Transformations to Advance Equity: The 2020 Bunker Hill Community College Self-study - Presentation to the BHCC Board of Trustees October 28, 2019 ...

Transformations to Advance Equity:
The 2020 Bunker Hill Community College Self-study

     Presentation to the BHCC Board of Trustees
                  October 28, 2019

BHCC’s 2020 Self-study –
            An Inclusive & Participative Process
       Broad engagement from over 200 faculty, staff,
     administrators, students, alumni & Board of Trustees

AY 2016 – 2017: Chief editor (Prof. Puente) appointed, work teams
created, & NECHE Data First Forms prepared

AY 2017 – 2018: NECHE was the focus:
    • at Convocation & Collegewide Retreat in fall
    • at NECHE Think Day & NECHE Retreat Day in spring
    • of regular meetings of Standard Committees, as committee
      members engaged in analysis & prepared 1st rough draft

AY 2018 – 2019: Activities focused on writing, critiquing, re-writing

Institutional Overview of BHCC
• Founded in 1973, BHCC is
    the largest of all 15 community colleges in Massachusetts
    one of the most diverse institutions of higher learning in the
     state & in the country:
       66% students of color: 26% Hispanic/Latino, 25% African
         American, 11% Asian
       Average student age: 26
       More than half are women
       More than half are 1st generation college students
       Three out of four work either full-time or part-time
       Three out of five are parents
       Over 1,200 dual enrollment students
       Nearly 900 international students come from 90 countries
         & speak 75 languages

Institutional Overview of BHCC
• BHCC is also a Minority Serving Institution (MSI)
        designated as an Asian American Native American Pacific
          Islander Serving Institution (AANAPISI)
        eligible for designation as a Hispanic Serving Institution
          (HSI)
• Offers the most affordable college education across the state
  (the lowest tuition & fees)
• Students can choose from over 100 associate degree &
  certificate programs
• Two campuses (Charlestown & Chelsea), 3 satellite campuses, 3
  instructional centers
• Finally, BHCC is nationally recognized for being innovative – this
  has allowed the College to thrive despite decreased,
  unpredictable state funding & physical space limitations

Highlights of the 2020 Self-study
• Broad changes & reforms in the last
  5 years have transformed the
  College

• Transformational changes in nearly
  all the NECHE standards

Mission &
                      Visual Here???
                          Purposes
        Integrity,
      Transparency                     Planning &
         & Public                      Evaluation
        Disclosure

 Educational                               Organization &
Effectiveness                               Governance

 Institutional
                                          The Academic
  Resources
                                            Program

                  Teaching,
                 Learning &       Students
                 Scholarship

Highlights of the 2020 Self-study
• Updated Mission, Vision & Values (approved in 2014) has
  enabled the College to expand in critical growth areas
  (Standard 1)

• Practice of strategic thinking is becoming a regular habit
  across all units – impact of strategic planning cycle &
  institutionalization of annual unit planning (Standard 2)

• Review of governance to increase participatory governance in
  its final stages (Standard 3)

• Institutional Learning Outcomes (ILOs) created, Curricular
  Reforms implemented, Learning Communities (LCs) scaled
  further (Standard 4)

Highlights of the 2020 Self-study
• Overhaul of Admissions Process & Onboarding process for new
  students; LCs required for part-time students (Standard 5)

• Cultural Institutes consolidated into Center for Equity &
  Cultural Wealth (CECW), increasing emphasis on professional
  development (PD) activities grounded in equity principles
  (Standard 6)

• BHCC is financially healthy and stable: $4 million budgeted
  deficit eliminated; creation of Student Central & DISH,
  relocation to a larger Chelsea Campus; a more diverse BHCC
  workforce overall; continuing efforts to improve technological
  infrastructure (Standard 7)

Highlights of the 2020 Self-study

           Impact of Transformations on Our
              Educational Effectiveness
                      (Standard 8)

• We remain the most affordable community college

• We have increased our accessibility to different student
  populations (early college, AAPI, Latinx, Pell-eligible)

Highlights of the 2020 Self-study
  Impact of Transformations on our Educational Effectiveness
                           (Standard 8)
• Compared to our peer institutions, our students have
  demonstrated
   higher persistence rates (vs. ATD & VFA peer colleges)
   higher retention rates vs. DHE-state peers (overall, by race,
    by gender, & by Pell status) & ATD peers
   a significant increase in successful completion of college-
    level gateway courses within the first year (32 % for FA ‘16
    cohort vs. 13% for FA ‘12 cohort) – the most crucial
    indicator for us; successful completion also doubled for all
    student sub-groups and achievement gaps narrowed for
    Latinx & African American students

Highlights of the 2020 Self-study
          Continuing Challenges in the Next Five Years

• Compared to our peer institutions, our students have lower 6-
  year completion rates; 30% (nearly 1/3) transfer w/o a
  credential – we need to understand better why & how this
  happens

• Enrollment, & overall persistence & retention rates have been
  decreasing for the last 3 years – ATD Holistic Student Support
  Redesign Project expected to address these issues

• We are at 168% capacity in terms of physical space utilization -
  - $65 million fund for new building anticipated to help address
  this issue

Highlights of the 2020 Self-study
• System Improvements have also improved our institutional
  integrity & transparency (Standard 9)

• We still need to:
    conduct a comprehensive campus climate assessment
    review our Title IX processes
    create publications that are more accessible to our
      linguistically diverse student population
    publish more complete information

Highlights of the 2020 Self-study
          Continuing Challenges in the Next Five Years

• Academic Program Review process needs to be tightened –
  need to integrate with faculty PD needs & work of Student
  Learning Outcomes Assessment Program (SLOAP).

• Improvements in assessment needed
    Better, deeper understanding of student patterns through
     student voices & narratives (engaging in quantitative and
     more qualitative data analysis)
    Assessment of Student Support Services (SLOAP team re-
     configuration is a step in the right direction)
    Creating the Institutional Assessment Plan (IAP)

Current Progress & Next Steps
• Currently in-progress
    Feedback from students and adjunct faculty in progress
      this week
    IMC working on fixing certain web links

• Next steps
    By 11/15: Incorporate community & BOT feedback into
     final draft; complete all appendices; update all DFFs
    Final production of self-study c/o IMC
    Data Warehouse Team & Accreditation Visit Team will
     accelerate prep activities
    Send final draft of self-study to Accreditation Visiting
     Team by mid-February

2020 NECHE Self-study

    Any Questions?
     Comments?