B21: Student Success

Responsibility for Maintenance: Board of Trustees

I. Policy Statement

The success of Onondaga Community College depends on the success of students. OCC will continually align its student success efforts with the vision, mission, and core values of the College. 

Onondaga Community College has adopted a Guided Pathways framework, based on research informed by the American Association of Community College’s Pathways Program. Additionally, in consultation with Achieving the Dream, OCC has researched data-informed strategies utilized by successful community colleges. 

OCC’s vision of being “Central New York’s partner in education for success” as well as its core values: Students First, Learning, Excellence, Diversity, Community, and Responsibility, will be at the center of the College’s resource allocation. Recognizing transformational change affects the culture and operation of OCC, student success efforts will be designed to improve student outcomes and success through significant and continuous improvements to our policies, structures, academic support services, and programs.  

II. Reason for the Policy

This policy is designed to ensure that the College focuses on developing, implementing, monitoring, and reporting on goals and improvements related to student success. 

III. Applicability of the Policy

All members of the College community should be familiar with this policy. It is expected that all departments will take part in student success efforts.

IV. Related Documents

College Vision, Mission, and Core Values

V. Contacts

VI. Student Success Definitions 

As defined by the Aspen Institute, four areas compose the definition of excellence - to achieve extraordinary outcomes for students while maintaining a deep commitment to open access. These four measures of excellence are not stand-alone metrics of performance; rather, they are interdependent parts of a definition of community college excellence that is student-centered and that reflects the reality that community college is not a final destination for students, but a springboard to a wide array of opportunities after they transfer or graduate. 

The Four Measures of Excellence follows: 

• Completion and transfer with baccalaureate attainment: ensuring that students earn associate degrees and other meaningful credentials, as well as bachelor’s degrees after they transfer. 

• Learning: setting high expectations for what students should learn, measuring whether they are doing so, and using that information to engage faculty in improving teaching and curricula. 

• Labor market outcomes: ensuring that graduates find and maintain employment that provides a family sustaining wage after completion of a degree or credential and using labor market outcomes to improve programs. 

• Equity: ensuring equity in access and in learning, completion, and labor market success for minority, low-income, and other historically underserved students. 

A. Early Momentum/Leading indicators of Student Success

As defined by the Community College Research Center, these are strong leading indicators of improved student completion rates over a longer term. These measure credit momentum (accumulation of college credits towards degree completion), gateway course momentum (completion of college English and Math courses) and persistence momentum (fall to spring re-enrollment of students).

B. Lagging Indicator – Retention

Entering first-time students in the fall who either re-enroll and/or graduate the following fall. 

C. Lagging Indicator - Degree/Certificate Completion

Full-time first degree/certificate seeking students who complete their program of study in a given period of time - usually 2 years (100%), 3 years (150%) and/or 4 years (200%) for community colleges.

D. Transfer Outcomes

Research has shown that community college students who transfer with junior status in 4-year institutions outperform the “native” students. The National Clearinghouse data tracks students’ enrollment at their respective transfer institutions. 

E. Employment Outcomes

The U.S. Department of Education has issued new reporting requirement for institutions as part of the Financial Value Transparency and updated Gainful Employment regulations. This is intended to gather information on student debt, financial aid gaps, and completion and success rates for students and their families. 

F. Goals

As an institution, the goals we set for our students must be SMARTIE: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timely, Inclusive and Equitable.

VII. Procedures

To work toward improvement in student success, OCC will develop: 

• Comprehensive strategic planning that sets success goals and measurements, including implementation measures, for improving student outcomes. 

• Organizational structures, policies, and practices that support student success, student equity outcomes, and student personal well-being and mental health. 

• Professional development that empowers faculty to adopt instructional practices that incorporate sound principles of teaching/learning theory that enhance learning outcomes. 

• Program-level learning outcomes that are aligned with the requirements for success in employment and further education in a given field and that the results of learning outcomes assessment are applied to improve the effectiveness of instruction across programs. 

Approved by the OCC Board of Trustees June 25, 2024