Introduction

With the onset of the Basic Skills Initiative and the push for California’s Community Colleges to complete an intensive self-assessment to determine how they are currently serving students requiring basic skills, each college is approaching the basic skills process differently. The College of Sequoias (COS) has taken a somewhat unique perspective on the basic skills initiative that has resulted in innovative collaborative practices on campus linking students, faculty, counselors, student services and academic services and resulting in an almost 15% increase in enrollment this fall.

The COS Essential Learning Initiative (ELI)

Early in the quest to complete the State mandated basic skill self-assessment (Center for Student Success, 2007) the College put together a highly collaborative steering committee to participate in the process. One of the first decisions made from the team consisting of administration (academic and student services deans, VP’s, and the President), directors, and faculty (math, English, ESL, science, social science, nursing, agriculture, and counseling) as well as representatives from Academic Senate, was to rename the COS basic skills initiative to the Essential Learning Initiative (ELI). The committee felt that ELI encapsulated the larger vision at COS to ensure that all students receive the essential academic and student services support necessary to successfully complete their academic goals. The steering committee spent the year completing a very thorough self-assessment and developing several priorities for implementation (ELI, 2008). One of these initiatives provides support for the First Year Experience program which is a collaborative effort between student services and academic services.

Tulare County and College of the Sequoias

College of the Sequoias is located in California Central Valley in Tulare County. The community faces numerous challenges in education and unemployment. The COS student make-up is 35.9% White, 44.1% Hispanic, 5.5% Asian-Pacific, 3.8% African-American, and 1.2% Native American, which is a dramatic change since 1990 which was 54.4% White, 22.3% Hispanic, 4.7% Asian-Pacific, 2.9% African-American and 1.9% Native-American. The College reflects the changing ethnic makeup of the area that moved from 38.8% Hispanic in 1990 to 55.8% in 2006. Over 40% of the population in Tulare County does not speak English at home. Over 18% of families in Tulare County are living in poverty compared to 9.7% in the State and only 8.7% of adults over 25 years of age have a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared to 18.6% in California (U.S. Census, 2006). In addition, Tulare County is ranked 58th of 58 in percentage of elementary school students meeting state targets in English Language Arts and 45th of 58 in percentage of elementary school students meeting state targets in Math (Scroggins, 2008). As a result, over 60% of students entering COS require at least one basic skills course.

COS faces many challenges in basic skills and the Essential Learning Initiative attempts to resolve some of these issues. Partnering with the new First Year Experience program is one of the ways that the College is providing support services for our student population.

ELI Faculty Coordinators

COS developed a unique model for implementing the ELI plan with four faculty coordinators and a faculty co-chair taking the lead. The faculty coordinators, on 20% re-assigned time, from English, math, ESL, and counseling, along with the dean are charged with coordinating the implementation of the ELI plan. The coordinator model provides another avenue for student services and academic services to align on support for basic skills. In fact, the ELI student services coordinator also serves as the faculty lead for the First Year Experience program. The coordinators started off the year with COS convocations focusing on the ELI and providing an opportunity for all faculty and staff at COS to learn about ELI and get involved.

First Year Experience and Essential Learning

In 07-08, COS also began an intensive First Year Experience (FYE) program. The FYE program consists of three options for first-year students to get both academic and student services support as they begin their college endeavor. FYE offers a series of learning communities, that focus on math and English, linked with counseling and learning skills classes. FYE also provides students with options for student success support classes in human development and counseling. The first option is a freshman seminar class and the second a student success class.

Aligning the start of FYE with ELI provided the College with an opportunity to collaborate on two distinctive programs. The ELI plan developed support for the FYE program as one of the key implementation steps.

What is the First Year Experience Program?

The First Year Experience Program is designed to help incoming freshman build relationships with their peers and instructors to help ease the transition into college. Students are placed into a learning community which consists of two or more linked courses that students move through together as a cohort. The instructors of the communities work collaboratively to share assignments, create common themes, and support students in their success. Upon successful completion of their fall semester, students are urged to continue onto the next phase of the learning communities in the spring.

Working in conjunction with the Essential Learning Initiative, the First Year Experience Program offers at least five developmental communities each semester. Those communities are each comprised of a developmental English, Math and Student Success course. These “Framework” communities offer students with basic skills challenges, additional support by way of peer-to-peer collaboration and mentoring, instructor cohesion across disciplines as well as academic faculty and student services collaboration. The FYE counselor works with the instructors from the student success courses to schedule every student an appointment each semester to discuss their educational goal and academic plan. Students also receive support from a retention specialist who monitors attendance and grades. Field trips are incorporated to provide relevant cultural and historical experiences for student participants.

Another component of FYE is the freshman seminar course. This course focuses on college success, goal setting, research techniques using electronic databases, graduation/transfer requirements, and organization skills. It is incorporated into the learning communities as well as offered independently for students who are not able to participate in a learning community.

