STANDARD 9: STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES
Standard for Accreditation
The institution provides
student support services reasonably necessary to enable each student to achieve
the institution’s goals for students.
Introduction
In the context of its mission, an institution of higher education helps promote student success by providing an array of services designed to support learning and meet the unique needs of its student body. To assist students in achieving educational goals, the services offered should be appropriate to student needs, flexible in nature and comparable across the institution.
The College offers
a wide range of student support services and attempts to provide an appropriate
program of student support services that promote the development of a diverse student
population and are an integral part of the educational process, strengthening
student learning outcomes. This Self
Study focused on a number of student services under the umbrellas of Enrollment
Management, which covers those services that affect a student’s first contact
with the College through the first day of class (Recruitment, Admissions,
Financial Aid, Orientation, Assessment Center and Retention) and Student Life
Services, those that affect students along the continuum from entrance to the
College through their academic stay at the institution (Counseling, Advising,
Athletics, Co-curricular Activities and Health Services). Additional services with potential impact on
student success include Records and Registration,
Administrative
responsibility for these areas falls in the domain of three different vice
presidents. The Vice President for
Student Affairs is responsible for Recruitment, Admissions, Records and
Registration, Financial Aid, Orientation, Retention, Counseling, Co-curricular
Activities, the Health and
As described earlier,
the
The student body
is primarily part-time and increasingly diverse. Females outnumber males and the median age is
27 years. Sixty-four percent of students
are enrolled in transfer or General Education programs, 17% in career programs
and 19% in non-credit, continuing education coursework (Statistical Compendium). While
the College’s enrollment affirms the importance of its role in the community,
such numbers present a significant challenge to providing to each student
services consistent with the College’s
Methodology
The charge to the Committee studying Student Support Services focused on three main issues: whether the services provided by two key units, Enrollment Management and Student Life, are comprehensive, integrated and designed to meet the needs of the diverse student body served by the College; whether the institution protects student rights; and if assessment results of various activities in the student services areas are used to strengthen student success.
Under the
umbrellas of Enrollment Management and Student Life, the Committee identified
nineteen areas as having the greatest impact on a student’s ability to be
successful at the College. Individually,
the nineteen services were examined from multiple student perspectives:
traditional day, evening/weekend, distance education,
To inform its
study, the Committee interviewed each service area’s Director, the Dean of
Student Systems, the Academic Affairs Deans, the Vice President for Student
Affairs, and the Regional Center Directors. Further, the Committee consulted numerous
College documents including the 1996 and 1999 Noel-Levitz Student Satisfaction Inventory, the 2003 Middle States Current Student Survey, the 1993 Middle States
Institutional Self Study and 1999 Periodic Review Report, the College’s 2000-2004 Strategic Plan, Cabinet
Retreat: Major Issues (2001) and numerous Institutional Reports related to student outcomes. Additional resources used in the study of
student rights and protections included the College Catalog and the Student
Handbook.
Strengths
In order to meet the needs of
its student population, the College offers a wide range of support
services. In the past ten years, the
College has attempted to improve student support services by changing the
physical layout, increasing space, and training personnel. The College is in the process of installing
the new student system (SCT Banner) which is expected to improve student
support services. Students have reported
in institutional surveys that they are generally satisfied with most of the
student support services provided to assist them in meeting their educational
goals (see Graduate Surveys Results, 2003 Middle States Current Student Survey,
surveys of former students, and IR Report #110).
Enrollment Management and Student Life Services
One of the measures used
for this evaluation was the 2003
Middle States Current Student Survey. An overall analysis of responses was undertaken
as well as separate analysis for student groups defined by full-time/part-time, day/evening,
freshmen/sophomore, and Main Campus/Regional Center status (see IR Reports #130D
through #130G). Students rated all
the aspects of Enrollment
Management and Student Life service areas
above 80% when the Very Satisfied/Satisfied categories were combined (with the
notable exception of Financial Aid). The
Library and Learning Labs were ranked in the 95.5 % range when these two
categories were combined, which speaks well of the level of support services
provided by the College in critical academic areas. These findings are consistent with surveys of
graduates and former students who
have given high marks to most student support services they have used while a
student at the College.
Throughout the student
services areas there are historically well-functioning areas or services where
relatively recent and considerable progress has been achieved. In addition, the College has succeeded in
designing and implementing processes to meet the needs of some student
sub-populations such as international students and students with disabilities.
The College awards a substantial amount of financial
aid, processing more than 20,000 applications every year. Approximately 66 percent of full time and 49
percent of all students receive some type of financial aid. In addition to administering federal and
state financial aid programs, the College offers
an award and scholarship program for students enrolled at the College or for
use by College students upon transfer.
The College’s Academic
Advising Office provides services which are comprehensive, appropriate and
available. In keeping with the current
research linking student success and retention to good academic advising, all
students are provided an advisor based on their selected curriculum or assigned
program when they are admitted to the College.
Students are permitted to enroll for classes by multiple venues: the College
Connection (touch tone phone linked to Admissions
personnel), through computer terminals (STARR system), mail, fax, in person at
the registration counter (all linked to Records and Registration), and in
person through Academic Advising (walk-ins and appointments). Student
satisfaction ratings related to the services of the Academic Advising
Office range from over 90%, (when the Satisfied and Very Satisfied categories
are combined) on the 2003 Middle States Current Student Survey, to 81% on the 2002 Graduate Survey, and 69% on the surveys of former
students.
Policies designed
to protect students’ rights, to initiate grievances and to have their privacy
protected are documented in the Student Handbook, the College Catalog and through policy statements
available through the EEO/AA Office and the Office of the Dean of Student Life. The Student
Handbook is available at the Student Affairs Office and it is disseminated
at new student orientation sessions and within academic support programs such
as the College Achievement Partnership, Act Now, Collaborative Learning Community
(CLC), English as a Second Language (ESL), and TRIO Student Support Services. The College Catalog is available at all
student service areas and most offices across all campuses and on the College’s
website. While the EEO/AA office itself
is located on Main Campus, its policies are widely disseminated and also
available on the College’s website.
The College Board of Trustees adopted principles that guide the policies and procedures relating to the rights and responsibilities of students including: Freedom of Access to Higher Education, Freedom in the Classroom, Freedom of Inquiry and Expression, Freedom of Association, and Right to Due Process. An addendum to the Affirmative Action statement asserts the right of employees and students to work and study in an environment free from all forms of discrimination and harassment. Lastly, a statement of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act’s (FERPA) provisions, which seek to protect the privacy of educational records, permit review of records, and within guidelines, make corrections to errors, can be found in the College Catalog.
The College’s Sexual
Harassment Policy and clear procedures for addressing violations are outlined
in the Student Handbook; no comparable procedural guideline exists in that
document for Affirmative Action grievances, though detailed EEO/AA Complaint
Policy and Sexual Harassment Policy statements are available in the Affirmative
Action Office of the College and on the College’s website (College Policies
& Procedures: EEO/AA Policies).
Many procedures are
in place for protecting student confidentiality.
There are four crucial areas where students’ rights to confidentiality
must be most rigorously protected: Division of Student Systems, Center on
Disability, Office of Information Technology Services, and Health and
The process by which a student files an academic complaint or an appeal is outlined in the Student Handbook. Students may initiate action at various offices in the College. Some complaints, such as those related to safety or harassment, may be filed first in the Office of Security. Any security report involving a student is reported to the Dean of Student Life, while any incident which includes a charge of discrimination or sexual harassment is additionally reported to the EEO/AA Office.
Concerns
Four overarching deficiencies
in the student support services area were identified: lack of an enrollment
management plan; lack of effective communication,
goal setting and planning between the Academic Affairs and Student Affairs
offices; inconsistent use of assessment data to make decisions and improve
student support services; and difficulties in managing the College’s large and
complex financial aid programs.
While the College has attempted to understand and improve student
services in a variety of ways, a number of student support concerns, such as
enrollment management and financial aid, that were raised in the previous Self
Study have not been addressed adequately (see IR Report #89).
Enrollment Management and Student Life
Services
Each student brings a unique set of needs to the
College. For some students, enrollment
management services flow seamlessly, however this is not true for all. The admissions process to select programs may
appear slow and cumbersome to a student. Limited student support services are available
in the evenings and on weekends.
Transfer students experience difficulty during registration because the
process of transcript evaluation is back-logged. In addition, transfer students may be unaware
of the process for transcript evaluation and, therefore, may experience difficulty
in registering for courses that require prerequisites which they have taken
elsewhere.
Differences exist in student support services between
the
Advising is not confined to one office but is intimately
intertwined with registration and
thus spread across several of the College’s support areas: Academic Advising,
Counseling, the Center on Disability, academic departments and Records and
Registration. Students may be unaware of
the different roles of counselors and advisors in the enrollment management
process. For example, counselors are
responsible for advising and registration of new students while advisors are responsible for advising
continuing students. While the faculty Collective Bargaining Agreement states which students are
required to be advised and registered by a College employee, the remainder,
such as unrestricted continuing students, are permitted to self-advise and
self-register and may or may not seek advice from any resource. These students may or may not be aware of
who their assigned advisor is or even of their curriculum despite being
systematically alerted to the availability of advising each semester. In addition, students are confused when the
College begins registration before their assigned advisor is available for an
appointment or before the date announced in the Catalog. The current self-advising and registration process
makes it possible for students to register for courses which are not part of
their curriculum or for courses that are not consistent with their academic
goals, which could result in undesirable student outcomes.
The Office of Financial Aid
has consistently been identified as an area of concern as documented in the 1993
Middle States Self Study, the 1996 and 1999 Noel-Levitz Student Satisfaction Inventory,
and the 2003 Middle States Current
Student Survey.
Over the last year, two different consultants were utilized to evaluate
this service and some of the recommendations have assisted the staff’s ability
to process financial aid applications in a more timely and efficient
manner. Nevertheless, given the
complexity of financial aid forms and exceedingly heavy volume during the weeks
leading up to the beginning of a semester, this Office frequently finds itself
overwhelmed by the demand placed on its staff.
As a result, long lines, protracted waiting periods, and rising student
frustration prior to each semester still exist on Main Campus, while available
services at the Regional Centers are limited and serve only as an intake
process. In addition, the Office of
Financial Aid has not been in full compliance with external regulations
associated with this area.
Student groups with special
needs are not served well by the current registration process. For example, students who placement-test into
the ABE (Adult Basic Education) level may be invited to the campus along with
those who are college-ready only to be told upon arrival that they cannot
register for college level courses.
Registration by phone has no built-in checks to insure that a student
has satisfied the course prerequisites or has registered for linked sections of
a course. Students in programs such as
Study Abroad or courses with clinical experiences may not be informed that specific
tasks or forms must be completed within a specified time frame. Students registering for the same class for a
third time are not systematically alerted to the academic progress policy and
financial aid implications. The
Financial Aid Office’s slow eligibility approvals and reversal decisions result
in students being added to or removed from class rosters several times over
several weeks. This practice is frustrating
and confusing for both the affected students and their instructors. Registration after the first day of classes
has been a concern since the last Self Study. However, counter to College policy, this
practice continues at the College. All
of these concerns may negatively impact student persistence and learning.
While the College has an expressed commitment to
student success, student persistence continues at relatively low levels. Half
of full-time students return for a subsequent fall semester and only 37% of
part-time students return in a
subsequent fall term (IR Report #120). There is a lack of
clarity about the role of the Office of Orientation and Retention. As it now exists, this Office does not
function in the context of a College-wide coordinated effort to improve student
persistence.
There is also a lack of
clarity about the role and function of the Health and Wellness Office. The Office sponsors health promotion
activities on the Main Campus. When the
Office is closed or when the staff is not available, Security responds to
medical emergencies. When a medical
emergency occurs, the process and procedures for handling the situation are not
always clear.
Although the College has made attempts to promote student
success through enrollment management and student life services, many factors
such as inefficient business practices, inconsistent assessment of the services
provided, ineffective use of limited available space, inadequate technological
support and insufficient resources may inhibit a student’s ability to
experience a seamless transition into and through the institution. A number of these
individual student support service areas attempt to garner some student
feedback in order to assess the quality of their service(s) and make
modifications.
Assessment of student services is not as straightforward as academic program evaluation since the goals of student support services are not as well articulated as program goals. A review of the individual assessment plans of the nineteen support services revealed inconsistent implementation of assessment plans as well as inconsistent use of assessment data for planning and improving student support services. As a result, the College is slow to respond to the needs of emerging or changing student populations. For example, most student support service procedures are designed for the traditional student; many student service problems arise as student populations change and flexible course delivery options are offered.
Since the last Self Study there have been a number of evaluation activities associated with the services provided by the Student Affairs Office. Focus groups of new students were convened to identify institutional barriers encountered by students as they work through the course registration process at the College (see IR Report #89). Another effort to assess student support services included a detailed process assessment of all enrollment activities from point-of-inquiry through the payment process. Representatives from many College offices and departments participated in the discussions that focused on describing current activities, assessing weaknesses, and identifying ways to improve the enrollment process. Additionally, the College participated in the Noel Levitz Student Satisfaction Inventory in both 1996 and 1999 in the hopes of assessing student satisfaction with support services using national benchmarks (IR Report #110).
It is anticipated that with implementation of the new
student management system, SCT Banner,
some of the concerns raised may be alleviated. However, without coordinated and ongoing
assessment of mission effectiveness in support service areas and a commitment
to use the assessment information to effect change, it is unlikely that service
to students will improve.
Students’ Rights and Protections
Most students’ rights are thoroughly addressed and specific avenues of grievance are clearly defined in the Student Handbook and there is reference to an appeals advisor who may assist a student in a grievance procedure. However, it is not made clear how a student may contact such an advisor. Given the importance of this support in the appeals process, the Handbook should clearly identify the office where a student may contact such an advisor.
All information
about student rights, responsibilities and privacy should be available in one
location on the College’s website.
Currently, the Appeals Procedures are embedded in the Student Records
and Regulations and Academic Standards Policies section of the College Policies
and Procedures page of the website, while the Affirmative Action and Sexual
Harassment policies are under the EEO/AA Policies section of the College
Policies and Procedures webpage. The
Right to Privacy and Confidentiality (FERPA) is not currently part of this
policy website.
The College strives to maintain confidential student
information by distributing guidelines for protecting confidential information
to faculty when class lists are distributed during the third week of class. However, it is not clear whether all faculty
members receive these guidelines or follow them. Implementation of the new student data system
(SCT Banner) is expected to
improve handling of confidential student information.
RECOMMENDATIONS
·
Develop and implement a comprehensive enrollment management
plan, including marketing, that
would address the independent and interdependent functions of the entire
student service area and that would have as one of its goals the
development of a coordinated, sustained effort to improve student
retention.
· Strengthen communication and coordination between the offices of Academic Affairs and Student Affairs in order to promote and improve student learning outcomes.
· Ensure that student services are delivered in a high quality, efficient and timely manner and that all services comply with external regulations.
·
Increase the use of technology
to improve services to all students.
·
Develop strategies to
expand services in the evenings, on weekends and at the Regional Centers. In particular, attention should be paid to financial
aid, counseling, and bookstore operations in order to assure adequate student
support services.
·
Redesign the self-advising/self-registration
process in order to ensure that each student receives sound course selection
and career/transfer advice in a timely manner.
Expand opportunities for students to develop a sustained relationship
with an academic advisor.
·
Define the role and
responsibilities of the Office of Orientation and Retention so that this Office
functions in the context of a College-wide, coordinated effort to improve student
persistence.
·
Clarify and strengthen
the role and responsibilities of the Health and
·
Develop and implement a formal process to collect and analyze data concerning the frequency and
outcomes of student complaints. Procedures
should be implemented to track and record patterns and trends of recurring
grievances. The Office for Academic
Affairs should conduct a study of academic grievances to determine if procedures
are consistently applied and timelines are followed.
· Routinely and systematically disseminate to faculty processes and procedures necessary to protect confidentiality.
·
Revise College documents and the website to
assure that all student rights and protections appear in the same location of
the Student Handbook and College Catalog.
In addition, the College should consider designating an ombudsperson to
ensure a more systematic way of addressing grievances, ensuring consistency,
and supporting students in the appeals process.
· Undertake an ongoing assessment of effectiveness of student support service needs and use the results as a basis for resource allocation.
Resource
LIST
A.
Institutional
Research Reports Related to Standard 9:
·
IR Report #89 – Potential Administrative Barriers to
Student Retentions (1/96)
·
IR Report #93 – Beating the Odds: Reasons for At-risk
Student Success at
·
IR Report #105 – Barriers to the Persistence of Students
with Freshman and Sophomore Status (7/99)
·
IR Report #106 – Transfer Outcomes of 1997 Graduates and
Former Students (9/99)
·
IR Report #107 – Career Outcomes of 1997 Graduates and Former
Students (9/99)
·
IR Report #110 – Student Satisfaction with Student
Services, Academic and Campus Climate 1996-1999 (1/00)
·
IR Report #119 – Institutional Effectiveness 2000 – A
College Report Card (1/01)
·
IR Report #120 – Student Attrition at CCP – When Students
Leave, Why They Leave, and Their Academic Success at Departure (6/01)
·
IR Report #125 – Institutional Effectiveness 2001 – A
College Report Card (3/02)
·
IR Report #128 - The Progress of 2001 Graduates of
·
IR Report #129 -Institutional Effectiveness 2002 - A
College Report Card (1/03)
·
IR Report
#130A - Responses to Middle
States Self Study Current Student Questionnaire (4/03)
·
IR Report #130B - Responses to Middle States Self Study
Faculty/Staff Questionnaire (4/03)
·
IR Report #130D
- Responses to
·
IR Report #130E – Responses to
·
IR Report #130F – Responses to
·
IR Report #130G - Responses to
·
IR Report #134 - Transfer Outcomes of 2002 Graduate and
Non-Graduate Former Students (12/03)
·
IR Report #135 - Career Outcomes of 2002 Graduate and
Non-Graduate Former Students (12/03)
B.
Institutional Research
In-Briefs Related to Standard 9:
·
IR In-Brief #90 – West Chester Acceptance Achievement and
Persistence Outcomes Associated with Former CCP Students Who Enrolled at West
Chester University in 1991 and 2001(12/01)
·
IR In-Brief #91 – Acceptance Outcomes of Former CCP
Students Who Applied to
C.
Office of the
President, Mission Statement
D.
Office of the
Vice President for Student Affairs, Student
Handbook for 2002-2003.
E.
Office of the
Vice President for Academic Affairs, Community College of
F.
Office of the
Vice President for Academic Affairs, Community College of
G.
Office of the
Vice President for Planning and Finance, 2000-2004
Strategic Plan, Strategic Principle
#4 (10/02)
H.
Office of the
Vice President for Planning and Finance, Assessment
Plan: An Overview of Efforts to Understand Institutional Effectiveness at the
I.
Office of the
Vice President for Planning and Finance, Campus
Master Plan 2003, Part III – 2003
Master Plan Space Goals
J.
Office of the
President, President’s Cabinet Retreat, 1993
MSA Self Study: Major Issues Somewhat Unresolved (11/01)
K.
Office of
Communications, College Catalog (2003-2004)
L.
Office of
Institutional Research, 1996 and 1999 Noel-Levitz
Student Satisfaction Inventories