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STANDARD 6: STUDENTS

Student services at QVCC include recruitment and enrollment, academic advisement and learning services (including services for students with disabilities), registration and records, career advising and job placement, student activities and co-curricular programming, and financial aid. QVCC follows a systematic advisement and admission model to ensure new and continuing students receive timely and appropriate information and guidance. This model is maintained by the continuing collaboration of the various areas that constitute student services.

Except for Financial Aid (directed by the Dean of Administrative Services), student services continue to operate under the LSD Division, along with the academic portion of the College, under a single dean. Because staffing in the student services area has remained constant while enrollment has increased, teams have been established with staff members cross-trained in different aspects of providing student services, and some positions have been reorganized (as described in Standard 3), to meet staff and student needs. The student services staff and the full-time faculty members, who are contractually obligated to advise students, remain highly student-centered and dedicated to student success.

The building expansion in Danielson (discussed in Standard 8) will have an impact on student services beginning in summer 2006, especially as a new Career Services suite provides students with state of the art equipment and resources for career research and the acquisition of job attainment skills. A new art gallery will provide students with an improved space for viewing work by outside artists, as well as for the display of student art. There will also be new spaces for students to congregate and socialize. The Special Emphasis section discusses specifically how the College has addressed concerns about services for students between the Willimantic and Danielson locations.

Admissions

QVCC continues to provide open admissions to students from Windham County and surrounding communities. Admission and retention policies and procedures are clearly stated in BOT Policy 5.1 and are available to all students and the general public through the College catalog and website. Current admissions practices are in good standing and consistent with standards prescribed by NEASC.

Retention and Graduation

In 2004, the College identified student retention as an area for critical review and improvement, and thus formed a Retention Committee. Comprehensive orientations, peer mentoring, and a college experience course are among the Committee’s initiatives. The retention committee is in the early stages of designing a mechanism to collect information on students who completely withdraw from the College who were first-year full-time students. Additional research may be needed, but retention data so far appear to indicate that the College loses more full-time students after the first year than after the first semester. A systematic approach to retention will be needed as enrollment expands and includes more traditional-age students. The College has received two grants specifically to help retain students in Allied Health and the sciences.

The College participated in the Community College Survey of Student Engagement and formed a Student Success Research Group Committee in 2005 to respond to the CCSSE report and other statistical data from the College’s Institutional Researcher. There has been some progress in pursuing retention improvement. A peer support program, Students Trained as Resource Specialists (STARS), was piloted in fall 2005 at the Willimantic Center, and due to the program’s success, it will expand to Danielson in fall 2006.

The most recent CTC system Student Right to Know Statistics provide program completion rates at each of the twelve CTC colleges for first-time, full-time students who began in the fall semesters of 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002. For these student cohorts, QVCC’s graduation rate has been at or above the system average.

Student Services

Incoming students are informed of all student services at orientation, and as Standard 10 discusses, information is also made available by various other means, including the College catalog and website. All current and prospective students are encouraged to apply for financial aid, which is discussed in Standard 9.

Academic support continues to be offered at Danielson in the Learning Center and at Willimantic in the Library Learning Center. Professional tutors and trained peer tutors provide assistance by appointment and on a walk-in basis. Computers are available in both support centers. Students may check out academic materials and equipment, including books, video- and audiotapes, study guides, and software packages that support and supplement classroom instruction and learning. Staff members are always available to assist students. Computers are also available in labs, and as discussed in Standard 7, library support for students is very good. To accommodate student and community needs, the library, computer labs, and most support offices in Danielson, as well as the entire Willimantic Center, are open at least four evenings per week during the semester, and the Danielson campus is open Saturdays.

The Career Services Center continues to offer an array of services to the student population and the community at large, including personality type workshops, career development and advisement, internship development and monitoring, transfer assistance, resume development, and job search skills. The Center provides job fairs on campus that assist students in finding short-term employment while working on their educational goals, as well as exposure to possible career opportunities once their educations are complete. The Career Services Center also provides assistance for dislocated workers in making the transition to new jobs.

Students’ personal problems and physical needs and challenges are accommodated in accordance with College policy. Procedures that enable equal access for students with documented disabilities are detailed in the College’s Policies for Students with Disabilities, and all course syllabi refer to the policies. Psychological services are not provided on campus, although brochures listing community health services give provider telephone numbers and referral sources. Students who show significant need for counseling are referred to outside providers when necessary. As discussed in Standard 8, the College’s Environmental Health and Safety Committee assures students’ safety in all aspects of campus life.

Co-curricular activities are planned, monitored, and often implemented by the Coordinator of Co-curricular Programming and Student Activities. These programs usually involve faculty members, and often an outside presenter, and are always made available both to Danielson and Willimantic students. The Student Government Association, advised by the Coordinator and discussed in the Special Emphasis section, also plans and finances regular events. The Coordinator’s position is part-time, and the College is evaluating the position requirements to determine whether the position should be expanded.

Because QVCC is a commuter school, most students spend their on-campus time on academic work. Yet the College has made efforts to provide some social and recreational opportunities. Plans include the creation of a student activity area, with game tables, a fireplace, and lounging space, in the existing main atrium area of the expanded Danielson building, to increase opportunities for social and leisure activity.

Diversity of the student body continues to include some ethnic and racial minorities, a mix of traditional and non-traditional aged students, students enrolled in a range of academic and vocational programs, students of differing socio-economic status, and students with differing learning styles. The College includes its equal opportunity statement in all official literature and uses bilingual (English and Spanish) versions where appropriate. Bilingual staff members are located at both Danielson and Willimantic. The Multicultural Program Planning Committee continues to develop activities to enhance and promote diversity throughout the College.

QVCC students are recognized in various ways for their achievements. There is an academic awards evening prior to graduation, as well as a recognition dinner for students who have undertaken community service work, and additional events are hosted by several honor societies. Also, faculty members nominate students with leadership qualities to participate an annual Leadership Day, held off-site by several faculty and staff members and involving outside community speakers. During 2006-07, student leaders will be identified and rewarded through a program organized by Rotary International.

Assessment of student services is accomplished in part by Make Us Better suggestion boxes in both Danielson and Willimantic, with the Deans of LSD and Administrative Services as respondents. Also, Process Improvement Teams and the Policy and Planning Committee of the LSD Division Council address student concerns.

Student Records

The Office of Enrollment and Research maintains and updates all student data and oversees the registration process in the Banner system. Banner provides for the electronic posting of applications, registrations, and financial aid, permitting simultaneous access to information at both the Danielson and Willimantic sites. Banner access is secure and maintains the integrity of the student record. Precautions and safeguards are built into the system to protect confidentiality. The monitoring and managing of reports and processes in the Banner module requires regular training and evaluation of skills of staff members who use the system. The use of Banner has not replaced the physical record for students, however, and policies for record content and access need to be re-evaluated and updated.

Institutional Effectiveness

As evidenced by the work surrounding the issue of retention, the College uses various assessment practices to identify and address concerns in the area of student services, and thus to maintain the institutional awareness necessary to continue effectively providing services to students. Yet, because increases in enrollment have the potential to overstrain the staff of the student services area as well as other support areas, the College needs to monitor carefully the effects of these increases. Data collected through CCSSE and internal surveys will help inform efforts to maintain and improve student services, especially those services necessary to retain students.

Also, the CTC system has created a Student Services Assessment Model, and each of the twelve colleges in the system has been requested to choose one segment of student services to assess during the 2006-07 year. QVCC has chosen the admissions segment. By the end of the 2008-09 academic year, the College will have fully assessed its student services area using the system model, thus completely assessing student services prior to the next full accreditation study.

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