Guided Pathways to Success

About Guided Pathways

Guided Pathways

For the FY 2019-2021 Strategic Plan, Lake Land College has identified two Key Focus Areas, which are meant to unite the College community in the pursuit of a few systemic, crucial strategies. The first Key Focus Area is to implement Guided Pathways to Success (GPS), while expanding K-12 and university partnerships, to provide a clear pathway to meaningful educational or career outcomes. The Guided Pathways Model is an integrated, institution-wide approach to student success based on intentionally designed, clear, coherent and structured educational experiences, informed by available evidence, that guide each student effectively and efficiently from her/his point of entry through to attainment of high-quality postsecondary credentials and careers with value in the labor market.

Central to the pathways model are clear, educationally coherent program maps—which include specific course sequences, progress milestones, and program learning outcomes—that are aligned to what will be expected of students upon program completion in the workforce and in education at the next level in a given field. Students are helped from the start to explore academic and career options, choose a program of study, and develop a plan based on the program maps. These plans simplify student decision-making, and they enable colleges to provide predictable schedules, frequent feedback, and targeted support as needed to help students stay on track and complete their programs more efficiently. They also facilitate efforts by faculty to ensure that students are building the skills across their programs that they will need to succeed in employment and further education.

Guided Pathways Essential Practices

Clarify the paths to student end goals
Help students choose and enter a pathway
Help students stay on path
Ensure that students are learning

FAQs

Guided Pathways for Success FAQs

Why is Lake Land College implementing Guided Pathways?

As part of the FY 2019-2021 Strategic Plan, Lake Land College has identified two Key Focus Areas, which are meant to unite the College community in the pursuit of a few systemic, crucial strategies. The first Key Focus Area is to implement Guided Pathways to Success (GPS), while expanding K-12 and university partnerships, to provide a clear pathway to meaningful educational or career outcomes. The Guided Pathways to Success Model supports the strategic plan goals of advancing student success and fulfilling the evolving and emerging education and training needs. It is designed to help students seamlessly transition into higher education through multiple entry points and smoothly advance toward their educational and career goals.

What is a guided pathway?

A guided pathway is a descriptive and easy-to-use plan detailing the scope and sequence of courses required to complete a credential efficiently and transition to baccalaureate degree programs or the labor market. It includes the route a student takes to connect with, enter, progress through, and complete his/her program of study, as well as, the skills they need to acquire for the labor market they will enter after their certificate or associate or baccalaureate degree. Programs have integrated supports along the way to ensure students are staying on the path.

Do students have to participate in a Guided Pathway?

Guided Pathways are designed in such a way that all students will be placed on a pathway which aligns with their career and/or educational goals. Students will still have options on the courses they take, as well as choice of time and modality.

What are the advantages of Guided Pathways for the students?

Guided Pathways are clearly structured programs closely aligned with support services. They provide success management tools including career exploration, guided onboarding, and academic planning. These tools will assist students to choose and stay on a career path and complete the program of study. They help identify “at risk” students for early intervention. Guided Pathways are designed to ensure that students are able to complete their degrees in a timely manner and not accumulate credits that do not count towards their degrees.

What are the advantages of Guided Pathways for the faculty?

Guided Pathways has many advantages for faculty. It is designed to further our goal of helping students be more successful in their courses, helping with completion and retention rates. Additionally, it takes the guesswork out of advising by making course selections clear. Furthermore, it provides faculty with analytics to determine if course and programs are being met, as well as early alert tools. Faculty may use this data to continually adapt and improve their courses. They can also easily alert students when they are going off track or are in danger of failing.

Don’t we already have pathways at Lake Land College?

While Lake Land actually has a lot of components that address the essential practices of Guided Pathways (program models in the catalog, mandatory orientation, mandatory advisement, etc.), they are housed in various silos and aren’t streamlined in a continuous structured experience for students where all of the components support one another. Guided Pathways is designed to ensure that all programs are clearly mapped out to student end goals with clear support services systematically built in along the way. Materials should also be easily accessible and understandable for students.

Will implementing Guided Pathways change the schedule and when courses are offered?

