Sunday, May 30 | 9:30 a.m.-3:00 p.m. | $100 fee

Student Success: Motivating and Engaging Community College Students

Research states that almost half of all community college students are first-time students, and many of them need help acclimating to college culture, engaging in the learning process, and staying motivated despite challenges to their time and stress management skills. This workshop will address the unique needs of first-time students by discussing the barriers to success and by offering best practices for easing this transition. Participants will learn how to devise activities that will engage and motivate students to succeed.

Amy Baldwin, Professional Development Institute Coordinator, Center for Teaching Excellence, Pulaski Technical College (AR); Steve Piscitelli, Professor, Florida State College at Jacksonville; and Robert Sherfield, Professor, College of Southern Nevada

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Sunday, May 30 | 1:00-3:00 p.m. | $50 fee

Developmental Education Initiative—Improving and Accelerating Student Outcomes: Ambitious and Critical Goals

Senior administrators and faculty will learn about expectations of the new Developmental Education Initiative (DEI), funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and gain insights about how colleges are organizing and tackling the challenges to improve student outcomes in developmental education and accelerate achievement.

The session will start with an overview from a national perspective of the current, critical focus on developmental education and goals of the DEI. Data on developmental education will be distributed to help participants better interpret data. Panelists will provide insights from their work with DEI colleges to address the DEI goals, with time for Q&A.

Margaretta Mathis, Associate Director, Achieving the Dream Initiative, The University of Texas at Austin; Mary Kay Kickels, Higher Education Consultant; Emily Lardner, Co-Director, Washington Center for Improving the Quality of Undergraduate Education, Evergreen State College (WA); and Byron McClenney, Project Director, Achieving the Dream, Community College Leadership Program, and Senior Lecturer, Fellow, Community College Leadership Endowment, The University of Texas at Austin (Moderator)

Factors Affecting Student Performance—and How to Influence Them

This session will focus on an examination of all factors affecting student performance, followed by suggestions on what actions might influence them. The content is based on the presenter’s experience in working with faculty in colleges all over North America and from teaching hundreds of graduate students in a course entitled “Design and Evaluation of College Teaching.” This will be a very down-to-earth, thought-provoking session—full of useful ideas.

Jim Hammons, Professor of Higher Education, The University of Arkansas

Creating and Maintaining an Institutional Culture for Successful Online Learners

Online education continues to be the fastest-growing method of delivering higher education. As this growth continues, there are calls for greater accountability as well as a need for fundamentally sound research on student learning outcomes. New technologies are emerging and merging in ways that are challenging even the most technologically astute faculty members. Students are engaging in new behaviors that have the potential to inhibit or enhance educational practices. This seminar will explore the fabric of three highly successful distance learning programs. Topics to be covered include faculty development; curriculum development; learning management systems; student learning outcomes enhancement methods; and student support services, including tutoring, testing, and online help-desks. In addition, discussions will include ideas for incorporating new social media/collaboration tools. Institutional leaders and faculty will share best practices and discuss promising new ideas in distance education.

Jay Box, Chancellor, Kentucky Community and Technical College System; Vernon Smith, Vice President, Teaching and Learning, Rio Salado College (AZ); and Donald Green, Executive Vice President for Instruction and Student Services, Florida State College at Jacksonville (Moderator)

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Enrollment Management in a Competitive Environment: Strategies that Work

As community colleges face less state funding and more competition for students from for-profit, private, and public colleges, strategic enrollment management is embraced as a focal point by many colleges to address the unique challenges facing enrollment managers. Many colleges are being asked to reduce their budgets and, at the same time, increase their enrollment. This interactive session brings a panel of successful enrollment management leaders together to discuss strategies that work. The session will focus both on recruiting and retaining targeted populations, as well as overall enrollment management strategies that have proven to be successful. The panelists will discuss the enrollment management process from inquiry-generation to communication strategies that build rapport with prospective students and influence enrollment decisions, to building and improving systems that impact student success and retention. The focus of the session is to share best practices that will impact enrollment at your college and promote institutional success.

William Serrata, Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management, South Texas College; Theresa Carr, Dean of Enrollment Management, Community College of Baltimore County (MD); Elaine Lang, Director of Enrollment Management, Northwest Vista College (TX); and Bob Paxton, Campus President, National American University (SD) (Moderator)

Learning and the Brain: The Multiple Pathways Model

In this exciting presentation, infused with real brain images and interactive experiences, attendees will understand how learning takes place. Go beyond visual, auditory, and kinesthetic pathways, and learn about additional pathways strongly involved in learning. Acquire strategies for accessing these pathways in order to reach diverse learners.

Janet Zadina, Assistant Professor, Tulane University School of Medicine/University of Southern Florida