QUARTERLY PROGRESS REPORT
A. Describe the past quarter’s accomplishments and the current status of this Action
Project.
From the English Department as submitted by Jack Bennett, chair:
 efforts this past quarter have been to improve pedagogy
 faculty have been mainstays in the Center for Teaching and Learning. Prof
Adrienne Cassel presented a workshop on "Problem Based Learning and
21st Century Literacies” with Lisa Mahle-Grisez
 crafting a outcomes based rubric for assessing essays
 faculty members have begun sharing and studying ways to apply what we
call "The Personal Touch" to addressing our student writing issues.
Having become aware of the comparative data that shows a slight rise in
the student success rates between 2007 and 2008 Spring and Fall
Quarters, faculty summarized that the most significant tool in reaching
higher goals was to give more personal attention to student development
in their course work. For example, Professor Caroline has initiated a
program called "Dear Caroline" which features personal letters between
students and teachers that address their needs, and issues with English 111
 Instructor Aaron Moyer has developed a "catch-up day". This day is
designed for his students who have fallen behind in class coursework to
literary come to class and catch-up with teacher assisted tutoring and
much forgiveness. Other students are exempt from this once a quarter
offering.
 The age-old practice of personal conferencing is now an intergal part of
our teaching arsenal.
From the Academic Foundations Department as submitted by Teresa Prosser,
chair:
 Implemented more concentrated retention strategies to increase student
engagement and reduce number of withdrawals
 Continued to use common exit assessment rubric to determine in the
aggregate student mastery of course outcomes; used results to make
improvement in instruction
 Increased discussion with students regarding student success skills in
terms of academic honesty
 Increased discussion with students about the importance of continuing
their writing sequence in terms of their success
 Reviewed supplemental course materials to increase effectiveness
 Increased in-depth mentoring of new adjuncts as a way of providing
instructional consistency across sections
 Working to develop modules over all segments of the department’s
writing curriculum to provide students with opportunities for refreshing
and/or reinforcing skills
 Assessed and revised master teaching syllabus template
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Increased number of learning communities with student success course
Involved with the Center for Teaching and Learning in terms of
workshops and providing resources for helping at-risk student succeed
Collaborated with local ABLE providers to address learning options and
opportunities for severely at-risk students and developed College
Readiness courses to replace lowest levels of DEV
Dialoged often with others across campus concerning writing
requirements in other programs
B. Describe how the institution involved people in work on this Action Project.
Discussion f2f and online through email….formally and informally
C. Describe your planned next steps for this Action Project.
Continuation and scale up of what works
D. Describe any “effective practice(s)” that resulted from your work on this Action
Project.
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Collaboration with local ABLE providers shows great promise
Increased mentoring of adjuncts
Data driven decisions
Creating high expectations of faculty to take greater responsibility for
student success
E. What challenges, if any, are you still facing in regards to this Action Project?
Just time….