Wayne County Community College District - Achieving the Dream

Wayne County El Community Paso Community College College District
Detroit, El Paso, Michigan Texas
Wayne County Community College District (WCCCD) expanded its Early Alert
System in Spring 2011 to include all students in developmental English and
mathematics courses and college-level learning community courses.
What We
Are Doing
WCCCD’s Early Alert System uses
high technology and personal contacts
to encourage student persistence.
Faculty members use the college’s
database to alert Student Services
about any student who has a grade
who has a grade below a C after
the first four weeks of the semester.
Student Services personnel then
provide intrusive outreach to the
identified students and refer students
to success resources and programs
to help them achieve better grades.
Outreach methods also include class
questionnaires and telephone calls to
encourage students to use support services
to improve their grades.
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In Fall 2008, 591 students were
in the Early Alert System
In Fall 2010, 3,152 students or
15% of the total enrollment were
in the system
In Spring 2011, 8,353 students or
nearly 20% of the college’s total
enrollment were involved when the
Early Alert System was scaled to
include English 111, English 115,
and MATH 105 on all five campuses
Who
We Are
WCCCD’s five comprehensive campuses
serve residents of 32 cities and townships
in southeastern Michigan.
In Fall 2010, the college enrolled approximately
21,200 credit students and of these
students, 69% were women, 57% were
African American, and 1% was Hispanic.
However, 22% of students reported their
race as “unknown.” Sixty-four percent
of students received Pell grants.
Achieving the Dream is a regular feature of
the chancellor’s cabinet meetings and his
immediate priority meetings, and the
college-wide Professional Development
day for faculty. Student Success strategies
were also the topic of discussion for facultyled
conferences on learning communities
and integrated learning.
Some faculty have also received professional
development by attending the “Designing
and Building a Learning Community
Program: the Kingsborough Model” to
help WCCCD’s strive toward helping
students succeed.
“Achieving the Dream is helping us reinvent the open door as we
respond to students’ needs amid dramatic economic changes in
our communities.”
– Curtis L. Ivery, Chancellor, Wayne County Communty College District
more information on the other side w

How We
Work
Based on the promising results with students
in Learning Communities that link an English
course with political science or psychology
courses, WCCCD expanded Learning Communities
of various course linkages to all
five campuses.
Other systemic student success
efforts include:
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Dreamkeepers, which helps students
stay in college when faced with an unforeseen
financial emergency. It provides
students the resources and tools they need
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to help reach their educational goals.
The Student Retention Center, which
utilizes staff members from the Bursar’s
Office, Financial Aid, and Student Services
to serve the students district-wide.
Integrating intrusive advising strategies
such as our Early Alert System.
The YMCA Education Coalition, a
partnership of several universities and
colleges including WCCCD, provides
high school students with college
readiness workshops.
Achieving
the Dream
Model
Achieving
the Dream
Leader
Colleges
Achieving the Dream community colleges
commit to our Student-Centered Model of
Institutional Improvement. Based on four
principles, the model frames the overall work
of helping more students, particularly lowincome
students and students of color, stay in
school and earn a college certificate or degree.
Each college approaches the work differently,
but Achieving the Dream’s five-step process
provides practical guidelines for keeping
the focus where it belongs and building
momentum over time. Throughout the process,
Achieving the Dream coaches offer customized
support and help each college’s core
team implement data-informed programs and
policies that build long-term, institution-wide
commitment to student success.
Leader Colleges are demonstrating the power
of the Achieving the Dream Student-Centered
Model of Institutional Improvement. They
show us it is possible to raise persistence and
graduation rates, close achievement gaps,
and change lives. Leader Colleges embody
the ultimate goal of Achieving the Dream,
and as such, serve as mentors within our
community of learners.
To be eligible for Leader College distinction,
colleges must show three or more years
For more information, visit
www.achievingthedream.org or
contact info@achievingthedream.org
or 1-855-ATDream
4 Principles
EE
Committed leadership
EE
Using evidence to improve programs & services
EE
Broad engagement
EE
Systemic institutional improvement
5 Steps
STEP 5
Establish a
culture of
continuous
improvement.
STEP 4
Implement,
evaluate,
improve.
STEP 1
Commit
to change.
1 Goal: Student success.
STEP 2
Use data
to prioritize
actions.
STEP 3
Engage
stakeholders.
of improvement on one or more of these
five measures:
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Course completion
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Advancement from developmental to
credit-bearing courses
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Completion of college-level math and
English courses
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Term-to-term and year-to-year retention
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Completion of certificates or degrees
Last updated 9/2011