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Assessment and Institutional Effectiveness\u2026 BWAHHHH!! By Dr. Margaret Geehan<\/p>\n It was a dark and stormy night, the ferocious wind slicing the night and whipping the naked trees into a wild and frenzied dance, their bare, twisted branches clawing blindly at the blackened sky. The only light that dared to pierce the darkness was the vicious, searing lightening that jaggedly ripped the heavens, and the villagers huddled in their beds, shuddering as the thunder slammed its might against their rattling window panes<\/em>.<\/p>\n But the storm was not what kept the villagers \u2014 who all happened to be employees of Hudson Valley Community College \u2014 from dreamless slumber. With each thunderous clap the questions that had been tearing at them repeated themselves, clanging relentlessly in their brains\u2026 How are we doing with student retention? Graduation rates? How long does it take our students to graduate from HVCC? What is our transfer and job placement rate? How is the college\u2019s distance learning programming going? How does HVCC\u2019s tuition compare to other community colleges? HOW CAN I GET THE ANSWERS?<\/p>\n Inquiring minds want to know \u2014 and they can find out by looking at the college\u2019s Core Indicators of Effectiveness!<\/p>\n Exactly what are core indicators? Institutional effectiveness is in part assessed by examining the college\u2019s performance on a key set of indicators, which tell us about our graduation and transfer rates, enrollment and retention data, Foundation and grant activity, various faculty\/staff and student satisfaction measures, and other important factors about the college. Hudson Valley\u2019s “Core Indicators of Institutional Effectiveness” are included in the college\u2019s 2015 Institutional Effectiveness (IE) Report which can be accessed with the following link: (LINK)<\/p>\n For 2014-2015, Hudson Valley assessed 20 Core Indicators, all tied to and reflective of the college\u2019s mission, goals and objectives. These include measures related to Teaching and Learning (Goal 1), Student-Centered Collegial Environment (Goal 2), Pluralism (Goal 3), Technology of Campus Environment (Goal 4), Administrative Services (Goal 5), and Relationships with the Community (Goal 6).<\/p>\n So, how is the college doing with student retention?<\/p>\n For the academic year 2013-2014, 56. 15% of the college\u2019s first-time, full-time students entering in fall returned the following fall. Since our benchmark is the National Clearinghouse of Educational Statistics (NCES) average national retention rate for public two-year colleges of 59%, we Did Not Meet the Standard\u2019 for this core indicator. In other words, 56.15% of Hudson Valley\u2019s first-time full-time students who enrolled in fall 2013 re-enrolled in fall 2014, while 43.85% did not. For more information, go to Core Indicator 2.2.3, Student Retention, on page 13 of the IE Report.<\/p>\n Well, how about Hudson Valley\u2019s graduation rate (Core Indicator 1.1.1 Graduation Rate, p.6)? Of those first-time full-time students entering fall 2011, 26.3% graduated in three years, showing a strong increase from the previous year\u2019s 23.3% and outdoing the SUNY average three-year degree completion rate of 22.9%. However, the discrepancy between the graduation rate of white students and that of non-white is significant; non-white students\u2019 graduation rate is close to half of the rate of white students (Core Indicator 3.3.1 Graduation Rate by Ethnicity, p. 15).<\/p>\n How long does it take for first-time, full-time Hudson Valley students to graduate (Core Indicator 2.2, Student Persistence, p. 12)? The data for 2013-14 indicate that it took them an average of 3.71 years, slightly longer than the 2012-13 graduating cohort, which took 3.60 years, and the cohort before them, which completed their degrees in 3.45 years. While the last two cohorts did not meet the college\u2019s benchmark of 3.50 years, Hudson Valley\u2019s time to graduation was, for the most part, shorter than that of our peer institutions, whose average time to completion was 3.78 years (p. 12). Of the students who graduated in 2013, 96% reported that they transferred or became employed, with 60% of this number transferring to other postsecondary institutions (Core Indicators 1.3.1, Transfer Rate & 1.5.1, Transfer and Job Placement Rate, pp. 7 & 8, respectively).<\/p>\n Additional Hudson Valley Core Indicators include:<\/p>\n Distance Learning (DL) Enrollment Trends (Core Indicator 4.2, p.17) – The academic year 2013-2014 saw an increase from the previous year in all categories, including general enrollment in DL courses, number of DL courses and programs, and number of students exclusively enrolled in DL courses. For example, the number of DL courses offered at the college grew 10.4% between the academic year 2009-10 and the academic year 2013-14, from 795 to 878, and the number of DL programs grew 45.4 % for the same time period, from 12 programs to 22 programs.<\/p>\n Tuition Rate (Core Indicator 5.2, p.21) – Hudson Valley\u2019s tuition rose from $3,700 in 2011-12 to $3,980 in 2014-15, moving from 15th place out of the 30 community colleges in the SUNY system to 21st place. In other words there were only nine community colleges whose tuition was lower than Hudson Valley\u2019s tuition; however, it is important that we continue to consider the tuition of those community colleges within competitive range of Hudson Valley, such as Schenectady, Adirondack, and Columbia-Greene.<\/p>\n Instructional Technology Support (Core Indicator 4.4, p.19) \u2013 For the Instructional Technology Support Core Indicator, the college looked at student satisfaction and faculty and staff satisfaction with several technology-related items in both 2010 and 2013. For students, the level of satisfaction dropped from 2010 to 2013 particularly in regard to \u2018availability of computers when needed\u2019 and \u2018computer support services\u2019; for faculty and staff, satisfaction with \u2018college provision of technical support\u2019 and \u2018resources for instruction\u2019 decreased significantly, with the overall satisfaction rate going from 90% in 2010 to 81% in 2013.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t spend another tormented, sleepless night! For more information on these Core Indicators and to learn more about the other Core Indicators used by the college for the Institutional Effectiveness Report for 2015, take a look at the full report here<\/a>.<\/p>\n If you have any questions or want to offer some feedback please don\u2019t hesitate to contact the Office of the Vice President for Technology and Institutional Assessment and Planning at 629-4557 or by e-mail at m.geehan@hvcc.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Published:<\/strong>\u00a0Wed, 28 Oct 2015 12:05:56 +0000 by\u00a0j.mitchell1<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Assessment and Institutional Effectiveness\u2026 BWAHHHH!! 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