PART I: Documentation of Meeting the Threshold Requirements

PART II: Strategic Topic of Designing and Implementing College Processes
for Aiding Students in Attaining Educational Goals-The Success College

Brookhaven College Facts at a Glance

Success College Goals

Proposal to Conduct an Alternative Self-Study

October 1, 2000

Introduction

Brookhaven College proposes to conduct an alternative self-study which 1) demonstrates its compliance with SAC Criteria for Level I institutions and 2) addresses the strategic topic of designing and implementing college processes for aiding students in attaining their educational goals. We are defining student goals as "achievements that students identify for themselves." Through such an emphasis, we plan for Brookhaven College to become known as The Success College. A team of faculty, staff, and administrators has been working since January of 2000 to define "Success College" and to design the parameters of the alternative model self-study.

The College is also in a good posture to demonstrate compliance with the Criteria. A highly respected faculty member has been working within the college organization to set up a filing and monitoring system that will both collect evidence and show appropriate documentation of compliance with the Criteria. That process is already well underway and will continue to receive the full support and attention of the College at the same time that the alternative self-study topic engages a broad constituency of the College.

In Part I, we include information showing how Brookhaven College meets the threshold requirements to qualify for an alternative self-study and how we plan to complete the compliance audit in a comprehensive fashion while also concentrating on the accomplishment of the Success College initiative.

In Part II, we describe how we came to decide on The Success College as a new direction for the college and a logical alternative model; what our initial goals associated with the alternative model are; and what the preliminary plans are that we have in place for becoming the Success College and completing the alternative study. 

Part I:

Documentation of Meeting the Threshold Requirements

We believe that Brookhaven College meets the threshold requirements to qualify for an alternative self-study.

Requirement 1: The Institution Has in Place an Institutional Effectiveness Program.

Brookhaven College has developed, implemented, and continues to refine a comprehensive institutional effectiveness program. The institutional effectiveness program addresses planning, implementation, assessment of performance, and the use of assessment results for making improvements in academic programs, administration, and support services. The core components of Brookhaven College’s institutional effectiveness program include the following:

A strategic planning process containing Institutional and Unit goals linked to District goals, all with measurable objectives.

Individual employee goals with measurable objectives tied to unit goals.

Institutional effectiveness core indicators/measures with an evaluation and feedback process reported to the District Board of Trustees regularly, one indicator/measure per month.

A College-wide program review process focusing on individual academic discipline enrollment, contact hours, faculty and resources, graduates/completors, and cost analysis.

A comprehensive budgeting process tied to the institutional plan.

A facilities master plan that is updated on an annual basis.

A technology plan to monitor and upgrade instructional and administrative computer technology, professional development needs, and cascading of computing resources to appropriate locations.

A comprehensive responsive professional development plan, updated monthly and annually based upon faculty/staff surveys and institutional priorities.

Regularly scheduled student surveys of instruction and student support services effectiveness.

College-wide, regularly scheduled communication/feedback meetings on institutional planning, budgeting, and progress toward achieving objectives.

Regularly scheduled communication/feedback meetings with the College President: open invitation small group dialogue, weekly/monthly meetings with the Professional Support Staff President and Faculty Association President; monthly meeting with the Faculty Council; semester meetings with the Faculty Association and the Professional Support Staff Association.

With an institutional effectiveness program focused on a philosophy of continuous qualify improvement, Brookhaven’s various processes for assessing performance (surveys, research and performance data, dialogue, individual assessment documentation) have resulted in the following improvement in programs, processes, services/structure:

Programs

New training materials and opportunities have been implemented for adjunct faculty.

Processes

Services/Structure

A "Career Connection" team was established to monitor the needs of local business and industry, to initiate new noncredit programs to meet those needs, and to determine if and when new credit offerings were needed.

* For further amplification of Institutional Effectiveness as a core process at Brookhaven College, see the sample pages from our annual Institutional Effectiveness Report included in Appendix A. 

Requirement 2:       The institution states in writing that it is substantially in compliance with the criteria and can document same.

