State of Academic Support Services

Prepared by: Maria Wright, Director of Academic Support Services

Drafted: November 8, 2017

Revised: January 2, 2018

Overview: There are various support services available to students at Bakersfield College.

While the delivery of service varies by center, all of the services are offered to students free of

cost and are designed to help students successfully navigate course content and gain subject-

mastery. Some centers provide services in a group setting, while others provide one-on-one

assistance. In recent years, Bakersfield College has experienced growth in the number of

academic support services offered; see below for a comprehensive list of services:

1. AERA STEM Success Center

2. Extended Study

3. Extend the Classroom-ACDV

4. Extend the Classroom-English

5. Extend the Classroom-Math

6. Math Hub

7. Math Lab

8. Student Success Lab

9. Supplemental Instruction (Delano

and Main Campus)

10. Tutoring Center (Delano and Main

Campus)

11. Writing Center (Delano and Main

Campus)

Mission Statement:

Bakersfield College Academic Support Services provides high quality assistance to facilitate

students’ evolution into active, independent, engaged, and lifelong learners.

1. Through coaching and collaboration, we create a more cohesive learning community that

fosters transferable skills and persistent inquiry.

2. We empower students to become prepared to face the challenges of academic and

professional environments.

3. We commit to serve students with enthusiasm, respect, professionalism, and provide the

expertise needed to enable them to successfully progress on their academic pathways.

The development of the departmental mission statement was vested in the alignment with the

institutional mission statement. The cultivation of a supportive learning environment is

embedded in the mission statement for Bakersfield College:

Bakersfield College provides opportunities for students from diverse economic, cultural, and

educational backgrounds to attain Associate and Baccalaureate degrees and certificates,

workplace skills, and preparation for transfer. Our rigorous and supportive learning

environment fosters students’ abilities to think critically, communicate effectively, and

demonstrate competencies and skills in order to engage productively in their communities and

the world.1

1 Mission Statement. Retrieved on February 6, 2017 from: https://www.bakersfieldcollege.edu/about

“Supportive learning environments” can and should be developed and enhanced in and outside of

the classroom. In fact, research shows that students that successfully develop a connection with

the institution, experience higher retention rates2. It is also important to note that the Bakersfield

College Academic Support Services department was established in January 2017 and although

many of the centers have been in existence for a number of years, the goals, mission statement,

vision, and data are new and need to be considered as a platform for future growth.

Impact

Data show that students that engage in support services experience an increase their course

completion and success. See the graphs below for more details.

2 Karp, M.M., Hughes, K.L., & O’Gara, L. (2010). An exploration of Tinto’s integration framework for community college students. College Student Retention, 12(1), 69-86.

85%

82%

91%93% 93%

75%

80%

85%

90%

95%

Overall Student SuccessLab

SupplementalInstructions

Tutoring Writing Center

COURSE COMPLETION RATES FOR SUPPORT SERVICES

67%

82%75% 73%

80%

Overall Student SuccessLab

SupplementalInstructions

Tutoring Writing Center

COURSE SUCCESS RATES FOR SUPPORT SERVICES

Strategic Directions

There are a total of five Strategic Directions that guide the work of the college. Below is a

outline for how the five Strategic Direction help facilitate the work of the department:

Strategic Direction 1: Student Learning

1.17 Develop and implement ‘study halls’ with embedded tutoring to ensure student engagement.

1.18 Increase participation in academic support services, including Supplemental Instruction.

1. Engage in active collaboration with Math and English departments to help incoming

students’ complete college-level math and English within first-year of enrollment.

a. Scale-up Extend the Classroom (ETC) support services.

b. Intentionally collaborate with faculty, completion teams, and support service

specialist to provide timely interventions for at-risk students.

2. Improve the attendance and support provided to students in the Extend the Classroom

(ETC) courses (Math B60, 65, and ENGL B53).

a. Enhance the collaboration with faculty in the math and English departments

through professional development sessions prior to and at the end of each term.

b. Develop a schedule of classroom presentations for ETC courses.

c. Institute math and English ETC halls serviced by a team of professional and peer

tutors, and SI leaders.

