COMPREHENSIVE NON-INSTRUCTIONAL PROGRAM PLANNING AND
ASSESSMENT
(Program Review)
NASA SEMAA
(SCIENCE, ENGINEERING, MATH & AEROSPACE ACADEMY)
Author(s): Maggie Melone-Echiburú
Date: October 2013
COLLEGE MISSION STATEMENT
Hartnell College provides the leadership and resources to ensure that all students shall have equal access to a
quality education and the opportunity to pursue and achieve their goals. We are responsive to the learning needs
of our community and dedicated to a diverse educational and cultural campus environment that prepares our
students for productive participation in a changing world.
1. How does NASA SEMAA support/strengthen the college’s ability to fulfill its mission?
SEMAA is committed to strengthening the national K-12 STEM pipeline and looks for
opportunities to maximize student exposure and interest in STEM subject and careers
by offering extended learning activities. SEMAA will significantly improve a situation of
entering freshmen who are college-ready in science, mathematics, and technology and
create a pipeline of college-ready students from underrepresented and disadvantaged
backgrounds.
SEMAA has a strong presence in four of the six strategic priorities the college has.
Being the only SEMAA site in the west coast, gives us an advantage of access that few
programs has, students that come through our program are connected to the college
directly and have access to what the college has to offer- Student Access. When
students go through our program, they are better prepared when entering college,
therefore are better prepared for Student Success. Our program is innovative in nature
and is extremely relevant in the current job market, STEM education is highly ranked
as a real need not only in our region, but in the nation. Hartnell SEMAA has a great
number of extraordinary partners in the community, agencies and is working hard on
strengthening our partnerships with local industries, we currently work with a great
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number of school districts administrators and teachers, as well as local non-profit
agencies and more, we believe this is a great strength we bring to the college.
2. What are the key duties, responsibilities, functions, activities, and tasks of NASA SEMAA?
Our project goals are:
•
Inspire a more diverse student population to pursue careers in STEM-related fields
• Engage students, parents/adult family members and teachers by incorporating
emerging technologies
•
Educate students utilizing rigorous STEM curricula, designed and implemented as
only NASA can.
We are an after-school, hands-on science program for students from Kinder to 12th
Grade. Our three key components are:
1. Hands-on, inquiry based K-12 STEM curricula
2. Aerospace Educational Laboratory
3. Family Café – parent involvement and outreach
3. What data are used to measure how well NASA SEMAA is performing with respect to the aboveidentified duties, responsibilities, functions, activities, and tasks? What do these data suggest
about NASA SEMAA’s effectiveness and its need for continuous quality improvement?
We measure our performance by the number of students we serve and the growing
partnerships we make.
Participating students also fill out a pre and post survey at the beginning and end of
their sessions. Forms are collected by the instructors and turned into the Director.
Staff will enter the information into the National SEMAA system and the information
is analyzed by them. Parents will be given an evaluation form to complete at the end
of each session; the form is a tool to collect comments from parents to be entered
into our quarterly reports, and to inform the Director, the college liaison and SEMAA
headquarters.
4. What are NASA SEMAA’s greatest strengths and most significant accomplishments during the
past three years? (Feel free to use information provided in the response to question #3, above.)
NASA SEMAA has the capacity to serve a large number of students and and therefore
expose what the college has to offer. Since we received this grant, we have served
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more than 3,000 students in our area. Our grant requires us to serve at a minimum
625 students per year, we have increase de number of direct participants far above
the expectations in the two years we have offered the program. With this participation,
we expect to have increased the interest in STEM careers and Hartnell College. We
have also opened the doors of the college to our students parents with our Family
Café events, where we invite the parents/family members to come out to see what
their students are learning and what other opportunities are available to them. Most of
the families that come to our campus have indicated they have never been to Hartnell
College and had no idea all the amazing things that were happening here. We have
been a very power tool for outreach during these last couple of years.
5. What are NASA SEMAA’s major challenges during the past three years—that is, what aspects of
the service area are most in need of improvement? (Feel free to use information provided in the
response to question #3, above.)
