3rd Sector Community of Practice Presentation

1. MetLife Phase 2
Sector Community of Practice
Virtual Session #3 – Persistence Parkway

2. Today’s Emphasis
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3. Agenda – Virtual Session #3
 Introductions (10 min)
 Education Expressway (50 min)
 What support services are available for
mature students?
 How do they know about them?
 Are there sector/program-specific services?
 Persistence Parkway (15 min)
 Your Best Ideas from Today (5 min)
 Confirm next COP topics (5 min)
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4. Services for Mature Students
 How are their needs different?
 Sandwich generation
 Disability issues
 Health insurance
 Financial Aid
 PLA
 Veterans affairs (Service Member Opportunity College
members?)
 Remedial courses
 Study skills
 Technology assistance

5. Innovation in Student Services
 Financial aid specifically for mature students
 Match students with others who can help
 Child care/elder care assistance for students
and staff
 Transportation solutions
 Public transportation pass
 Parking/Escort to car
 Safety workshops
 Inter-campus shuttle
 Mature Student Officer
 Social Networking Sites

6. Sector Program Support??
• College counselors
– Available to everyone during mass registration. Information
provided ranged from adequate to incorrect. Using them
is like “throwing darts at a board.”
• Program counselors or faculty advisors
– Available to those who have declared a major or completed
a certain number of credits. Information provided was
useful but eligibility was confusing.
• “Casual counselors”
– Available to those who take the initiative. Information
provided was most helpful but available to the fewest
students
Source: Mature Students in the Persistence Puzzle, Canadian Council on Learning,
6
2008

7. Getting the Word Out
 Orientation
 Emails
 Faculty and Staff
 Messages through online courseware
 Bulletin boards- Actual and electronic
 Texting
 Start Next Quarter - South Seattle CC
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8. Start Next Quarter
•http://sites.google.com/site/startnextquarter

•Specifying What you Want:
•Self
•Assessment
•Tracking Down Information:
Career Exploration
•Planning for Career Success:
•Doing and Learning
•Kelly DeForrest
•206-934-7962
•Kelly.deforrest@seattlecolleges.edu

9. Keys to Persistence
Persistence = time to degree
 Stop talking about 2 & 4 year degrees
 Supportive network – Stop Out vs. Drop
Out
 Invite people back
 Self- Motivation
 Knowledge of available resources
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10. One Study- Five Top Themes
1. Relationships with professors***** -
2. Supportive institutional infrastructure
http://online.wsj.com/video/EC9B0B5
0-FE11-47A4-B3F2-
42A1AD97D8A6.html
3. Experiential learning opportunities
4. Peer relationships
5. Multi-faceted educational goals
Source: Mature Students in the Persistence Puzzle, Canadian Council on
Learning, 2008
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11. Influence of Support Services
• Participating in support services was
related to progress toward a degree
– Of students using two or more
services, 80% made progress toward
a degree
– Of students using fewer than two
services, 60% made progress
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12. Study Conclusions
 “Open access” doesn’t mean all will participate
 General advising is less effective than
personalized advising
 Savvy students find their own information; the
students who need the information don’t have
the savvy to get it
 Word-of-mouth doesn’t reach all students
 Students who are part of a network get the best
information; but students who need the
information aren’t part of networks
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13. Favorites
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14. Next Session – Combined Sector &
Counselor
 Thursday, June 21st 12-1 CST
 Job Seeker Junction
 What’s hot in job search coaching?
 When is the search toolkit complete?
 How much counseling is reasonable?
 Career Path Court
 Ongoing training for workforce
readiness
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