3% Discussion — What do you think?

On Monday, August 30th, Vice-President of Instruction, Krista Johns, issued the following email:

“ENROLLMENT PICTURE
“We have received the enrollment statistics across the Peralta district after week one of classes (including Saturday classes). I thought you might want to have these comparisons with last year:

“For Fall 2010, BCC is offering 10% fewer sections than it offered in Fall 2009 (Alameda 17% fewer, Merritt 17% fewer, Laney 13% fewer). Even so, resident (California) full time equivalent student numbers at BCC are down only 2.25% from last year (down 4% at Alameda, up .5% at Merritt, down 7.7% at Laney).

“The average number of students in BCC classes for Fall 2010 is 38 (and we are being funded at a level of 35 average per class at census). In Fall 2009, our starting enrollments were higher, and we ended with a class enrollment average of 38 at census.

“It is important to note that our Student Services offices are operating with 3.5 fewer staff than Fall 2009, representing an 8% reduction in BCC staff.
“To the degree possible, let us each make the effort to provide general BCC information to students when asked, so that our impacted counseling and financial aid (and all other student service) offices can remain available to provide concentrated services to those students who need them.

“YOU ARE INVITED TO BE A PART OF THE 3% SOLUTION
“With the availability of statistics as recent as last fall, we know that student retention, success, and persistence is an issue we must work on. Of students who started at BCC last fall, only 33% will be with us this semester. BCC will lose 26 out of every 100 students who enroll this semester, and of the students who remain enrolled in a class at census, 19 out of 100 will drop the class, and 64 will end with a passing grade.

“We know there are many reasons why students drop classes or do not succeed. We also know there are a number of students who will stick with their classes, in the face of hardship, because they have formed a relationship with others in the class, they have become involved in some way with the college, or because they feel their instructor is working with them on their path to success. This knowledge underlies the many efforts BCC faculty and staff undertake each semester to facilitate student success.

“May Chen, Vice President of Student Services, and I invite you to be a part of the 3% solution for Fall 2010: with average enrollments of 35 across BCC’s sections, if every instructor kept one additional student in their class over what they did in previous semesters, then retention rates would increase by 3%. If every instructor was able to have one additional student succeed in their class over the number that succeeded in previous semesters, then success rates would increase by 3%. Each of us has a part to play in keeping students at BCC and helping them succeed.

“We would like to invite you to be a part of “the 3% solution.

“If you would like tips and ideas for how to hang on to the one additional student, and how to get one additional student to end your class with a passing grade, then contact Scott Hoshida, coordinator of our Teaching Learning Center. If you would like to know how your administrative office or student services program can be part of the solution, then let Scott Hoshida know. There are online, workshop, and written resources that can be made available to you about success and retention.

“In advance, thank you for giving this information your consideration.”

If you have any comments, don’t hesitate to submit them below. If you would like to contact the Teaching and Learning Center coordinator, Scott Hoshida, please email him at shoshida@peralta.edu.