After review of Palo Alto College’s Fifth-Year Interim Report, the Committee on Fifth-Year Interim Reports requested in a letter dated January 12, 2018 from the President of SACSCOC that the College submit a Referral Report addressing one standard: CS 3.3.1.1 (Institutional effectiveness: educational programs).  The letter stated that “while the institution provided a sample of student learning outcomes with three cycles of assessments and improvements based on the results, the Institution does not provide justification as to how the sample was selected or its sufficiency in representing the Institution's educational programs.” 

Palo Alto College’s Referral Report responds specifically to CS 3.3.1.1 as written in the 2012 Principles as permitted in the request letter. The College’s response is prepared in electronic format and is presented for your review as a Referral Report website.

Statement for Compliance

Palo Alto College identifies student learning outcomes for each of its educational programs, assesses the extent to which students have acquired these outcomes, and uses the results of this assessment to make improvements.

This statement for compliance is structured as follows:

1. Definition and description of the educational programs offered at Palo Alto College.
2. Program learning outcomes, description of assessment instruments, benchmarks, and collection of data.
3. Direct measures and improvements to educational programs.
4. Indirect measures and improvements to educational programs.

DEFINITION AND DESCRIPTION OF THE EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS OFFERED AT PALO ALTO COLLEGE

Palo Alto College currently offers, for the 2016-2017 academic year, one Associate of Arts (AA), two specializations for the Associate of Arts in Teaching (AAT), 18 Associates of Applied Science (AAS), five Level Two Certificate programs, 38 Level One Certificate programs, one Marketable Skills Award, and one Advanced Technical Certificate.  These programs are the following:

Associate of Arts

Associate of Arts in Teaching:

Associate of Arts in Teaching - EC-6, 4-8, EC-12 Special Education FOS

Associate of Arts in Teaching 7-12 and Other EC-12 FOS

Associate of Applied Science:

Administrative Assistant, A.A.S.

Aviation Management, A.A.S.

Business Management, A.A.S.

Computer Programmer, A.A.S.

Computer Support Specialist, A.A.S.

Cosmetology Esthetician, A.A.S.

Cosmetology Operator, A.A.S.

Industrial Technology, A.A.S. - Instrumentation Specialization

Industrial Technology, A.A.S. - Manufacturing Specialization

Information Assurance and Cybersecurity, A.A.S

Landscape and Horticultural Science, A.A.S.

Logistics and Supply Chain Management, A.A.S.

Network Administrator, A.A.S.

Process Technology Specialization, A.A.S.

Production Technician Specialization, A.A.S.

Professional Pilot, A.A.S. (on teach-out)

Turfgrass and Golf Course Management, A.A.S.

Veterinary Technology, A.A.S.

Level 2 Certificate:

Cosmetology Operator, Level 2 Certificate

Energy Technician Career Foundations Core Level 2 Certificate

Entry-Level Supervision, Level 2 Certificate

Landscape & Turfgrass Equipment Technician, Level 2 Certificate

Veterinary Assistant, Level 2 Certificate

Level 1 Certificate:

Administration, Level 1 Certificate

Administrative Assistant, Level 1 Certificate

Aviation Management, Level 1 Certificate (on teach-out)

Basic Nursery and, Landscape Operations Level 1 Certificate

Bill and Account Collector, Level 1 Certificate

Certified Flight Instructor, Level 1 Preparation Certificate (on teach-out)

Cisco Certified Network, Associate Level 1 Certificate

Commercial Pilot, Level 1 Certificate (on teach-out)

Computer Forensics, Level 1 Certificate

Computer Programming Basics, Level 1 Certificate

Computer Programming Intermediate, Level 1 Certificate

Computer Support Specialist, Level 1 Certificate

Data Entry Technician, Level 1 Certificate

Entrepreneurship, Level 1 Certificate

Entry Level Energy Technician, Level 1 Certificate

Esthetician Specialty, Level 1 Certificate

Floral Design Technician, Level 1 Certificate

General Office, Level 1 Certificate

Information Assurance & Cybersecurity, Level 1 Certificate

Instrument Pilot, Level 1 Certificate

International Business, Level 1 Certificate

International Logistics Management, Level 1 Certificate

Landscape and Horticultural Science, Level 1 Certificate

Leadership, Level 1 Certificate

Logistics Management, Level 1 Certificate

Manufacturing Management, Level 1 Certificate

Marketing, Level 1 Certificate

Multi-Engine Pilot, Level 1 Certificate (on teach-out)

