Titan Up! Improving the Academic Success Centers to
Generate Higher Levels of Student Success and Satisfaction
Dr. Marci Hanks, and Karen Loffler
Eastern Florida State College, Melbourne Campus
Eastern Florida State College, home of the Titans, serves all of Brevard County which spans across 72 miles. EFSC has 4 campus locations: Titusville, Cocoa, Melbourne, and Palm Bay.
Many students attend classes on more than one campus, while some students take classes online. Each campus has an Academic Success Center (ASC). Prior to 2019, each ASC’s structure and support services were very different. Students would not have a consistent experience when visiting the different centers. EFSC analyzed each center’s approach and implemented a strategic plan to improve the student experience and to help students achieve higher levels of success and satisfaction.
These goals parallel the missions of the Association of Florida Colleges and the Florida College System by responding to students’ needs, by maximizing student learning and success through high quality services, and by providing them with a world-class college system.
The highlights of our improvements are as follows:
Ø hired a director to oversee and unify all 4 centers
Ø developed an intensive tutor training Canvas course and face-to-face training
Ø obtained advanced level national certification for over 50 tutors
Ø institutionalized Peer Tutoring Program
Ø created Hiring & Training Procedures for Peer Tutoring Program
Ø improved faculty involvement in the hiring and training of tutors
Ø implemented faculty roundtable discussions
Ø implemented TutorTrac to collect college-wide data to make informed decisions
Ø hired Success Advisors to focus on success, retention, and completion rates
Ø held Spring Registration Awareness Events to help over 600 students register
Ø created a rebranding and marketing campaign to promote our improved services
Rebranding & Marketing Campaign
In 2019, the 4 campus Learning Labs changed their name to the Academic Success Centers. EFSC hired a director to oversee the ASCs and to provide consistent collegewide services. In 2019, the ASC worked with Communications and Printing and Graphics on a new marketing campaign. New web pages, signs, and bookmarks were made to give the EFSC community a better understanding of provided services and how to access them.
Tutor Training Program
Training and professional development are crucial to providing high quality services to students. Therefore, faculty, staff, and Human Resources developed training and professional development for ASC staff. EFSC’s Canvas course and face-to-face training include innovative topics such as Diversity, Cultural Intelligence, Emotional Intelligence, Mindfulness, Professional Etiquette, Positive Interactions, Questioning Techniques, Checking for Understanding, Critical Thinking, Learning Styles, Case Scenarios, and Group Presentations on Best Practices Articles. Six faculty members participated in Faculty Roundtable discussions to help tutors know how to help students succeed in their classes. (This idea came from Melbourne Writing Center’s Faculty Coordinator, John Valliere, who schedules these discussions regularly.)
The ASC created assessments in Canvas for the training. The ASC created feedback forms for the trainings and received positive feedback. The ASC certified approximately 50 tutors to the advanced level with the National Tutoring Association. In addition, key staff members were trained in Kaltura, Microsoft Teams, and SharePoint. Staff members used these tools to record lectures for our new Tutor Training Program; to create tutorials to train staff in how to run reports; and to create an online scientific calculator tutorial to help students pass the TABE test. Microsoft Teams has enabled staff members from different campuses to communicate regularly, thereby increasing collaboration and decreasing time and travel costs. Additionally, 8 staff members became Advanced Level Nationally Certified Academic Coaches through the NTA.
Peer Tutoring Program
In 2014, EFSC developed the Core Scholar program as the College's Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), part of the SACSCOC Reaffirmation of Accreditation. The program included peer tutoring. When the QEP ended in Spring 2019, EFSC was determined to find ways to institutionalize peer tutoring. The ASC collaborated with faculty, Financial Aid, the Provost’s Office, and Human Resources to make 16 Work Study and 16 Student Employee Peer Tutoring positions available. Faculty recommend students for the open positions and are part of the hiring committee. The ASC hired 18 peer tutors in 2019.
The ASC expanded upon the QEP’s work to develop new Hiring, Training, and Professional Development Procedures. Peer Tutors must complete EFSC’s tutor training, shadow professional tutors, and be observed before they may begin tutoring on their own.
TutorTrac
Prior to 2019, EFSC did not have a reliable, or a consistent method of collecting data for all 4 centers. TutorTrac was implemented college-wide. ASC staff were trained in TutorTrac data collection and reporting. Every tutor received an iPad to make data collection easy. Implementing TutorTrac enabled the ASC to make informed and purposeful decisions based on consistent, reliable data. For example, the ASC now runs reports that show the number of students tutored by time and day so that adequate staff can be employed during peak hours. Additionally, the ASC runs reports by subjects and looks at the number of hours each tutor spends tutoring. This data helps the ASC to know and meet specific staffing needs at each center to better serve the needs of our students. In 2019, the number of tutoring hours was 24,309.
Success Advisors
The ASC hired an Academic Support and Success Advisor (ASSA) for each campus. The ASSAs work collaboratively to increase college-wide student success, retention, and completion rates. The ASSAs, ASC Director, AVP of Student Affairs, and the Executive Director of Planning and Assessment are analyzing best practices research and collaborating to target an at-risk population for the ASSAs to serve.
In 2019, the ASSAs held their first college-wide event, Spring Registration Awareness, where over 600 students were reached. The ASSAs invited the Advising Office, the Office of Financial Aid, and Career and Planning Services to be present during the events to help answer students’ questions and to help them prepare to register before the Thanksgiving Break. Each campus had a different theme to meet the differing student population’s needs. Some campuses served pizza, played Kahoot, played music, had live musical performances, or handed out free EFSC t-shirts to students.