The College of Southern Maryland (CSM) today announced that it has joined Achieving the Dream (ATD), a network of more than 220 colleges in 43 states dedicated to improving student success. As a Network institution, CSM will innovate to implement, align, and scale cutting-edge reforms, work with ATD coaches to build institutional capacity and connect with peers to foster learning and share information. CSM is one of 16 colleges among the 2019 Cohort announced by ATD today.
“The strength of local and regional economies, our ability to rebuild the middle class, and the possibility that a new generation will achieve their goals depends on community colleges,” said Dr. Karen A. Stout, ATD president and CEO. “Colleges that join the ATD Network show an exceptional commitment to becoming the kind of institution that will lead the nation into the future.”
ATD offers a capacity-building framework and companion self-assessment that allow colleges to pinpoint strengths and areas for improvement across seven institutional capacities in areas such as leadership and vision, teaching and learning, and data and technology. ATD’s approach integrates and aligns existing college success efforts and offers valuable support in preparing for accreditation, fostering conversation about goals, and making bold, holistic institution-wide changes because initiatives that don’t reach most of a college’s student body have not shown strong results.
A team from CSM will meet with leaders from 15 other colleges in Phoenix, Arizona in June to plan the launch of their ATD work. Murphy outlined CSM’s concentration will be on student success to solidify a shared vision that will allow the focused, evidence-based work to fulfill the goals of the college’s strategic plan. This includes improving student progress and completion, providing targeted programming to meet regional needs, and to function as one regional college.
ATD Network colleges report data using metrics that answer critical questions about who attends college, who succeeds in and after college and how college is financed. To advance goals of social mobility and equity, the metrics provide information on how low income and other underserved students fare. These metrics are categorized into performance metrics, efficiency metrics and equity metrics at points during the student experience from access through post-college outcomes.
As colleges in the new cohort progress, they may apply to participate in initiatives supported by philanthropic funding and managed by ATD. These initiatives help incubate new ideas that help colleges refine practices based on evidence of what works and allow ATD to disseminate knowledge to the broader network and the field. New initiatives address the challenge of engaging adjunct faculty more deeply as key members of colleges’ workforces and implementing degree programs using only open educational resources (OER).
[ This article originally appeared here ]
“Achieving the Dream is a network of people across the country that will support us as we focus on what it is we need to do to help our students in finding their paths and finish what they started. This is something that is going to be very powerful for Southern Maryland,” said CSM President Dr. Maureen Murphy.
“CSM is joining Achieving the Dream for three years, and the ultimate result is that our students will be so much better off. They will help us identify exactly what we need to do. We will really understand what our students’ needs are and we can shape our programs and services around their needs. Most of all we can help our students find their paths and finish what they start in a timely manner that improves their lives, the lives of the families and really enriches our entire communities.”
“The strength of local and regional economies, our ability to rebuild the middle class, and the possibility that a new generation will achieve their goals depends on community colleges,” said Dr. Karen A. Stout, ATD president and CEO. “Colleges that join the ATD Network show an exceptional commitment to becoming the kind of institution that will lead the nation into the future.”
ATD offers a capacity-building framework and companion self-assessment that allow colleges to pinpoint strengths and areas for improvement across seven institutional capacities in areas such as leadership and vision, teaching and learning, and data and technology. ATD’s approach integrates and aligns existing college success efforts and offers valuable support in preparing for accreditation, fostering conversation about goals, and making bold, holistic institution-wide changes because initiatives that don’t reach most of a college’s student body have not shown strong results.
“Achieving the Dream brings together everybody across the college. We’re all in it,” Murphy said. “Every single one of us is responsible for student success in a very different way. It’s not just in the classroom. It’s not just with the advisors. Every single one of us touches these students on their journeys and we can help make a difference in where they go. Achieving the Dream helps us identify those things more clearly.
A team from CSM will meet with leaders from 15 other colleges in Phoenix, Arizona in June to plan the launch of their ATD work. Murphy outlined CSM’s concentration will be on student success to solidify a shared vision that will allow the focused, evidence-based work to fulfill the goals of the college’s strategic plan. This includes improving student progress and completion, providing targeted programming to meet regional needs, and to function as one regional college.
“Our focus areas are going to be around guided pathways, something we’ve started already by mapping our curriculum. We’ve also connected our guided pathways with our short-term workforce training because we know that sometimes that’s what our students need more than a degree,” Murphy said. “CSM is the primary cog in the economic development engine in our region when it comes to developing the workforce. Our students will be able to identify their career paths and their career goals, how that connects those high demand occupations right here in Southern Maryland, and we will be supporting them all the way until they achieve those credentials.”
ATD Network colleges report data using metrics that answer critical questions about who attends college, who succeeds in and after college and how college is financed. To advance goals of social mobility and equity, the metrics provide information on how low income and other underserved students fare. These metrics are categorized into performance metrics, efficiency metrics and equity metrics at points during the student experience from access through post-college outcomes.
As colleges in the new cohort progress, they may apply to participate in initiatives supported by philanthropic funding and managed by ATD. These initiatives help incubate new ideas that help colleges refine practices based on evidence of what works and allow ATD to disseminate knowledge to the broader network and the field. New initiatives address the challenge of engaging adjunct faculty more deeply as key members of colleges’ workforces and implementing degree programs using only open educational resources (OER).
Achieving the Dream, Inc.
Achieving the Dream (ATD) leads a growing network of more than 200 community colleges committed to helping their students, particularly low-income students and students of color, achieve their goals for academic success, personal growth, and economic opportunity. ATD is making progress closing academic achievement gaps and accelerating student success through a unique change process that builds each college’s institutional capacities in seven essential areas. ATD, along with more than 100 experienced coaches and advisors, works closely with Network colleges in 43 states and the District of Columbia to reach more than 4 million community college students.
Follow Achieving the Dream on Twitter: @AchieveTheDream
Follow Achieving the Dream on Facebook: @AchievingtheDream
Follow Achieving the Dream on LinkedIn: LinkedIn.com/company/Achieving-the-Dream-inc-
College of Southern Maryland
The College of Southern Maryland is a regionally accredited community college that provides programs and services with a special focus on local workforce development to maintain and grow a healthy economy and community. CSM serves more than 24,000 credit and continuing education students at its campuses located in Hughesville, La Plata, Leonardtown and Prince Frederick, Maryland, as well as a Higher Education Center shared with University of Maryland University College in Waldorf, Maryland, and a Center for Transportation Training in La Plata. For information about CSM, visit www.csmd.edu. Follow CSM on Twitter: @CSMheadlines.
[ This article originally appeared here ]