Personal Computer Skills, Level 1 Certificate

Private Pilot, Level 1 Certificate (on teach-out)

Purchasing Clerk, Level 1 Certificate

Secretarial Assistant, Level 1 Certificate

Small/Organic Farmer, Level 1 Certificate

Transportation Management, Level 1 Certificate

Turf and Landscape Irrigation, Level 1 Certificate

Turfgrass & Golf Course Management, Level 1 Certificate

Virtual Administrative Assistant, Level 1 Certificate

Warehouse Management, Level 1 Certificate

Marketable Skills Achievement Award:

A+ Certificate Preparation, Marketable Skills Award

Advanced Technical Certificate:

Operations Management, Advanced Technical Certificate

Palo Alto College Transition from Associates of Arts and Associates of Science with Majors to a General AA

The 2016-2017 academic year marked a transition year for the programs offered by the College. In 2015 the Board of Trustees for the College, in order to create programming more consistent with effective transfer, revised policy E.1.3 Core Curriculum and Degrees[1].  The revision combined all major-specific AA degrees and AS degrees into a general AA without major designation and included the option to define and offer a general AS degree.  The general AA degree requires a completed core curriculum (42 credit hours) and 18 semester credit hours of additional academic transfer courses, which provide sufficient flexibility for each student’s transfer plan.  The general AS, when offered, would also require a completed core curriculum plus 18 additional semester credit hours, but would be differentiated from the AA by specific requirements in the areas of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics. Palo Alto College offered the general AA in the 2016-2017 catalog, but did not at that time define general AS degree requirements. Prior to the 2016-2017 transition year, as may be seen in the 2015-2016 Catalog Program List[2], Palo Alto College offered fifteen Associate of Arts (AA) and eight Associate of Science (AS) programs, each differentiated by major and assessed individually.  The College has submitted to SACSCOC a teach-out plan[3] for the Associate of Arts and Associate of Science programs associated with majors, which was approved on July 26, 2018.

Program Definitions and Descriptions

The requirements for associate degrees in Texas are defined by Texas statute, with oversight responsibilities charged to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB).  All associate degrees require a minimum of 60 semester credit hours; programs with semester credit hour requirements greater than 60 must receive specific approval from the THECB (see 60-Hour Limitation[4]). The Certificate semester credit hour requirements vary: Level One Certificates require 15-42 semester credit hours, Level Two Certificates require 30-51 semester credit hours, Marketable Skills (re-named Occupational Skills by the THECB, effective Fall 2017) Awards require 16-45 semester credit hours, and the Advanced Technical Certificate requires 16-45 semester credit hours beyond the AAS.

The purpose of associate degrees and certificates also varies by type of award and is summarized in what follows.

Associate of Arts and Associate of Science (AA and AS) 

The AA and AS degrees are designed for transfer into a baccalaureate program.  The curricula for the AA and AS programs are required by Texas statute (Title 19, Chapter 9, Subchapter A, Rule 9.1[5]) to align, as nearly as possible, with the freshman and sophomore requirements of a baccalaureate program. 

Associate of Arts in Teaching (AAT)

The AAT degrees are designated by the THECB as “fully transferable associate degrees,” (see Associate of Arts in Teaching[6]) and provide precisely the courses required in the freshman and sophomore years of a bachelor’s degree leading to a Texas teaching certificate.  The course requirements for both AAT specializations are the product of collaboration between faculty at Texas public community colleges and faculty at Texas public universities and four-year colleges.  All community colleges offering the AAT require the same courses for completion and all Texas public colleges, and universities are required by Texas statute (Title 19, Chapter 9, Subchapter J, Rule 9.183[7]) to apply the entire degree (60 semester credit hours) toward the teaching baccalaureate.

