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SIERRA COLLEGE

Optimizing Pathways: Sierra College's Data-Driven Scheduling Revolution

institutional profile

Sierra College is one of 116 public California Community Colleges serving more than 2.4 million students. The District is comprised of areas in Placer, Nevada, El Dorado, and Sacramento Counties. Sierra College operates a central campus located in the city of Rocklin, and two satellite campuses located in Grass Valley and Truckee. The District currently serves approximately 24,000 students enrolled in both day and evening classes.

Challenge

Sierra College, a vibrant community college, faced a critical challenge in aligning its course offerings with student needs and the guided pathways initiative. Despite their commitment to student success, the college struggled with:

  • Misalignment between course availability and student demand, leading to bottlenecks in popular pathways and underutilized resources in others.
  • Difficulty in predicting and responding to changing student needs and career trends, resulting in some students unable to complete their chosen pathways efficiently.
  • Limited data-driven insights to inform decision-making about course expansions, reductions, or modifications.
  • Inefficient resource allocation, with some classes oversubscribed while others struggled to meet minimum enrollment.
  • Challenges in supporting diverse student goals, from transfer to career technical education, within existing course structures.
  • Pressure to improve completion rates and reduce time-to-degree, in line with state and national educational initiatives.

These interconnected issues not only hindered student progress but also impacted Sierra College’s ability to fulfill its mission of providing accessible, high-quality education to its community. The college recognized the urgent need for a comprehensive solution that would allow them to dynamically adjust course offerings, optimize resource allocation, and ultimately enhance student success by ensuring timely access to required classes along their chosen pathways.

Solution

SIG partnered with Sierra College to implement a comprehensive solution that revolutionized their course scheduling process. The project unfolded in several key phases:

1. Rapid Process Improvement (RPI)

  • Engaged diverse stakeholders including faculty, department chairs, counselors, and deans
  • Analyzed and reimagined curriculum and class schedule development processes
  • Developed an ideal process map incorporating key components such as students’ majors, guided pathways, degree audits, educational plans, and classroom capacities

2. Technology Advisory

  • Developed requirements for a new predictive analytics tool
  • Collaborated with client to issue an RFP
  • Created vendor demonstration scripts and facilitated evaluations
  • Selected Ad Astra to provide predictive analytics and room/schedule optimization tools

3. Implementation and Change Management

  • Provided project management for new process and technology implementation
  • Aligned stakeholders with the new process
  • Developed and executed a communications plan and strategy
  • Identified critical data for predictive analytics, including integration with Degree Works and Banner
  • Assisted with criteria development for room optimization and assignment

Results

Sierra College now has an automated and efficient process that provides a more modern experience for their students, helping them achieve their goals during their academic journey. Key benefits include:

  • Improved student outcomes through better alignment of course offerings with student needs
  • Data-driven class scheduling based on student needs, plans, and goals
  • Enhanced decision-making capabilities through modern predictive analytics
  • Optimized resource allocation, reducing bottlenecks and underutilization
  • Increased ability to support diverse student pathways and goals
  • Potential for improved completion rates and reduced time-to-degree

One reason Guided Pathways is challenging to implement is the lack of clarity around success metrics. Current class offerings providing endless choices can leave students confused about what to choose and how to navigate the different requirements for their degree. Sierra envisioned a solution that simplified students’ choices by creating default program maps providing a clear pathway to completion, transfer, further education, and employment.

Working with the faculty, deans, department chairs and staff, SIG provided the following services:

HOW SIG CAN HELP

For institutions that are considering Guided Pathways and may be struggling with implementation, SIG can help by providing the following services:

  • Process alignment (Back to Basics)
  • Project management
  • Change management
  • Implementation
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