On December 14th, CCA convened representatives from its Alliance teams and various institutional and organizational leaders in the region. In addition to a panel of experts that addressed key topics in the region, CCA held breakout sessions where attendees had an opportunity to identify higher education priorities to address COVID-19, economic downturn, and inequitable outcomes for our students. The event was co-facilitated with our colleagues from CollaborativeLabs.
Prioritized Areas of Focus, within College Completion, for the Alliance & Region
- Culturally responsive practices – we tend to miss what is playing out for our students (variables for positive outcomes for students) – family issues, etc. We no longer need to see students as one-dimensional, but holistically. Include Building Capacity and continuous learning! Changing the culture.
- We need to communicate not just the value of higher education, but how higher ed supports community development in our rural communities. There’s fear in rural communities that students who have higher education will leave.
Additional Areas of Focus for the Alliance & Region
- How do we address issues of socioeconomic status and underserved minorities that have been disproportionately exacerbated in the pandemic?
- Simplify the degrees of complexity for student to succeed in higher education
- Mental health and behavioral health (access, affordability, stigma)
- We need more money. There needs to be a strong advocacy case that yes, it’s important to balance your books, but you don’t want to not fund something essential (referring to cuts in higher ed). Cuts have had to be absorbed by tuition and fees which puts more and more pressures on our students and
- Make it clear to policy makers that without the pool of higher educated talent then the industry will leave. It’s a whole community aspect. If the workforce isn’t there, industry wont move in either.
- Underrepresented students in rural areas don’t have reliable connectivity. In the post-COVID world, colleges will continue to utilize remote means to a great extent for teaching and learning. If we don’t improve connectivity these students will be left behind. A big thanks to CCA.
- Funding targeted priorities – how to serve students with higher needs for $ for student success
- How slow higher ed is to respond. We cannot afford to not be more adaptable and innovative to serve our students or we will become obsolete. Does not mean we should lessen rigor! We have to give “grace” and allow our faculty to be imperfect…not something higher ed is accustomed to. Team 3
- Focus on student equity
- The way to solve enrollment is retention.
- The message of the connection between higher ed and society needs to be communicated to students in terms of value of completion, to communities, and all the way up to policy makers.
- Focus on traditionally marginalized students & the impact on their coursework
- Finding, enrolling, and supporting students who took a year or more off from higher Ed during the pandemic
- Address students needs from a holistic perspective
- No more deficit model
- Creating a progressive attitude
- Transfer, Equity, Online, Culture responsive
- The initiatives we have in place are addressing issues that have become increasingly exacerbated, so our initiatives need to be accelerated in response.
- Students in the early years of their college education are particularly vulnerable. They don’t have the same support structures in place of faculty and student relationships. We need to double down on supporting what’s happening with students in the second semester of their first year, into their
- Address academic preparedness, especially in Math & English, of high school students coming from remote environment, gap years, etc.
- Internet access
