By Hana Lahr, Davis Jenkins, and Serena C. Klempin
For several years, our team at CCRC has been making the case that community colleges could have a big impact on student persistence by reimagining students’ first year using a framework we call Ask-Connect-Inspire-Plan (ACIP). In presentations, workshops, and our online guided pathways institutes, we encourage colleges to use ACIP to rethink how to onboard students not just into the college but also into a program of study aligned with their interests, strengths, and aspirations. We argue that many community college students who leave during their first year do so because they do not feel they are on a path to a credential that will enable them to get a good job or transfer in a field of interest.
In our forthcoming book, More Essential Than Ever: Community College Pathways to Educational and Career Success, we provide lessons from research on colleges that have implemented the ACIP framework as part of broader guided pathways reforms. We describe examples that come from different contexts and include case studies of colleges. We also discuss the importance of program recruitment as part of the program onboarding process.
Before colleges can start to reimagine program onboarding as part of the second pillar of guided pathways—helping students choose and enter a path—they must embrace a new way of thinking about its purpose: from a process focused on onboarding students into the college generally and acquainting them with policies and procedures, to one that onboards students into programs by helping them explore interests and program options, choose an initial direction, and develop a customized educational plan to meet their goals.
This initial exploration process is crucial because we know that many students are unsure about what they want to pursue when they first come to college or unaware of all the available programs and associated careers; they may also be considering multiple directions or programs. Because research suggests that this exploration process ought to play out over time, ACIP frames onboarding as extending through students’ first year. As they learn about different programs of study and careers, students may change their minds about their goals and may want to switch to different programs. The goal of ACIP is not for students to pick a program and stick with it; rather, we encourage colleges to develop strategies for helping students to make an initial choice and then to continue learning and exploring throughout their first year.
Ask: Colleges engage every student in ongoing conversations about their interests, strengths, aspirations, and life circumstances to help them explore programs and career paths aligned with their goals.
Connect: Colleges and academic departments organize opportunities for every student to meet with faculty, students, alumni, and employers in fields of interest and to access college and community resources that can support their needs.
Inspire: Every student takes at least one well-taught college-level course on a topic that interests them during their first term.
Plan: Every student receives help developing a full-program educational plan that shows a path to their goals.
Our experience with colleges implementing ACIP suggests that colleges often make changes that reflect the principles of Ask, Connect, and Inspire but have trouble getting to Plan. Our research on the effects of guided pathways highlights the importance of colleges helping students develop a full-program plan that is then used to schedule students’ classes and monitor progress. Educational plans are motivating because they show students a path and a timeline for achieving their goals. Moreover, educational plans ensure that advisors can better follow students’ progress and intervene when necessary, and plans can help colleges make course schedules that are based on the courses students need when they need them. These uses of educational plans are critical for ensuring students can complete their program on their timeline. However, it’s nearly impossible to make these educational plans (the “P” in ACIP) without first learning about students’ educational and career goals and outside-of-college responsibilities. As it stands, many community college students never discuss with an advisor what courses they need to take or develop a timeline for completing their program. In our new book, we provide several examples of how colleges are helping students make full-program educational plans.
In the book, we also extend the ACIP framework to include recruitment in the program onboarding experience. Many students apply to community colleges but never enroll, while many leave within the first few weeks of the term. The rationale for including recruitment in onboarding is simple: Students are more likely to enroll if they see a clear, affordable path to a career. And if they are unclear about their goals, they will be more likely to apply and enroll if they are helped to learn about different options and connect with people at the college—such as faculty—who can help them learn more. The recruitment process can be where the asking and connecting start. Questions such as “What brought you to our college?”, “What are your long-term goals?”, and “What are some fields you might be interested in exploring?” can launch a more meaningful conversation between college staff and prospective students than questions such as “What is your major?” or “Are you a transfer or workforce student?”
While students’ plans and programs may change, a program recruitment and onboarding process informed by the ACIP framework ensures that every student receives the guidance and support to help make a plan, as well as the follow-up throughout their first year that provides help should students change their mind.
Students come to college with hopes and ambitions, and community colleges across the country are reimagining a more purposeful program-based recruitment and onboarding process that taps into that motivation by engaging students before they even apply and helping them develop a plan for meeting their goals. In More Essential Than Ever, we provide research-based guidance for rethinking onboarding with the Ask-Connect-Inspire-Plan framework, and we provide examples and case studies of colleges in different contexts that are scaling this work.
Funding for this book was provided by Ascendium Education Group.