3. Engineer methods for increasing student visits to academic support services.

a. Use the 2016-17 AY data as a baseline to improve the way that we invite students

to engage with our centers (see Appendix A&B).

b. Provide visits data to Completion Teams on a weekly basis.

c. Provide weekly reports to all faculty (see Appendix D).

d. Carefully track and close the loop on faculty-initiated referrals.

Strategic Direction 2: Student Progressions and Completion

2.10 Enhance academic support services for online students.

2.11 Increase student participation in academic support services.

1. Plan, implement, and evaluate an online tutoring service.

a. Pilot an online tutoring service in the summer and fall of 2017 for math courses.

b. Collaborate with a third party option (e.g. NetTutor) in 18-19 AY to provide

tutoring services across the curriculum, 24/7).

2. Expand the support provided to students in rural and satellite locations.

a. Collaborate with AEBG grant managers to extend services to participants in the

program.

b. Partner with Dual Enrollment managers to ensure that support is provided to

students in designated courses.

c. Collaborate with Inmate Education managers to ensure that support is provided to

inmate scholars.

d. Desegregate the data for online tutoring to assess which students, and in which

courses, are utilizing the services most frequently.

Strategic Direction 3: Facilities

3.4 Utilize technology to automate processes and augment student support programs.

1. Continue to work with the Starfish implementation team to explore and implement

software that will enhance the tracking of student visits to support services.

a. Transition from AccuSQL to Starfish to reduce the duplication of data and end-

user responsibilities.

b. Provide professional development to front-desk staff on the functionality of the

new system to ensure a smooth transition into Starfish.

c. Begin exploration phase for automating scheduled time in support services as part

of the students’ weekly calendar.

Strategic Direction 4: Oversight and Accountability

4.1 Monitor student learning and student achievement.

1. Redesign the Academic Support Services website to ensure that it is easily accessible for

students and the campus community.

2. Reinstitute the BSI work group in S’18.

3. Create an annual calendar for monthly staff meetings and professional development

opportunities (see Appendix C).

a. Continue to provide Pathways related professional development opportunities

with academic support staff.

4. Schedule quarterly meetings with the English and Math department to enhance the

collaboration and efforts for the Extend the Classroom initiative.

Strategic Direction 5: Leadership and Engagement

1. Complete the first program review for the Academic Support Services department.

2. Continue to engage in the tracking, monitoring, and reporting of the BSI and BSOTT

budgets.

a. Collaborate with the SS&E department for the integrated planning budget.

3. Continue participation in the Pathways Completion Team planning group.

Projects

Extend the Classroom (ETC)

In the summer of 2016 a team of six came together to pilot the Extend the Classroom (ETC)

initiative in the 2016-17 AY. The work included collaboration with faculty teaching ENGL B53

and Math B60. The goal of this project was to enhance the support provided to students enrolled

in the two courses to increase the course retention, completion, and progression rates . In

preparation for the 2017-2018 AY, the goal is to not only increase the student participation in

support services, but rather to increase the number of students that successfully complete college

level English and Math within in their first year of enrollment. Baseline data was collected for

the 16-17 AY (see appendix A and B) and will be used as a comparative group for the 17-18 AY.

Student Enrollment:

As of 06/21/17 there were a total of 1,157 students enrolled in ENGL B53, Math B60, and Math

B65; see the course breakdown below:

Student Group/Course English B53 Math B60 Math B65

Course Enrollment Total 388 499 270

African American

Initiatives

24 (6%) 25 (5%) 17 (6%)

Financial Aid Recipients 282 (72%) 192 (38%) 192 (71%)

Veteran Students 7 (1.8%) 6 (1.2%) 6 (2%)

In order to serve all of the students enrolled, and continue in the efforts of breaking silos, the

Bakersfield College Academic Support Services department enhanced the concept of English

and Math ETCs.

