Minutes
Achieving the Dream • San Jose City College • Informational Meetings • Feb. 25, 2010 and Feb. 26, 2010

Attendees
Present Feb. 25, 2010: Jesus Covarrubias, Robert Gutierrez, LaRae Helliwell, Leandra Martin, Linda Meyer, Luz Moreno, Mark Newton, Leonela Pinedo, Jussi Rajna, Phil Renteria, Ann Soman, Roi Ann Thompson, Susan West, Jim Williams, Bob Wing
Guest: Ken Gonzalez (Data Coach)

Present Feb. 26, 2010: Sanhita Datta, Peiman Gheibi, Leandra Martin, Karen Pullen, Leslie Rice, Roi Ann Thompson
Guests: Ken Gonzalez (Data Coach) and Byron McClenney (Core Coach)

Description
Achieving the Dream (ATD) is a national initiative to help community college students succeed with a focus on low-income and students of color.  This initiative started 6 years ago with 27 colleges in 5 states and now there are more than 100 institutions in 22 states.  It is a stand alone, non-profit organization, whose goal is to add 20-25 additional schools per year.  The emphasis is on better preparing students in basic skills math and English who want to transfer to a 4 year college or earn a certificate.

On February 16, 2010, the SJCC Academic Senate approved to obtain a broad engagement of all stakeholders related to ATD. Two meetings were held in order to be inclusive of all constituencies (faculty, staff, students, and administrators) on campus and in the hope that we would have a large turnout to have dialog to provide more information about the initiative and possible next steps for our campus.

An ATD school must have committed leadership, shared governance, the formation of a core and a data team, use of both quantative and qualitative data with a focus on 2 or 3 initiatives, evaluation and implementation of continuous improvement strategies for programs and services.

An ATD school can integrate their mission with Strategic Planning and Accreditation.
Goals of an ATD school are to have students successfully complete development or pre-collegiate coursework and advance to college level work, enroll in and complete initial college level courses, complete courses with a C or better and/or persist with taking college level courses.

There are 4 steps to the ATD process.

1. Outcome Data: request and analyze college data to determine what is wrong and what needs to be addressed.  
2. Collect “Why” Data: Collect additional data to determine why certain groups of students are less successful than others.
3. Intervention to Address “Why”: Take action to address the achievement gaps found in the  evidence and design interventions to consider changes to college policies and/or curriculum, etc. that impact the underlying factors that impede student success.
4. Evaluation & Modification: Evaluate the outcomes of the intervention and make modifications if necessary.

EVC is ahead of SJCC in the process.  They have already determined what data they want and have requested it from the District Office. The data team will review the data and then decide what specific data we want to request. 

Ken suggested that we concentrate this semester on acquiring data and identifying what areas are a priority to target and determine the “Why”.  We would then design the interventions in the fall 2010 semester and implement them in spring of 2011.  The coaches would visit SJCC and provide input twice a year for the first two years and then once per year ongoing.

Leandra will put a call out for volunteers from all constituency groups to be on the Core and Data Teams and survey to determine a time to hold meetings.

*Note:
At the actual Academic Senate meeting, the senate voted to support ATD and proceed with its implementation.