Associate of Applied Science (AAS)

AAS degrees are designed to prepare students for entry into the workforce.  These degrees do not require a complete core curriculum but must include the 15 hours of general education required by SACSCOC (GIPWE Chapter 3[8], pp 18-19[9]).  Each AAS program is supported by an advisory committee comprised of professionals in the career field the AAS graduates will enter.  The advisory committees share curriculum oversight with the program faculty, ensuring that graduates are fully prepared for entry into their chosen career field. 

Certificate Programs

Like AAS programs, Certificate programs are designed for entry into the workforce. Certificates require fewer hours to complete and the requirements are generally parallel with or subsets of an AAS award, facilitating return for the acquisition of additional skills and qualifications.  Level 1 and Level 2 Certificates are designed for entry-level positions in the workforce and are designed to encourage students to return to complete an AAS. The Occupational Skills Awards, like the Level One Certificates, are short, job-entry programs. The Advanced Technical Certificates are designed to provide an additional set of skills for students who have completed their AAS.

Programs Offered at Off-site Locations and through Distance Education

Palo Alto College has offered 30-35 percent of an Aviation Associate of Applied Science at Stinson Municipal Airfield, San Antonio, TX.  Acknowledgment by SACSCOC of the College’s notification occurred on Dec. 11, 2009.  However, in April, 2017, the College notified SACSCOC of the intent to close the aviation program, requesting approval of the associated teach-out plan.  Approval for the aviation teach-out plan[10] was provided on Sept. 27, 2017.  There are currently ten students on track for completion of the Aviation AAS.

The College has received approval from SACSCOC to offer, with implementation dates of August 2017, January 2018, and August 2018, 50 percent or more of an Associate of Arts at 15 offsite high schools or Early College High Schools.  SACSCOC has also been notified of the College’s intent to offer, with implementation dates of August 2017, January 2018, and August 2018, 25-49 percent of an Associate of Arts program at 29 offsite high school or Early College High School locations (see Offsite HS Approvals[11]) Program assessment for the Associate of Arts will include students at these offsite locations who meet the student sample criteria.

Thirty-four programs at Palo Alto College are available 50 percent or more online (see Table for Programs 50% or More Online[12]). The direct assessment of these program learning outcomes is done across both online and face-to-face sections of the relevant courses. 

PROGRAM LEARNING OUTCOMES, DESCRIPTION OF ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENTS, BENCHMARKS, AND COLLECTION OF DATA

Program Sample

To provide specific evidence of the program learning outcomes, assessment instruments, benchmarks, and collection of data for the programs offered at Palo Alto College, documentation for a sample of the college programs is provided.  This program sample provides evidence of the program assessment process as conducted at the College across all program types, to include curricular improvements made as a result of the review and analysis of assessment outcomes.  All programs at the College have been through more than three years of the college’s program assessment cycle.  Evidence over the three-year interval beginning with academic year 2013-2014 and ending with academic year 2015-2016 is provided with this narrative.

The sample consists of the following Associate Degrees and Certificates:

• AA in English
• AA in Humanities
• AA in Speech
• AS in Pre-Professional
• AS in Pre-Nursing
• AAS in Veterinary Technology
• AAS in Logistics and Supply Chain Management
• Level I Certificate in Administrative Assistant
• Level I Certificate in Warehouse Management
• AAT: Associate of Arts in Teaching, Concentration in 8-12 Specialization (Note: Name changed to Associate of Arts in Teaching, Concentration in 7-12 Specialization in Fall 2015)
• General AA: An Associate of Arts without major designation, effective Fall 2016.

The sample is designed to sufficiently represent the programming at the college as offered over this five-year period of review.  It reflects the program transition made in academic year 2016-2017 and so includes examples of the AA and AS programs with majors, which were offered prior to fall 2016, and includes the general AA which has replaced them in fall 2016 (and is now the largest-enrolled program at the college).  The sample also includes examples of the other program types offered at the College: the AAT, the AAS programs, and Certificate programs.

