September 1st, 2010
Recently, there have been several reports on graduation rates. One of these is the publication “The College Completion Agenda 2010 Progress Report”published by the College Board. It indicates that the percent of young adults (age 25-34)who have earned an associate’s degree or higher is 41.6%. Compared to other countries, with this statistic, the U.S. is ranked 12th among 36 nations and Canada is ranked 1st. At one point in time the U.S. was ranked 1st and the goal is to be there again– in order to continue to have a growth economy. To a certain extent, the continuation of the current recession with the high unemployment rate around 10% is due to employers needing more-educated employees. Not so long ago, a high school graduate could easily work at a good-paying job for the automotive industry. Thus, the need for most employees to have earned at least an associate’s degree has occurred in a fairly short time period.
The Lumina Foundation has established that the U.S. must strive for a 60 percent attainment rate of an Associate Degree or higher of the current traditional- age college students population, 50% higher than it is today.
Both the College Board report and the Chronicle of Higher Education Almanac Issue 2010-11 (published August 27, 2010) indicate that in the past 10 years, despite all the conversations, that this percent has stayed at the same level. For example, the College Board report indicated that the percent of 25 to 34 year olds with an associate’s degree or higher in 2008 was 41.6% compared to 38.1% in 2000, a 3.5% increase. This is more evidence that the general population is just starting to address the need for a higher rate of college graduates.
In addition, according to the College Board report, only 67% of high school graduates enroll in a college immediately after high school. Of those that enroll, 28% need to take remedial classes, indicating a lack of preparation for college. In addition, students have a higher burden of financial aid due to the increase in tuition that is significantly above the inflation rate. According to the Chronicle report, the average debt for associate degree graduates is $10,000 and for bachelor’s degree graduates is $20,000. Among bachelor degree graduates only one-third have no debt and10% have a debt of $40,000 or more.
If we are really striving for 60% of this population to have a college degree in 10-15 years, we need to be knowledgable about the characteristics of a student population especially as they enter their freshman year. My Veenstra Model for student success provides nine factors for student success. This model can provide a framework for an assessment, based on educational research. The importance of these factors will vary from campus to campus. Then once there is an assessment, strategies for a student-focused culture that encourages learning and student success must be implemented. By continually re-evaluating the successes and failures of a strategy, student retention and graduation rates will improve. By looking at the institution’s goals, the leaders of the college can INNOVATE and COLLABORATE both for the success of students and collaboration of the faculty and staff to engage students. Research has shown that faculty and staff engagement with students is extremely important. In addition financial aid contributes to the overall picture of student success and policies for student financial aid must support continuous improvement in graduation rates.
Posted in College Quality, Data Driven Approach, Financial Aid | No Comments »
August 24th, 2010
Zingerman’s Deli is well-recognized for its service quality in its restaurants in Ann Arbor. Recently I had the pleasure of eating at Zingerman’s Roadhouse. From the time we sat down, it was obvious that this going to be a different eating experience. The waitstaff were well-trained. Our waitress explained how the meals we were ordering were special and made every effort to make our eating experience a great one. She was enthusiastic and cheerful and made sure the food was what we wanted. In other words, both great food quality and service quality! A “delight the customer” experience!
What if we could do the same thing for advising in colleges? As freshman enter college each fall, they need positive experiences and a positive advising session. Seeing an advisor is one of the first experiences on campus. Even more, what would it take to have a student say that it was a “delight the customer” and welcoming experience. What they experience early on will determine their attitude towards the advising office and whether it can provide help. The advice a student receives about courses and other issues, in some cases, will determine the success of a student in the first semester. Just as a successful restaurant trains their employees, colleges need to train their advisors to deliver both quality advice and quality service. Advisors need to both be very welcoming and engaging and very knowledgable about the advising strategies that work. Too many times I have heard of an opposite experience. In addition, if faculty are serving as advisors, they need some training also!
How can advisors deliver a “delight the customer” service quality? Something to think about.
Cindy
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
August 13th, 2010
Sometimes, it is the personal experiences that relate to improving educational excellence for students. We ordered a laptop for our son’s upcoming college year. The search was narrowed to HP and Dell. Initially we ordered an HP laptop. as a custom order. When I found out that it would not arrive until August 24th or so, and it had to go through customs because it was being assembled in China, we cancelled the order and ordered a Dell this past Monday. It was scheduled to arrive the 17th.
To our surprise and delight, it arrived this morning, the 4th day after we ordered it. For a custom order, this is exciting service. And it came with the battery charged!
What if we could delight college’s students with improved scheduling processes and improved academic processes ? More on this in later blogs
Cindy
Posted in College Quality, Uncategorized | No Comments »
July 11th, 2010
In the STEM research literature, two models for recruiting students into STEM majors in college are often discussed.
