Retention Summit Action Plan

Executive Summary

Overview

The recommendations for this plan were developed as a result of the College’s first Retention Summit in March 2017. This event allowed faculty and staff participants to brainstorm ways in which the College could improve student retention. The concept for this event grew from a Facultyand Professional Staff Senate report on Academic Support and Student Retention(2016), which advocates for a more inclusive approach to addressing student retention concerns.

The structure of this document includes a background about Bristol Community College and the origin of the Retention Summit, recommendations developed from the Retention Summit, and appendices for materials used in the planning and facilitation of the event.

Summary of Findings

In addition to the individual focus areas listed below, overarching themes included the need for improved communication throughout the College and institutional policies to support initiatives. We also discovered that there is a need for more systematic data collection for items pertaining to student retention.

One of the strongest themes that emerged from the post-event evaluation was an overwhelming commitment to the Mission of the College and success of our students among faculty and staff. This was noted by participants and external facilitators. Despite the barriers we face as an institution, our employees are committed to helping the institution move forward.

Summary of Recommendations

Recommendations were obtained from the 230 faculty and staff who participated in the Retention Summit. Session feedback was streamlined for redundancies and the following nine focus areas emerged.

Focus Area	Activities
Academic Advising	Streamline student pathways; improve student self-efficacy; revise advising protocol; create campus-wide holistic model.
Access to Student Services	Offer equitable services across campuses: tailor activities to meet student needs and interests; improve student connections; improve student referral systems.
Communication Strategies	Improve dissemination of accurate information; create culture of student-focus; centralize communications; create a welcoming environment.
Cost of Attendance	Develop a task force on textbooks, support Student Senate Book Exchange Program; support and expand Open Education Resources (OER) program; educate faculty about costs of textbooks; select a food vendor that provides affordable meals to students.
Course Scheduling	Redesign course schedule based on program/student/campus needs; improve transparency in course offerings; provide multiple modalities in offerings; increase the number of developmental co-requisites and placement test refreshers.
Curriculum and Pedagogy	Support and promote High-Impact Practices; develop and adopt structures that encourage consistent classroom experiences.
Enrollment and Registration Processes	Review enrollment processes and identify areas for improvement; explore why students are purged and improve the process; disincentivize late payments and registration.
First-Year Experiences	Improve the concept of a prescribed First-Year Experience for students beyond College Success Seminar (CSS) courses; re-examine CSS courses; empower students to become self-directed lifelong learners; educate students about their responsibilities.
Meeting Basic Needs	Expand student access to needed resources; improve students’ sense of belonging at the college.

Conclusion

This document captures the spirit of the Retention Summit and faculty and staff views on student retention. However, it is important to note that it includes limited student or adjunct faculty voices because it only captures feedback from those who participated in the March 2017 professional development day.

While the items below fell outside of the scope of this committee’s work, we offer the following recommendations for the College’s next steps:

• Identify a structure for oversight, implementation, and assessment (e.g., Retention Committee)
• Ensure key stakeholders are involved in this structural process (e.g., administration, faculty, staff, students)
• Prioritize the action plan recommendations based on greater College goals (e.g., President’s Goals)
• Identify key goals, outcomes, and parties responsible, along with a timeline for implementation
• Identify micro/macro activities along with short- and long-term goals
• Explore best practices in higher education related to these recommended strategies
• Research what types of students withdraw from the College (e.g., student profiles)
• Explore ways to promote involvement of the entire College and to encourage all employees to find roles within these strategies
• Regularly communicate updates on this work with the College community

The entire document can be viewed at:
Retention Summit Action Plan

Minutes of Monday, October 23, 2017

Bristol Community College
Faculty & Professional Staff Senate Meeting
Minutes of Monday, October 23, 2017
Room L 101 3:15 pm

Senators in attendance:   C. Almeida, S. Alves, D. Avedikian,  J. Barry, D. Behuniak,   J. Bjornson,  J. Boulay,  L. Delano-Botelho, J. Emond,  K. Fassbender, M. Geary, K. Hiller,  M. Hyde, J. Jodoin-Krauzyk, A. Marden, L. Neubert, K. Plante,  D. Quenga, M. Sipala, R. Rebello,  R.  Weisberger, K. Woldegiorgis

