Arkansas Department of Higher Education

Transition teams – Program team: Career Pathways Program Coordinator, Foundations of Excellence Coordinator, Grants Development Coordinator, Dean for Adult and Developmental Education, Vice-Chancellor for Instruction, Vice Chancellor for Student Services and Registrar. Advisory team: Departmental Deans, Data/Resource team: CFO, Institutional Researcher, Data personnel. Stakeholders: Current advisory committees in place on each campus and students.

Process: Through a series of meetings between the Perkins Coordinator and Vice Chancellor for Instruction, the transition teams were put together. Input was gathered from the program team via email and through the VCI. The Coordinator and VCI plan to meet face-to-face with the program team each semester (and more if needed) to ensure that the various programs are working in conjunction and to share information as well as to develop priorities for utilization of the Perkins funds in the most beneficial manner possible. Additional meetings between the Perkins Coordinator and various teams/team members will be conducted on an as needed basis.

Currently PCCUA has a linkage between the secondary and postsecondary levels. In the Social Work-Behavioral Health Pathway, the Med Pro Ed courses in the secondary center feed into and count towards the TC and AAS degree in Behavioral Health. The computer engineering option requires courses within the division of Business. Those courses matriculate towards a CP in Business Administration, Medical Admin. Asst. Sec., Data Processing and Machine Operation or an AAS in Business Administration, Office Technology, Business Information Technology and Business Management.

All Associate of Applied Science degrees require a base of academic courses (6 hours English, 3 social science, 6 science and math). CTE students are expected to achieve the same standards in these courses as any other student. The Assessment Committee is currently assessing the writing skills of potential completers in various degree programs. For example, students in the Applied Technology, Allied Health, and Business degree programs are asked to complete a written assignment near the end of their degree (the assignment is geared toward the degree or course of inclusion) that is evaluated by members of the English faculty. After reviewing the results, departmental deans can make adjustments in the delivery of their courses to include more written assignments, for example. The goal is to ensure that students are asked to complete academic skills within the CTE discipline. Additionally, the data gives the institution an opportunity to assess one of the important academic skills of its’ CTE students. These results are evaluated against the performance of the AA degree students to ensure that the CTE students are performing at the same level as the AA students.

Additionally, PCCUA is developing Pathways within existing degree programs which allows for both horizontal and vertical program movement. For example, an ADN student who is unable to achieve success in that program can move into the Behavioral Health program

PCCUA’s departments have an established history of providing real-life work experiences as a part of the degree programs. Currently the Allied Health department conducts a Boot Camp for its students. The Boot Camp includes an introduction to the field at the beginning of enrollment into the program. LPN and PN students participate in clinical practice as part of their training. Office Technology majors participate in internships for credit. The Business Department also provides a variety of guest speakers in their courses which introduce students to various real life professionals in the area. The Early Childhood program also includes an internship as part of their degree requirements

PCCUA will provide a comprehensive professional development program for faculty and support personnel. In the 07-08 Perkins year, the focus will be on recognizing the unique needs of the student from a background of poverty. Because our students come from some of the most impoverished counties in the state of Arkansas, it is important for our employees to be sensitive to their unique needs in order to better serve them and retain them. The professional development activity will begin with providing each member of the faculty and support staff with the book and workbook, “Bridges Out of Poverty” on the first day of the semester during in-service. Staff will be encouraged to read the text during the fall semester. Various activities designed to stimulate conversation regarding the text will be employed. Workbook assignments, small group discussions, brown bag lunch activities, idea sharing, email reminders and discussions, etc. will be conducted during the fall semester. Additionally, four members of the Perkins Program team will attend a workshop presented by the authors of the text. During the spring semester (tentatively Feb. 5th), Phil DeVol, one of the trainers for the “Bridges Out of Poverty” material, will conduct a full day in-service for faculty and support personnel. For the remainder of the semester, the Perkins program team and other stakeholders will develop guidelines to include this information into best practice strategies for faculty and staff. It is anticipated that much of the work with Bridges will dovetail with the work done through the Foundations of Excellence and Achieving the Dream initiatives.

In addition to the comprehensive professional development program, there is additional professional development planned for Business and Allied Health faculty which are geared toward increasing instructors’ understanding of new technology and industry standards.

Several of the CTE degree programs have Advisory groups comprised of leaders in related business and industry. The Business and Information Systems department has an advisory group that meets regularly. The Early Childhood Development program regularly meets with leaders in the field. The new program in Advanced Manufacturing Degree is a direct result of input from business and industry leaders in the rice production and manufacturing industries.

PCCUA engages in programmatic review which evaluates the size and scope of all programs in accordance with state mandated minimums. Integral to the program review is an evaluation of productivity which includes completion rates, enrollment data and job availability. Other data that is regularly evaluated to determine the size and scope of a program is the cost analysis for each program (student-faculty ration, equipment costs, etc.). If a program falls below state minimums or is determined to be cost- ineffective, the program may be deleted. Additionally, new programs are not developed without identifying regional needs. A good example of this is the development of the Advanced Manufacturing degree in response to needs of local industry.

PCCUA has a strong assessment program with a well established and active Assessment Committee that directs assessment for the college. There are well developed assessment programs at the divisional level, with each division identifying assessment needs and compiling a yearly report. Additionally, the college provides an Assessment page on the institution website with data results, minutes of the committee meetings and resources for instructors.

Individual courses and departments also engage in external evaluation: MLT, Phlebotomy, AND, PN, all Business degrees, and several Applied Technology degrees. Results of the evaluations are reported to the institution.

Through the Student Success Centers located on each campus, students will be encouraged to consider nontraditional fields during career assessment and counseling. Additionally, the marketing department will be encouraged to provide examples of nontraditional participation in its publications. Through our close alignment with local secondary centers and high school visits, faculty will promote nontraditional enrollment.

Again, the Student Success Center will assist with student needs such as career assessment and counseling as well as academic counseling. They will provide strategies to students to allow them to be more proactive in assessing their weaknesses in the classroom and how to make compensations for them. Additionally, the Student Success Center will aid in the publication of the 4-year visits to campus as well as provide information and links with advisors who work with the 4-year programs offered on/in conjunction with our campus (for example, through UA-Monticello students can work on a baccalaureate in education, many of the classes can be completed on the PCCUA campuses) and there is a strong relationship between our advisors and the advisor on the UAM campus.

Currently, there is a recruitment team that focuses on recruitment of faculty in the Allied Health department. The college has looked at sharing faculty with other institutions and paying for certification of teachers. Because we are in an economically disadvantaged area, recruitment and retention of faculty is difficult. However, the institution sees this as a priority as many of the faculty is nearing the retirement age. Therefore, the college is currently developing a recruitment plan. It is possible that Perkins could participate in this in the future, but there are no plans to use Perkins funds for this at this time.

With the purchase, installation and training of personnel in regards to the Datatel information management system, the institution will have greater ability to track various groups of students, such as special populations. Additionally, in conjunction with CPI, we will be able to more accurately track some special populations as well. The institution has also hired an institutional research specialist who will be able to assist in providing accurate and consistent data.

The Perkins coordinator will meet at least yearly and more if necessary with the Perkins Data/Resource team to ensure accurate understanding of all definitions related to performance measures. Additionally, this team will develop a written plan for gathering the data so that if there is a change in personnel, the data can be gathered the same way to ensure consistent data.