The sample is also designed to reflect areas that have greatest student engagement.  To create a reasonable measure for this, the product of the number of graduates for each program type and the number of required hours for each program type was calculated. Specifically, the number of graduates for each program type in academic year 2015-2016 was multiplied by the number of required credit hours for each program type (using a weighted average for the College’s Certificate programs).  This total number of earned credit hours was used to indicate the student impact for each program type.

The relationship between the sample, the measure of student impact, and the program inventory for the College is illustrated in the following chart:

Program learning outcomes. Faculty have assigned measurable learning programs to each program offered by the College.  Please see Table 3.3.1.1-1[13] for the program learning outcomes assigned to each of the sample programs.

Program Leaning Outcomes for the General Associate of Arts

As of Fall 2016, the general Associate of Arts (AA), without major designation, is the only AA offered by the College. The program requires completion of the 42 semester-credit-hour Core Curriculum (the general education requirement for public institutions in Texas) and 18 hours selected from the College’s inventory of academic transfer courses.  Because the Core Curriculum forms both the largest and the only common requirement for this AA, the six learning outcomes assigned to this program are the six learning outcomes assigned to the Core Curriculum. These are:

1. Communication
2. Critical Thinking
3. Empirical and Quantitative Skills
4. Personal Responsibility
5. Social Responsibility
6. Teamwork

Please see document entitled Core Curriculum Student Learning Outcomes[14] for the statements that define each of these learning outcomes. 

Description of Assessment Instruments, Benchmarks, and Collection of Data

When determining how the program learning outcomes would be assessed, faculty for each program chose for each learning outcome the course(s) within the program that best allowed students to demonstrate their acquired knowledge and skills.

For the AAS programs and the Certificates, the course chosen for program learning outcomes assessment has been the capstone course, which is designed to integrate all skills and knowledge acquired in that program of study.  For the major-specific AA and AS programs and the AAT, assessments were made using student work completed in the course (or courses) faculty judged to be most demanding for that major or most critical to transfer success within that major.

Benchmarks were initially set at the expectation that 70 percent of students assessed would be judged as proficient in that learning outcome, aligning the judgement of success for the program with the judgement of success for a student enrolled in a course.  This expectation was subject to change with each assessment cycle, the benchmark often raised to a higher percentage as assessment results were collected and reviewed.

Program assessments are completed every spring term of each academic year (see Program Assessment Calendar[15]).  Assessment results are reviewed by program faculty and the assessment report is written during the first two months of the following fall term.  In preparation for review of the 2015-2016 results and to assist with improving the Program Assessment Reports and the action plans associated with them, the Coordinator of Measurement and Evaluation provided program faculty with an updated program assessment document: Reporting Program Assessment Results[16].

Please also see the diagram of the PAC Assessment Cycle[17].

Provided in Table 3.3.1.1-2[18] are the 2015-2016 assessment instruments and the benchmarks for the learning outcomes in each of the sample programs. The documents in the following list provide a three-year cycle (2013-2014 through 2015-2016) of the program assessment reports:

• AAT 8-12 Specialization[19]
• AA English[20]
• AA Humanities[21]
• AA Speech[22]
• AAS Logistics-Supply Chain Management[23]
• AAS Veterinary Technology[24]
• AS Pre-Nursing[25]
• AS Pre-Professional[26]
• Administrative Assistant, Certificate Level 1[27]
• Warehouse Management, Certificate Level 1[28] 

Assessment of the Associate of Arts. The one general Associate of Arts (AA) that is offered in the 2016-2017 catalog is assessed for core curriculum learning outcomes.  That assessment follows the College’s core curriculum (general education) assessment cycle.  In this cycle, two of the six core curriculum learning outcomes are assessed each year.  In academic year 2016-2017 personal and social responsibility were the two outcomes assessed, with analysis and planning occurring in Fall 2017 (see General Education Assessment Calendar[29]).

