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Instructor
English 1010
8 August 2015
A Call to Action for College Completion Proposal
On just about every college and university campus across America, dual challenges have
been issued to broaden opportunities to get more students enrolled in college and to get more
students to the finish line of college completion. In researching this issue, it became clear early
on that while just about every community college in America has some type of completion
agenda--the major stumbling block to implementation is largely due to lack of funding and, of
course, in the middle of this issue are the actual students. While a degree is considered vital to
success, a large portion of todays students from middle income households are finding it
difficult to cover the expenses of attending college full-time and are opting to attend college parttime. According to the article Paying for College, journalist Mary Cooper asserts that for
more than a decade, the cost of higher education has been growing at almost twice the rate of
inflationcolleges and universities have been struggling to survive serious funding cutbacks by
raising tuition, increasing class size, cutting faculty and dropping academic programs, causing a
significant decline in college completion across America.
How does this effect college completion? According to Complete College America;
Groundbreaking Report: Time is the Enemy of Today's College Student, the nontraditional
students--defined by the National Center for Education Statistics as meeting one of seven
characteristics: delayed enrollment into postsecondary education; attends college part-time;
works full time; is financially independent for financial aid purposes; has dependents other than a
spouse; is a single parent; or does not have a high school diploma (Pelletier)--make up the

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majority of the student population. Those criteria fit a wide range of todays college students.
The article, Time is the Enemy notes that seventy-five percent of students are college
commuters who often juggle families, jobs and school, while only twenty-five percent of the
students attend full-time at residential colleges. The article also notes that of the seventy-five
percent of those nontraditional students, approximately forty percent of those students attend
college part-time with alarming graduation rates. According to that same study, part-time
students taking a one-year certificate program, takes about two years to complete with only
12.2% of those students graduating; a two-year associates program takes part-time students an
average of four years to complete with only a 7.8% success rate of those students graduating;
while a four-year bachelors degree takes part-time students an average of eight years to
complete with a 24.3% success rate of those students graduating (Education Letter).
The alarming graduation rates in America is what moved the President of the United
States to issue a call of action. In the White House Press Release, The President and First
Ladys Call to Action on College Opportunity, President Obama asserts that the United States
should lead the world in college attainment as it did a generation ago. He notes that because
completing college is key to strengthening the middle class and should not be a luxury for the
few. To kick-off his agenda, the President increased Pell Grants by $1,000 a year, created the
new American Opportunity Tax Credit worth up to $10,000 over four years of college, capped
student loan payments to 10 percent of monthly income, and laid out an ambitious agenda to
reduce college costs and promote innovation and competition in higher education (Targeted
News Service). Also getting on board the White House college completion agenda is the
National Governors Association (NGA), an instrument through which the nations governors
collectively influence the development and implementation of national policies and applies

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creative leadership to state issues. Its members are the governors of the 50 states, three
territories and two commonwealths. NGAs report draws upon recommendations of the NGA
Centers Work Group on College Completion Metrics and asserts that the longer it takes for
students to get through college, the more life gets in the way (Education Letter).
As we move closer to the doorsteps of Prince Georges Community College, we see that
the neighboring Maryland State University is also making strides in its college completion
initiatives. According to the University of Marylands Policy Brief, Academic
Transformations: Redesigning College Remedial Courses to Achieve Equity, the university is
diligently seeking ways to get students to the goal of college completion in the shortest amount
of time possible. The strategies being sought include redesigning some courses that will
implement effective learning tools to increase Maryland post-secondary institutions to increase
graduation rates by approximately 13,000 students every year. By 2025, Marylands goal is to
increase graduation rates by 11%; a challenge issued by Governor Martin OMally in 2010 to
obtain double-digit increase in college completion within the state (Klasik, Knepler and
Sunderman). While that specific article focuses primarily on redesigning remedial education, the
big picture of Governor Martin OMallys challenge is to increase Marylands college
completion rates.
Piggy-backing off of Maryland Universitys redesign idea, my proposal calls for a trial
study implementing an aggressive restructuring of Prince Georges Community Colleges
College (hereinafter PGCC) registration process. The trial period would last for the
registration period allotted prior to the start of fall or spring semester using twenty to twenty-five
incoming freshman. The restructured registration process would require joint cooperation from
students, the Office of Admissions and admission counselors to be fully engaged and

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accountable in the entire registration to completion process working together in new and
productive ways. This would include all involved parties to honor PGCCs current Completion
Pledge (Completion Pledge). The restructured registration process would begin with students
identification number being assigned to their chosen major as well as to an assigned college
completion advisor. For first year students, the registration process would include mandatory
orientation, followed by a session with an assigned admissions counselor and together both
student and advisor would develop a strategic college completion plan that would allow that
student to graduate in the shortest amount of time. This may require improvement of faculty
engagement to enable advisors to identify and offer the best strategic plan and shortened time to
degree completion. According to PGCCs Survey of Entering Student Engagement 2012 Key
Findings, its aggregated percentage in aspects of lowest student engagement are abysmal with
only 29% students strongly agreeing that they are able to meet with an academic advisor at
convenient times; 21% strongly agreeing that their advisor helped them set academic goals and
create a plan for achieving them, 25.9% of students strongly agreeing that a college staff member
helped them determine if they qualified for financial assistance and only 39% strongly agreeing
that at least one staff member learned their name (Office of Planning, Assessment, and
Institutional Research). Ironically, page 2 of that survey highlights the value of a clear academic
plan and pathway noting:
when a student, with knowledgeable assistance, creates a road mapone that shows
where he or she is headed, what academic path to follow, and how long it will take to
reach the end goalthat student has a critical tool for staying on track. Students are
more likely to persist if they not only are advised about that courses to take, but also are

