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.