Holyoke Community College has 7 projects funded through the Vision PIF Grant
Civic Engagement
Service-Learning Faculty and Institutional Research Personnel at UMASS and HCC are partnering on this project, working with community partners to assess the community impact of service learning projects through qualitative/quantitative measures and identifying key outcomes impacting students’ knowledge, skills, and attitudes relating to their roles as citizens in a democracy.
English Mini Prep
English faculty members are developing an English Mini-Prep program, modeled on the success of the college’s Math Mini-Prep workshops. The goal of the English Mini-Prep will be to prepare students to pass the English sections (reading, writing) of the College Placement Test, as well as assist students entering at the developmental level to transition to college-level coursework.
Gateway to College Prep Academy
The Gateway to College Prep Academy pilot, based on the model developed by Gateway to College in Riverside, CA has enrolled an initial cohort of 21 motivated, but underprepared students, providing a pathway to gain the academic and personal skills necessary for adequate performance in the traditional Gateway to College program.
Developmental Math Curriculum Development
Math faculty have developed a total of 18 self paced modules, 6 for each of the three levels of Developmental Math taught at HCC, based on the model developed by the National Center for Academic Transformation During the Spring semester, these faculty are editing the workbook they have created to accompany the modules and planning for a Fall pilot.
Math Mini-Prep
Math Mini Prep workshops are now offered at no cost to students to prepare them for the College Placement Test (CPT). An online module for the Basic Math review class is being developed this spring as a new resource tool.
Learning Communities for Developmental Students
A nine member team comprised of faculty, staff and administrators will attend the National Learning Communities Summer Institute at Evergreen State College, Olympia, Washington to develop an action plan to meet the needs of students entering at the Developmental course level, focused on improving student learning, persistence, and graduation rates.
General Education Assessment Committee (GEAC)
Faculty workshops are underway using the Critical Thinking VALUES rubric to norm and score student work samples, survey departments and assess results. Assessment of Information Literacy using pre/post Psychology student samples is being analyzed and a Library Information Literacy Module will be developed and tested this Spring.