A system that would allow us to track effectiveness in k-12 through our program is what
we feel as a major challenge. If we could have a system that allows us to know what
effect our program has in the students future college decisions, it would be easier to
know what are the areas of improvement we need to focus on.
6. What are NASA SEMAA’s service area outcomes?
To increase number of students served and therefore increase interest in STEM
education and career opportunities.
7. How are these service area outcomes assessed?
Pre- post surveys – continuing application (grade to grade) returning students
8.
Identify the service area outcomes that have been successfully met during the past three years,
and explain how they were successfully met. Also, discuss the steps that are being taken to
ensure continuous quality improvement with respect to these outcomes.
We have increased of students served, we are collaborating with more schools and
districts; the number of returning students is growing; we have increased the number of
partners and thus, leveraged the cost of having our program.
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9. Identify the service area outcomes that have not been met successfully during the past
three years. Explain the ways in which Academic Services is engaging in continuous quality
improvement with respect to this challenge. (Note: Be sure to include and to elaborate upon at least some
of this information in the “Annual Action Plan”).
We have been slow in carrying out a successful sustainability plan. We have focused on
getting our program up and running, getting the number of students to grow and finding
partnerships, we have not dedicated enough time to sustaining funds and being able to
increase them. Once this program is institutionalized we believe this will be improved.
10.How successfully has NASA SEMAA collaborated with other areas at the college (both
instructional and non-instructional)? What steps are being taken to ensure continuous quality
improvement in the area of collaboration?
Successfully collaborated in partnership at outreach events (tech days, career days,
Salinas International Airshow, etc.). Because NASA SEMAA does not have an
institutionalized budget and is not identified as a Hartnell program we have not been
able to do more than just outreach with our staff. Our staff is not Hartnell employees, we
are categorized as professional experts, and do not have access to many resources the
college has to offer.
11. Describe the professional development opportunities taken advantage of by members of NASA
SEMAA within the past two years. In addition, please explain the ways in which Administrative
Service personnel’s engagement in these opportunities has helped NASA SEMAA meet its various
obligations and fulfill both its own mission and the college’s mission.
Because NASA SEMAA is not institutionalized, we have not participated in any
professional development opportunities. No budget is available from the general funds.
12.Does the college provide adequate support and resources for NASA SEMAA (financial,
administrative, facilities-related, equipment-related, and so on)? Does NASA SEMAA have
sufficient staffing to support its ability to meet its service area outcomes? Please use relevant,
specific examples and evidence to support and clarify your responses.
No, we do not have enough support, we do need more staff, equipment and facilities
access to improve our program.
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13. If the NASA SEMAA’s current needs—identified in the response to item #12—are not being met,
explain the ramifications of this state of affairs.
We are not seen as a college program therefore we are almost like outsiders to the eyes
of the college population (students, staff and administrators). If we were institutionalized,
our program would gain more recognition and the population that we serve would feel
that this is a Hartnell program before it being just NASA SEMAA. Our funding could
increase and our partnerships with local industries would be easier to establish, knowing
we are part of the college itself.
14. How successfully has NASA SEMAA addressed external compliance regulations and issues, and
what steps have been taken to ensure complete success concerning this matter? Please use
relevant, specific examples and evidence in your response.
No issues to address.
15. Please provide any other information or comments that are relevant to this review of the service
area.
16. Please provide an EXECUTIVE SUMMARY of this service area review, using the NASA SEMAA
“Executive Summary” template.
17. The information requested during this comprehensive review process is intended to be
meaningful and useful for the purpose of continuous quality improvement for NASA SEMAA.
To this end, each year NASA SEMAA will develop a workable, year-long, follow-up action plan
(entitled “Annual Action Plan”) that both derives from and addresses key information provided
by the comprehensive review. Each yearly action plan will outline specific initiatives focusing on
NASA SEMAA’s identified areas in need of strengthening, its identified challenges that need to be
met, and the like. (Please use the NASA SEMAA “Annual Action Plan” template.)
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