The core curriculum learning outcomes are directly assessed through “key assignments” assigned to all students in each course responsible for core curriculum learning outcomes (see documents titled Student Work for Personal Responsibility[30], Key Assignment for Personal Responsibility[31] and Key Assignment with Student Work for Social Responsibility[32]). Those assignments, designed to allow students to fully demonstrate their competency in the given learning outcome, are collected through a random sampling process.  They are then assessed by cross-disciplinary faculty using the rubric for that outcome.  The rubrics for personal and social responsibility have outcome levels from one to four, and the benchmark for both of these learning outcomes is to have 70% of the student artifacts score a three or four in all rubric criteria.  Please see the document labeled General Education Assessment Fall 2016[33] for a summary of these results and the document labeled Personal[34] and Social Responsibility[35] Rubrics for those assessment rubrics.

The assessment of core curriculum learning outcomes also includes the following indirect measures:  the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE), which provides students' assessments of their engagement at the Palo Alto College, and the College's graduation survey, capturing students' assessment of their experience at PAC at the time of graduation (see documents titled CCSSE-Gen Ed Crosswalk[36], Graduation Survey-Gen Ed Crosswalk[37], and Graduation Survey Results[38] for the alignment of these questions with the core curriculum learning outcomes)

Program assessment of the AA is the shared responsibility of all faculty who teach core curriculum courses. 

DIRECT MEASURES AND IMPROVEMENTS TO EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS

The direct assessment of program learning outcomes each year is summarized in the Program Assessment Reports, created by faculty early in the fall term after review of the assessment results. These reports include, as previously indicated, the learning outcomes, the benchmarks, and the assessment instrument, or student artifact, to be assessed. The Program Assessment Reports also include the data produced by the assessment and an action plan for the program based upon the review of that data. The action plan addresses improvements for the program and may also include an improvement for the assessment method itself. Summarized in the following tables are three cycles of assessment outcomes and the improvements based upon those outcomes.

• AA English, Table 3.3.1.1-3[39]
• AA Speech, Table 3.3.1.1-4[40]
• AA Humanities, Table 3.3.1.1-5[41]
• AS Pre-Professional, Table 3.3.1.1-6[42]
• AS Pre-Nursing, Table 3.3.1.1-7[43]
• AAS Veterinary Technology, Table 3.3.1.1-8[44]
• AAS Logistics and Supply Chain Management, Table 3.3.1.1-9[45]
• AAT Concentration in 8-12 Specialization, Table 3.3.1.1-10[46]
• Level 1 Certificate, Administrative Assistant, Table 3.3.1.1-11[47]
• Level 1 Certificate, Warehouse Management, Table 3.3.1.1-12[48] 

INDIRECT MEASURES AND IMPROVEMENTS TO EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS

In addition to direct assessment of the program learning outcomes, summarized in the previous tables, faculty also use indirect measures to assess students’ acquisition of program student learning outcomes.  These methods include the following: review and planning for High Risk Courses, College Action Plans, and the process of Program Review.

High Risk Courses

The first of these indirect measures is the productive grade rate (PGR: the percentage of students who complete a given course with a C, B, or A) for the courses within the program.  Courses with a PGR below 70 percent and an enrollment greater than 100 are labeled High Risk. Faculty create action plans for these courses, designed to improve the success rate by addressing the issues that underlie students’ failure to thrive within that curriculum. (See I 4.0 (Procedure) High Risk Course Evaluations and Improvement Strategy[49].)

Faculty began targeting High Risk courses in fall 2008; the number of High Risk courses at the College peaked at 18 in Fall 2010 and dropped to a low of 11 in Fall 2012.  Since Fall 2013, however, the College has had a persistent 13 High Risk courses, eight of which are in mathematics.  Although progress has been made, increasing the PGR for several of these courses, the PGR has remained below the 70% threshold.  Please see document titled High Risk Courses[50] for longitudinal data.

In what follows, improvement strategies for the High Risk Courses that materially affect one or more of the sample programs are provided.

