Developmental Education & Student Success Conference - February 15-16, 2012

I enjoyed attending this Minnesota State Colleges & Universities conference with my colleagues. Sessions I attended were:
The Scaling of MCTC's First Year Experience Program -- they are using a variety of tools in their course including StrengthsFinder (I was first introduced to this tool in the LUOMA Leadership Academy; it is eye-opening and helpful to know one's strengths), GPS LifePlan, eFolio, along with the book called Step-by-Step by Gardner. It's a 2-credit course at MCTC and all instructors use the same syllabus and textbook for a level of commonality. Forty-five sections were offered this Fall.
Riverland Community College Readiness Program - Pulling the Puzzle Pieces Together introduced me to the Accuplacer Diagnostics and MyFoundation Lab tool...something our group discussed in our wrap-up meetings. There was also good discussion about using the term College Readiness instead of Development Education and the importance of Institutional Culture and it's impact on the success of the program.
Tutors Linked to Classes (TLC) at Century College -- an in-depth Supplemental Instruction program that has had high success. This is also being explored by our college as a support service for our students.
Expanding Academic Support Services - general discussion about tutoring options at North Hennepin Community College.
Center for College Readiness -- I've listened to part of this presentation before (the College ready writing portion) and am fascinated by this work. This is a really a bridge program with high schools (and part of it now goes down to the Junior High level) to help students see what it takes to be ready for college.
Wrap-up was a discussion among similar college types; not necessarily for action, but we learned we have similar issues.
Action items for our college included:
1) Summer Bridge Math
2) Summer Freshman Seminar (and subsequent elimination of current Summer Fast Track program)
3) Tutors in classes
4) GradesFirst - expanding into other tools within the software