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helped to set academic goals and to create a plan for achieving them. (Office of
Planning, Assessment, and Institutional Research)
Once the college completion plan has been finalized, students registering for classes will
only have access to those specific courses outlined on his or her strategic completion plan. As
the students advance towards their degrees and need to register for classes, the interactive
computer system would issue an alert letting students know which courses are still needed and
are available for the semester. Availability would be inclusive of all on-campus, on-line and
accelerated courses, much like its current system. If a student is attempting to register for a class
included in his or her completion plan and that class happens to be full to capacity, then the
system would issue an alert providing alternative classes that are required and available, but have
not yet been met. By connecting the completed courses to the strategic plan, it allows student to
track their progress while keeping the vision of graduation attainable and front and center. For
example, Pearsons summer on-line English course provided students with a list of assignments
that were required to be completed each week. As students worked their way through
assignments, a green check would appear alerting that which assignments had been completed.
Additionally, a red checkmark would appear for those assignments that still needed to be
completed. The system allowed students to track their progress with assignment completion,
much like what I am proposing in the restructuring of the registration process.
PGCC needs to strengthen its resolve in its college completion agenda. The trial
restructuring of the registration process should be included in PGCCs FY15 and FY16
combined budget of $17,000 under area goals of evaluation current programs and services to
determine each departments effectiveness (Envision Success FY2014-FY2017). By
restructuring the registration process and making college completion its number one priority, all

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students registering for classes would be greeted with their strategic completion plan to guide
them forward. As an emphasis, all students looking to apply to PGCC should be greeted with the
college completion agenda and should be informed of its meaning.
Critics of strategic completion plans will most likely refer to policies and procedures
contrary to the completion agendaoften viewed as a challenge within an existing challenge
(The Completion Agenda: A Call to Action). Those same critics will also have limited
conversations about what exactly needs to change. The good news is that some colleges and
states are doing and meeting the completion challenge. For example, North Idaho College
redesigned its technical education programs using a similar proposal. College leaders also
created building blocks: one semester, one year, applied associate, and applied baccalaureate,
and is currently seeing an increase in completion rates (The Completion Agenda: A Call to
Action).
At present, PGCCs website provides a banner under the Blackboard link, which is
lightly shaded and difficult to read stating, Envision Success, take the journey, complete your
degree (Completion Pledge). There is absolutely no indication that one should click on the
Envision banner. I only noticed the link by allowing my curiosity to get the best of me and
deciding to click to see if something would happen. That action lead me to PGCCs Completion
Pledge. Unfortunately, when I attempted to download the pledge as instructed by the website, I
discovered its link inoperable. While PGCCs Envision Plan FY2014 - FY2017 claims to
represent the collaborative efforts of the entire college community to develop a strategic
direction that focuses our efforts and resources on opportunities to enhance student success and
institutional effectiveness . . . and achieve our Mission, its commitment is contradicted. On
page 3 of Strategic Goal 1: Enhancing pathways that guide students to achieve their academic,

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career, and personal goals, the boxes under Redesign curriculum to promote retention and
completion, zero dollars were allocated in years 2014-2017 to establish required enrollment and
completion parameters. Moreover, on page 4 of under the section Institutional Priority: Expand
Innovative models for delivery of courses, programs, and services, exactly zero dollars were
allocated to Establish program completion measurements consistent with state-wide standards
(Envision Success).
In conclusion, a trial study implementing an aggressive restructuring of PGCCs
registration as I have proposed will allow PGCC to better meet the needs of its students and
support its college completion agenda. Once PGCC strengthens its resolve in its college
completion agenda and makes the decision to integrate this proposal of streamlining its
registration process, it will encourage and increase student enrollment. By providing those
students with a strategic completion plan and staff support, it will not only retain students, it will
allow them to see that college completion is attainable. PGCCs Survey of Entering Student
Engagement 2012 Key Findings, revealed that a better support system is needed (Office of
Planning, Assessment, and Institutional Research). With the teamwork of PGCC students,
faculty and staff, PGCC will move in the right direction to obtaining its college completion goals
by 2017.

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Works Cited
Complete College America; Groundbreaking Report: Time is the Enemy of Today's College
Student. Education Letter (2011): 82. ProQuest Web. 22 July 2015.
Completion Pledge. Prince George's Community College: Prince George's Community
College, Web. 30 July 2015.
Cooper, Mary H. "Paying for College." CQ Researcher 20 Nov. 1992: 1001-24. Web. 18 July
2015.
"Envision Success FY2014-FY2017." Prince George's Community College: Prince George's
Community College, Web. 30 July 2015.
Klasik, Daniel, Erin Knepler, Gail Sunderman. Academic Transformations: Redesigning
College Remedial Courses to Achieve Equity. Maryland Equity Project, The University
of Maryland, College Park, MD (2014).
Pelletier, Stephen. Success for Adult Students. Public Purpose. 2010: 2 6. Web.
http://www.aascu.org/uploadedFiles/AASCU/Content/Root/MediaAndPublications/Publi
cPurposeMagazines/Issue/10fall_adultstudents.pdf
"Office of Planning, Assessment, and Institutional Research." Prince George's Community
College: 2012. Web. 02 Aug. 2015.
The Completion Agenda: A Call to Action American Association of Community Colleges:
2011. Web. 01 Aug. 2015.
"The President and First Lady's Call to Action on College Opportunity." Targeted News Service
Dec 04 2014. ProQuest. Web. 1 Aug. 2015.