Absences: G. Hamel, J. Dekkers , P. Robillard, J. Corven
Excused Absences: R. Rak
Guests: 7 Guests attended this meeting
Meeting called to order:  3:15 pm  
Minutes:  Approved minutes from 10/10/17 meeting

Welcome:
J. Boulay welcomed Senators & Guests

April Bellafiore Announcements regarding distance learning classes:

·         Discussed process re: how a course usually taught as face-to-face becomes an online course

o   Faculty-driven process:  Faculty will speak to their Divisional dean and then April Bellafiore

o   If there is a need and/or a capacity course will be considered

o   Once it is approved and signed off by Divisional Dean, form will move to Academic Affairs for approval

o   Faculty will receive stipend for their work:  This amount has been determined by MCCC contract for Distance Education

o   There is no need for CWCC approval if this is a course already being currently taught

o   Also, department approval is not necessary to move from a face-to-face course to an online course

o   If a faculty wishes to develop a hybrid course, this would require a conversation with their Divisional Dean

§  Hybrid courses are defined as 50% or more instruction on line.

o   There are no specific criteria for students to register for an online course.

Communications and IT Demo new web site:

·         The new changes will update the look as well as the functionality of the BCC website

·         The team is currently working with faculty, students and alum of BCC for feedback

·         Reminded Senate that this is a work in process and what they were viewing is not the finished product

·         Expectations are that the new Website will be “fully responsive” (e.g., no moving curser) and will shrink to fit phones.

·         Expected date to go live is January 2018

·         Addressed question regarding the difficulty searching for items on current BCC website and whether this will change

o   Informed that the search box will be controlled by “Google”:  “Google” will learn by what people most commonly search on the site

o   Suggestion by Senate member:  Consider having directions regarding how to find/search for items on web site

·         Team is looking for student testimonials or stories to share online.  If faculty have someone in mind, could they please refer them to communications?

·         Also, if faculty have specific ideas or if they are interested in helping to edit, please contact communications or IT.

Student Purge Data:

·         Question arose as to why BCC completes the purge

·         Discussed that students find the purge process confusing

·         Is there any data to explore whether students sign up again for classes if they have been purged?

·         Jenn B. will reach out to Kathy G. and Steve K. for information regarding how and why

·         Suggested that it would be beneficial to have this topic discussed at a large forum similar to the “Withdrawal Policy” forum

By Law Revisions:  No concerns at this time
Senate will vote scheduled for 11/20/2017. 

Senate Committees:

o   Nominations Committee:

§   Mike Geary CHAIR

·         Kelli Hiller

·         Debbie Quenga

o   Text Book: 

§  Dana Behuniak CHAIR

·         Alyssa Frezza

·         Julie Jodoin-Krauzyk

·         Lisa Delano-Botelho

o   Census:

o               Kathy Plante CHAIR

·         Kellie Fassbender

·         Dana Behuniak

o   Grandchamp: 

§  Steve Alves CHAIR

·         Jim Pelletier

·         Dana Behuniak

·         Ron Weisberger

Division Updates:
            DIV II: 

·         History Department concerned with number of courses cancelled. 

·         Future concern that this may cause tension between adjunct and full time faculty.

·         Expressed desire to have all academic are meeting discussion regarding course cancellations

DIV IV:

·         Nursing students at BCC have a 97% Passing rate on their nursing exams.

DIV V: 

·         Changes to the Accuplacer will happen in January of 2019.  This change is coming from the Board of Higher Ed.

·         Questions regarding this should be addressed to Kristen Rezendes in the testing.

