Community college partners involved with the Detroit Drives Degrees Community College Collaborative (D3C3) are sharing their thoughts on the initiative, their proposed plans for improving the talent pipeline, and why their work is important. See below for what Oakland County Community College had to say.
How is your experience working with the National Institute for Student Success (NISS) at Georgia State University guiding your student success work?
“Oakland Community College (OCC) has studied the work of the NISS since before D3C3 formed, as we work toward expanding our own student success analytics infrastructure. To have the chance to work with NISS staff directly has been an outstanding and timely opportunity for us. Our in-depth conversations with members of their team have helped us envision key strategies to undertake in order to grow our proactive, systemic impact on student success. The NISS team has also been incredibly helpful in terms of how to operationalize these strategies, to set the foundation for their success and help overcome any barriers to implementation. OCC will work in the coming years to expand the real-time integration of student success data into our services, to integrate academic support into challenging gatekeeper courses, and to remove any barriers students encounter in our systems and processes.”
How is your university working to achieve systems change? What barriers make this work particularly challenging? How does your school plan to overcome those challenges?
“For several years, OCC has been building its capacity and culture as a data-informed organization. We have created and embedded several disaggregated data dashboards throughout college operations, to guide ongoing analysis and work toward equity across the student lifecycle. We also have multiple cyclical processes focused on continuous quality improvement of curriculum, instruction, and the student experience. Through D3C3, OCC will undertake systematic and sector-level strategies to increase postsecondary access, equity, success, and completion across Oakland County and the region. Our College serves a large and diverse county, with students coming to us from many backgrounds and life stages. As a large, multi-campus institution, we want to ensure that all students are empowered to succeed from the beginning and throughout their college journeys by streamlining processes and proactively guiding students at critical junctures in their path to a degree, four-year transfer goal, or both. This work requires ongoing and extensive collaboration throughout the college and with its partners in K-12, community, and employer sectors. Our partnerships can help create a more seamless experience for the students we serve, with early awareness and preparation for college through to the attainment of a postsecondary credential that leads to improved economic success and quality of life throughout our county and region.”