Improvement plans for high risk courses within the English program. INRW 0420 Integrated Reading and Writing II is the developmental reading and writing class that precedes English Composition I and II and is material to the success of students in those college level courses. English faculty oversee this course, recognizing its importance to the program.  High risk strategies for this course include:

• Prompt, early intervention at the first signs of student difficulties; referral to tutoring, counselors, and the Writing Center.
• Required visits with the instructor for each student, at a minimum just before the midterm and again just before the final.
• Incorporate learning community best practices, to include mentoring, use of a cohort model, and co-curricular activities.
• Adopt strategies for increasing retention.

INRW 042 PGR has moved between a low of 52% and a high of 64.7%, and now sits at 60%, the PGR for Fall 2016.  This developmental course is in fact integral to every academic transfer program at the College.

ENGL 1301 Composition I and ENGL 1302 Composition II were high risk courses until Spring 2015; both courses have been off the list since that time. (See INRW 0420 High Risk Plan[51] for complete details and the document High Risk Courses[50] for longitudinal data). 

Improvement plans for high risk courses within the Speech program.SPCH 1311 Introduction to Speech Communication was not a high risk course until Fall 2016.  The speech faculty have, in response to this decline in PGR, created an action plan for the course that includes the following strategies:

• Noting lower PGRs for online speech students, faculty decided to require the College’s online preparedness modules for all online speech students (OLRN 0001 is strongly recommended to students who register for online courses; the note appears below the course title in the online registration site.  As an example, the note for Fall 2017 online sections reads: “If you are new to internet courses, you are strongly encouraged to enroll in a free “Orientation to Online Learning” mini–course. Register for OLRN 0001 now.”).
• Faculty resolved also to make better use of tutoring resources and to create an academic preparedness resource for speech students available through Canvas.
• Speech faculty will create an intervention for at risk students, to include collecting qualitative data that will provide a better understanding the difficulties students are encountering.

(See SPCH 1311 High Risk Plan[52] for complete details and the document High Risk Courses[50] for longitudinal data). 

Improvement plans for high risk courses within the Pre-Professional program. BIOL 1406 Biology for Science Majors strategies included

• Instructors will attend training in Carol Dweck’s Growth Mindset approach to teaching and use that strategy in all sections of this course.
• Required tutoring for students failing to be successful with their lab practicals.  Tutoring will include practice with the practical format.
• Required tutoring for students failing a lecture exam.  The instructor will assign five additional questions to the student and meet with that student to discuss the answers provided.

BIOL 1406 was high risk during Fall 2014 and 2015 terms, and moved off of the list in Fall 2016. (See BIOL 1406 High Risk Plan[53] and for complete details and the document High Risk Courses[50] for longitudinal data).

CHEM 1411 General Chemistry I strategies included:

• Identify bottlenecks to student success: mathematics; abstract nature of the material, handling laboratory equipment, interpreting data.
• Early math assessment, to be followed by required and focused tutoring where need is indicated.
• Active learning strategies to improve acquisition of abstract concepts.
• Provide opportunities for students successfully completing the class to become TAs for the lab.
• Provide chemistry faculty with professional development opportunities that address hands-on, active experiences in the classroom and lab.

CHEM 1411 became high risk in Fall 2015 and remains during Fall 2016 with a PGR of 63%. (See CHEM 1411 High Risk Plan[54] for complete details and the document High Risk Courses[50] for longitudinal data). 

Improvement plans for high risk courses within the Pre-Nursing program. BIOL 2401 and 2402, Anatomy and Physiology I and II strategies have been extensive, as these courses have long had residence on the high risk list. Progress has been made, however, with a slowly rising PGR.  The current strategies include the following:

• Requesting funds for additional models and weekend hours for the science learning center.
• Review of all course materials.
• Revisions for all lab exercises and worksheets, reserving anatomy topics for the lab and physiology topics for lectures.
• Software, Mastering A&P, was added as additional review and practice material linked to Canvas.

Faculty teaching BIOL 2401 Anatomy and Physiology I have struggled to balance course rigor with student support for many years.  The course remains, without question, high risk, but the PGR has fought its way up from 38% in Fall 2013 to 54% in Fall 2016. (See BIOL 2401 High Risk Plan[55] for complete details and the document High Risk Courses[50] for longitudinal data). 