Brookhaven College is substantially in compliance and can document our compliance with the Criteria, including all applicable components of the following: Section I: Principles and Philosophy of Accreditation; Section II: Institutional Purposes; Section III: Institutional Effectiveness; Section IV: Educational Program; Section V: Educational Support Services; Section VI: Administrative Processes.

Requirement 3: The recent history of the institution (previous Visiting Committee Reports, Substantive Change Reviews, and Institutional Profile Information) reveals no known major problems with compliance. 

The last reaffirmation committee (1993) recommendations to Brookhaven College, primarily focusing upon institutional effectiveness, resulted in positive changes for the College. 

Within evaluation processes, Brookhaven added positions that strengthened its resources for measuring, evaluating, and improving academic and student services programs. Through the additional positions, Brookhaven College was able to implement an institutional follow-up plan and procedures for planning and evaluating that have improved programs, services, and college operations. The College revised its catalog for clarity, especially in the areas of portfolio credit, credit by exams and experiential learning, the last of which was also improved so that experiential learning reflects the learning experiences of more traditionally earned credits. Programs for the Associate in Applied Science degree were revised to include choices not narrowly focused on the chosen fields. 
A physical addition to the College library and enhanced library and instructional computing services were completed. Hardware and software purchases, networked servers, and an entire new building dedicated to computer assisted instruction also have transformed Brookhaven College in the last ten years. The resulting courses and the allocation of all instructional technology resources are constant and regular parts of planning and evaluation. A handbook was initiated which included faculty hiring procedures, qualifications for teaching, and a revised and approved academic freedom policy statement. Instructional administrators regularly check faculty qualifications for all faculty employed at the College, and faculty evaluation is a source of program improvements. Finally, student services programs are now housed in a new, one-stop Student Services Building. These coordinated services have been restructured and consolidated, evaluated and improved. 

All recommendations from the visiting team were responded to in writing, and all necessary changes or improvements have been implemented and acknowledged by SACS during the reaffirmation process. No substantive changes have been made at the College, which require SACS affirmation. In addition, yearly institutional profiles submitted to SACS and to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board have revealed no major problems. The five-year visit by a team of Texas community college peers, required by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board during spring 2000, resulted in a strong endorsement of Brookhaven College’s programs and institutional effectiveness plans. Therefore, we affirm that Brookhaven College meets threshold requirement number 3.

Requirement 4: The institution demonstrates a recent history of financial stability.

Brookhaven College as a member of the Dallas County Community College District has a history of strong financial stability. The college budget in 1999 was $26,247,997, a 6.75% increase over the 1998 budget. The 1998 budget was 7.1% above the 1997 one. Approximately one half of the budget allocation comes from state funding; The remaining half is composed of, in descending order, tuition and fees (approximately 25%); local revenues (approximately 15%); and federal/other support (approximately 10%). State funding as a percentage of the whole has diminished from 52% to the current 50% since 1995. However, the college has been successful in the securing significant grant dollars to supplement college programs and initiatives. And the DCCCD has ensured through additional allocations that all college programs are well supported financially.

A revenue allocation formula is the method used by the Dallas County Community College District to distribute educational and general revenue. That allocation is known at the beginning of the budget building process, providing Brookhaven College with the advantage of longer-range planning. During the past decade, Brookhaven College has maintained and prudently operated within its budget. Throughout enrollment fluctuations and new construction, Brookhaven has managed and operated the budget securely as prescribed by the DCCCD Board of Trustees.

Part II:

Strategic Topic of Designing and Implementing College Processes for Aiding Students in Attaining Educational Goals-The Success College

In this section, we will show how we believe our alternate self-study topic is creative, will address major college issues vital to our future, is broadly and deeply influential, and is specific enough be attainable.

Brookhaven College Mission Statement:

Brookhaven College is committed to the highest standards of performance in educational programs including academic transfer, career training, and opportunities for life enrichment. The college will maintain a supportive educational environment that emphasizes the processes of reflection, creativity, and responsible decision-making. Within this environment, the college seeks to serve a diversity of students by offering a broad spectrum of learning experiences. The college recognizes the worth and dignity of all persons and seeks to be responsive to their needs as well as to those of organizations and businesses in the community. By providing the educational environment described above, Brookhaven College seeks to prepare its students to accept the challenges of the future as responsible and productive members of society, and to value and enjoy the contributions of all members of our multicultural community.

