Program Planning and Action s1

Program Review and Action Planning – YEAR THREE Final Summary Report

Division Special Programs Program CalWORKs Contact Person Dr. Jeanne Wilson Date March 3, 2012

I. Reflect upon the last three years' analysis and activities.

CalWORKs mission is to serve students and their families by providing educational and career opportunities combined with an array of high-quality support services that enable students to complete their educational goals, find meaningful employment, and successfully transition into the workforce.

Over the past three years CalWORKs has continued to provide academic, career, and personal counseling services to eligible students; develop and place eligible students in work study employment and provide informational workshops.

When recipients enroll in an educational program, they must complete it in a maximum four years (48 months), a time-frame reduced from 5 years (60 months) on 7/1/11. The CalWORKs Academic Follow-up Report in collaboration with ITS staff allows the staff to better monitor students’ compliance with program requirements and progress towards reaching their educational goal. The CalWORKs Systems Office MIS reporting system, SC 10-17, is submitted annually.

CalWORKs provided case management services to over 600 students in the past three years. All students’ program eligibility had to be determined each term, including summer. Each student completed the CalWORKs intake process that included completion of a student education plan (SEP) and a verification of education that were then provided to the student’s County employment counselor.

Approximately ninety-five percent (95%) of students are provided with books and supplies through a verification process in collaboration with the Alameda County Social Service Agency. Approximately 25 students per academic year have participated in the CalWORKs work study program and are employed on campus in various departments including EOPS, DSPS, Financial Aid, Aspire, Admissions & Records, Counseling, Assessment, Media Services, and the Children’s Center.

Orientations are provided prior to the beginning of each semester and included speakers from Financial Aid, and the community-based non-profit LIFETIME, as well as our program staff to address critical needs prior to the start of the new terms.

Our program is a member of the CalWORKs Community Colleges & Alameda County Partnership Group, which meets monthly, to discuss mutual college and county issues. CalWORKs faculty and staff have made it a priority to attend the Statewide CalWORKs Association Training Institute in mid-March/April of each year; as it will guide and support our efforts in serving and advocating for our students during increasingly challenging times, with dwindling resources.

In an effort not to duplicate services, and maximize counseling contact hours, the CalWORKs and EOPS/CARE programs work collaboratively to provide services to students who participate in both programs. As needed, CalWORKs counselors also meet with faculty and staff from other pertinent student services units to ensure a comprehensive case management approach for students who are participants in multiple programs and services such as Daraja, Puente, DSPS, financial aid, PATH tutorials and the career and transfer center.

II. Briefly summarize the accomplishments of the discipline, and how they relate to the review of the program, the program-level outcomes (PLOs) and course-level outcomes (CLOs).

Student Learning Outcome (SLO): CalWORKs students will identify career/educational goals, campus support services, and community resources to support their specific educational needs.

Service Area Outcome (SAO): CalWORKs Service Area Outcomes are to: 1. Determine whether student who make at least one contact per semester are more successful in reaching their educational goal as listed on their SEP. 2. Identify students who maintain a GPA below a 2.00 to provide them support services to assist them in bringing their GPA to 2.00 or above. 3. Identify students who are mandated to complete 20 core hours of work study and to provide them with work study placement.

The program has served approximately 600 students. Students are provided with academic advising, career counseling and personal counseling. In addition, approximately 20-25 students will complete their educational goals as listed on their student education plan of certificate, degree completion and/or transfer.

Because CalWORKs students have an interest in developing soft skills and in self improvement, informational workshops were offered in collaboration with the EOPS/CARE programs on topics such as: Resume Writing & Job Interviewing Techniques, Dress for Success, Stress Management, Money & Time Management, True Colors, Transfer, Career Exploration, Business Etiquette, etc.

It was recommended by the State Chancellors office that during this challenging budgetary climate, colleges begin to collect data on CalWORKs’ impact on student success.

In previous year’s analysis has been conducted by comparing CalWORKs student’s persistence rates to the collective body of NON-CalWORKs students at Chabot. Since CalWORKs is charged to provide education and training to welfare recipients receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), we decided to conduct an “apples to apples” analysis of low income CalWORKs students compared to low income NON- CalWORKs students at Chabot. Data provided by Chabot’s Office of Institutional Research reveals Fall 2011 to Spring 2012 persistence rates for CalWORKs students of all ethnicities, were significantly higher when compared to Non- CalWORKs students. While data from Fall 2009 to Spring 2011 continues the pattern of higher persistence rates for African-American, Latino and White students; Asian, Filipino and Pacific Islander CalWORKs students presented slightly and/or significantly lower during this same time period. This data proves that the labor intensive follow up, intrusive counseling methods of CalWORKs, coupled with faculty and staff who are committed to helping these students reach their educational goals work extremely well for African-American, Latino and White students but warrant further investigation to see how the program can better serve our Asian, Filipino and Pacific Islander students.

III. Please list what best practices (e.g., strategies, activities, intervention, elements, etc.) you would recommend? What was challenging? Was there a barrier(s) to success?

Best practices: CalWORKs “best practices” support the college Strategic Plan goals and/or strategies in the areas of Student Success and Community Partnerships in the following areas:

1. CalWORKs students are placed in work study employment on campus. 2. Provide academic, career and personal counseling to CalWORKs students, and closely monitor student’s progress toward reaching their educational goal. 3. Provide relevant informational workshops that aid students in developing soft skills and self improvement. 4. Meet monthly with other Community Colleges in our region and the Alameda County Partnership group to discuss mutual college and county issues.

Challenges/Barriers to Success: 1. Develop work study placements that reflect the educational goals of the CalWORKs students. 2. Establish a regular practice of email contact with students to notify them of important events, dates and deadlines.

IV. Next Steps: Recommendations for program and institutional improvement.

Program Improvement:

1. When the overall fiscal climate in community colleges is more stable and there is no threat of de-categorization of categorical programs, we would request the college make it a priority to identify and hire full-time non-tenured, CalWORKs Coordinator/Counselor. The CalWORKs coordinator/counselor and a full-time counselor both retired at the end of fall 2009. With the significant number of students served by this program and the broad array of academic and pre-employment services engaged in; the goals of the program are not as effectively accomplished with only part-time faculty. 2. Hire a part-time employment specialist by 2013-2014. Because the CalWORKs program is required to expend 30% of its program funds on work study, and students work study employment should reflect as closely as possible to a student’s educational goal, the employment specialist will collaborate with on and off-campus community businesses and organizations to develop these placements. There is a need for work sites in the health field, administration of justice, education, and mass communications. Currently the coordinator, an adjunct counselor and the Dean of Special Programs administrative assistant oversee these duties.

3. Update the college’s CalWORKs webpage to ensure ease of access and accurate, timely information is disseminated to current and potential students.

4. Develop a program presence via social media (Facebook, Linkdin) to encourage students to check in informally with the program, establish a more student-centered approach, and encourage them to become familiar with how employers use, and view, these sites. Institutional Improvement: Create a universal policy for “all” students services computers in Building 700 so students are held accountable and required to follow the same protocol and procedures while in the building. Find a way to monitor and limit computers access for non- academic usage.