Meeting Adjourned: 4:20 pm

Respectfully Submitted:  Lisa Delano-Botelho, BCC Faculty & Professional Staff Senate Secretary

Minutes of Tuesday, October 10, 2017

 Bristol Community College

Faculty & Professional Staff Senate Meeting

Minutes of Tuesday, October 10, 2017 

Room L 101 3:15 pm

Senators in attendance:   C. Almeida, M. Geary,  L. Delano-Botelho, K. Hiller,  K. Plante,  S. Alves, D. Avedikian, R. Rak, J. Barry,  D. Behuniak,  J. Boulay, J. Emond,  J. Corven, K. Woldegiorgis, M. Hyde,  D. Quenga, L. Neubert,  J. Jodoin-Krauzyk, A. Marden, K. Fassbender, J. Dekkers

Absences: R. Rebelo, P. Robillard, M. Roberts, D.Avedekian, J, Corven, J. Emond
Excused Absences: M. Sipala, J. Bjornson,  R.  Weisberger, G. Hamel
Guests: 8 Guests attended this meeting

Meeting called to order:  3:20 pm   (tardy start due to technology)

Minutes:  Minutes from 9/18 meeting were approved unanimously with 1 correction (change BCCC to BCC in bullet two under Professional Development)

Welcome:
J. Boulay welcomed Senators, Guests and Guest Speaker, Joyce Brennan, Vice President, College Communications 

Joyce Brennan Announcements:

• Currently in the process of shaping the use of “@ everybody” in BCC email
• Charge and current goal is to decrease the use but assures that it will not disappear completely. Continue to be used with discretion.  Stop Gaps currently in place to ensure it is appropriately used.
• “BCC Weekly” to replace use in many cases.
• BCC Weekly is a work in progress. Encouraged Senators to email questions or comments 
• Senate expressed concern that no predictability related to finding items in BCC Weekly.  Suggestion made for “Bucketing Items” (i.e. job postings, weekly events, etc)
• Table of Contents does not appear to be working on some mobile device apps.  To be addressed

By – Law Amendments Discussed:

• Reviewed suggested language change in the By-Laws that would encourage Senate sustainability
• New Item added:  Procedures to address Senate vacancies.  This new item reflects language in Union By-Laws 
• Identified term end and start dates
• Added language associated  with Grandchamp Lecture Committee since this is an annual event
• Need to address how we will vote on By-Law changes:  Will it be as a package or will each change be voted upon separately? 
• Comments and additional suggestions should be sent to Lisa Delano-Botelho
• Voting will take place 11/20/2017 

Committee Information:
Grandchamp Lecture: 
The charge: prepare a slate of candidates who can deliver lecture, vote on candidate and inform them.
 Question to consider:  Will this be open to students?
Call for committee:  The following volunteered to serve

• Steve Alves
• Jim Pelletier
• Dana Behuniak
• Ron Weisberger

Textbooks (ad hoc):
The charge:  Collaborate with Student Senate, Book Store, Financial Aid and possibly Bob Resendes.   Pricing student texts exorbitant – how can we drive down the cost for our students?
 Call for committee:  The following volunteered to serve

• Dana Behuniak
• Alyssa Frezza
• Julie Jodoin-Krauzyk
• Kelli Hiller
• Lisa Delano-Botelho

Census Committee:
The charge:  Call HR and get information on Unit members.  Break down members based on the number of units.  Restructure Senate (if necessary) based on growth, shrinkage and/or college reorganization
Call for committee:  The following volunteered to serve

• Kellie Fassbender
• Kathy Plante
• Dana Behuniak

Nominations Committee:
The charge: Identify which Senators are rotating off; recruit potential Senators from respective divisions/areas, solicit nominations.  Vote to be held March 2. 
Call for committee:  The following volunteered to serve

• Mike Geary
• Debbie Quenga

NEASC Steering Committee:

• Forming subcommittees at this time
• There are several Senators on various subcommittees including Senate president, J. Boulay
• Shared Governance will be only one of the areas that will need to be addressed in the 5 year report
• Some subcommittees are still in need of additional volunteers 
• If constituents have not been called to serve but are interested, contact Suzanne Buglione or Deb Anderson

Division Updates:

• ODS:  No learning specialist on NB campus since last spring.  Can Senate inquire about the upcoming plan related to this?
• Division 5 inquired what the process is for designating an online course. A discussion followed regarding course designations as a whole (e.g., definitions, transparency, searchability for students). This item will be added to a future agenda for additional discussion.
• Also, explore computer literacy competency (technology may have results from completed survey)
• J. Boulay requested purge data from Steve Kenyon and Kathy Garganta.  Received feedback which will be sent to Senate for feedback

Meeting Adjourned:  4:15 pm
Respectfully Submitted:  Lisa Delano-Botelho, BCC Faculty & Professional Senate Secretary

Minutes of Monday, September 18, 2017

Bristol Community College
Faculty & Professional Staff Senate Meeting
Minutes of Monday, September 18, 2017
Room L 101 3:10 pm

Senators in attendance:   C. Almeida, M. Geary,  L. Delano-Botelho, R.  Weisberger, J. Bjornson,  G. Hamel, K. Hiller,  K. Plante,  S. Alves, D. Avedikian, R. Rak, J. Barry,  D. Behuniak,  J. Boulay, J. Emond,  J. Corven, M. Sipala, K. Woldegiorgis, D. Quenga, L. Neubert,  J. Jodoin-Krauzyk, K. Fassbender

Absences: R. Rebelo, P. Robillard, M. Roberts
Excused Absences: M. Hyde, A. Marden, J. Dekkers
Guests: 8 Guests attended this meeting
Meeting called to order:  3:15 pm  
Minutes:  Minutes from May, 2017 were reviewed, suggested change was to add “academic” to the title of VPC and approved unanimously with aforementioned correction.

Welcome:
J. Boulay welcomed Senators, Guests and BCC President Douglas. 

President Douglas Announcements:

·         At this time, college is seeking to hire new Executive Director of Human Resources

·         President Douglas has identified her 2017 – 2018 goals for the college and shared with the Board of Trustees

·         President Douglas will prioritize the goals for the next Board of Trustees meeting scheduled for October and will then share with the BCC community

·         Identified goals include, but not limited to:  Support teaching and learning; Define shared governance and transparency in such a manner that will facilitate agreement when we have attained that goal; Information sharing and closing the feedback loop

·         BCC has a robust strategic plan. Need is to align strategic Goals with our identified strategic plan

Update on Senate Strategic Goals: These Strategic Goals were unanimously approved.

1.      Student Retention and Success

·         Monitor implementation of recommendations from the Retention Summit

·         Work with College Communications providing input on website design and campus event calendar

·         Work with Outcomes Assessment Fellow, convene a faculty team to create institutional assessment plan of student learning outcomes

·         Work with Academic VPC for input with course cancellation policy and the financial purge

2.      Professional Development and Recognition of Employees

·         Propose greater transparency in the recognition and leadership development of employees of BCC

·         Work toward getting the programs available listed on the BCC website

·         Encourage the publishing of names of employees that have won awards and the reason(s) they have received that particular award

·         Encourage BCC to consider including faculty bios in web redesign

3.      Senate Sustainability 

·         Develop a marketing plan to increase interest and attendance at future Senate meetings

·         Develop ad-hoc Census Committee charge with completing census to occur in 2017 – 2018 academic year

·         Revision of Senate by-laws to meet needs of grooming Senate Leadership

·         Develop the use of technology to meet needs of Senators and constituents on other campuses.

Upcoming PACE (Personal Assessment of the College Environment) Study

·         To occur November 2017

·         Divided into 4 climate factors:  Institutional structure; Supervisory relationships; Teamwork; Student Focus

Academic VPC meeting updates

·         The Financial Purge

o   The challenge this year was the FASFA change.  Need to submit tax documents

o   One strategy for improving; advertising to students to fill out paperwork early for financial aid

o   Senators who would like to have input on this topic should contact Kelli Hiller (faculty liaison to academic VPC) through Microsoft Teams)