Brookhaven provides educational programs within five major functions: transfer, technical-occupational, workforce development and continuing education, student services, and college preparation. 

Within the transfer function, the college offers general education and specialized courses designed for transfer to baccalaureate degree-granting institutions. Offering the Associate in Arts and the Associate in Science degrees, the college has also recently implemented a 48-semester hour core, which is designed to transfer as a block to any public college or university in Texas. A full array of course offerings are available to students, from art to foreign languages, history to speech.

Within the technical-occupation function, the college offers the Associate in Applied Sciences degree and certificates. Technical areas include the following: accounting, automotive technology, child development, computer information systems, fashion, international business and trade, management, marketing, nursing, office technology, substance abuse counseling, and visual communications.

The workforce development and continuing education function includes noncredit technical courses, workshops, seminars, conferences, and activities designed to meet the economic development needs of the community. Enrichment courses are also provided.

The student services function includes admissions, advising, registration, financial aid, a Multicultural Center, student programs, special services, and career services.

The College, within its college preparatory function, also actively prepares students for success in college-level instruction through developmental courses, tutoring, and other laboratory support in reading, writing, English as a second language, and mathematics.

The College offers its programs on weekdays from 7:30 am to 10:00 pm and on weekends, primarily on campus. One off-campus center provides noncredit offerings. Distance learning through telecourses, online instruction, and Internet courses are available. Schedules have been adjusted to meet student needs and include fast-track courses; seminars; coordinated (learning communities) options; inter-term courses; and self-paced courses.

Brookhaven College Facts at a Glance

Accreditation................................. Southern Association of Colleges and School (SACS)

Type of Institution.......................... Public Community College

                                                      Associate of Science (A.S.)

                                                      Associate of Applied Science (A.A.S.)

Other Awards................................ Occupational Certificates, CEUs, and various licensures

Calendar........................................Semester Plan with Two Summer Terms and various short terms

Enrollment..................................... College Credit - 21,515 (Total Annual Headcount 1999/2000)

                                                       Non-College Credit - 11,505 (Total Annual Headcount 1998/1999)

Annual FTE................................... 11,817 (Total Annual 1999/2000)

Average Class Size......................... 22

Faculty Size................................... 521 (Full and Part Time Credit Faculty, 1999)

Faculty Degrees............................ Held by Full-time and Part-time Credit Faculty

Doctoral Degree         - 14.4%

Master’s Degree         - 61.2%

Bachelor’s Degree      - 18.6%

Associate’s Degree    - 1.3%

Certificate or Less      - 4.4%

No Degree                   - 0%

Learning Resources...................... 56,108 Book Volumes; 54,893 Book Titles;

Center Collection......................... 182 Hardcopies of Periodicals (Magazine & Newspaper Subscriptions); 3,464 Periodicals available through database; 16,881 Audio, Film and Video Materials; 56 Databases (37 full text)

                                                       Men’s Basketball

                                                       Men’s Baseball

                                                       Women’s Softball

                                                       Women’s Volleyball

                                                        Intramural and Extramural Activities

Tuition (12 hours).......................... In-District                                   - $281

                                                       Out-of-District                            - $521

                                                       Out-of-State or Out-of-County   - $881

Budget........................................... FY 1998-1999

Educational and General                                $26,219,526

The Evolution of the Strategic Focus (Processes of Dialogue, Participants, and Logic)

Following the 1997-98 academic year during which time an interim president was in place at Brookhaven, Dr. Alice Villadsen became the college’ fifth president in July of 1998. Prior to her arrival and in an attempt to better learn the college, she sent a questionnaire to all Brookhaven College employees inquiring about strengths, weaknesses, and first actions needed of a new president. The college was also approaching its twentieth year anniversary and the millenium, a time that was appropriate for self-evaluation and reaffirmation or revision of mission.

