Unlocking Opportunity Assessment Tool

The items in the following assessment tool reflect strong college practices key to achieving Unlocking Opportunity goals of ensuring that more students complete programs that lead directly to jobs that pay a sustaining wage or to transfer and completion of a bachelor’s degree. Organized into nine domains of practice, the assessment tool asks you to rate your perception of the current status of several items in each area at your institution. Once complete, your institution’s president and project lead will receive summaries of scores across each area, providing a summary picture of areas where your institution may need to invest additional strategic effort, in addition to identifying strengths. Your Unlocking Opportunity team will use the assessment results to inform the goals and strategies that you will pursue through your Unlocking Opportunity work. No names or titles will be associated with individual responses in the results report.  

The term “student success” is used throughout this assessment tool. The Aspen Institute College Excellence Program defines “student success” as:

  • Success in college: Students (1) learn and (2) complete credentials.
  • Success after college: Students (1) get good jobs and/or (2) transfer and attain a bachelor’s degree.
  • Access and success for all: All students have access to programs of value with strong learning, completion, transfer, and workforce outcomes.  

Please keep this full definition of “student success” in mind when completing the assessment tool.

Directions: Assess the extent to which your college engages each of the following practices, according to the scoring rubric.

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Leadership & Prioritization

Reforms to increase post-completion value for students
The president and senior team have set and regularly monitor progress towards goals to increase the number of students in high value and decrease the number of students in low value programs.
The president and senior team have adopted no more than five specific priority reform strategies to increase student success, at least one of which is also a strategy to achieve Unlocking Opportunity goals.
College leaders have implemented a strategy for communicating to internal stakeholders why priority reforms matter and what will be used to assess progress.
College leaders have implemented a strategy for communicating to external partners why priority reforms matter and broadly what the college is changing from/to.
The board has a clear, shared understanding of the college’s priority reforms and the reasons for them.
The college at last annually assesses the post-graduation success of students based on employment/wages and transfer/bachelor’s attainment.

Strategy 1

Devise strategies to expand and diversify high-value workforce programs
College leaders at least annually assess the regional labor market to identify the areas of alignment between the college’s programs and high-wage opportunities.
College leaders set goals and strategies to increase the number of students enrolled in and graduating from programs that are aligned with opportunities for good jobs in the regional labor market.
College leaders work with employers to define learning goals and build curricula for programs of study tied to good jobs in the regional labor market.
College leaders work with employers to map out job ladders in key fields, including education requirements, training requirements, and essential skills/competencies at each level.
The college approves new programs only if they demonstrate the potential for strong labor market outcomes or seamless transfer—not just enrollment.
The college incorporates hands-on or applied learning in every program of study in ways that ensure that every student participates.
The college has strategies in place to attract and retain faculty who can earn more money in professions, such as nursing.
Programs include specific work-based learning requirements (such as internships, co-ops, clinicals, and apprenticeships) developed collaboratively with employers. The design considers whether employers can provide needed supervision and mentorship as well as the resources and equipment the college needs to offer high-quality experiences.
College leaders have identified resources to pay for training equipment needed for high-value programs.

Strategy 2

Devise strategies to strengthen low-opportunity workforce programs
College leaders regularly assess the regional labor market to identify programs the college offers that lead to low-wage work.
College leaders work with employers to determine what skills would cause employers to increase wages for graduates such that low-opportunity programs could be reclassified as medium- or high-wage.
Program leaders regularly revamp curricula of low-opportunity programs to ensure that more graduates attain skills needed to earn wages associated with medium- or high-wage programs.
Programs include specific work-based learning requirements (such as internships, co-ops, clinicals, and apprenticeships) developed collaboratively with employers who are committed to paying living wages. The design considers whether employers can provide needed supervision and mentorship as well as the resources and equipment the college needs to offer high-quality experiences.
The college conducts annual program review to assess whether program content and curricula are aligned to medium- or high-wage jobs.
The college trains advisers and program faculty to steer students toward medium or high-wage programs and away from those that lead to low-wage employment.
The college has built pathways to connect low-opportunity workforce programs to high-value transfer and bachelor’s degree outcomes.

Strategy 3

Strengthen or expand health care programs so all pre-health students have a pathway to a credential tied to a good job—either directly from a workforce program or after transfer/bachelor’s attainment
The college has conducted analyses to understand the numbers of students in pre-health coursework, the total number of available seats in high-opportunity health care programs (including nursing), and what happens to students who are not accepted to these programs.
College leaders at least annually assess the regional labor market to identify areas where there is unmet demand for allied health workers and which of those jobs offer sustaining wages.
The college has set and regularly monitors progress towards specific goals to substantially increase the number of slots in high-value health care programs by expanding existing high-opportunity workforce programs (e.g., radiology, dental hygiene), creating new associate degree programs, and/or increasing the number of students who transfer and attain bachelor’s degrees in health care related fields.
The college has a system in place for all entering students to be exposed to all health care options, either through onboarding/advising or through a specialized required student success course.
The college has normalized prerequisites for pre-health programs to minimize or eliminate excess credit accumulation for students who switch programs.
The college has a process in place for monitoring student progress in pre-selective programs and counseling students into other health care or transfer programs when their chances of entry are small.

