ALLIANCE MEMBER LOGO Our Shared Commitment: MOMENTUM PATHWAY SCALE PROJECT This shared commitment signifies to Complete College America ( CCA ), that The ALLIANCE MEMBER NAME Complete College America Alliance Team ( Alliance Team ) agrees to work together to develop and implement a Momentum Pathways Strategy that will dramatically increase the number and percentage of students who earn a postsecondary credential. With the support of Complete College America and the CCA Fellows, the Alliance Team will work with participating institutions to scale a set of evidence-based Game Changer strategies that will ensure students hit critical performance benchmarks associated with achieving student momentum in the first year and provide ongoing support to sustain that momentum through credential completion. The initiative will commence in QUARTER, 20XX and begin implementation of Momentum Pathway strategies by QUARTER, 20XX, with full implementation to be achieved by QUARTER, 20XX. Momentum Pathways The Momentum Pathways model is a set of evidence based game changers that will result in both immediate improvements in student progress toward postsecondary credentials and ultimately, dramatic improvements to college completion when implemented and scaled. Central to the success of Momentum Pathways are policies and/or processes that result in new entering students reaching the following milestones in their first academic year. Earn 30 credits in the first academic year. Complete gateway math and English courses Earn nine credits in a program path. Students who reach these milestones are far more likely to earn postsecondary credentials and graduate in less time. The key elements of a Momentum Pathways Strategy include: Take 30 Campaign where students are challenged to complete 30 semester credits in their first academic year. Academic Degree Maps that: o Align with a set of meta-majors.
o Include a critical path courses that students must successfully complete to be successful in their chosen program, including the first-year momentum components described above. o Guide proactive advising to ensure students start and stay on a path to graduation. o Are incorporated into technology-based student advising and tracking systems. Corequisite academic support in gateway math and English courses Alliance Team Commitment The Alliance Team will provide essential leadership to the initiative by making the case for reform, gaining written institutional commitments, collecting metrics and coordinating implementation efforts. As a result, the Alliance Team must agree work with Complete College America to fulfill the following set of commitments: Convene the Momentum Pathways Leadership Team Completed: DATE, 20XX The Alliance Team and other relevant state, system and institutional leaders will make up the Momentum Pathways Leadership Team. The Leadership Team will participate in a one-day workshop with Complete College America to develop the structure and initial plans for the initiative. Gather and Analyze Data The Momentum Pathways Leadership Team will work with CCA to collect and report baseline and intervention level data. Data to be collected will build on CCA s annual collection of progress and outcome metrics. From the period of initial implementation and full scale of Momentum Pathways strategies, intervention data will be collected after each semester in order to ensure that the project improving student outcomes and closing equity gaps and to inform continuous improvement activities. The Momentum Pathways Leadership Team will collect, report and analyze baseline and intervention data from the annual CCA data collection disaggregated by race, income, remedial status, age and institution type (2-year and 4-year): College completion rates at 100% time and 150% time. Percentage of students who complete gateway math and/or English courses in the first year. Percentage of students placed into remedial education who complete gateway math and/or English courses in the first year. Percent of students who earn 30 credits in their first academic year Second year retention Average time to degree Average credits to degree CCA and the Momentums Pathway Leadership Team will work together to collect additional baseline and intervention level data that is important to measuring the effectiveness of each Game Changer strategy that includes, but is not limited to: 2
Percentage of students who earn nine credits in their program of study in the first academic year. Percentage of students who enroll in gateway math and English courses in the first year. Percentage of students who enroll in and complete gateway courses associated with each designated math pathway in their first academic year. Percentage of students who are on track for on time degree completion. Percentage of students who change their major each semester Develop a Case Statement The Momentum Pathways Leadership Team will construct a case statement that will outline the critical challenges to completion for students who attend institutions in the STATE/REGION. The case statement will use current data from all institutions, describe the structural challenges to college completion using existing research, outline the evidence based strategies that can address structural challenges and make recommendations for implementing reforms through the initiative. The leadership team will engage important stakeholder groups in the development of a case statement. Once published, the leadership team will develop and implement a communications strategy to build buy-in for a regional