ENGL ETC:

The ENGL ETC is housed in the Writing Center and is staffed by a Writing Consultant, SI

leader, and a peer tutor. The hours for the English ETC are 10:00 am-7:00 pm M-TH and 8:00

am-12:00 noon on Fridays.

Math ETC:

Like the ENGL study hall, the Math ETC is staffed by a full-time Math tutor, peer tutor, and a SI

leader. The hours for the Math ETC are M-TH 7:00 am-6:30 pm and on Fridays from 8:00 am-

12:00 pm.

Purpose of location, staffing, and scheduling

By streamlining the staffing and the scheduling, students have a dedicated space they can utilize

that houses a variety of support services. This also allows for cohesive communication to flow to

faculty, and from faculty members to students in their course.

Faculty and Departmental Collaboration

1. Departmental meetings: Both of the Instructional Deans over Math and English are

involved with the Academic Support Services Department. In order to increase the

faculty engagement, they are in the process of developing a schedule that will allow the

Academic Support Services team leads to attend some of the departmental meeting. In

these meetings, the staff will facilitate a discussion on the enhancement of support

services and ask faculty to “require” their students to attend the math and English ETCs

or another support service at least one hour/week.

a. Closing the loop:

i. Weekly reports of student attendance to support services are automated;

see Appendix D for a sample report.

2. Completion Teams: All of the departmental staff are part of a Pathways Completion

Team as a Student Support Specialist. This allows them to work with their team, and the

data coach, to identify student that need to attend support services early on produce

results based on the early measures (see appendix C).

a. Academic Support Services Completion Team: The department has its own

completion team made up of the individuals listed in Appendix C. This team

focuses on providing support to students and helping them to reach completion of

Math and English within their first year of enrollment.

b. Affinity Group leads: Data for students by affinity group is available for Affinity

group leads to allow for consistency in communication with students.

c. Meta-major leads: meta-major leads are also provided with data for students

enrolled in targeted courses for supplemental integration with learning and career

pathways mileposts.

3. Special Compensations: We have allotted a total of 60 hours for the 17-18 AY. Faculty

that participate in the ETC efforts will be compensated for their work, at a rate of

$30/hour.

Goals

The table below list the departmental goals in alignment with the Guided Pathways pillars and

the strategic directions. These goals were created in consultation with the institutional and the

departmental mission statements. Data pertaining to these goals will be tracked regularly and

evaluated to measure progress and adapt practices (reference appendices A and B for more

details).

Goal Guided Pathway

Pillar

Strategic Direction Progress-to-date Next Steps

Enhance math support to

help students’

successfully complete

college-level math within

the first year of

enrollment.

Stay on the Path

Ensure Learning

Student Learning

Student Progression

and Completion

Preliminary data for the F’16 term showed that

55.5% of students that visited a support service

were successful in passing the course with the

following grades: A (15.5%), B (20.9%), and C

(19.1%). In the S’17 term, the data show that

44.7% of students that visited a support service

were successfully in passing the course with the

following grades: A (3.4%), B (10.3%), and C

(31%).

The goal is to scale-up this

model so that students that

progress to college-level

math will continue to utilize

support services to enhance

their learning. This model

expanded to include Math

B65 in S’17.

Enhance English support

to help students’

successfully complete

college-level English

within the first year of

enrollment.

Stay on the Path

Ensure Learning

Student Learning

Student Progression

and Completion

Preliminary data for the F’16 term showed

66.6% of students that visited a support service

were successful in passing the course with the

following grades: A (10.8%), B (23.4%), and C

(32.4%). In the S’17 term, the data showed that

50% of students that visited a support service

were successful in passing the course with the

following grades: A (19.4%), B (15.3%), and C

(15.3%).

The goal is to scale-up this

model so that students that

progress to college-level

English (B1a) will continue

to utilize support services to

enhance their learning.

Enhance math support to

help students’

successfully complete

college-level math, in the

statistics pathway, within

the first year of

enrollment.