At this point, it is too early to determine how Guided Pathways will affect the schedule and when courses are offered. Guided Pathways will not require students to be full or part-time or take traditional vs. online classes and so on. It is not designed to limit modality, and the pathways will not change due to scheduling. At the same time, they are designed to ensure that students can complete a full sequence of courses in a timely manner. Thus, if a course is not being offered in sequence or at a time that is conducive to students, there is a possibility the schedule might change. Guided Pathways are designed to ensure student success so such changes might occur later in the process if it is deemed necessary to help students persist and succeed in their courses.

How can Guided Pathways help part-time students?

Guided Pathways can help part-time students clarify their career options and make connections between these options and programs of study earlier in their trajectory. In doing so, we can immediately show students how their education will bridge to a living wage and a career path. Additionally, Guided Pathways can help students get into programs of study earlier and the work they do can be placed into a clearer context for why they are taking the courses and how the coursework fits into a more cohesive whole program of study. Guided Pathways also incorporates integrated “intrusive advising” and interventions to help guide students in their journeys, encourage them to continue, and notify them when they are off track.

Are there Guided Pathways for students that require remedial math and English courses?

One of the essential components of Guided Pathways is the development and incorporation of co-requisite courses. Lake Land College has already made great strides in this area! Focus would then be placed on expanding these initiatives to scale. Guided Pathways is also structured to ensure that students are placed in the “right” math that is relevant to their career goals. Pathways are designed to ensure that students can receive the help they need.

Will students lose their right to choose their own classes?

No, Guided Pathways present recommended pathways or sequences of courses designed to fit the students’ end career and/or educational goals. At the same time, they do present an opt-out feature for students if they would decide to take a different course.

What is a “meta-major”?

A meta-major is a collection of academic programs that have common or related content. Programs within a meta-major will share some common requirements to allow for early exploration as students may enroll in this broad field of interest without collecting excess units.

Will students still be able to choose undecided as a major?

In the Guided Pathways Model, students will no longer choose “undecided” as a major. Rather, they will work closely with an Academic Counselor to determine their area(s) of interest and choose a meta-major. Meta-majors are designed to give students an opportunity to explore career interests/academic programs within a certain area before making a final selection. Rather than delaying the choice by choosing “undecided,” students will make choices incrementally, determining their major by the end of the first year.

Glossary

Guided Pathways Glossary of Terms

Cafeteria Model – A common community college model in which institutions provide many disconnected, disjointed services, programs, and activities; it is often up to each student to navigate the complexities of the college experience.

Cohort: Students grouped together by meta-Major or similar group for data collection, analysis, and big -picture decision-making about pathways development. Students will have at least one statistical factor in common.

Gatekeeper Courses: The first or lowest-level college-level course students must take and successfully complete in order to progress along his or her academic pathway.

Guided Pathways Model: An institution-wide approach to student success based on intentionally designed, clear, coherent, and structured educational experiences, informed by available evidence, that guide each student effectively and efficiently from his/her point of entry through to attainment of high-quality postsecondary credentials and careers with value in the labor market. Guided Pathways is an umbrella term used to describe highly structured student experiences that guide them on the pathway to completion.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): A set of metrics designed to measure students’ progress through milestones on his or her pathway. Specifically used to monitor the effects of institutional interventions.

Meta-Major: A collection of academic programs that have common or related content. Programs within a meta-major will share some common requirements to allow for early exploration as students may enroll in this broad field of interest without collecting excess units.

Milestone Markers/Courses: Measurable educational achievements that denote essential degree-advancing courses such as completing a college -level math course or number of units within a defined period of time. May prompt a “nudge.”

Nudges: Actions that guide decision making while preserving freedom of choice.

Onboarding: The process of helping students move from application to first-day attendance by simplifying admissions, financial aid, orientation, and registration.

Pathway/Road Map: A descriptive and easy-to-use plan detailing the scope and sequence of courses required to complete a credential efficiently and transition to baccalaureate degree programs or the labor market. Includes the route a student takes to connect with, enter, progress through, and complete his/her program of study, as well as, the skills they need to acquire for the labor market they will enter after their certificate or associate or baccalaureate degree.

Program: A set of courses and related activities that lead to an attainment of educational objectives such as a certificate or an associate’s degree; often referred to as a major of study.

