not have attended the transfer institution long enough to have the QPA posted to their transcript.  The QPA earned at NECC is not counted at the transfer institution.  The data obtained is as follows:

Institution               QPA                #with QPA

Umass Lowell           2.92                 145

Salem State              3.28                 54

Umass Amherst        2.75                 21

Umass Boston          2.66                 10

Fitchburg State        3.32                 26

Worcester State        3.10                 7

This data suggests that we do a good job in preparing our students for transfer to four-year institutions.

The success of our career programs is evident by our students’ pass rate of various licensing exams and by the job placement rate of our graduates once they attain degrees from NECC. For example, the 2006 nursing exam pass rate for first-time test-takers was 92.6%, above the Board of Higher Education’s target pass rate of 85%. The 2008 Graduates: One Year Later report also demonstrates the college’s success with our career programs. Highlights from this report include the following information on the college’s placement rate, indicating a consistently high rate of placements in career related jobs for our graduates:

 

 

 

The Program Review process that has evolved in the past 5 years has become an integral and meaningful part of the college’s efforts to evaluate student success on a program level.  Program coordinators who led program review teams, participated in the development of outcomes assessment plans, and who in many cases also participated in actual program-level assessments, were provided with a set of questions designed to elicit their appraisal of the three processes.  Overall, comments concerning the program review process were quite positive.  Most faculty members mentioned that the process went well, and that they received a great deal of support and help, especially from the Director of Academic Program Review and Assessment. Most found the process useful in terms of better understanding their programs, identifying and securing needed resources, and/or making significant program changes.   One faculty member who was involved in the process during its first year remarked that the process was cumbersome, and that it was difficult to get the information needed, but that in spite of the difficulties:

I appreciated the support and relationship building among the initial group of program coordinators and department chairs, as well as guidance and support of the Director of Program Review….We did gain some useful information from the process and the action plan continues to guide us and support efforts and initiatives for program improvement.

Other comments noted that while the process may be useful and informative, it is time consuming, and difficult sometimes to manage along with other responsibilities: 

While extremely valuable, all of these tasks … take up an inordinate amount of TIME. 

As noted above, outcomes assessment plans are typically developed in conjunction with completing program reviews.  Due to the amount of time required to develop plans, coordinators are advised to work on them the semester before they begin program reviews, making the entire process a two-semester endeavor.  As an indication of institutional support, coordinators do receive re-assigned time for this work, but only for one semester.  Not surprisingly, there were a few comments relating to time pressures because of the addition of this labor-intensive task to existing responsibilities although it is especially encouraging that many comments were completely positive, especially noting the support received, perceptions that the exercise was useful, and that the process was “clear and well-organized”.

In addition to planning actions, there has been a lot of activity related to “closing the loop,” and actually making program improvements.  Some information concerning assessment-related action plans and activities is included on NEASC Form E1A (http://www.necc.mass.edu/program_review_and_outcomes/docs/fs-ss-e1-a.pdf).  Some specific examples of activities undertaken by programs in response to assessment findings are:

We also learned a lot about how we grade [the students]; this led to more consistent grading of student assignments.

Portfolio for Graphic Design- The course has been changed from a 1 credit course to a 3 credit course to address necessary skills that students need upon graduation. The department sent out an employee survey requesting information from area designers, printers asking their input on critical skills necessary for the workplace. Our new Portfolio class will address many of these issues.

Overall, the faculty see value in assessment work, even though demands on time and resources are increased.  In a general way, then, the process of assessing student learning has been accepted and integrated into the regular work at NECC, at the course and program levels.  There is a large reliance on adjunct faculty members, as is typical in community colleges.  This fact creates coordination issues.   Time constraints continues to be an issue; nonetheless, coordinators and faculty have been very productive and produced a large body of well-designed and carefully administered assessments, the results of which have been thoughtfully considered and used to implement important program improvements. 

Projection

In order to accomplish many of the goals the college has set for itself through the strategic planning process, it is expected that the strategic plan, guided by the Academic Master Plan, will be extended.  There will be an increasing effort to combine activities identified through different initiatives to maximize the impact of work done by faculty and staff and resources allocated to various activities.

The college’s challenge over the next several years will be to maintain the relevance of its programs with regard to the employment prospects in the community and to their transferability to four-year institutions.  As one of the goals in the strategic plan, NECC will be identifying career pathways for students to enhance their employability.

For program assessment, the challenge will be to continue with the process currently in place given the expected increase in the number of programs involved in program reviews and outcomes assessment work.  The main source of support for this work is the Director of Academic Program Review and Assessment, and this resource will be stretched thin given the large number of programs that are and will be involved in these efforts.  In a way, this is a success story, in that reviews and assessments are for the most part proceeding systematically.  However, this success has created a need for resources to support its continuation.  For example, in academic year 2010, 14 programs are scheduled for reviews and another 18 in 2011.  In addition, the Director does a substantial amount of work with all programs involved in outcomes assessment work. These will number close to 30 by 2010.

One step that is currently being taken is to hire a part-time assistant for the Director.  A large amount of processing and organization is needed to ensure continued momentum, documentation, and the providing of information and assistance when it is requested.  Hopefully, an assistant can take over some of the office management, website maintenance, and data entry functions so that the Director’s role is more focused on providing support and obtaining resources.

 

Another avenue to be explored involves addressing the issue of coordinator and faculty time constraints, a task that given the realities of the economy will require considerable creativity and cooperative problem solving.  One possibility recently discussed is to modify the approach to assessment work at NECC, for example, through having program coordinators and faculty target a limited number of program-specific outcomes for assessment - outcomes which are a high priority for their programs, and which could all be reasonably assessed within about a three year cycle.  Activities to address any weaknesses identified through the assessments could then be introduced into the program, with the targeted outcomes re-assessed in the new three year cycle to see the effect of the interventions.    This new approach would be supported by the introduction of the institutional level assessments, through which students will be evaluated with respect to the core skills.    

The integration of program and course outcomes needs to be strengthened.  Curriculum maps identify program outcomes, and identify courses that support those outcomes.  A process to include consideration of relevant program outcomes when course outcomes are constructed might also enhance work toward the program outcomes effort and ensure continuity at the course and program levels.

An area that is now developing and that holds great promise for the institutional assessment effort concerns the work being done to develop methods of assessing the newly developed Core Academic Skills.  A committee associated with NECC’s Academic Master Plan is meeting to discuss ways of assessing the skills at the college-wide level, and is expected to develop a method or methods for pilot testing in the spring of 2010.

In sum, challenges for NECC for the future include ensuring that the outcomes assessment activities which now have a strong foundation and a five year history of solid results will continue to grow, receive support, and become even more a part of the regular work of the institution.  Focusing on identifying and attending to areas that need strengthening, and obtaining and responding to faculty feedback, will be i