Student Success

Advising

Student Services is named Student Success Services at Cascadia. This department is modeled on a One-Stop approach. Student Success Facilitators are cross-trained so anyone can serve any student. There is an expectation that students will participate in orientation where they are made aware of the culture of the institution. A web based orientation is being developed. Students have access to quarterly individual academic advising sessions. This type of involved educational planning helps students with goals which lead to retention. All students are invited to participate in a '45 credit check.' After completing 45 credits students are invited in to meet with a student success facilitator to do education planning and think about next steps. These next steps could be applying to 4-year institutions or starting the job search process. In addition:

College Strategies is a part of the foundation for educational planning and career exploration. This class is required for all transfer degrees.
Quarterly individual interviews with faculty member
Access to developmental education
Students with differing abilities are served by a full time Student Success facilitator. As of Fall 2002, approximately 70 self-identified students are being served, up from 25 in Fall 2001.

Training is being offered to all faculty, staff and administrators on disability support services at Cascadia's Employee Learning Institute. Cascadia was noted as going above and beyond the requirements of staff training in this area in a Carl Perkins grant program review.

Mentoring program

The college has a mentoring program in which all administrative and support staff are assigned a cohort of students to mentor. This program implements additional resources for students and adds to their support system at Cascadia. It is not unusual to see a staff, faculty or administrator escorting a student to another room or office rather than just telling them where to go. This exemplifies the Cascadia way of always being learner-centered.

Cascadia has also created programs where students mentor other students. Transfer students work 1:1 with ESL and GED students in support of classroom instruction. Every quarter an ESL class is linked to a transfer class via a learning community. Most recently, a class was paired with a Biology class to learn about ecosystems and an Astronomy class to learn about galaxies.

A Student Success Facilitator serves as a Resource and Referral advisor. This individual serves as a primary contact to provide information on community resources and offer referrals to health and social services in the community.

Childcare

Cascadia Community College and the University of Washington, Bothell received a $300,000 grant from a joint proposal they submitted to the State of Washington Department of Social Health Services in Spring 2002. The funds from this grant will be used to build a co-located childcare facility on the campus, which will be used by students and state employees from the two institutions. The childcare facility is scheduled to be completed by Fall 2003.

The college also offers a childcare grants program, funded by the state board, to students based on family income. In the 2001-2002 academic year, 12 students and 16 children were served with an average award of $350 a month. A total of $30,000 will be offered in grants again this year.

Placement Testing

All math levels were re-evaluated in Spring 2002. A consultant was brought in to work with the Vice President, math faculty and Student Success facilitators. New levels were set for improved placement accuracy. This allows for greater student success with these more realistic placement cut-offs.

Faculty members work together to support successful student movement from Foundation level math classes to college level math. The intent is to support students by ensuring they are competent in the abilities before moving forward to the next level.

Skills assessment is done for appropriate placement into classes using CASAS, COMPASS, SLEP, and Writing Samples. The use of COMPASS ESL is in the planning stages and should be implemented by Winter 2003.

Support Groups

Student Success Services and Cascadia Student Government have partnered to create support groups for students. A general support group for students in need has been established and is being facilitated by counselors from Northshore Youth and Family Services.

The first two sessions will be general orientation sessions that will eventually branch off into various specific support groups, such as sober support, eating disorders, students with disabilities, single parents, grief support, etc.

View these and other exciting initiatives by clicking on the options to the left.