College Action Plans

The Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) results are used as an additional indirect measure of student learning.  The survey is administered in odd-numbered years and obtains students’ impressions of their level of engagement with their college education. Table 3.3.1.1-13[56] provides the CCSSE categories that are of specific interest to faculty. These address active and collaborative learning, student effort, academic challenge, student-faculty interaction, and support for learners.  See the document labeled CCSSE-Gen Ed Crosswalk[36] for the questions within these CCSSE categories and the outcomes for each.

The CCSSE results, with course-level PGR and other measures of student learning motivate the creation of College Action Plans (CAPs).  College Action Plans emerged as a cross-college improvement strategy after the implementation of the College’s QEP, a study of Problem-Based Learning that fostered innovative improvements in pedagogy and integrative learning across the college. College Action Plans typically incorporate high impact practices and are created to act upon data that pertains to more than one program or discipline, particularly when the related activities enlist the aid of units across the institution.

Summarized in the narrative that follows are the College Action Plans that provide strategies for greater success in teaching and learning, and impact all academic and workforce programs.  Please see documents labeled CAP-Learning Communities[57], CAP- STEM[58], CAP-Required Tutoring[59], CAP- Honors Program[60], CAP- Open Educational Resources[61], and CAP- Career and Technical Education Programs[62] for greater detail.

• Learning Communities College Action Plan: The initial goal for this plan was to form a learning community for all Learning Frameworks courses (EDUC 1300: a student success course required of all first-time-in–college students), each paired with one of these challenging, first term courses: MATH 0410, 0320, 1414, 1314, or 1324, or ENGL 1301.  This learning communities/cohort model produced improved completion rates and PGR, and next steps include faculty professional development and greater integration of learning community curriculum.
• STEM College Action Plan: The College initiated a focus on STEM courses, bringing together all STEM faculty to design a plan to improve student outcomes (PGR, retention, persistence, completion), provide highly engaging instruction, and strengthen ties with transfer institutions, industries, and the College’s industry partners. The College has allocated resources for a One Stop STEM Center, faculty have designed projects for undergraduate research, and grant funding has been obtained to support additional co- and extra-curricular STEM activities.
• Required Tutoring College Action Plan: Originally designed to improve student success in high risk math courses, which directly impacted success within all STEM disciplines, the required tutoring was quickly institutionalized and the CAP changed its focus.  Although under the same name, the faculty leading this CAP created voluntary refreshers for the mathematics and vocabulary necessary for success in Introductory and General Chemistry.  Those results were promising (see Refresher Results[63]), and refreshers were subsequently added for high risk Anatomy and Physiology, College Algebra, and Statistics.
• Honors Program College Action Plan: The Palo Alto College Honors program incorporates a learning community, cohort model with course design principles focused on active learning, reflection, and community engagement.  The CAP is relatively new; the Honors Program held a soft launch in Spring 2017, with a full launch scheduled for Fall 2017.  The College expectation is that the faculty focus on exemplary course design, student support, and extra- and co-curricular activities will not remain localized to this program but will also serve to inculcate these principles across all programs and areas of study.
• Open Educational Resources College Action Plan:  The use of Open Educational Resources (OER) began solely to counter the exponentially escalating costs of instructional materials (certainly a factor reducing student success). However, as greater numbers of faculty immersed themselves in the growing compendiums of OER materials, a second goal for this CAP emerged.  Faculty discovered that OER materials could be more current, more interactive, and have a flexibility that, combined, made them more engaging than traditional instructional materials. Student surveys have indicated a clear appreciation for these materials (see Fall[64] and Spring[65] OER Survey Results).
• Career and Technical Education Programs College Action Plan:  Associate of Applied Science and Certificate programs indirectly measure their success through student completion (graduation) and successful placement in the workforce.  Palo Alto College began serving its community as a resource for transfer into baccalaureate programs; the career and technical programs have opened as a second focus for the institution.  This CAP is designed to provide additional focus for oversight of all career and technical programs, the goals include improved completion and placement rates, as well as greater community awareness of these opportunities as reflected in greater enrollment. 