On-ramp: The integration of developmental education as a part of helping students successfully complete the critical introductory college-level courses in their initial field of interest. May consist of co-requisite coursework designed to scaffold students’ success in critical college-level courses. Aligns math and other foundational skills coursework with a student’s program of study, and integrates and contextualizes instruction to build academic and non-academic foundation skills throughout the college-level curriculum, particularly in program gateway courses.

Student Educational Plan (SEP): A term-by-term individualized plan of courses a student should take based on his/her placement levels, full-time/part-time status, summer term plans, and pathway selection. The SEP should guide students through registration. Deviation from the SEP may adversely impact a student’s financial aid and lead to excess unit accumulation.

Structured Programs: Streamlined programs of study featuring clear choices, limited electives, and targeted coursework relevant to a career roadmap or credentials required for transfer.

Stackable Credentials: Certificate or degree programs that offer off-ramps and on-ramps for students who need to move between higher education and the workforce. In stackable credentials pathways, students’ earned credits count toward the next certificate or degree.

*Adapted from Bakersfield College’s Guided Pathways Glossary of Terms

Guided Pathways Strategic Enrollment Management Team 2022-Current

GPSEM Matrix

GUIDED PATHWAYS STRATEGIC ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT PLANNING MATRIX LAKE LAND COLLEGE 2023-2027

FOCUS AREAS	1. GUIDED PATHWAYS IMPLEMENTATION	2. RECRUITMENT AND MARKETING	3. ONBOARDING EXPERIENCE	4. RETENTION, PERSISTENCE AND COMPLETION
GOAL STATEMENTS	A. Fully implement Guided Pathways Model to enhance and support student success.	A. Operationalize a comprehensive recruiting and marketing plan to attract and retain new and current students.	A. Operationalize a structured onboarding process to improve the student experience.	A. Fully integrate EAB Navigate functionalities using a tiered approach to strengthen retention, persistence and completion efforts.
PRIORITY OBJECTIVES	1. Assess current status of Guided Pathways implementation.	1. Audit current recruiting and marketing efforts.	1. Use value stream mapping to audit the onboarding process for specific student groups (ex: incoming high school students, first time students, readmitted students and transfer students).	1. Identify EAB Navigate functionality for implementation to support retention, persistence and completion.
	2. Create a plan to develop Guided Pathways components not yet adopted.	2. Analyze results of recruiting and marketing audit to identify the gaps in effectiveness.	2. Analyze results of onboarding audit to identify gaps in effectiveness for all student categories and develop interventions to streamline the onboarding experience.	2. Develop identified EAB Navigate functionalities.
	3. Establish a collaborative framework/communication plan for stakeholders to fully adopt GPS in their daily work.	3. Establish a collaborative framework/communication plan for stakeholders to participate in recruitment and marketing efforts.	3. Establish a collaborative framework/communication plan for students and staff to adopt the improved onboarding process.	3. Establish a collaborative framework/communication plan for stakeholders to utilize EAB Navigate.
	4. Develop strategies to increase the awareness that SEM and GPS are the shared responsibility of everyone within the College to increase student recruitment, retention and completion	4. Establish, implement and assess strategies to increase the enrollment of the following specific target demographics: adult students, career/technical education students and first year students.		4. Establish an assessment plan for evaluating student success outcomes using EAB Navigate.

Communication Plan

Communication Plan for Lake Land College’s Guided Pathways
Timeline	Events/Activities	Lead	Audience	Goal	Desired Outcomes
March 2022-May 2022	GPSEM Leaders Meeting	VPSS and Assoc Dean of Enrollment Management	GPSEM Team Leaders	Establish 4-7 overarching goals and Introduce to team to begin working on objectives for each goal statement	Develop a common understanding on how Guided Pathways Strategic Enrollment Management Matrix fits into the College’s Strategic Plan
July 2022- August 2022	Cabinet Meeting	VPSS	Cabinet	Take draft GPSEM matrix to Cabinet for review	Approval of draft GPSEM Matrix
July 2022-August 2022	GPSEM Meeting	VPSS and Assoc Dean of Enrollment Management	GPSEM Team	Establish working groups on the GPSEM team based on goals. Teams to begin working on strategies and action plans	Develop a better understanding to the GPSEM Team on how Guided Pathways Strategic Enrollment Management Matrix fits into the College’s Strategic Plan
April 2023	All Employee Group Meetings	Associate Dean of Enrollment Management	All Employees	Update college community on the GPSEM plan	Provide updates on the progress of the GPSEM plan and the completed activities
June 2023	Board of Trustees Meeting	Associate Dean of Enrollment Management	Board of Trustees	Update the Board on GPSEM Plan	Update the Board on the progress made with the GPSEM plan since Spring 2022
Ongoing	Maintain a GPS website to convey updates, resources, etc.	Associate Dean of Enrollment Management	All College Faculty and Staff	Create website that provides resources for faculty and staff throughout the GPS process	Provide complete transparency throughout the GPSEM process

