Welcome to Grayson College's

Pathways Taskforce

From college wide discussions, it became evident that GC needs more structured curriculum pathways. GC must make sure it is aligning courses in such a manner that a student’s progression is based upon a series of greatest possible success scenarios. These hopefully will build upon one another giving students more confidence as they progress.

When GC looked at student data for on time to degree (4+ years) and hours (92 hours) to degree, the College saw a need to be clearer about its pathways. There are multiple steps that can be taken to affect a student’s degree completion, the most basic of which is to provide clear communication of the expectations and to provide regular “check-ups” to determine his/her progress (or lack thereof). Currently, these are goals that are held by GC’s Core Team; however, the College has much work to do since it has recently changed its core curriculum, revised all degrees so that none are more than 60 hours (with a few exceptions), and there is still a need to realign transfer pathways with area Universities.

There are multiple incarnations of structured pathways, and these will increase as more attention is given to its development at more colleges. However, there are common features that must be included in any structured pathway: 1) Clear roadmaps to student end goals. 2) On-ramps to programs of study. 3) Embedded advising, progress tracking, feedback and support.

Acknowledging the importance of this work at Grayson College, a Pathways Taskforce has been created that is composed of key policy administrators, faculty, and staff to address the implementation of structurally guided pathways. This task force is charged with reviewing data and investigating best practices related to student success through the development of pathways to include but not limited to:

development of transfer pathways and articulation agreements.
development of a continuing education pathway to credit.
development of on-ramps (prior learning assessment, dual credit, adult basic education, transfer in students, etc.)
development of a year-long schedule to include a review of scheduling to meet the needs of all students including FT, PT, and evening students.
development of a comprehensive faculty advising/coaching program.
development of interventions for at-risk students who get "off-track."

GC’s ultimate goal is to decrease the average time to degree, decrease the number of semester credit hours taken and increase the number of completers at Grayson College. Structured pathways will focus on the development of clearly defined and structured degree/certificate pathways. These pathways will provide students with a streamlined and focused sequence of courses to ensure timely completion of credentials.

GC has integrated ATD work within its strategic plan to focus on student success and equity, and ATD interventions will be part of the college’s strategic planning work. Recent changes included the addition of one overarching goal of 2020 by 2020 (completions) with a focus on four planning priorities (lenses): course completion, pathways, online expansion, and communication. Additionally, the traditional strategic planning committees have been changed to taskforces and will be used to focus on short-term work and then dissolved with new taskforces being identified as needed. In recent years, strategic planning committees have led initiatives that have resulted in systemic improvements including: no late registration, mandated college success course, and upgrades to the college’s IT systems.