Title V
OVERVIEW:
In October 2018, the U.S. Department of Education awarded WCC the Title V Hispanic-Serving Institutions Grant – Caminos al Éxito (Pathways to Success). The five-year project is funded in the amount of $2.7 million from October, 2018 through September 30, 2023. This is the largest federal grant awarded to WCC in its history.
“This historic grant provides much needed resources to transform the student experience to meet the real needs of today’s learners. With this tremendous award for Caminos al Éxito (Pathways to Success), we will be able to scale effective high-impact, evidence-based practices to support all students, expand academic support, modernize our approach to counseling and advising, and get students to the credentials they need for the future,” says Dr. Belinda S. Miles, President, Westchester Community College.
The Caminos al Éxito Program empowers our campus community to support students to complete their academic programs and transfer to four-year institutions or start their careers after graduation.
Core components of the grant include:
- Academic Success
- Transfer Pathways
- Retention and Completion
- Technology Adoption
- Professional Development
Main Objectives:
- Increase academic success, credit accumulation and transfer to four-year institutions through academic support, early warning, and transfer planning
- Increase student retention, engagement and degree completion through ASAP-informed retention management strategies
- Build capacity through technology adoption and systems integration
- Promote sustainability through professional development of faculty/staff
If you are interested in serving on any of the objective committees, please contact Dr. Michele Campagna, Assistant Dean, Learning Initiatives and Student Success, at Michele.Campagna@sunywcc.edu
Objective 1
Increase academic success, credit accumulation, and transfer to four-year institutions through academic support, early warning, and transfer planning
- Transfer Agreements facilitate as smooth a transfer as possible to ensure that our graduates will be guaranteed seamless transfer with junior status, thus being able to complete a bachelor’s degree within two years of full-time study upon transfer. One way to ensure successful transfer is to have transfer agreements with 4-year institutions that accept all or most of our students’ credits. We create and maintain partnerships with 4-year institutions to promote degree completion and facilitate the transfer process.
- Supplemental Instruction (SI) was introduced in fall 2019 to students enrolled in BIOL 121 Anatomy & Physiology. SI provides students with a highly engaging academic support experience.
- Viking Success Early Alerts are being launched allowing faculty to “raise flags” for students needing support. Courses that have been targeted in the first two years of the grant include all developmental courses, gateway courses (ENG 101, MATH 117, MATH 130, and MATH 131). Four pre-transfer courses (BIOL 121, PSYCH 101, ECON 101, and ENG 102) will be added to this list in fall 2020.
Objective 2
Increase student retention, engagement, and degree completion through ASAP-informed retention management strategies
- First-Year Seminar was launched in fall 2019. The College offered 21 sections, each aligned to WCC’s academic and career pathways. Sections have also been offered at the extension sites. The course curriculum was designed by the First-Year Seminar Working Group with assistance from a faculty liaison from each of the four Schools at the College. Ongoing professional development is offered to the faculty teaching the course.
- Academic Advising Redesign is underway with the goal of creating an academic advising structure for the College that will increase student success at Westchester Community College. Using a Guided Pathways framework a Core Team, comprised of teaching and nonteaching faculty and administrators, is working to propose a model that will support students from onboarding through graduation.
- Peer Leaders are working with new students to welcome them to Westchester Community College and to help them navigate the campus through the onboarding process.
Objective 3
Build capacity through technology adoption and systems integration
- Viking Success use has expanded to help the campus connect members of the campus community work collaboratively to promote student success. Students are also able to request assistance from various offices at the College and receive outreach in response.
- Tableau, a comprehensive data-reporting tool, is being developed to better support the campus with evidence-based decision making.
Objective 4
Promote sustainability through professional development of faculty and staff
- Professional Development Events are being sponsored for faculty and staff working on Title V related projects and innovations. In spring 2020, Title V and the Center for Teaching and Learning welcomed Dr. Nikki Edgecombe to speak at our Virtual Professional Development program on the importance of holistic student supports.