Stay on the Path

Ensure Learning

Student Learning

Student Progression

and Completion

Math B65 was embedded in the ETC effort in

the S’17. Students that attended a support

service while enrolled in Math B65 were

tracked and a comparison analysis was

conducted against the end of term grades. 50%

of students that engaged in supports services,

successfully completed the course with a grade

of “A,” “B,” or “C.” The data for the S’17 will

be used as baseline data for year-to-year

comparison.

The goal is to scale-up this

model so that students that

progress to college-level

math (Math B22 or Psych

B5) will continue to utilize

support services to enhance

their learning.

Next Steps

In the 2017-18 AY, the Academic Support Services department has focused on enhancing the

ETC efforts with a goal to help students’ successfully complete college-level math and English

within the first year of enrollment. The two Math Hub tutors have attended Math Department

meetings to increase faculty collaboration with math support services. Math Hub tutors have also

provided over 70 classroom presentations in the first two weeks of the semester. Active and

continuous collaboration ensures that students receive the support they need in a timely manner.

The Writing Center has also provided over 80 classroom presentations. Engagement with

Completion Teams has also allowed Writing Center consultants to participate in campus-wide

efforts to increase student retention, progression, and completion rates. Thus far, the Academic

Support Services Department has presented at the following orientations: Kern Promise,

EOP&S, and Industrial Technology and Transpiration pathway. The department also staffed

tables the following fairs: Student Resource (main campus and Delano) and the Arts,

Humanities, and Communication Pathway.

Moving forward, it is important to consider and evaluate services to align with the mandates of

AB 705 (2017). This may require a redesign of how services are delivered and the students

targeted for support. Collection of data will continue through the end of the 2017-18 AY to

compare against the success of students in Math B60, 65, and English B53.

Appendix A: Baseline Date (16-17 AY)

Math B60:

A B C D F W

w/ Support Services 3.4% 10.3% 31.0% 17.2% 31.0% 6.9%

w/out Support Services 5.6% 19.3% 23.0% 10.5% 25.3% 16.3%

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

Spring 2017: Math B60

Grade Distribution Comparision

ENGL B53:

A B C D F W

w/ Support Services 19.4% 15.3% 15.3% 16.7% 13.9% 18.1%

w/out Support Services 7.3% 14.8% 15.1% 17.0% 20.7% 24.9%

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

Spring 2017: ENGL B53

Grade Distribution Comparision

A B C D F W

w/ Support Services 10.8% 23.4% 32.4% 15.3% 12.6% 5.4%

w/out Support Services 5.7% 14.3% 22.0% 8.9% 25.9% 23.2%

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

Fall 2016: ENGL B53

Grade Distribution Comparision

Math B65:

A B C D F W

w/ Support Services 0.0% 14.3% 35.7% 7.1% 14.3% 28.6%

w/out Support Services 14.6% 22.9% 24.2% 12.1% 18.5% 7.6%

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

Spring 2017: Math B65

Grade Distribution Comparision

Appendix B: Demographic Data for S’17

Appendix C: Pathways Completion Team by Student Support Expert

Name Title Meta-Major

Eileen Pierce SI Program Manager Education

Sonia Avila/Bradley Cramer Tutoring Center Coordinator Industrial & Transportation

Technology

Kimberly Arbolante Writing Center Lead Public Safety

Christopher Anderson Math Tutor (FT) Business

Alana Austin Math Tutor (FT) STEM

Yvonne Armendariz BSI Program Manager Social, Behavioral, & Human

Services

Barry Ramirez Writing Center Professional Expert Health Sciences

Miguel Cuate Writing Center Professional Expert Arts, Humanities, & Media

Laraine Rosema Writing Center Professional Expert Personal & Career Exploration

Susan Abbassi Writing Center Professional Expert Social, Behavioral, & Human

Services

Stephanie Vega BSI DA III N/A

Eric Weis Writing Center Professional Expert Agriculture, Nutrition, & Culinary

Arts

Monica Huyck Tutoring Center Coordinator (Delano) TBD

Maria Wright Director of Academic Support Services As needed

Appendix D: Sample Weekly Instructor Report