Team Membership

Guided Pathways Strategic Enrollment Management Team
Team Member	Title
Pamela Hartke	Associate Dean of Enrollment Management (Team Chair)
Dr. Valerie Lynch	Vice President of Student Services
Dr. Ikemefuna Nwosu	Vice President of Academic Services
TBA	Academic Services Specialist for the Dean of Academic Services
Emily Ramage	Dean of Academic Operations
Jon Van Dyke	Dean of Admissions Services
Chris Strohl	Dean of Workforce Solutions & Community Education
Kelly Allee	Director of Marketing and Public Relations
Lisa Cole	Director of Data Analytics
Tessa Wiles	Director of Dual Credit and Honors Experience
Tony Sharp	Director of Enterprise Applications
Lisa Shumard-Shelton	Director of Student Life
Heather Nohren	Chair of Counseling and Judicial Affairs/Academic Counselor
Emily Hartke	Academic Counselor
Jennifer Hedges	Director of Financial Aid and Veteran Services
Dr. Jennifer Melton	Academic Counselor
Peighton Hinote	Coordinator for Student Communications & Initiatives
David Stewart	Chief Information Officer
Tynia Kessler	Division Chair Business/ Business Instructional Faculty
Ryan Wildman	Agriculture Instructional Faculty

Resources

Guided Pathways Leadership Team 2018-2021

Communication Plan

Communication Plan for Lake Land College’s Guided Pathways
Timeline	Events/Activities	Lead	Audience	Goal	Desired Outcomes
March 2018	All Employee Group Meetings	Cabinet	All Employees	High level overview of Guided Pathways for Success as a college-wide initiative for the 2019-2021 Strategic Plan	Develop a common understanding of what Guided Pathways are and how it fits into the College’s Strategic Plan
April 2018	Academic and Student ServicesLeadership Team Meetings	Cabinet	Academic and Student ServicesLeadership Teams	Introduce essential elements of GPS and introduce additional resources through Redesigning America’s Community Colleges, Complete College America and EAB	Develop a more in-depth understanding of Guided Pathways
Fall 2018	Staff Development DaysAugust 17, 2018November 21, 2018	Opening Day – PresidentNovember Staff Development – Dean of GPS	All Employees	Introduce Guided Pathways, share history of the project, and provide an overview of the national data.	Introduce Guided Pathways Leadership Team; Reinforce understanding of Guided Pathways
Ongoing	Academic and Student ServicesLeadership TeamsAll Employee Group Meetings	Dean of GPS	All Employees	Update college community on GPS action plan	Develop understanding on the importance of GPS and next steps; provide updates on completed activities
Ongoing	Division Meetings	GPLT	Faculty	GPS team members will provide monthly reports at their division meetings	Communicate findings and next steps; create shared ownership
Ongoing	Maintain a GPS website to convey updates, resources, etc.	GPLT	All College Faculty and Staff	Create website that provides resources for faculty and staff throughout the GPS process	Provide resources on pathways; provide complete transparency throughout the GPS process

Team Membership

Guided Pathways Leadership Team
Team Member	Area of Representation
Darci Cather	Guided Pathways Leadership Team Chair
Jennifer Melton	Academic Counselor
Bryan Burrell	Academic Counselor
Ryan Wildman	Agriculture Instructional Faculty
Dyke Barkley	Agriculture Instructional Faculty
Cassandra Porter	Allied Health Instructional Faculty
Jon Lebold	Business Instructional Faculty
Brenda Hunzinger	Math and Science Instructional Faculty
Matthew Greider	Social Science and Education Instructional Faculty
Ed Thomas	Humanities Instructional Faculty
Brian Madlem	Technology Instructional Faculty