Student Success

The programs within CNM's School of Health Wellness & Public Safety (HWPS) are rigorous by nature.  They have to be to meet or exceed the professional standards in the industry.  These rigorous programs can be quite challenging for their students.  HWPS recently looked at their “at risk” students or students who were tracking out of the program to see if there was something they could do to increase their student success and retention once the student had entered into this category. 

Barbara Burrows and John Blewett reviewing a Student Success Plan.

When HWPS assessed the existing process, they determined that in the past it had fit the framework of a “deficit model". What’s wrong, what’s not working?  Versus what are the students strengths and how can they be leveraged for student success.  The new process set out to do just this. It would be based on the work the Achievement Coaches had previously done on the positive change models of Appreciative Inquiry, StrengthsQuest and Resiliency Training, which assesses a persons top five strengths and provides a model for defining the behaviors which lead to personal resiliency.

HWPS began to look at ways to utilize these models for helping students to be more successful. HWPS decided to shift from the model of "tracking out" to implementing a Success Plan for these students. Part of the Success Plan is for students to self identify their strengths. The students are then highly engaged in the process with the support of their achievement coach as they create their individual Success Plan based on their strengths.  They also can look at what are the learning-related issues, they map out their strengths and determine strategies that leverage their strengths and they set observable performance goals to measure their success.

Recently, as a pilot, several students in HWPS have taken the Galllup Organizations Strengthsfinder to assess their strengths and utilize the assessment in helping them design their individualized Success Plan.

Last week I got the opportunity to join in one of these Success Plan reviews with 2 HWPS students in the Nursing program.  Each student had a well defined and individualized plan that was tailored to their specific strengths and learning style.  As they reflected on their process they discussed how their achievement coach, Barbara Burrows, helped them strategically improve the way they study and improve how they integrated their studies into their lives.  Barbara helped them to reframe how they looked at studying.  For example, when they're at their clinical, as a student they have the knowledge from studying in their head and she works with them to help them view themselves as health practitioners.  Barbara provided them with context – which was really important in the application of learning at the worksite. Barbara’s interaction with the students demonstrated her belief in their ability to learning or be successful, which became a source of confidence for the students.  She helped these students in their journey of self awareness - which they each needed to be successful. 

As I listened to one student recount her last clinical I heard in her description what I have come to know as the process of Transformative Learning.  She described all of the knowledge she had in her head from the class and the multitasking that was necessary to create the care plan for 2 patients.  She stated that this activity in the past would have had her somewhat overwhelmed.  But, in her last clinical it all came together and the knowledge was transformed into application of her behaving as a nurse.  She smiled as she described the event and the exhilarating feeling she got from the success of the new experience. 

I also met with John Blewett, Interim Associate Dean of HWPS.  He mentioned that HWPS is in the early phase of the data collecting process to examine the effectiveness of the new Success Plan. Even prior to having the data to review he pointed out that StrengthsQuest has been a powerful addition to helping the students leverage their strengths and lay out their own success plan that helps them to handle some of the identified barriers. A significant part of the Success Plan process includes active participation of faculty and Associate Deans in HWPS. The faculty and administration of HWPS are encouraged to assist the students in co-creating the Plan, which include identifying the concerns, creating the strategies using strengths-based model, documenting measureable outcomes and identifying resources available for the students.

In June the HWPS full time faculty, several part time faculty and the HWPS staff were trained in StrengthsQuest by a consultant for the Gallup organization. This training included all participants taking the assessment to discover their own strengths.

One of the HWPS School goals includes continuing to develop and utilize strengths for managing office processes, faculty development and working on teams and other looking for other ways to use it and integrate it into daily operations.

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About Organizational Learning The Organizational Learning Division's mission is to create professional development pathways for college employees that support the strategic mission of CNM and contribute in meaningful ways to college personnel’s lifelong learning and job enrichment. For more information about Organizational Learning or any of its events, contact:
	Jean Montaño Admin. Coordinator	224-4400 jmontano@ cnm.edu
	Greg Casaus Director	224-4244 gcasaus6@ cnm.edu
	Eleanor Radius Director	224-4237 elarm@ cnm.edu
	Kayleigh Carabajal Executive Director	224-4401 kcarabajal@ cnm.edu

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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