·         The Bristol Weekly

o   All campus events will be through BCC Weekly (name change from Bristol Buzz)

o   Looking at possibility of discontinuing the use of @ everybody in BCC email

o   AVPC also looking for feedback on the Bristol Weekly.  Again, contact Kelli Hiller through Microsoft Teams

·         Cancellation of Classes

o   For Spring 2018, BCC will NOT populate those courses that did not running Spring 2017

o   BCC looking to decrease the number of courses by 10%

o   Those classes that will not run are ultimately the decision of the Dean of each Division

o   Senate concerns are that classes necessary for the completion of a degree may be cut

·         Late Grade Policy

o   Some faculty are not submitting their final course grades in a timely manner

o   Questioning the possibility to take punitive actions
(i.e. a letter will be placed in faculty file)

Text Books:

·         Concerns regarding text book orders continue

·         Senate would like to create a text book task force

·         More discussion and information to follow

 By Law Revisions:  Tabled until 10/10 meeting
Senate must vote on by-law revisions in Fall 2017.  Vote scheduled for 11/20/2017.  Revisions may include following areas:

·         Sustainability of the Senate and grooming future leaders of the Senate

·         Changing document language that appears unclear. 

·         Send ideas for potential changes/amendments to Senate Secretary, Lisa Delano-Botelho.

Meeting Adjourned: 4:15 pm
Respectfully Submitted:  Lisa Delano-Botelho, BCC Faculty & Professional Staff Senate Secretary

Senate Strategic Goals (AY 2017-18)

SENATE STRATEGIC GOALS (AY 2017-18)

Mission The name of the organization is the Bristol Community College Faculty and Professional Staff Senate.  Its purpose will be to provide a deliberative body designed to promote shared governance, transparency, collegiality, and mutual trust among faculty and staff and administration.  Further, the Faculty and Professional Staff Senate will provide a forum to enhance academic values and opportunities.

Vision: The Senate will be committed to academic improvement, sustainability, and collaboration. Its work will be connected to the college’s mission and this entity will be fully integrated in academic decision-making and shared governance.

1.       Student Retention and Success

a.       Monitor the implementation of recommendations from the Retention Summit (e.g., process for implementation, timeline and goals, assessment)

b.      Work with College Communications to provide input on the website redesign and campus event calendar

c.       Working with the Outcomes Assessment Fellow, convene a faculty team to create an institutional assessment plan of student learning outcomes

d.      Work with the academic Vice Presidents Council (VPC), and VPC representative to provide input in the course cancellation policy and financial purge.

Responsibility: President and Vice President                       Report: Monthly

2.       Professional Development and Recognition of Employees

a.       Propose greater transparency in the recognition and leadership development of employees

                                                   i.      List leadership programs the college participates in on the website along with criteria, application process, and awardees (e.g., Leadership Southcoast, CCLA, CONNECT Key Talent Leadership, Chair Academy)

                                                 ii.      Publish names of employee award recipients and reason they received award (e.g., Silver Shield, Sceptre and Scroll, NISOD, Pride and Performance, presidential fellowship, sabbaticals)

                                                iii.      Include faculty bios as part of the website redesign

b.      Explore internal opportunities such as mentoring or other opportunities to prepare internal leaders to advance

c.       Propose the Senate’s input on classroom-based strategies for All Academic meetings

Responsibility: President and Vice President               Report: November, February, May

3.       Senate Sustainability

a.       Develop marketing plan for the Senate to increase awareness (e.g., blog, other communication, Senate social, listening sessions)

b.      Establish an ad-hoc Census Committee to construct a census for the next Senate election and provide recommendations

c.       Revise bylaws to provide for better succession planning and internal leadership development

d.      Explore technology for meetings to better include other campuses

Responsibility: President and Secretary             Report: October, January, March, April

Minutes of Thursday, August 31, 2017

Bristol Community College
Faculty & Professional Staff Senate Meeting
Minutes of Thursday, August 31, 2017
Room H 129  3:30 pm

Senators in attendance:   C. Almeida, M. Geary,  R. Rebelo, L. Delano-Botelho, R.  Weisberger, J. Bjornson, P. Robillard, G. Hamel, K. Hiller,  K. Plante,  S. Alves, D. Avedikian, R. Rak, K. Fassbender, D. Behuniak,  J. Boulay, J. Emond, J. Barry, J. Corven

Absences: M. Roberts, J. Dekkers-Mitchell, J. Corven, M. Sipala, K. Woldegiorgis, A. Marden, D. Quenga

Excused Absences: M. Hyde, J. Jodoin, L. Neubert

Guests: 11 guests attended this meeting. 

