How One Community College Is Reversing Retention Declines

Stories of and data on the national enrollment decline in postsecondary education are not in short supply, particularly at community colleges. But they are infrequently followed by solutions with measurable results or opportunity for scale. As the nation teeters on the edge of a recession, questions abound about declining enrollments and declining completion rates among some of our most vulnerable learners.

In the last few weeks, I had the opportunity to talk with Dr. Sheila Quirk-Bailey, the president of Illinois Central College (ICC). Dr. Quirk-Bailey has not only seen measurable impact through new practices deployed during the COVID-19 pandemic, but also set some of the campus’s most at-risk learners on the path to academic and career success. She shared details about the internal strategy, external partnership and future plans for ICC in the hope that the ICC model could be scaled to other community colleges facing similar challenges.

Alison Griffin: Over the last decade, Illinois Central College has faced some enrollment and retention challenges. How did those challenges lead to a renewed focus on student success?

Sheila Quirk-Bailey: In keeping with the national community college trend, Illinois Central College has experienced credit enrollment declines over the last decade, gradually retreating from our all-time enrollment high during the 2009 recession. Like many campuses, the recent pandemic has had a more dramatic impact on enrollment than many campuses had experienced previously. Our retention rates have been above national averages, yet our part-time, developmentally placed and African American students were not retained, nor did they complete programs, at the same rate as other students. ICC serves a socioeconomically disadvantaged student population, and some of our learners fall into all three categories: Black students attending part-time who started at ICC in developmental math and/or English. For these students not to achieve at the same level as our other students was unacceptable. Failed completion is not an option for them as learners, nor is it an option for our community and the college. Our current strategic plan is focused on increasing student success and equity in student outcomes, and our primary strategy to achieve that is advising redesign.

Alison: Illinois Central College is leveraging the power of both coaching and training through “capacity building.” Can you explain what that means and how this will sustain retention gains long-term?

Sheila: ICC engaged cross-functional Strategic Planning Innovation Teams to ideate and implement strategies to improve student success. One of our teams was dedicated to increasing student credential completion with a focus on redesigning the advising process. That team investigated a number of approaches from partners nationwide and found a model that would allow us to test a new approach of intensive coaching and mentoring. The team formed a partnership with the nonprofit InsideTrack to develop this comprehensive new advising model. InsideTrack’s advisors/coaches were assigned 400 students who were academically at-risk and were members of historically underperforming demographic groups. Over a semester, the InsideTrack coaches supported this cohort of students while our campus-based ICC advisors continued our traditional approach.

The integrated advising model that incorporated the one-on-one coaching through InsideTrack generated an impressive 18% improvement in persistence for all students who received coaching and a 33% increase among African-American students who received coaching. These results were compared to ICC peers who were advised through our traditional system (without the one-on-one InsideTrack coaching) in the same semester.

Based on these results, the Strategic Planning Team recommended we implement the integrated coaching model college-wide. Additionally, the college realigned our advisors/coaches, now called Student Success Advisors, to support common career clusters such as health sciences and information technology.

At the same time, the college purchased a new advising technology platform, implemented a common intake process and advising syllabus, and created streamlined academic plans to completion. We expanded our coaching capacity through a “train-the-trainer” methodology and integrated coaching into our advising staff services. Staff members are trained as student success advisors using InsideTrack’s evidenced-based methodology and employ a proactive case management model in their work with students. The college found that integrating coaching into its academic advising services in this way increased student engagement, as student satisfaction with advising sessions increased from 87% to 97%.

We are now certifying a subset of our Student Success Advisors to train and certify new Student Success Advisors to build capacity within the college to continue these practices.

Alison: At a time when students of color are experiencing disparate financial, mental and physical health impacts as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, how is student success coaching particularly valuable for students of color at Illinois Central College? Are there any lessons learned that you would share with colleagues at similarly situated institutions?

Sheila: When you change your practices and systems to improve the outcomes for your least successful students, you improve the success of all of your students. This approach is a major component in our strategy to break the cycle of poverty and address lower credential achievement in our region.

The most common reason for lack of student completion is not academics, but life. The pandemic has given us all a renewed appreciation for the complex challenges that community college students face — from balancing work, life and academic commitments to meeting basic needs such as food and housing. We were already planning to redesign our advising prior to the pandemic, but the pandemic put these issues front and center for our team.

We provided students with computers, and we linked our students to community food pantries and other emergency services. We negotiated a deal to provide laptop rentals for $45 a semester and high-speed Internet for $10 a month, and we paid these costs when students could not. We recognized the need to provide additional wraparound supports to help our students attend college while working and/or caring for children. Redesigning our advising services to help students overcome barriers, refer them to resources, and meet them where they are is a critical component of our plan to help all students succeed.

Alison: What is unique about the community college model that requires a unique approach to retention efforts and student success initiatives?

Sheila: Community colleges do not exclude students based on a test score or other challenges. In our community, 65% of all jobs require a credential beyond high school, while only 40% of our residents have such a credential. A significant portion of our adult population works two or three part-time jobs without benefits – and that schedule keeps them in survival mode. These individuals cannot quit one of their jobs to attend classes even if their tuition is free. We meet these individuals where they are and help them stabilize their lives while they earn credentials that lead to jobs that pay well above the regional living wage.

Community colleges understand that stabilization is a joint effort between the institution and the learner. We can respond to learners by providing wraparound services such as transportation, childcare, food and stipends for classroom attendance to ensure that they complete credentials that move them forward and change their lives. We support the individual, their family and our communities and act as regional change agents.

Alison: What is your hope for the future when you reflect on the power of student success coaching? Are there aspects of the coaching experience – for both practitioners and learners – that will outlast their time in a coaching relationship?

Sheila: My hope is that we help our community move forward by ensuring that at least 65% of our adults have a credential with workforce value that pays a family-sustaining wage and benefits. Our new coaching approach helps learners to navigate all of the life events that can derail an educational plan.

My mission is to ensure that all ICC students have an equitable chance of success and that a learner’s socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, current education level or job status will not be used to justify inequities.

Community colleges are no longer about producing equitable opportunities; we are about producing equitable outcomes and creating strong, independent members of society. We are connected with our communities; we know where our residents who need us reside. We are proactive and engage with our greater community, businesses, labor unions, K-12 systems, workforce systems and community-based organizations to meet learners where they are. When learners complete credentials with labor market value, it not only changes the trajectory of their lives, but also the trajectory of their family, while expanding businesses, growing the workforce and increasing the economic vibrancy of the region. This is the community college mission.

Alison: What would you recommend to your fellow community college leaders who are considering a new approach to improving student retention?

Sheila: Change is difficult. Providing a space for innovation and a methodology for cross-functional teams to come together and not only study best practices, but also recommend practices to their peers, is critical. Partnerships matter. For ICC, our partnership with InsideTrack, which started with the Strategic Planning Innovation Team recommending a study of our current practices with the InsideTrack team, to deploy a new advising system was game-changing. As I reflect on the last few years, I am proud that we supported our employees, demonstrated that improvement was possible, and invested in our people and the tools they needed to better support our students in accomplishing their dreams. This approach is working, the payback is significant, and it is an honor to watch the progress of all learners across the ICC community.