Executive Summary
Student access and success have been a priority for Lake Tahoe Community College
(LTCC) since the college first opened forty-one years ago. Multiple successful
initiatives, processes, and programs dedicated to improving student access and
success have been institutionalized and will continue to be a part of the college’s
culture. The new Student Equity funds will allow LTCC to make greater strides in
closing performance gaps that exist for underrepresented student populations. With the
new funds, the college will be able to reach these students and provide additional
support services designed to assist them in the transition to college and positively affect
their success after enrollment.
In determining the focus of the plan, the college used several data elements and
decision-making processes. There were multiple committee meetings to address
student challenges and identify success strategies. LTCC is a small, rural, one-college
district. Due to the extremely small sample size of most target populations, meaningful
data interpretation was a challenge. Percentages were not a good measure of impact
for LTCC because many of the groups were so small that one or two students could
significantly skew the data. Therefore, the college adopted a more comprehensive and
unified approach to analyzing the data. The team looked at the size of the identified
student populations in relation to the size of the entire student population rather than
only using percentage measures. This analysis was not an easy process; however,
there was one population that the consistently appeared in every data set. The LTCC
data indicates that the Latino/Latina students are underrepresented overall and that the
success rates for these students are also below the achievement of the school as a
whole. In all five goal areas, the Latino/Latina students had disproportionate impact.
This population is one of the largest subsets in the identified targeted groups at LTCC
as well. Due to the small size of LTCC, the committee also felt that a more consolidated
approach to closing the gap was necessary for greatest impact. Therefore, the intent of
the 2015-16 LTCC Equity Plan is to meet the needs of the Latino/Latina population in all
five areas. By integrating the activities toward one common population, the college will
be able to impact this group at the highest level. For this reason, many activities have
been designed to meet multiple goals.
One unintended finding in the college data identification and analysis process was that
the college did not have sufficient methods and tools in place to collect accurate data
components for identification of foster youth, disabled, and low-income students.
General internal information indicates that foster youth and disabled student populations
are very small at the college and most likely did not warrant specific action plans. Low–
income student tracking was another area in which data was not reliable enough
to make critical action decisions. To address this issue, the college has hired a new
Director of Institutional Effectiveness and a Database Analyst (DBA) so that these data
elements can be collected and effectively utilized in the future. LTCC is currently in the
process of evaluating all of its data collection to increase accuracy and to better monitor
the gaps in achievement in the future. Despite the data issues, LTCC is fully confident
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that the Latino/Latina student population in initiative is the best use of equity dollars in
terms of the number of students impacted and the potential for great success.
During the period from 2011 to 2014, LTCC faced major reductions in staff and
increased the workload for existing staff. For the equity initiatives to have an impact on
the students there must be dedicated staff to implement and oversee the action plans.
Therefore, the college has authorized the hiring of new positions responsible for
implementing plans to achieve the student equity goals.
The majority of the activities identified in the equity plan provide individualized attention
to Latino/Latina students. A common theme of increased student support services and
relationship building is the basis for the LTCC Student Equity activity outcomes. The
creation of the HOPE (Hispanos Orgullosos Preparandose para la Excelencia) program
is the primary activity in the plan and involves multiple goals. Recruiting and retention
best practices are also modeled in the plan. The goals identified are listed below and
are designed to increase progress over a three-year period.
A. Access: The percentage of Latino/Latina students at Lake Tahoe Community
College will increase to match within 2.5% of Latino/Latina population in the
college service area by the year 2019.
B. Course Completion: By the year 2019, the success rate recorded on the Student
Success Scorecard for Latino/Latina students will increase to be within 4% of the
overall student success rate.
C. ESL and Basic Skills Completion: The rate for Latino/Latina students who persist
in basic skills English and math courses to credit English and Math courses
reported on the Student Success Scorecard will increase by 2.5% by the year
2019.
D. Degree and Certificate Completion: The Degree/Certificate/Transfer percentages
for Latino/Latina students will be within 3% of the overall college completion
percentage by the year 2019.
E. Transfer: The ratio of Latino/Latina students who complete a minimum of 12 units
and have attempted a transfer level course in Mathematics or English to the
number of Latino/Latina students who actually transfer after one or more (up to
six) years will be within 5% of the overall student population rates by the year
2019.
While the $250,000 annual equity allocation will enable the college to implement several
equity initiatives, the allocation did not allow for complete funding of all
recommendations and strategies from the Student Equity Committee. Therefore, the
plan involves innovative and effective partnerships with the Student Support and
Success Program, the Basic Skills Initiative, and other support programs on the
campus. These partnerships will allow for a more efficient use of the equity funds to
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reach the goals. In addition, because LTCC is a college with limited resources, many
of the activities utilizing equity funds apply to multiple objectives and goals. This allows
LTCC to consolidate efforts in a strategic, comprehensive manner. The college utilized
the report from the RP group which identified the six success factors that support
student achievement as a foundation for building the equity initiatives. Students need
to feel Valued, Directed, Focused, Nurtured, Engaged, and Connected. Throughout
the Equity Plan, these six factors were considered in all activities. These activities
include:
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Hiring dedicated staff for Equity initiatives,
Creation of the HOPE program for Latino/Latina students,
Creation of the Latino/Latina mentoring program through HOPE,
Targeted counseling for Latino/Latina students,
Expansion of the book lending program for HOPE students,
Increase of outreach efforts targeted to Latino/Latina students,
Establishment of basic skills math and English boot camp programs,
Implementation of a significant campus culture change initiative through faculty
and staff professional development,
Transfer visits to four–year universities, and
Continued development of the dual enrollment program with South Tahoe High
School
To assist with collaboration and communication in the planning and implementation year
of the Student Support Services Program (SSSP) and Equity Programs, LTCC
established one common work team dedicated to both of these initiatives in 2014-15.
Since each program now has objectives that are more specific and varied action plans,
the college created two separate work teams for the 2015-16 year. By having two work
teams, each team can better focus on their specific program initiatives and goals. To
address the need for continued communication and collaboration between the
programs; LTCC named one chair for both committees and allowed members to serve
on both teams if so desired. Compliance and program development will be monitored
and assessed by these work teams. Counselors, instructors, and support staff
participate as members of the work teams, and the Executive Dean of Student Success
is the chair. A standing agenda item for both committees is “Other program updates”.
These discussions will aid in partnership development and collaboration efforts.
An additional committee has been created this year at LTCC which is called the Student
Success Initiative Committee (SSI). This group is a global committee comprised of lead
members of the Equity, SSSP, and BSI work teams as well as Directors and
Coordinators from other student support programs at LTCC. SSI will aid in the
development of partnership activities among support groups as well as provide accurate
information and program updates to avoid duplication of services to students. College
program collaboration and communication will be the key objectives for this group.
LTCC will continue its college-wide efforts in the pursuit of student success for all
students; however, the new Student Equity funds will now allow the college to
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implement specific strategies for the Latina/Latina population. The Student Equity
Plan will be incorporated into general college processes and procedures. The Equity
Program will participate in the college program review process and the goals will be
integrated into the Educational Master Plan. The college is committed to a goal of
making major institutional strides in student achievement. The Equity Plan will be an
important component of all college planning processes in that goal.
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