strategy. Agree to a Definition of Scale For the purposes of this initiative, scale will be defined as serving 100% of students who can benefit from specific momentum year strategies as demonstrated by research and other evidence from successful implementation of reforms. Issue Request for Institutional Commitments Target Date: DATE, 20XX CCA will work with the Momentum Pathways Leadership team to issue a request for signed commitment from all institutions in which each institution will outline their commitment to a scope of work for the initiative to include program goals, a definition of scale, a timeline for achieving scale and set of baseline metrics that the strategy will be measured against. The Momentum Pathways Leadership team will review and approve institutional commitments. Institutions that are approved by the Momentum Pathways Leadership team will have access to technical support and other resources that will support implementation of their plans. Host Challenge Event Target Date: DATE, 20XX CCA will work with the Momentum Pathways Leadership team to host an in-state event to present the case for the strategy and challenge institutions to submit institutional plans aligned to the scope of work. The event will feature CCA staff, national and local leaders who have successfully implemented the Momentum Pathways reforms. Institutional teams will hear presentations on the data in support of 3
initiative strategies and insights on effective implementation from national experts. Institutions will be invited to join the initiative by submitting a signed commitment. Develop a Communications Plan CCA will work with the Momentum Pathways Leadership team to develop a strategy for communicating among campuses, with policy leaders and other import stakeholders involved in the initiative. The Momentum Pathways Leadership team will have access to CCA resources to include its communications staff, the CCA online web platform and other tools to support an effective communications strategy. Coordinate Project Activities The Momentum Pathways Leadership Team will provide critical ongoing leadership for the initiative by guiding project activities, reviewing institutional plans and monitoring institutional progress toward implementation and scale. CCA will provide necessary support and tools to enable effective management of the initiative. Evaluate Policy To remove implementation barriers and ensure sustainability of implementation, the Momentum Pathways Leadership Team will evaluate ways in which current policy and financial structures represent a barrier to implementation and ways new policy could be enacted to support the reforms, specifically considering the policies recommended in CCA s New Rules, with particular attention to the following: Cap credit hours for a degree at 60 for an associate degree and 120 for a bachelor s degree, except in special cases such as accreditation. Use banded tuition so that students pay no more for 15 credits than they do for 12. Reward students who complete 15 credits per semester or 30 per year with priority registration, premium parking, preferred housing selection, and other campus perks. Set a system-level guarantee that students will be advised to take gateway math and English during their first year of enrollment and that the courses will be available. Require institutions to uphold that guarantee or offer the course for free. Update placement policies to remove mandatory placement of students into stand-alone remedial courses. Require institutions to provide students degree maps and guaranteed critical path courses. Set a mandatory tuition discount for credit hours a student must take to graduate if those credits exceed the threshold of 75 for an associate degree or 135 for a baccalaureate degree, with certain exceptions for accreditation requirements, late transfers, late major changes. The Momentum Leadership Team will commit to all of the above and acquire commitments from at least 50% of appropriate institutions to participate in the initiative by submitting signed commitments. Signatures 4
Complete College Alliance Team Team Lead, on behalf of the Complete College Alliance Team Complete College America Commitments Complete College America Commitment Complete College America commits to provide the following technical assistance to the initiative: Provide planning and project management support to the Momentum Pathways Leadership Team Entertain requests for financial resources to cover appropriate expenses related to the initiative to include costs associated with project events such as facility, food, accommodations and travel; staff release time for institutional faculty and staff as well as state, system or Alliance level staff. Coordinate with the Alliance team on fund development by pursuing grants from local and regional philanthropic organizations. Cover travel and honoraria for content experts who have successfully implemented Game Changer strategies and Complete College America staff for the Momentum Pathways Challenge Event and at all Institutional Academies. Provide access to communication tools, curricular resources, planning tools and other artifacts that will support implementation. Provide access to content experts through targeted professional development opportunities Complete College America Signature President, Tom Sugar Institutional Commitments By submitting signed commitments, campuses commit to scaling the Momentum Pathways strategies along the timeline in the attached Scope of Work and in alignment with the CCA Scaling Standards. 5