Program: Access to College Excellence (ACE)
Date: Fri Oct 09, 2015 - 3:40:54 pm
1) Below are your program's student outcomes (SOs). Please add or update as needed.
Program Goals:
- To help students connect with each other, advisors, faculty and ultimately, to help them feel connected to the institution
- To help students make the transition from being a high school learner to a university learner
- To introduce students to resources that can support their academic work at UHM and other services that can give them assistance
- To provide students a positive role model in the peer mentor whose knowledge and perspective they will respect
- To be a forum where students can explore their intellectual interests
- To encourage students to develop more positive attitudes and behaviors towards the university
- To increase student retention to the sophomore year and subsequently through the senior year to graduation
- To increase faculty and department participation in first-year programs
2) Your program's SOs are published as follows. Please update as needed.
Program's Website. URL: manoa.hawaii.edu/undergrad/freshman Student Handbook. URL, if available online: NA Information Sheet, Flyer, or Brochure. URL, if available online: NA
UHM Catalog. Page Number: Other: Program planning documents Other: 3) Provide the program's activity map or other graphic that illustrates how program activities/services align with program student outcomes. Please upload it as a PDF.
4) Did your program engage in any program assessment activities between June 1, 2014 and September 30, 2015? (e.g., establishing/revising outcomes, aligning activities to outcomes, collecting evidence, interpreting evidence, using results, revising the assessment plan, creating surveys, etc.)
Yes
No (skip to question 14)5) For the period between June 1, 2014 and September 30, 2015: State the assessment question(s) and/or assessment goals. Include the student outcomes that were targeted, if applicable.
- What are our program persitence and retention rates?
- How do our persitence and retention rates compare to first-time UHM freshman
- Do ACE students report being satisfied with the ACE seminar?
- Do ACE students report building friendships with students from their learning community and feeling parto of the general UHM community?
- Do ACE students report positive experiences with their peer mentors?
- Do ACE students report positive experiences with their peer mentors?
- Are there differences in student feedback by type of learning community?
6) State the type(s) of evidence gathered to answer the assessment question and/or meet the assessment goals that were given in Question #5.
- STAR/Banner information related to student persistence and retention rates.
- External Evaluation
- Student expectations survey (completed at beginning of seminar)
- student engagement survey (completed at end of seminar)
- class assignments (written reflection)
- peer mentor focus group
7) State how many persons submitted evidence that was evaluated. If applicable, please include the sampling technique used.
- STAR Insitutional Data: 342(100%) during Fall 2014.
- Surveys: 275 (84%) for Fall 2014.
- Class Assignments: 208 (75%) during Fall 2014
- Peer Mentor Focus Groups: 30 (100% of ACE Peer Mentors)
8) Who interpreted or analyzed the evidence that was collected? Check all that apply.
Program faculty/staff member(s) Faculty/staff committee Ad hoc faculty/staff group Director or department chairperson Persons or organization outside the university Students (graduate or undergraduate) Dean or Associate Dean Advisory Board Other: 9) How did he/she/they evaluate, analyze, or interpret the evidence? Check all that apply.
Compiled survey results Used quantitative methods on student data (e.g., grades, participation rates) or other numeric data Used qualitative methods on interview, focus group, or other open-ended response data Scored exams/tests/quizzes Used a rubric or scoring guide Used professional judgment (no rubric or scoring guide used) External organization/person analyzed data (e.g., Social Science Research Institute) Other: 10) For the assessment questions/goals stated in Question #5, summarize the actual results.
Students enrolled in the Access to College Excellence program persist at higher rates than their UHM first-time freshmen peers (Manoa Institutional Research Office, 2012). ACE assessment results demonstrated that over 84% agreed they had an eaiser transition to UH Manoa because of their participation in ACE. Over 87% of participants built friendships with students from their learning community and 92% of participants reported that their peer mentor facilitated an atmosphere in which encouraged them to learn.
See attached Survey in Question #3 for the full assessment report.
11) What was learned from the results?
The assessments demonstrated high levels of student satisfaction and ways in which to improve the ACE seminar.
12) State how the program used the results or plans to use the results. Please be specific.
The results have prompted the Director to modify the CAS 110 seminar. There has been a greater emphasis on creating designated "Cluster Study Groups" with the seminar mentor to help assist students with classes that have high D,W, and F ratios.
13) Reflect on the assessment process. Is there anything related to assessment procedures your program would do differently next time? What went well?
The assessment process was very productive and yielded meaningful data for program improvement. In future years, there will be greater emphasis placed on quantitative analysis examining the impact learning communities have on four, five, and six year graduation rates.
14) If the program did not engage in assessment activities, please explain.
Or, if the program did engage in assessment activities, please add any other important information here.
Mahalo to the Assessment Office for helping develop surveys and program assessment plans.