Project Status Reports
Update on the status of the Process Management ESL Retention recommendations: November 20, 2006
1. We completed surveys of non-returning students, student drops, and students who didn't enroll for Fall 2006. A variety of factors were involved, primarily personal issues regarding family, health and job changes. Students also cited problems receiving financial aid. This was often due to a late or incomplete application. Janice Rogers participated in a Process Management- Financial Aid subgroup this year to develop an introductory Financial Aid workshop to address the problem of late and incomplete applications.
2. To try to help with the space crunch in Lawrence, Level 3 ESL courses were offered in Haverhill in Spring and Fall 2006. Two courses ran in the Spring and one in the Fall. The ESL faculty are proposing additional scheduling changes for Fall 2007 to improve the delivery of the ESL curriculum and to alleviate crowding the ESL labs in both Lawrence and Haverhill.
3. A plan to increase tutoring for writing students was approved and will be implemented in Fall 2006. The Writing Curriculum Development project is underway. The ESL Curriculum Coordinator and 9 DCE faculty, with guidance from the full-time ESL faculty, are meeting weekly this fall to improve the writing curriculum and to create materials for the writing tutorials which will be offered in Spring 2007.
4. More ESL orientation activities were offered to ESL students in cooperation with the following offices: Student Activities, Career Development, and Advising and Counseling. Activities included Student Success workshops, invitations to join the Student Leadership Development program, and in-class career and advising workshops for upper-level ESL students transitioning to academic programs. These activities are ongoing and have been well-received by the students and faculty. In addition, Title V science faculty have been active in promoting in-class lectures and opportunities for ESL students to partner with "regular" students on projects in selected content courses.
5. We offered Friday evening and Saturday morning classes to allow evening students to take more courses at one time than in past years, helping them to advance more quickly through the ESL curriculum. Friday evening classes proved very popular in Spring 2006 while the Saturday morning classes had a relatively low enrollment. These will be offered again in Spring 2007 and we will evaluate their effectiveness once final enrollments are set.
6. The required grade to move to the next level of an ESL course was changed from D- to C- effective September 2006. This change is now in effect. In addition, the Academic Affairs committee approved a reduction in credits in the most advanced reading course effective Fall 2007. This will allow upper-level ESL students more scheduling flexibility when transitioning to "regular" courses.
