Title of Effective Practice: - California Postsecondary Education ...

Direct Connection to Policy Area 4 of The Illinois Commitment
One Stop Registration for Adult Education
Morton College
What issue or need is addressed by the effective practice?
The community that Morton College serves is predominantly Hispanic and low income. Many of the adults in
this community have a minimal educational background with as little as zero to six years of education in their
native country. Often, these adults are unfamiliar with U.S. educational institutions and processes at any level,
let alone the community college level. In the past, the experience of navigating the College could be
intimidating for people who have little or no English language skills and a minimal educational background.
Consequently, the concept of having Adult Education One Stop Registration was implemented. The One Stop
provides program information and serves as the testing area (inside the Jedlicka Theater), advising, registration
and orientation for Adult Basic Education (ABE), General Education Development (GED), and ESL course
work, which allows for community members to be well-served by the College as they are encouraged to
continue their education.
Description of the effective practice:
Upon the recommendation of the Blue Ribbon Panel and to contribute to the College’s goal to encourage
community families to embrace college-provided educational opportunities, Morton College’s Adult Education,
Community Programming & Outreach (AECP&O) unit created One Stop Registration. This area provides new
and continuing adult education program students a number of services such as information about classes,
schedules, registration dates, testing dates and orientation, all concentrated in one of the College’s most
prominent locations, the Jedlicka Performing Arts Center. The registration process was organized into three
steps that cut the number of hours the process of placement testing, advising, registration and orientation from
approximately eight hours to three hours. This shorter processing time makes programs more accessible to all
students with time constraints, but particularly to the large number of students who are parents of young children
or have full time jobs. Many community members, particularly English as Second Language (ESL) students,
have difficulty navigating through the campus. Adult Education One Stop Registration makes it easier for the
students to find the information they need and to be served by College staff. The creation of this new service
area responded to the recommendation of the Blue Ribbon Panel to integrate adult education programs into the
Morton College culture and as such, this welcoming area is featured prominently to greet all who come on
campus.
How does this practice achieve sustainability?
The impetus for the relocation and reorganization of Adult Education services came from the Blue Ribbon Panel
and had the full support of the College Administration and Board; after study and assessment, the appropriate
budget allocation were made to fund the necessary construction and relocation changes. Currently the facility
and staffing levels are adequate for the program needs. Other models and options are continually explored and
studied for feasibility as are new grants and funding sources to support present and future initiatives.
The One Stop implementation process was identified as a model for continuous improvement, which
accomplishes sustainability as it is evaluated and adapted to student needs. In the past, the process meant
sending students to several locations throughout campus and long waiting periods to accomplish one step of the
multi-step registration process. Some of the advancements were accomplished through more staff training,
flexibility of staff schedule to accommodate busy times, providing more information to students, streamlining
the necessary paperwork as much as possible, and providing referrals for students to other Morton College
services. This process is periodically reviewed and input from staff members is solicited to determine what is
working well, what needs to be revised, added or dropped. During the summer, training is provided for
instructors wanting to work as advisors during the registration and orientation process. Staff from other areas is
also being trained in AECP&O programs and processes so they can provide coverage of the One Stop Front
Desk if needed.
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