The 1998 academic year was one of evaluation for Brookhaven. Using the initial survey results from employees and adding the results of a similar student survey, the new president visited all units, held numerous small group discussions, both formal and informal, and published internally the results of those surveys and conversations. She then established her first internal goals based upon those results: communications improvements, celebrations, team building/shared decisions, the establishment of an open budget and planning process, an emphasis on technology and marketing, and helping the College to define a new vision.

In an attempt to reach the last goal-helping the College to define a new vision-she began to study the current state of the college and what Brookhaven’s natural strengths and past/present vision had created as a foundation for the future. Then she shared with the College in an open forum in September 1999 the results of her study in a presentation entitled, "Five Possible Directions for Brookhaven College." Data from internal surveys, from institutional effectiveness measures, from analysis of student and faculty characteristics and enrollment trends, from business/industry needs, etc., were used to support the selection of any of the suggested new directions. (See in Appendix B the data that was used by the president to support each of the possible directions.) She also presented information that described the Alternative Model for SACS accreditation. The president’s suggestions were for Brookhaven College to become one of the following:  The Technology College, The Success College, The Multicultural or International College, The Sage College, or The Engaged College

The College then met in discussion groups with facilitators using discussion guides to debate the five directions and to add others that they saw as potential new directions. The College added "The Connected College" as a possible sixth direction.

1.Almost one half of all college units named The Success College as their first choice.

2.The Success College was seen as having the greatest potential impact on the life of the college.

3.The Success College was seen as an emphasis that would both attract new students and aid us to deal with those we have.

4.The Success College was seen as a major retention activity.

5.The Success College was a focus that would cause us to examine all services that we provide to students.

6.The Success College emphasis would cause us to streamline college processes.

7.The Success College emphasis would coincide with recent DCCCD Board of Trustees initiatives: retention, remediation, and diversity.

At the conclusion of the forum, the College also decided collectively 

To pursue the idea of "Becoming the Success College" as a focus for an application to complete an alternative model institutional self-study with SACS.

To ask for volunteers to study and enlarge the Success concept by

Defining "success" for BHC

Finding a better title than "The Success College"

Reporting back to the College in January or February, 2000

The Success Team (12 members, mostly volunteers) was named to represent major college constituencies: faculty (general education, program, and developmental faculty included), student development, special populations (those who work with students with disabilities and special needs as well as scholarship and financial aid students), counseling, the library, and administration. Hazel Carlos, English professor, chaired the committee.

Subsequently, the Success Team met during the Spring Semester 2000 and determined that, although Success in its broadest sense at Brookhaven includes goal setting and completion by students, by other internal constituencies (faculty, staff, administrators, institutional priorities), and by the larger community (Board, business and industry, community neighbors), Brookhaven will focus on student goals. Such a decision reflects our priorities-students first. The Team defined student goals as the achievements that individual students identify for themselves. They were not successful in finding another term to title the project other than "The Success College" initiative.

After two more forums during the Spring Semester 2000, the entire College affirmed the work of the Success Team, the new direction for the College, and the pursuance of an Alternative Self-Study Model based upon the idea of The Success College. Goals, Methodology, and Research Following the collective decision made and endorsed by Brookhaven College faculty, staff, and administrators, we have determined to use The Success College focus as the Alternative Study subject. The broad purpose of the project is for the college to take responsibility for aiding our students to reach their own educational goals. More specifically, we propose to develop and implement a plan that will increase substantially the number of students at Brookhaven College who attain defined exit points through successful planning and completion. We expect the project to involve a broad college constituency and to impact many college processes and services.

The selection of the topic for the alternative model self-study was based upon a thorough examination of both the strengths and weaknesses of the college as well as the natural tendencies of the College community to take seriously their role in helping all of our students achieve their educational goals. Through self-examination, we concluded that strengths supporting the selection of The Success College include at least these:

A positive trend in student enrollments in both headcount and credit hour production since Fall 1997 and subsequent financial growth.

Significant increases in older students. The average age of BHC students (30 years) is the highest among the DCCCD colleges and includes many highly goal directed students as a result.

An increasing trend in full-time students and a decreasing trend in part-time students, thus giving the college the opportunity to have a more significant impact on students who are actually enrolled for more courses and are engaged with the college as a result of their full-time status.

