Robeson Community College – Case Study
Robeson Community College (RCC) is fully accredited comprehensive, two-year public institution, is a member of the NC Community College System and is located in Robeson County, the most ethnically diverse county in the United States. With a student population of 76% minorities of which 42% are Native Americans, 32% African American, and 3% Hispanic/Other, RCC is a U.S. Dept. Department of Education designated Minority-Serving Institution and a Native American-serving Nontribal Institution.
The average annual enrollment for the past four year reflects approximately 3,051 headcount and 1,984 Full Time Equivalent (FTE). The college serves approximately 1800 developmental math students per year.
Open Math Lab
With the help of a Changing the Equation NCAT grant, Robeson Community College redesigned all developmental math courses using the Emporium Model of instruction. As changes were made to the model, the math department quickly realized that “students don’t do optional”. Developmental math students are now required to spend at least an hour in our Open Math Lab (OML) each week. With this requirement, a mechanism to track attendance was needed. Accudemia was implemented in the Open Math Lab in summer 2012. Students scan their student ids to sign in and out of the OML.
Professional tutors and adjunct instructors also sign in and out of the OML. This is used to calculate the instructional number of hours worked each week to assist with payroll procedures.
Reports
Upon closing the Open Math Lab at noon on Saturdays, instructors are able to generate a report (Attendance by Instructor) to record the attendance requirement for the OML that week. Reports have also been created to recognize peak times in the OML so that adequate coverage is provided for our students.
During the College’s reaccreditation efforts, it was identified that an academic support center was necessary to support students outside of class. The mission of The Learning Center (TLC) is to provide students with additional assistance and resources to enhance their academic success, as well as to promote self-directed learning and decision-making; build confidence and motivation; and develop a greater appreciation for education and learning. The Learning Center serves students by offering tutoring services, writing assistance, supplemental instruction, and computer-assisted learning in an environment that is supportive and encouraging.
The Learning Center (TLC)
In The Learning Center, Accudemia is used to track students using The Learning Center and CANASA (Campus Alliance for Native American Student Achievement) for tutorial services. Accudemia is also used to log in missed appointments, late log-ins and changed appointments. When students register for tutorial services, the subject for which a student needs assistance is keyed into Accudemia. The secretary uses the information in Accudemia to create tutor schedules, based upon their availability. Student and tutor schedules are then matched with subject to set up appointments.
Reports:
Accudemia is used to generate reports for attendance by tutors, students, subject area and services used. The Learning Center uses this information for yearly reports.
Tutor profiles and subjects tutored as well as their Datatel number (id number), are keyed into the user account sections. Group reports are generated for CANASA. Reports include students that have received services, hours tutored, and date and time of visit(s).
The reporting feature of student tutorial support will allow the Learning Center to report academic support hours to the College’s FTE (Full Time Equivalent) Auditor. The college budget is based upon the amount of FTE that is reported to the State in academic instruction and support services.
The Learning Center Sign In Station
Student Surveys
Student surveys are generated from Accudemia after every 4th visit with a tutor. Students are prompted to complete the survey once he/she signs out of Accudemia. Tutors also complete a survey every 4th sign out. The Tutor Prescription Survey has the tutor describe a tutee’s session, the progression of the tutee and recommended further strategies for next session. This records the overall satisfaction with the services and assists with program improvement decisions.
Before Accudemia, The Learning Center used Tutor Trac. Tutor Trac is similar to Accudemia in many ways; however, we found training for the system to be cumbersome and not very timely. We have not thus far found any problems with Accudemia.
Benefits
The primary benefits of using Accudemia in The Learning Center and Open Math Lab are 1) reporting the usage of tutorial services 2) the ease of logging in students via use of a swipe card as opposed to having them sign in by hand and 3) the ability to create a variety of reports that offer us different perspectives on the population of students that utilize our services.
Challenges
The uploading of students, schedules and instructors into Accudemia is time consuming. In the fall 2012, after several failed attempts at loading students correctly, technical support realized that some of the classes had the same CRN number from a previous semester. Once technical support realized this issue was, it was resolved the same day.
Future Uses:
- iAccu: Configure iAccu to use when Accudemia or the college’s network is unavailable.
- Fitness Center Attendance: Instructors will be able to sign in and out of the college’s fitness center
- Successful Students: Gauge the time spent by those students that complete more than one class in a semester. This data can be used in “Best Practices” to document success and encourage students to spend more than the required hour a week in the OML.
- OML Student Satisfaction Surveys: A survey will be created for OML students to complete each month. This survey will be used to gauge the satisfaction level of students in the OML.
- Classroom: Track classroom attendance
To date, Robeson Community College is satisfied with the Accudemia software; however, campus users know they are not using the full functionality of the software. The College has provided funding for a math instructor to attend the Accudemia sponsored training session this year. The instructor will then train other faculty and staff to use the software more effectively.
TLC Tutor Satisfaction Survey
LaRonda Lowery
Mathematics Instructor
Robeson Community College
Lumberton, NC