2009 Performance Accountability Report Vol. 2 - Maryland Higher ...

in FY2009 and the college is now presented with the challenge of increasing services with
limited resources to meet the general education needs of all service region citizens.
Quality and Effectiveness: Student Satisfaction, Progress and Achievement
Assessment and evaluation efforts have been increased at the college to support institutional
effectiveness and ensure quality programs and courses. The college realizes that it is an integral
part of the Maryland postsecondary system through Goal 1 of the 2009 State Plan and sets forth
in pursuit of academic excellence in its new strategic plan. One of the college’s five strategic
initiatives is: The College of First Choice, which states that the college will be the region’s first
choice for education and training.
The college achieved six out of fourteen benchmarks for this category. While all indicators are
reviewed, only four out of seven indicators in this category presented new data findings: (9)
Developmental completers after four years; (10) Successful-persister rate after four years; (11)
Graduation-transfer rate after four years; and (12) Performance at transfer institutions.
The 2004 cohort for analysis consisted of 352 students with 81% (286) of students needing
developmental remediation at varying degrees. This cohort had 56 less students needing
remediation than the previous 2003 cohort. While 170 students completed their developmental
remediation in the 2004 cohort, the developmental completers’ rate (indicator 9) slightly
declined by two percentage points to 37%. The 2004 cohort’s successful persister rate (indicator
10), demonstrated improved performance and achieved two out of the four 2006 cohort
benchmarks. While developmental completers did not achieve the successful persister rate
benchmark, it did increase 7 percentage points to 83% from its previous cohort, moving closer to
the 2006 cohort benchmark of 86%. The graduation-transfer rate after four years (indicator 11)
for the 2004 cohort achieved two of the four 2006 cohort benchmarks, with improved
performance noted in three out of four student groups (i.e. college ready, developmental
completers, and all students). The college dedicates a full-time case manager to the
Developmental Studies Program. Research has been conducted and program changes have been
implemented to ensure appropriate course prerequisites, creation of new pathways to encourage
student success and degree completion and an early alert system designed to ensure college staff
and faculty are working with at-risk students. The college is also working with the public
schools through the “Mapping Your Future” program to implement high school/college
collaborative strategies to promote college readiness.
In AY 2007-2008, the percentage of Chesapeake College transfers to Maryland public four-year
colleges and universities with a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 2.0 remained at 85%;
however, the mean GPA demonstrated a slight decline from 2.80 in the previous year to 2.72.
While transfer performance is not optimal, the college is closely monitoring this data through the
Maryland Transfer Student System and Degree Information System. With increased efforts in
course and program evaluation, increased discussions of best practices among faculty based on
these efforts and increased course/instructional improvements to improve student learning, the
college anticipates future improvement in transfer preparation and student success.
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