GUIDED PATHWAYS INITIAL PLANNING TEMPLATE
Institution Name: ____________________________
This template is designed to help your team develop a plan for building support among faculty, staff and others at your college for the need to
rethink academic programs, student intake, and advising to better enable students to enter and complete programs of study that prepare them to
succeed in further education and employment. For each of the three key elements identified below, we ask what your college currently does, what
about current practice needs to change to improve student success, and who needs to be involved in discussions about how specifically to improve
practice in each area.
Guided Pathways Essential Elements
How well do we currently
do this?
1. CLARIFYING PATHWAYS TO STUDENT END
GOALS
a. Are our programs well-designed to
prepare students to enter further
education and employment in fields of
importance to our region?
b. How clearly are our programs mapped
out for students? Do students know
which courses they should take and in
what sequence? Are the courses critical
for success in each program clearly
identified?
c. Are the end goals, both in terms of
specific further education and
employment opportunities, clearly
specified for every program?
1
What needs to change to
improve student success?
Who needs to be involved in
discussions about how to
improve our current practice?
Guided Pathways Essential Elements
How well do we currently
do this?
2. HELPING STUDENTS ENTER A PATHWAY
a. What do we do to help new students
choose a program of study, particularly
the many who do not have clear plans
for college and careers (and probably do
not have a clear idea about the options)?
b. How well do we help students succeed in
the gatekeeper courses for our main
program areas (such as nursing and
allied health, business, education, social
and behavioral science, arts and
humanities, STEM, etc.)?
c. How do we ensure that students enter a
program of study as quickly as possible?
How do we help students who do not
choose a program in a timely way or are
unlikely to be accepted into limited
access programs like nursing or culinary?
2
What needs to change to
improve student success?
Who needs to be involved in
discussions about how to
improve our current practice?
Guided Pathways Essential Elements
How well do we currently
do this?
3. KEEPING STUDENTS ON PATH
a. How well do we monitor which program
each student is in and how far along they
are toward completing their program
requirements? Do students know
exactly how far along they are in their
programs—and what they have left to do
to complete?
b. How effective are we in ensuring that
students are following their plans and
staying on track?
c. Are we able to identify when students
are at risk of falling off their program
plan? How effective are we at
intervening when this happens?
d. Does the way we schedule courses
enable students to take the courses they
need when they need them, plan their
lives around school from one term to the
next, and complete their programs in as
short a time as possible?
3
What needs to change to
improve student success?
Who needs to be involved in
discussions about how to
improve our current practice?