ACCJC Standard I. B. 3. Reads: "The institution establishes institution-set standards for student achievement, appropriate to its mission, assesses how well it is achieving them in pursuit of continuous improvement, and publishes this information." Using the most recent Annual Report, the college will reflect on its trend data on institution-set standards for course completion, certificate completion, degrees awarded, and transfer.
- Has the college met its floor standards?
Floor standards are set in each category by taking 90 percent of the five-year average numbers. The College has met all floor standards except in transfers. The number of transfers has trended downward since the 2016-17 academic year. It is noteworthy that transfers to Humboldt State University (HSU), the College’s primary transfer university, declined across the board during this period of time. This is despite a significant increase in transfer degrees awarded by the College (ISS.1).
- Has the college achieved its stretch (aspirational) goals?
Stretch goals are set in each category by taking 110 percent of the five-year average numbers. The College has surpassed its stretch goals in degree completion areas, including all degrees (392 stretch, 502 actual), transfer degrees (79 stretch, 130 actual), and associate degrees (364 stretch, 372 actual). The College is close to meeting its stretch goals in fall-to-spring persistence (70% stretch, 64% actual), course retention (97% stretch, 90% actual), overall course success (79% stretch, 75% actual), and certificate completion (156 stretch, 149 actual). The certificate completion number is a bit misleading, however, because nursing certificates are awarded every other year. 2019-2020 was an off-year for the nursing program, while 2018-19 was an awarding year for that program. The total certificates awarded during the 2018-2019 year was 158, which is slightly above the stretch goal of 156. This anomaly is explained in the Institutional Effectiveness Report (ISS.2).
What initiative(s) is the college undertaking to improve its outcomes?
The extensive initiatives the College has taken to improve its transfer outcomes are detailed in the Quality Focus Essay 1 (Increasing Transfers) section of this report. This is the greatest area of deficiency in the institution-set standards and it is puzzling given the College’s success in awarding degrees, including associate degrees for transfer. The annual plan also includes work toward improving the transfer numbers (ISS.3). There is a standard practice, governed by Administrative Procedure 3225, that requires that the president convene a task force to improve outcomes when the College falls below an institution-set standard (ISS.4, ISS.5).
- How does the college inform its constituents of this information?
The Office of Institutional Research maintains a web page displaying the information over the last five to six years with institution-set standards and stretch goals. This information is also published in the annual Institutional Effectiveness Report, which is presented to the Board of Trustees each year and is made readily available to everyone at the College during convocation week.