Community colleges today are faced with a
fundamental dilemma. On one hand, they
want to keep their doors open to everyone;
on the other hand, they want to offer quality
and academic excellence in their programs.

John Roueche

 

Student Success Task Force

 

the first in a series of reports...

Adding Success to Access

Being responsive to community needs -- to
help students achieve academic or career
success -- has always been a distinguishing
characteristic of community colleges. Like
most colleges, though, Douglas College
faces the dilemma of trying to improve
access without affecting standards -- in
other words, how to help students achieve
successibility, not simply accessibility.

The challenge this dilemma presents is
becoming more acute. We face an ever-
widening variety of students with different
educational and cultural backgrounds. At
the same time, we face the need to
maintain, if not improve, standards to
satisfy the requirements of employers,
other institutions, and the public generally.

Beginning to Respond

One of the College’s current objectives is
to review means by which the probability
of student success/retention can be
improved. In addition, the Institutional
Self-Study this. year made several
recommendations about improving student

success. To this end, a College-wide Task

Force was struck.

What is the Mandate?

The Task Force is examining current
practices and procedures at the College
which are designed to assist student
success. These include information given
to incoming students, orientation to the
college, assessment and placement, the
support services available, how academic
progress is monitored, and how
preparatory courses and other assistance
can help increase success rates.

Straight talk

A student's graide to succes at Douglas Callogy

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cover of a guide to educational success at
Douglas College given to all incoming new
students this fall.