Meeting called to order:  3:40 pm   ****Note:  The meeting started tardily as many Department Meetings ran late

Minutes:  Minutes from May, 2017 were reviewed and approved unanimously.

Welcome:
President Boulay welcomed the new and returning Senators.  Introduced the new Executive Board.

Update on Strategic Goals:
Discussed the outcome of the Senate Retreat.  Draft of the strategic goals identified at the retreat are available online for Senators to review.  Asked that Senate members review and vote on the goals at the next Senate meeting that is scheduled for 9/18.
Discussed the importance of working toward closing the loop and need to define shared governance in the Senate.

New Senator Orientation:
President Boulay will reach out to the new Senators regarding a “New Senator Orientation”. 

·         Help newly elected Senators to become familiar with the Senate Process.

By Law Revisions: 
Several by-law amendments are being considered:

·         Sustainability of the Senate and grooming future leaders of the Senate;

·         Committees will need to be created in order to best address changes;

·         Changing any language that appears unclear. 

·         Senators were asked to review by-laws. 

·         Send ideas for potential changes/amendments to Senate Secretary, Lisa Delano-Botelho.             

·         Vote on changes to occur on 10/23/2017.

Vice President’s Council: 
Vice President Hiller is new Faculty representative to the academic VPC and has begun attending meetings.  She has invited the Senators to Microsoft Team in order to share information from those meetings.  In addition, Kelli will continue to provide updates at regularly scheduled Senate meetings. Discussed progress of VPC retreat:

·         Topics included class cancellation criteria,

·         Spring 2018 schedule

·         Criteria for pro-rated classes to run.   

 
College Website:
BCC currently in process of developing a more student/user friendly website.  Several Senators attended an informational meeting over the summer.  Shared following info from that meeting:        

·         Goal is to have the website running by the end of the 2017 calendar year;

·         BCC  to consider audience and use the website as a marketing tool;

·         Internal audience will be directed to intranet.

·         Senate would like to schedule a time for group to attend Senate meeting and share progress on the project.

Transition Team to the new President:
Discussed the progress that has occurred over the summer (meetings held on 6/28, 7/19, 8/1, and 8/15) with the transition team to the new College President.  Items that have developed from these meetings include: 

·         BCC CONNECT tour;

·         Key goals and objectives;

·         Spirit Day;

·         Welcome Week;

·         College Climate Survey

·         Need for more professional development at both opening day and adjunct faculty day. 

Jenn Boulay met with President Douglas separately over summer months representing the Senate.  Reports that she informed President Douglas of the results from Senate retreat, discussed campus culture, lack of policies, and expressed concern over the lack of Senate representation on the Transition team.


Retention Summit:
The group met and has created an action plan.  This was shared with group, the academic VPC and President Douglas.   

Identified 9 focus areas for the college: 

·         Academic advising;

·         Access to student services;

·         Communication strategies;

·         Cost of attendance;

·         Course scheduling;

·         Curriculum and pedagogy;

·         Enrollment and registration processes;

·         First Year Experiences;

·         Meeting basic needs of our students.

The recommendations made are as follows:

·         Identify structure for oversight, implementation and assessment

·         Ensure key stakeholders are involved

·         Prioritize plan based on college goals

·         Identify key goals, outcomes, party responsibility and timeline for implementation

·         Regularly communicate with college community

  

Meeting Adjourned:  4:00 pm  (Followed by a wine and cheese social)
Respectfully submitted, Lisa Delano-Botelho, BCC Faculty & Professional Staff Secretary