Strong growth in noncredit program enrollment and variety of offerings.

A reasonable percentage of the Educational and General Expenditures spent on salaries and wages (62% in 1998-99) leaving some flexibility in college resources for Success College initiatives.

A strong tenured faculty with commitment to student success and pride in BHC’s accomplishments with students. Almost half of the faculty has over 25 years of service within the DCCCD.

Strong student completion percentages in developmental courses (74% complete developmental math; 79% complete developmental writing; 73% complete developmental reading). Fewer Brookhaven students enroll in the lowest developmental level in these three areas than any of the other DCCCD colleges’ students.

Significant options for students to match their own learning preferences and life necessities with course configurations. The college offers traditional courses meeting twice a week, day or night; weekend only courses; mini-term options; flex entry and self-paced courses; telecourses; internet based courses; internet enhanced courses; learning community courses; block courses combining, for instance, English composition 1301 and speech communication for six hours credit. 

At the same time, there are several reasons why BHC needs to concentrate on aiding students to complete their own educational goals, as evidenced by the following college concerns and trends:

In the initial survey conducted by the president in the spring of 1998, the college gave as one of its three most significant weaknesses their belief that BHC was lessening its emphasis on its traditional "students come first" attitude. Some were afraid that we are forgetting that "we are all responsible for our students."

A dramatically changing student population is creating new classroom teaching challenges for faculty and other challenges for support services staff. Two particular changes are significant: an increase in academically underprepared students and a significant shift in ethnic diversity, especially the increasing number of students who speak English as a second language. The following charts display these changes.

The College has had a history of student course completion rates that is relatively low. The State of Texas community college average successful course completion rate for 1999 was 80% while Brookhaven College completion rate was only 73%. We also lag behind our Texas peer institutions (a group of 10 Texas colleges that we use as a comparative group) and also the other DCCCD colleges. Additionally, BHC has not improved the successful completers (A, B, C) rate over a ten-year history. The following charts indicate our relatively weak comparative numbers. 


The graduation rate for both associates’ degree students and certificate students is very low except in nursing and automotive technology programs.

Finally, the College also considered the increasing interest in accountability displayed by various funding agencies, governmental bodies, and the public. We believe that our project will move us in the direction of answering all constituencies when they ask, "Show us the evidence that Brookhaven College is successful in meeting individual student goals."

Ensure that the Success initiative permeates the college culture, through divisional training and evaluation, departmental training and evaluation, and inclusion in all college employees’ individual evaluation documents.

Provide a professional development program to BHC employees that will promote awareness, develop skills in coaching students on goal selection and measurement, and teach strategies for improving student success. 

Develop a comprehensive list of possible student goals that can be self-selected and reported by students or selected and reported following appropriate goal-selection education. The goals might include these: core curriculum completion, associate degree completion, successful transfer, promotion based upon acquisition of new skills, employment based upon acquisition of new skills, improved literacy in English language, achievement of certification or licensure, etc.

Determine multiple criteria for successful goal completion for each of the possible student goals. For example, a student enrolled in the second course in UNIX programming may achieve a successful result in any of the following ways: earning a course grade of C or better, obtaining employment using UNIX skills, or receiving position or pay upgrades based on UNIX skills development.

Establish an inclusive system to capture all students’ goals at enrollment, provide opportunities to update goals periodically, and gather appropriate exit data from each student.

Develop and implement an easily comprehended college "report card" for measuring the success of initial goal selection, of monitoring and supporting students throughout their enrollment period, and of goal completion. The report care data will be correlated to required institutional effectiveness, placement, and other externally mandated measures.

Identify students with undecided or unclear goals and provide opportunities to define, measure, and achieve those goals through both traditional and non-traditional modules or courses including appropriate orientation programs for diverse categories of students.