The Pipeline model suggests that students drop out from considering a STEM career as a “leaky pipeline”; from middle school to college graduation, only a very small percent of a middle school population actually achieve a Bachelor’s degree in science and engineering. An eye-opening statistic is that only about 5% of the Bachelor’s degrees granted in the U.S. are in engineering.
The “Pathways” model suggests that students may decide they are not interested in a STEM career, but later on they may develop an interest in STEM as a result of life’s experiences or conversations with their pees. For most STEM careers, this is very feasible. In colleges and universities that have a student-centered culture, there will be programs that attract and engage students into STEM majors, and pathways for accommodating deficiencies in academic preparation. More colleges and universities need to adopt a “pathways’ philosophy. If universities make it difficult for students to enroll in STEM courses, they automatically will have fewer students graduating in STEM, at a time when we need them in our workforce.
In my visits to university campuses, I see too many universities with a pipeline paradigm when we need to be transitioning to a pathways paradigm! As the new school year approaches, let’s think about pathways that could work to enable students to pursue their career choice in STEM.
Cindy
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
April 7th, 2010
The National Center for Education Statistics has released the latest statistics on college graduation rates. The national college graduation rate is about the same as it has been in the past several years– 36% for 4 years and 57% in 6 years. This is despite more student aid. How can this be?
There are a number of factors contributing to the low graduation rate. Students are not as prepared as they should be. It is estimated that 1/4 to 1/3 of the college students need to take remedial courses. It has been shown that students who have a strong commitment to a career are more likely to persist in college. Too many high schools (and community colleges) are not providing adequate career planning.
In addition, colleges often do not organize their course schedules to be more accommodating to students’ lives. This leads to scheduling problems– as a result, students need to attend more semesters, increasing the time commitment to college and the total cost.
The first semester of college is extremely important. The initial impression counts. Research has shown that placement into the right courses is important for continued academic success. In additon, students who have professors who are perceived as fair and supportive tend to persist at a higher rate. A positive learning-focused culture throughout the college experience matters. Especially for STEM majors, more activities that excite students about STEM learning lead to higher graduation rates.
Often colleges can do better. Colleges that are more data-driven with the use of student surveys tend to see increasing graduation rates.
Often the 6-year graduation rate is quoted. But most parents expect their children to graduate in 4 years. More effort is needed to significantly increase the 4 year graduation rate of 36%. If each college used Plan-Do-Study-Act consistently year after year, we would see a significant improvment.
It can be done!!
Cindy
Source: Chronicle of Higher Education, “Education Dept. Data Show Rise in Enrollment and Student Aid but Flat Graduation Rates” by Ashley Marchand, , April, 6, 2010.
Posted in College Quality, Data Driven Approach | No Comments »
March 17th, 2010
Veenstra and Associates has a new publication on STEM retention, The Diversity of STEM Majors and a Strategy for Improved STEM Retention.
I was interested in how the interest in engineering among entering college freshmen compared to interest in STEM in general. This report discusses this topic and suggests a strategy for STEM retention based on my research.
http://veenstraconsulting.com/docs/Diversity-of-STEM-Majors.pdf
Best
Cindy
Posted in College Quality, Data Driven Approach, Engineering Student Success, Gender issues, Survey, Uncategorized | Comments Off
March 9th, 2010
We talk a lot about recruiting students into engineering! We talk even more about helping students be successful. What are the successful patterns for helping a student become excited about an engineering career and to be prepared as a freshman at a leading engineering college?
I will discuss this topic at the next ASQ Ann Arbor Section meeting on April 5th at Cleary University, on Plymouth Rd, Ann Arbor (Plymouth and Green Rds) from 6pm to 7:30 pm. Refreshments will be served at 5:30pm. http://www.asq1010.org/apr10events.html
Much of the discussion will be based on my research and knowledge gained from being involved with the ASQ Education Division and ASEE and recent research conducted by the National Academy of Engineering.
This interactive presentation is intended for quality professionals and educators, and parents who would like their children to consider an engineering career. Based on an ASQ survey, I will discuss the important role that parents can have in helping their children consider an engineering career. I will also discuss leading extracurricular activities related to engineering and science. (check out my K12 links page http://www.veenstraconsulting.com/links.php) Only about 10% of the high school graduates in Michigan are prepared to take Calculus in college, one of the 1st semester courses in engineering. What can parents do to turn this around in general and help their children to be academically prepared for engineering college? Suggestions will be made with time for discussion.
Hope to see you there!
Posted in College Quality, Engineering Student Success, Gender issues | No Comments »
March 7th, 2010
With the U.S. Department of Education’s focus on improved K12 student performance through the Race to the Top state competition for DoE funds, there is increased interest in identifying practices that work. Some of the current focus in the press is on charter schools and teacher competency.
What about the Baldrige framework?
