March 18, 2021

Research and Growth Opportunities Subcommittee Minutes

Committee Members Present:

  • Bradley Christian
  • Gary Myles
  • Celina Brown
  • Steve Wenzel
  • Bryant Windham Lizette LaStrape
  • Jeff Martin-Moreno
  • Glynnis Gaines
  • Bronwen Forbay
  • Matt Porter
  • Sally Frazier
  • Joe Arrington

Committee Members Absent:

  • David Davenport
  • Sharon Kenan
  • Annette Bigham,

Agenda Topics:

  • The March meeting of the Research and Growth Opportunities Subcommittee was called to order in Zoom by Co-chair Jeff Martin-Moreno at 1:05 p.m. on March 18, 2021.
  • Check-ins from research project groups
    • Incentivize enrollment – have not had a chance to meet and had planned on a longer timeline than something actionable but hope to complete their research by the end of June.
    • Communicating Success of our Programs – Trying to decide the angle to take.
      • Students who leave high school without any direction for HE. Gallup research shows those most satisfied with their jobs are Level I certificate holders – even more satisfied than those with advanced degrees.
      • The more questions they ask, the more questions they find. Steve has reached out to community partners. He has an email list he has compiled from various sources including chambers of commerce, former students, and business people with whom he has dealings.
    • Offer More Non-degree Options – Sharon and Annette had been out due to injuries. Before that, they had chosen some recommendations to consider:
      • Sharon completed a literature review to gather thoughts and research questions to consider such as, What we currently offer that could be scaled up, what skills are needed, why students are leaving community college during COVID, and why we didn’t get an influx of students instead.
    • Working with area high schools (public, private, and home school) – Ideas:
      • Collaboration between like departments at MCC and each school (e.g. if the high school with health professions (HP) programs, could pair the “influencer” for the HP programs with a key person in our HP programs, a STEM person at the college would work with a STEM person at the school, etc.).
      • Matt Proctor found a research article about a college that collaborated with a high school for a college orientation course co-taught by a high school teacher and college instructor that included field trips to the college to familiarize students with resources and begin building relationships on campus before they leave high school.
      • Sally found a report of what proportions of each school’s 2019 graduating class went to MCC, Baylor, TSTC, another 2-year college, or another university. Each of the high schools are different in size and student population. They are considering whether to pick one or two pilot schools – maybe one large and one small – to learn some of the unique challenges of each size or type of school.
    • Outreach to Hispanics on Campus and In Our Community
      • I am working with Sharon Kenan and Joe Arrington on the community survey. This survey will be a yield vital information, for our group as well as the rest of our subcommittee’s research groups.  It will be will need to reach out to Hispanic students, faculty, staff, and community organizations so the survey is vital. 
      • Bronwen reported that she will leave MCC and our research group soon. She interviewed an MCC colleague who is also a former student and an MCC graduate currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree.  Bronwen learned that churches are a focal point of the Hispanic community and are good sources and disseminators of information. She also reported feedback that outreach is crucial throughout the year and engaging the parents in both English and Spanish is equally critical. 
      • Glynnis attended a Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and she suggested they are a great resource for us and agreed that engagement throughout the year is important.

Action Items and Timelines:

  • Incentivize enrollment – continue research with a target completion date of June 30.
  • Communicating Success of our Programs – continuing to research and will report back next month.
  • Offer More Non-degree Options – talk with continuing ed and corporate training to see if there might be a natural pathway to transition corporate program students into non-degree options or credit classes. Communicate with students and employers about what skills are in demand and research what other community colleges are offering.
  • Working with area high schools – continuing to research and will report back next month.
  • Outreach to Hispanics on Campus and In Our Community – continuing to research and will report back next month.