With enhancing student success as the criterion, conduct a thorough examination and improve if necessary

1.College processes (placement of student in appropriate level courses, student load decisions, enrollment in developmental courses, enrollment in learning community courses, self-paced and distance education course entry);

2.College services (counseling and advising, educational accommodations, multi-cultural center, tutorial support, peer study groups, financial aid and scholarship support, service learning, student activities, and degree/core/credit audit for students and faculty/advisors);

3.College courses and academic services (library and lab hours/availability, professional staff support, Testing Center hours/accessibility/use, and variety of learning options).

Develop and implement appropriate electronic communications with students and with appropriate college personnel to keep them informed about students’ progress toward educational milestones, available support services, and college requirements as follows:

1.Automatic targeted mailings/e-mail/telephone messages with privacy protection for individual students and appropriate college personnel regarding academic status, progress toward stated goals, achievement of goals, support services for individual needs and appointments with college staff; 

2.General automatic targeted mailings/e-mail/telephone messages to keep students informed of upcoming college deadlines, events, and other critical college information. 

Evaluate the feasibility and success of these initiatives and, if appropriate, develop a plan for further implementation.

Develop continuing strategies for enhancing student success based on the findings of this study/project.

Plans for Carrying out the Self-Study, Time-Line, Participation, and Research

The College has named and announced a chair for the Compliance portion of the Self-Study who is a seasoned faculty member and administrator at Brookhaven College. In addition, a staff assistant has been designated who is already setting up a college-wide collection and filing system to aid in compliance verification. The Compliance Team will be named by January 2001.

Also, a chair for the Alternative Model for Institutional Self-Study has been named and announced to the college community. He was a member of the Success College Team and is familiar with the progress that the College has made in the project. A Steering Committee for the Success College project will be selected and announced by January 2001. The Chair, a veteran faculty member in Communications, plans to include the former chair of the Success College Team as a member of the steering committee, he will select others from that initial team for continuity, and he will then add college representation to ensure that a broad and thorough Steering Committee is functioning throughout the project. Both chairs (both Compliance and Alternative Model) will be given released time from a portion of their college responsibilities during the SACS timeline.

The College is also in the process of setting up a web-site for compliance and the project (the Alternative Model proposal will be the first inclusion on the new web site), holding a SACS initiatives workshop for committee members and key college leaders, and supporting the attendance of both chairs and additional college leaders to the SACS meeting in December of 2000. (Last December, eight college employees attended SACS and learned as much as possible about Alternative Study processes.)

At least monthly meetings of the two teams will commence in January 2001 with additional meetings following the development of sub-committees. Both Chairs will be added to the College Extended Cabinet, a group that meets twice a month to discuss college operations. If it is determined that the Extended Cabinet meetings are insufficient time to ensure coordination between compliance and project, then additional meetings will be scheduled between appropriate college leaders and the two chairs.

Research is crucial to the monitoring and evaluation of the Success College project. A tracking system for all students who are included in the Success College project will be established by Fall Semester 2001 and then expanded by the number of students included in the cohort and by the number of processes being monitored from that point forward. A likely control group model will be used in the early implementation of the Success College project. Specific research elements will be devised for each of the Success College Goals, included earlier in this proposal.

Consulting Team

Although we prefer not to actually name a consulting team at this point in the project, the College has discussed likely candidates and likely types of expertise we believe that the Consulting Team should include.

Persons with expertise in retention may include Byron McClenney, former president of the Community College of Denver, who has developed a significant retention project there; Suanne D. Roueche at The University of Texas who has written extensively about the retention of developmental students; Robert McCabe who is also completing a study of developmental education practices that may prove instructive with our population of academically disadvantaged students; several community colleges are developing expertise in automated communications processes that hold promise for aiding us in encouraging student goal completion; and we will examine several of those resources as possible consultants. Mark Milliron at the League for Innovation may prove an effective consultant on best practices in student goal completion national projects.

We would like a group of four or five consultants to take the Success College Project Report that will be available no later than January of 2003 and, through an examination of our research findings, our pilot experiences with goal collecting/tracking and goal education/collecting/tracking among students, and the changing processes of the college as a result of Success College initiatives, to give us advice and suggestions for improvement. We would then take their helpful report and implement into the continuing Success College project.

At this point, we believe that we would prefer a simultaneous visit of both a compliance team and a consulting team during the Spring 2003 visit.