How does a FYE student benefit?

By promoting access, success and retention, the FYE program helps participating students:

• Develop intellectual and academic competence
• Create a sense of community and connectedness to the college
• Develop interpersonal relationships
• Decide or achieve clarity about a career goal
• Create a sense of personal value
  
• Develop multicultural awareness and learn to tolerate, affirm and appreciate differences among people
• Receive supportive services such as mentoring, tutoring and counseling

The College is rapidly expanding the number of FYE cohorts. What began as two cohorts in fall 2007, went to six cohorts in spring 2008 and eleven cohorts for fall 2008 and spring 2009. The FYE program began with 44 students in fall 2007 and has expanded to 250 students in fall 2008, with an expected 275 students served in spring 2009. The program serves an additional 120 students in the freshman seminar courses. The spring 2009 program includes learning communities for special populations of nursing students and athletes.

FYE Learning Council

Embarking on a new FYE program requires collaboration among administrators, faculty, counselors, academic and student services, and it does not come without its own set of issues. One of the first things gleaned from program implementation is that direction was needed from an overarching body to guide the growth of the program. The FYE Learning Council was designed to overcome some of the initial problems initiating such a large program. The Council, consisting of the CIO, CSSO, academic deans, student services deans, FYE counselors and math and English division chairs, reviews everything from scheduling issues to outreach and recruitment.

Scheduling turned out to be one of the largest hurdles faced early on. The process for faculty assignments varies by division as well as contractually. Through trial and error the first semester, the Council took an active role in setting the FYE schedule and negotiating assignments with the division. This resulted in a strong working relationship with the math and English divisions and the student services staff who run the FYE program. The Council has also dealt with issues surrounding limiting class size for linked communities and faculty connections. Due to the strong collaboration between student services and academic services vis-à-vis the Council, issues have been resolved to the benefit of all parties.

What are the results?

As with many new programs, it is still premature to determine the statistical success of the program. However, initial surveys show that FYE students feel more connected to the College and more successful in classes overall. One apparent result is the changing campus climate and culture in embracing the basic skills students and an understanding of the needs of the student population. As mentioned, COS has almost a 15% increase in enrollment for fall 2008.

An extremely positive outcome is the connections developed between academic and student services that include faculty, counselors and administrators. The campus community has adopted the Essential Learning Initiative and the First Year Experience, resulting in cross-discipline, campus and program collaborations. The FYE Council and ELI Steering Committee are just two examples of the partnerships developed during the past year. The College continues to implement the programs and recommendations based on the ELI self-assessment and will continue to grow and learn along with the students. Working together, COS will ensure success for students and develop alliances across campus.

REFERENCES:

Center for Student Success, The RP Group. (2007). Basic Skills as a Foundation for Student Success in California Community Colleges. USA FUNDS, California.

ELI Steering Committee. (2008). Basic Skills Action and Expenditure Plan. Retrieved on May 30, 2008 from: http://www.cos.edu/eli/self_assessment.asp

Scroggins, B. (2008). State of COS 2008. Convocations presentation January 11, 2008. College of the Sequoias, California.

US Census Bureau. (2006). US Census American Fact Finder. Found at http://www.census.gov/.

---

About the Authors:

Jennifer Vega La Serna, Ph.D.
Dean, Arts and Letters
College of the Sequoias

Dr. Jennifer Vega La Serna is Dean of Arts and Letters at College of the Sequoias. She also serves as the dean on the Basic Skills Initiative. She received her Ph.D. in Education Policy, Planning and Administration with a specialization in International and Intercultural Education at the University of Southern California. Her doctoral research focused on women’s health education in Latin America. She also specialized in gender studies and teaching English as a second language. She has extensive university teaching experience in multicultural education and second language learning. Dr. Vega La Serna has conducted research, studied and traveled throughout Latin America and South Africa. Dr. La Serna previously served as Director of the Ronald E. McNair Post-baccalaureate Achievement program at California State University, Dominguez Hills. Prior to joining McNair, Dr. Vega La Serna served as senior education specialist for the City of Los Angeles, assistant lecturer at the University of Southern California, and supervising administrative social worker for Los Angeles County.

Adrienne Duarte, M.S. Counseling and Student Services
First Year Experience Counselor
College of the Sequoias

Adrienne Duarte has a total of five years experience in the community college field. She began her career at Fresno City College as an Education Advisor and then as an instructor for Guidance Studies Courses within the Counseling Department. She has also served as an Early Alert Counselor for Fresno City College and is currently one of their part-time Online Counselors. She began her College of the Sequoias career at an adjunct EOPS Counselor and was recently promoted to the full time First Year Experience Counselor. She is also one of their ELI Coordinators representing Student Services, Distance Education, Athletics and Library Divisions.