Program Review

Faculty overseeing academic and workforce programs and disciplines at PAC also conduct, on a five year cycle (see Program Review Calendar[66]), a comprehensive assessment of their respective programs or areas of concentration through the process of Program Review.   Program review entails the review and analysis of several measures of program and discipline integrity, alignment, and student success.  The number of full-time faculty, the number of graduates, persistence rates, graduation rates, and course-based success are among the measures collected and reviewed. Emerging from this process is a SWOT analysis followed by a set of five-year goals and an accompanying action plan for the program.  Summarized in the narrative that follows are the action plans from the most recent Program Reviews.  Please see documents titled Program Review College English[67], Program Review Speech Communication[68], Program Review Pre-Professional and Pre-Nursing[69], Program Review Veterinary Technology[70], Program Review Logistics and Supply Chain Management[71], Program Review Teacher Education[72] for the complete details.

• English Action Plan Recommendations:  The English faculty decided to review and revise the curriculum for Composition I and II.  Specifically, goals were “to better prepare students in the critical reading of literary texts, the techniques of academic research, and the process of constructing research-based expository and persuasive texts.”  Steps included researching comparable course curriculum at other community colleges and at transfer institutions, piloting a new lab component, collaborating with the Writing Center to create interventions for at-risk students, and working with Institutional Research to track the impact of department initiatives.   
• Speech Action Plan Recommendations:  Speech faculty goals included collaborating with feeder high schools to expand dual credit and Early College High School offerings, providing additional faculty development in problem-based learning, in open educational resources, in the use of portfolios, and other high impact practices.
• Pre-Professional and Pre-Nursing (Biology) Action Plan Recommendations:  These programs include persistently high risk courses. Action items for the faculty to address success in these courses remains the focus of interventions for these classes.  Action items include the following: review syllabi for each course to ensure clarity in course requirements, pursue additional faculty development in order to maintain currency, create opportunities to establish ties with local industry, implement new opportunities for undergraduate research, request additional evening hours for the Science Learning Center, actively communicate with at-risk students, and continue to hold office hours in the Learning Center to increase accessibility.
• Veterinary Technology Action Plan Recommendations:  The Veterinary Technology program has demonstrated consistently excellent results in state and national certification pass rates but have faced challenges with student retention.  Their goals included increasing retention and graduation rates and maintaining their licensure rates.  Their actions to reach those goals included the following: fully developing both a tutoring program and a peer mentoring program, and pursuing additional grant funding to support the currency of equipment and supplies.  Additional action items focused on additional recruiting efforts, maintaining the current licensure success rate, and maintaining the program’s accreditation through the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA).
• Logistics and Supply Chain Management Recommendations: The faculty lead for Logistics set the following goals after conducting program review: working with the program’s advisory committee, secure a commitment from the program’s industry partners to provide additional student internship opportunities; create a simulation warehouse on campus to provide students with real world logistics and supply chain management experiences; work with Texas A&M University, San Antonio, to increase the number of program graduates who transfer into their Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences (BAAS) program; and work with local high school partners to increase dual credit opportunities in Logistics.
• Teacher Education Action Plan Recommendations:  The Teacher Education program review produced a comprehensive set of goals and action items.  They included the following: creating a Palo Alto College Education Advisory Committee, to be charged with assessing curriculum, identifying professional trends and professional development opportunities for both faculty, students, and alumni; creating a partnership with high school Ready, Set, Teach programs, increasing the number of problem-based learning assignments, the opportunities for collaborative learning, e-portfolio assignments, and the use of open educational resources; and offering a section of speech designed for teachers in training: Fundamentals of Speech for Teachers.

As articulated in Board Policy A.1.1[73], the College District is known by the assumed names of “Alamo Colleges” and “Alamo Colleges District” or the “Alamo Community College District.” References to these assumed names in the narrative and any supporting documentation are equivalent.