I recently wrote an invited guest blog for the Michigan Engineering Forum on the importance of the Baldrige framework.
http://forum.engin.umich.edu/2010/02/engineering-education-outreach-are-we.html
Baldrige has a proven track record. The school system decides what its own goals are. It is successful because it involves everyone including the students in continuous improvement and working towards the learning goals. The framework encourages the alignment of ALL relevant education processes.
The ASQ Education Division online library has a presentation on a case study of K12 Baldrige from the Grand Blanc Community school system from 5 years ago. (Creating and Sustaining the Capacity for Change by Brenda Barnes and James Van Wormer) http://www.asq.org/edu/performance-excellence-criteria-in-the-classroom.pdf
The slides show improvement in academic performance. One of the slides shows that the school system was able to reduce its K12 dropout rate from 14% to 1% in five years. Dropout is a serious problem, especially among urban school systems and nationally is about 25%. In this age where it is recognized that to get a job will require MORE than a high school education, this is a very serious concern for our school systems. When we talk about needing more college graduates, a high K12 drop-out rate is also an issue for higher education leaders to be concerned about. So a success story showing a significant decline in the dropout rate is worth highlighting and understanding how they did it. The techniques used are typical of the Baldrige framework.
In my research, I have noted that being an “independent learner” is important for success in college. The processes used within the practice of the Baldrige framework encourages students to become independent learners. This is a strength of Baldrige that is often overlooked.
In the guest blog I also highlight a report from the leadership summit for school systems leaders “In Their Own Words: Feedback from the Leadership Summit”. Yearly, ASQ holds a summit of education leaders who are interested in discussing and sharing ideas about leadership; ideas that worked for their school system. Four school system leaders answered questions on “systemic improvement, challenges their districts faced, best practices”. The discussion is at
http://www.asq.org/edu/2009/07/continuous-improvement/in-their-own-words-feedback-from-the-leadership-summit.pdf
It is worth reading to understand how school districts can move forward to improve student success.
These two papers are worth taking the time to read. We need to consider all options that can help school systems — and that includes the Baldrige framework.
Best
Cindy
Posted in Baldrige, Data Driven Approach, K-12 Outreach | No Comments »
March 1st, 2010
The ASQ Education Division has just published its augural issue of Quality Approaches in Higher Education (QAHE), an online supplement to the ASQ Journal for Quality and Participation. The new journal is peer-reviewed and the first ASQ peer-reviewed publication on issues related to quality in higher education. The inaugural issue is available at http://tinyurl.com/ylfo62g
Update 8/13/10: The journal’s website is http://www.asq.org/edu/quality-information/journals/
Quality Approaches in Higher Education is designed to engage the higher education community and the ASQ Education Division membership in a discussion on topics related to improving quality in higher education and identifying best practices in higher education and to expand the literature specific to quality in higher education topics. The Call for articles and Author Guidelines are available in this issue.
As an associate editor, I am excited about this effort, that has been about 6 months in the making. I hope it generates discussions on the blending of the quality tools, disciplines and quality management ideas with the issues of improving higher education.
Higher Education is at a cross-road. Will it improve and will we be able to meet Lumina’s Big Goal (see issue) of 60% of 18 to 25 year-olds earning a high quality college degree? Or will fewer students complete college? I hope it is the first choice! Many jobs today require a college degree.
A college degree = a better job, and a higher standard of living
Yet for many students, it is difficult getting through college. We can make the processes easier using many of the quality tools. But we need to understand better how students learn (thus the importance of Centers of Teaching and Learning). We need to identify best practices for student success. We need to understand better how and which technology helps engage students with other students and the professor in the college classroom and how to teach better . We need to get to identifying student learning goals and metrics and being data-driven for continuous improvement. We need to recognize the role of six sigma and Baldrige type approaches in the cost-effective operation of our colleges and universities (and reduce tuition). We need to enable students to grow as a whole person, be academically successful, graduate on time and become satisfied alumni, who later contribute again to the university. We hope to have articles on these topics in future issues.
I hope you will read this issue and share in our excitement about the Education Division’s new journal! Let me know your suggestions.
Best
Cindy
Posted in College Quality, Data Driven Approach, Scholarship of Teaching, Uncategorized | No Comments »
January 3rd, 2010
How complete is your mentoring program? The fall semester is completed. Students have received their grades and some are doing poorly. They now recognize that college may be tougher than they thought it would be. Mentoring programs implemented at the beginning of the second semester have been found to be very successful. A successful mentoring program can bring together students who have not performed well in the first semster and help them identify the problem area, whether it is not enough time studying, a need for tutoring, or learning better study habits. Regular meetings, student-oriented goals and strategies for student succees have been found to help students show significant improvement in their academic progress. Contact us (cindy@veenstraconsulting.com ) if you would like more information on mentoring programs.
Cindy
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »