'Excellence Award' Honors Two Innovative Community Colleges; City College of San Francisco and Community College of Denver Recognized for Serving Low-Income, Minority, and Immigrant Youth and Adults

4/25/2004

From: Carmon Cunningham of Jobs for the Future, 617-728-4446 or ccunningham@jff.org; Web: http://www.jff.org

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn., April 25 -- City College of San Francisco and Community College of Denver are the winners of the 2004 MetLife Foundation Community College Excellence Award. The winners were announced in Minneapolis on April 25 at the 2004 annual convention of the American Association of Community Colleges.

(For a detailed description of the MetLife Community College Excellence Award and the 2004 winners, go to:

http://www.jff.org/jff/approaches/youthtrans/showcase/CCExcellence.html )

The MetLife Foundation Community College Excellence Award honors excellence in promoting educational and economic advancement for young people and adults who do not traditionally have access to higher education. Each finalist combines determined leadership, innovative programming, and attention to outcomes throughout the college, leading to clear improvements in meeting the varied learning needs of low-income, first- generation, immigrant, and working students.

City College of San Francisco and Community College of Denver will each receive $30,000 in recognition of their accomplishments in three areas:

-- Innovation: They have implemented new and creative practices, programs, and strategies that help low-skill and low- income students succeed in college.

-- Institution-wide commitment: The colleges pursue a coherent, well-planned approach to change across the institution, rather than managing a collection of disconnected innovations.

-- Improved outcomes: The colleges have documented improvement, based on careful assessments of which strategies and innovations improve access to, retention in, and completion of college programs for students from traditionally underserved populations.

"City College of San Francisco and Community College of Denver represent remarkable assets to their communities and to the students who significantly benefit from their classes, programs, and services," commented Marlene B. Seltzer, president of Jobs for the Future, which administers the award for MetLife Foundation. "Their efforts are no less than heroic-the product of strong leadership, a clear mission and purpose, and dedication and the creativity of hundreds of faculty, staff, and community partners."

"Education is the gateway to good jobs and careers-the dividing line between economic opportunity and frustrated dreams. Our nation's community colleges play an important role in helping individuals of all backgrounds to advance educationally and economically," noted MetLife Foundation president and CEO Sibyl Jacobson. "MetLife Foundation created the Community College Excellence Award to recognize institutions that are reaching less-advantaged youth and adults in innovative ways by supporting them in their educational and career goals."

The MetLife Foundation Community College Excellence Award brings national attention to community colleges and the important role they play in providing educational access and opportunity to students of all backgrounds. Through the award, MetLife Foundation accelerates the diffusion of effective practices and policies by highlighting institutions that are improving the education of underserved students.

Community College of Denver serves more than 13,000 full-time and part-time students on its main and branch campuses. Recognized nationally for its success at narrowing a serious attainment gap, it is Colorado's most ethnically and racially diverse higher education institution, with 58 percent minority enrollment, primarily Hispanic and African-American.

In 1990, the Community College of Denver set out to eliminate gaps in outcomes between students of color and their white peers. Since then, CCD has consistently improved recruitment and outreach, developmental education, advising, and student support services targeted to first-generation college-goers and students who arrive under-prepared to succeed in college. As a result, the college raised the graduation rate for students of color from 20 percent in 1987 to 50 percent in 2002. To document progress and to identify persistent gaps, CCD carefully tracks retention, persistence, and completion rates according to program, race and ethnicity, income, and first-generation college-going status.

City College of San Francisco enrolls over 106,000 students at its Ocean campus, nine neighborhood campuses, and over 150 other sites. About half of the new students in degree and certificate programs are first-generation college-goers, and the student body reflects San Francisco's diversity. CCSF's commitment to serving its incredibly diverse community is evident across its credit programs and the non-credit, pre-college programs that make up a large proportion of academic offerings.

CCSF is noted for its sophisticated education programs for serving the city's immigrants. At one end of the spectrum, about 40 percent of new students take the English as a Second Language (ESL) placement test. ESL is the largest department, serving as many as 25,000 students a year. CCSF offers ESL citizenship classes, with about 90 percent of these students passing their naturalization exams. At the other end of the spectrum, vocational and ESL programs help doctors, engineers, nurses, and other foreign-born professionals improve their English, gain valid credentials, and find employment in their fields. In between, diverse programs serve students with different language needs and educational goals.

Five other community colleges were honored as finalists for the MetLife Foundation Community College Excellence Award: Albuquerque Technical Vocational Institute (Albuquerque, New Mexico), Bunker Hill Community College (Boston, Massachusetts), San Jacinto College North (Houston, Texas), San Juan College (Farmington, New Mexico), and Tallahassee Community College (Tallahassee, Florida).

MetLife Foundation, established in 1976 by MetLife, supports health, education, civic, and cultural programs throughout the United States. The Foundation has contributed more than $90 million to education programs that facilitate change and cultivate effective learning environments at school and at home. For more information about the Foundation, please visit the Web site at http://www.metlife.org.

Founded in 1983, Jobs for the Future is a leading innovator in strategies to accelerate education and career advancement for both young people and adults. Jobs for the Future provides research, consulting, and technical assistance on education and workforce development issues to public and private organizations throughout the United States and abroad. For more information on JFF, please visit the Web site at http://www.jff.org.

Profiles of City College of San Francisco and Community College of Denver, the winners of the 2004 MetLife Foundation Community College Excellence Award, follow:

For a detailed description of the MetLife Community College Excellence Award and the 2004 winners, go to:

http://www.jff.org/jff/approaches/youthtrans/showcase/CCExcellence.html

-- City College of San Francisco

Winner of the 2004 MetLife Foundation Community College Excellence Award

Over 106,000 students take credit and non-credit courses at City College of San Francisco's Ocean campus, nine neighborhood campuses, and over 150 other sites. Although CCSF is huge, its leaders have charted a clear direction for the institution through strategic planning that guides program development, improvement priorities, and budget decisions. The college collects data on program performance and student outcomes routinely and makes this information available to college faculty, staff, and others through a versatile Web-based Decision Support System. In 2003, the college completed a five-year strategic plan, identifying eight priorities that guide the college. Annual reports on key performance indicators drive changes in instructional practice, student support services, and resource allocation.

The CCSF student body reflects San Francisco's diversity. About 40 percent of new students take the English as a Second Language (ESL) placement test, and ESL is the largest department, serving as many as 25,000 students a year. About half of the new students in degree and certificate programs are first-generation college-goers; 75 percent require at least one pre-collegiate developmental education course.

CCSF has developed a sophisticated and varied education program to serve the city's immigrants. At one end of the spectrum, the college provides ESL citizenship classes: 90 percent of students pass their naturalization exam. At the other end, vocational and ESL programs help doctors, dentists, engineers, nurses, and other foreign-born professionals to improve their English, gain valid credentials, and find employment in their fields. In between, diverse programs serve students with different language needs and educational goals. Innovative Vocational ESL programs-established with local community and business partners in hospitality, health care, child care, construction, food service, and other growth industries-enable students to move quickly into employment and, potentially, move up. Near the Mission campus, predominantly Hispanic day laborers who do not get work on a given day can go to literacy classes that the college holds in a trailer- classroom.

The results of CCSF's approach to ESL and immigrant education are impressive. The proportion of immigrant students among Associate's degree-earners has risen steadily, reaching 49 percent in 2001. The number of ESL students who transfer to four- year institutions has increased 63 percent in five years.

Other CCSF innovations have improved student retention. The college reorganized its counseling department into separate groups tailored to new students, continuing students, and those who signal their intention to transfer when they enroll. A tutoring center served 12,000 students for an average of 12 hours each in fall 2003. An Early Alert system for new ESL students having trouble in developmental courses has doubled course completion rates in classes where it is in place. CCSF offers classes in evenings and on weekends, with times and locations across the city customized to meet the needs of particular groups of job seekers and students.

While state funding has declined steadily over the past four years, enrollments have risen. Despite these pressures, the college is making steady progress on many of its key performance benchmarks. Student success in credit courses is rising, as is completion of vocational courses and occupational certificates. CCSF's transfer rate places it among the top community colleges in California: about 1,200 students a year advance to four-year colleges, a number that is steadily rising.

CCSF has channeled its remarkable entrepreneurial energy by using data to assess progress and identify service gaps and by soliciting input from community leaders and residents. Its commitment to improvement and to serving an incredibly diverse community is evident across both the credit programs and the non- credit, pre-college programs that make up a large proportion of CCSF offerings.

-- Community College of Denver

Winner of the 2004 MetLife Foundation Community College Excellence Award

Community College of Denver serves more than 13,000 full- and part-time students on its main and branch campuses. It is the most ethnically and racially diverse higher education institution in Colorado, with 58 percent minority enrollment, primarily Hispanic and African-American. More than 60 percent of CCD students are first-generation college-goers.

CCD is recognized nationally for its efforts to address a serious attainment gap between white and minority students. In 1990, college leaders made a commitment to eliminating variances in persistence and degree completion. As a result of changes in student advising, developmental education and student support services, the percentage of graduates from minority groups soared from 20 percent in 1987 to 50 percent in 2002.

Self-reflection and continuous improvement, based on performance data, are built into the fabric of the college. A cross-functional, collegewide team meets monthly to identify barriers to student success and recommend solutions to the president and her Executive Staff. CCD also uses faculty action research to identify weaknesses, assess options and set priorities for improving practice.

CCD aggressively has pursued expansion in recent years, determined to increase its visibility and impact. Despite a nearly 30 percent budget cut since 2001, CCD enrollment climbed 20 percent in 2002-03.

The cornerstone of CCD's achievements is the integration of instructional innovation with case management and support services. All incoming students take the Accuplacer? assessment. Assessment ensures that students start at the level for which they are prepared. For "gatekeeper" classes that present serious barriers to success in degree programs, the college introduced learning communities that provide underprepared students with extra academic support. Case management, pioneered in the college's branch campuses, First Generation Student Success, and other support programs targeted to low-income, first-generation students have been expanded college-wide. All students are assigned an academic advisor at admission, with many low-income and minority students receiving additional, targeted advising.

These and other supports make a difference. For example, retention in gatekeeper biology classes is 87 percent. The completion rate in developmental education programs, enrolling 44 percent of CCD students at any given time, is 70 percent. About three-fourths of developmental education students earn a C or better in college-level English composition and algebra courses. Degree and certificate completion rose 14 percent from 2002 to 2003, and students who advance to four-year colleges from CCD perform better than those who enter those schools as freshmen.

CCD has a long history of innovative partnerships with local industry and governments. Examples include: an online LPN-to-RN Health Academy, a short-duration skills development program that has placed more than 250 low-income individuals in jobs with high retention rates, and a dislocated worker program that has trained hundreds of older students in certificate or degree programs.

CCD recently made an institutional commitment to expand its services to two important groups: out-of-school youth and students in Denver high schools. CCD has one of Colorado's largest GED instructional programs, enrolling around 1,800 students who earned a GED from a variety of providers. New short- term training programs for out-of-school youth are giving 17- to 21-year-old dropouts their first taste of college courses, college credits and college success.

CCD has determined that improving the academic readiness of prospective students can reduce the need for remediation. It now recruits high school students for, and supports them in, dual enrollment CCD classes. It also helped to create Colorado's first two early college high schools/middle colleges, and the Denver Public Schools' Summer@CCD program has brought 200 high school students to campus to take college-credit courses alongside older students. A pilot initiative provides individualized learning, mentoring and support for high school students who might otherwise not be ready to succeed in college.