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Maricopa County Community College District Foundation (MCCCDF) receives a three-year $325,000 grant from the Teagle Foundation. Grant funds support the development and implementation of a Guided Pathways framework for students supporting access to and success in the liberal arts. This work represents a collective, institution-wide transformation of Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD) practices, policies and structures.
Guided Pathways clearly outlines courses that must be completed to achieve an educational goal; it is an evidence-based, comprehensive educational model designed to provide intellectually coherent learning experiences.
“With Guided Pathways, students can more easily explore their options, identify their educational and career goals and chart a clear, structured program to a successful completion,” stated Maricopa Community Colleges Provost Dr. Karla Fisher.
Mesa Community College faculty Steve Budge and Jennifer Fay are leading the collaborative development of MCCCD Pathway Maps along with faculty from Gateway Community College, Phoenix College and South Mountain Community College. The team is mapping degrees, certificates and university transfer options across the 10 Maricopa Community Colleges.
“We are focused on student success and closing the equity gap,” said Budge. “By implementing Guided Pathways we aim to increase student retention and completion, lower educational costs for students, and help students build the knowledge, skills, and habits of mind needed to be successful at a transfer institution or to enter the workforce.”
Pathway Maps will align with industry needs and college requirements to achieve degree or certificate attainment or university transfer credits in the shortest time, incurring the least expense.
“Students will identify their goals and interests during a redesigned admission process, beginning their educational journey with broadly related areas of study,” explains Fay. This allows for early exploration and provides students with the opportunity to move more easily between certificate and degree programs with minimal loss of applicable credits. Other benefits of this model include the development of natural cohorts of students pursuing a similar goal, and the opportunity it presents for faculty to scale up high-impact practices that are proven to benefit students.”
As part of this effort, the MCCCD Guided Pathway team is reviewing the literature and best practices to determine strategies to help move students through developmental education more efficiently and effectively.
Success of the work funded by the grant will be measured by the expansion of Guided Pathways from the initial four colleges to all 10 Maricopa Community Colleges. The ultimate measures of success will be the length of time and number of credits a student earns in meeting their educational goal; persistence and completion rates; and student performance relative to Pathway Map learning outcomes.