Strategy 4

Intensify strategies to accelerate bachelor’s attainment
The college president and other senior leaders emphasize in their senior meetings, trustee meetings, and communications across the college the importance of improving student outcomes in transfer and bachelor’s attainment.
Improving transfer and bachelor’s attainment is reflected as a core priority in the college’s strategic documents (e.g., strategic plan, accreditation self-study, student success planning documents, fundraising plans, etc.).
The college president and other senior leaders meet at least annually to review how many students transfer and how many attain bachelor's degrees, paying attention to which institutions, programs of study, and students see the greatest and least amount of success.
Programs of study for students in all transfer programs are clearly mapped to four-year degrees with information about recommended courses, progress milestones, and applied learning/career opportunities.
The community college and partner four-year institutions have a shared understanding of student advising goals needed to improve transfer student success and jointly invest in advising, financial aid, or other support services to benefit transfer students.
College and program leaders analyze and act on data to assess whether coursework in transfer programs and extra-curricular activities provide students effectively prepared students for their junior and senior years.
The president and other college leaders regularly take steps to build trusting relationships with colleagues at partner four-year colleges, including regular communication with them about transfer student goals, outcomes, and advising/supports.
For each program aligned to transfer and bachelor’s attainment, program leaders and faculty meet at least annually to discuss student outcomes data, troubleshoot, and devise reforms to improve transfer and bachelor's attainment rates.
At least annually, senior leaders from the community college and partner four-year institutions share data on transfer student outcomes, discuss areas for improvements, and follow through to implement changes.

Strategy 5

Connect general studies students to pre-major programs
The college has a system in place to assess how many students are undecided, including those who have declared general studies as their major.
The college has assessed post-graduation labor market and transfer/bachelor’s attainment outcomes for students who declare and complete general studies associate degree as compared to those in other programs.
The college has set specific goals to reduce the number of students who are in general studies or undecided and increasing those in clearly defined pre-major pathways aligned to specific bachelor’s degree programs with strong transfer value and labor market outcomes.
The college has targeted, intentional career advising and onboarding for students who are in general studies (or undecided)—including required planning courses and first-semester program-related coursework—to accelerate informed program selection and academic momentum.
The college has replaced or restructured general studies with pre-major program maps that include sequenced coursework, built-in milestones, and full four-year degree planning.

Strategy 6

Redesign program onboarding to increase enrollment in high-value programs and ensure the development of full-program educational plans for all students
The college has in place clear maps for all of its programs that include recommended courses and learning outcomes, designed to be translated into individualized program educational plans and supported by aligned advising.
By the end of their first term, all students (including adult, non-credit, and returning students) are helped to explore their academic and career interests, learn about college programs, and select a program.
By the end of their first term (or year), all students (including adult, noncredit, and returning students) are helped to create a full, individualized program educational plan leading to a credential clearly aligned with a good job or transfer in a major.
Students’ progress in fulfilling requirements for their intended program and/or transfer destination institution is monitored, and support is provided to any students at risk of falling off-plan.
College leaders have structured advising in ways that mandate (or otherwise make inescapable) a consistent set of advising touchpoints to help students get on and stay on a path to completing their program.
Financial aid advisors (or others) provide counseling that helps students do financial planning for their entire undergraduate education—including completion of both sub-baccalaureate credentials and a bachelor’s degree.
Staff responsible for supporting students in educational planning have a manageable caseload, have access to helpful technology, are provided adequate training, and have a clear understanding of the student outcomes they are expected to achieve.
Advisors are trained to understand which programs have the strongest labor market and transfer outcomes, as well as gaps in participation by race, ethnicity, and gender, and to advise students accordingly.

Strategy 7

Connect dual enrollment students to high-value pathways
The college has set goals for dual enrollment that include connecting high school students to credentials of value.
College leaders work with district and high school partners to define purposes for dual enrollment, set goals, and establish systems to monitor progress toward dual enrollment goals. (Note: “dual enrollment” is used to mean dual enrollment, dual credit, early college high school, and other ways high school students take community college courses).
The college has a dedicated staff person responsible for meeting dual enrollment goals, who is or reports to a senior team member who is accountable for dual enrollment outcomes.
College leaders work with local school districts to design pathways for (and offer related courses to) students within the dual enrollment framework that connect students with and accelerate them toward completion of a college credential of value.
College leaders work with high school partners to create clarity around investments from each partner to support dual enrollment goals, including financial, staffing and in-kind contributions.
The college provides advisors—or helps train high school advisors—to provide all dual enrollment students with strong advising designed to help explore academic and career options and choose courses aligned with their academic and career interests.
The college trains high school counselors on supporting partnership goals for excellence in student outcomes including by ensuring students meet the community college’s academic requirements.

Strategy 8

Devise a concrete strategy to enroll adults in short-term credentials of value with ladders into credit programs
The college has set goals for expanding the number of students enrolled in and completing short-term programs that lead to living wage jobs and/or substantial increases in pay for participants.
The college has set goals for reducing the number of students enrolled in the short-term programs that lead to low-wage work.
The college actively recruits adult students to the college with an emphasis on enrolling them in high-opportunity, medium-opportunity, and steppingstone programs.
The college has scaled strategies to move students from noncredit programs, such as GED and English as a second language, into credit-bearing programs of value, including workforce and CTE programs that lead to significant wage increases in a timely manner.
Short-term credentials are designed to align with high-demand jobs that offer medium- or high-wages, informed by local labor market data.
To inform program offerings and design, college and program leaders regularly discuss with employers data and trends in the regional labor market and demographics, seek to understand their specific concerns about skills gaps, and discuss wage levels offered in different jobs.
The college has a system in place to ensure that courses required for each program of study are scheduled at times and in formats (e.g., accelerated, remote, off-campus) that help working adults make timely progress toward completion.