Bakersfield College:
Reimagining Student Support
The Beginning
When Bakersfield College began implementing Guided Pathways in 2015, students got most of their information about academic requirements from other students and instructional faculty, which left gaps in their knowledge about getting through and out of academic programs.
In a series of focus groups with students, counseling faculty learned that students wanted more connection and better communication across campus systems. In response, BC developed Completion Coaching Communities of student affairs staff and instructional and counseling faculty to explore and improve how information gets to students and to ensure all students receive the same information.
The Guided Pathways Implementation Team aimed to clarify academic requirements and advising information and demonstrate the resources that students could access through counseling services. BC leveraged its expanded partnerships to launch a communication campaign and streamline the transmission of information to students.
Implementation
In implementing Guided Pathways, BC decided to take a team approach to supporting students in reaching the following Momentum Points:
Attempting 15+ units in the first term
Completion of transfer-level math and English in the first year
Attempting 30+ units in the first year
Completion of 9 core pathway units in the first year
The first team included 35 people from diverse groups across campus, including enrollment services, which helped the team gather reports on 30 cohorts of students to develop a comprehensive set of important indicators. With the creation of an automated Data Coach File and subsequently the use of Starfish, BC could monitor these indicators for all students to determine when it was appropriate to intervene and try to influence behavior, and to define which cohorts of students to monitor most carefully.
Counselors and Advisors are key members of the Completion Coaching Communities. BC clearly defined and differentiated the roles and relationships of the Counselors and Advisors:
Counselors: faculty assigned to career pathways work who recommend courses for students to take, with a focus on student retention. More than completing education plans, counseling faculty evaluate records, arrange prerequisite overrides, handle probation, and teach student development courses.
Advisors: classified staff who provide support to counselors and connect students with faculty. Advisors focus on onboarding students, introducing programs of study, and reviewing and modifying students’ comprehensive ed plans.
To cover the cost of the GP implementation, BC uses funding from:
SEAP to pay faculty, overtime for counseling faculty, and coaching.
SSSP, BSI, SWP, general fund, and grants to cover other costs. (BC has aggressively pursued a variety of grant funding, increasing that stream from $11.9 million in 2015-2016 to $35.6 million in 2019-2020.)
BC gauged the success of its team approach by assessing students’ progress toward the Guided Pathways Momentum Points.
Student Experience
The implementation of Guided Pathways programs and activities has changed counseling at Bakersfield College. Some key factors in improving the student experience have been:
The use of thoughtful surveys to capture more meaningful information from students about their experiences.
Increased information for students about requirements and career pathways.
Increased institutional knowledge about students’ career aspirations.
Stronger partnerships between discipline faculty and counselors
There was a sharpening of knowledge across the board.
Counselors are more informed about course requirements and career pathways
Counselors are continuing to develop partnerships with instructional faculty to gather important information and disseminate it to students.
Students are more informed about course requirements, transfer opportunities, and possible career paths.
Early Outcomes
BC noted that enrollment rose 50% in five years, which required student services to expand. The share of students completing 15 units in their first term increased from 12% in 2015 to 20% in 2018.
In response, BC took some great strides:
Increased the number of courses offered in summer
Added an early spring session to encourage students to complete more units and to create more STEM courses, which tended to be the most impacted.
Expanded sites to reach students in rural communities including a site co-located at CSU Bakersfield.
Hired significantly in psychology, meeting great demand for statistics courses.
