S-C-A-L-E-R-S: Round 2

One of our favorite topics here on Accelerating Achievement is scaling up. Regular readers will remember our multi-week SCALERS series. Originally created by Paul Bloom, the SCALERS model identifies seven organizational capacities that support the successful scaling of a social enterprise: Staffing, Communicating, Alliance-building, Lobbying, Earnings Generation, Replicating Impact, and Stimulating Market Forces. In the Accelerating Achievement SCALERS blog series, we translated the model for application at community colleges.

Next week, we’ll launch a new SCALERS series. Each month, we’ll have a guest post from a DEI college about how a particular SCALERS driver has contributed to their scaling efforts. A little less conversation, a little more action! Today, we’re applying all seven SCALERS to a program from Chaffey College that has successfully scaled up. Thanks to Ricardo Diaz at Chaffey sharing his story with us!

The goal of Opening Doors to Excellence (ODE) at Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga, C.A., is to move students off of academic probation and back into good standing with the college. Participants develop an educational plan with an advisor, take a student success course, and complete a series of directed activities in the college’s student success center. Chaffey defined scale as an institutionalized program that, when fully implemented, would serve all students on academic probation college-wide; by this definition, the program is, in fact, scaled up. According to Ricardo Diaz, ODE coordinator, the successful expansion of the program has required attention to all seven SCALERS drivers:

Staffing. Since there are 300 to 400 students in the program each semester, Diaz is able to meet with each student only once prior to enrolling in the student success course. To address the need for continuous student follow-up, ODE is staffed by counselor apprentices. These counselors are paid graduate students from local universities who use the experience to complete required clinical hours for their program of study. Chaffey’s Human Resources department provides structure and support for hiring the apprentices; program leadership and coordination functions have been integrated into existing staff workloads.

Communicating. To expand ODE, Chaffey embarked on a strategic planning process that drew together key parties from across the college. The plan they constructed involved integrating services into existing programs, rather than creating a program with a stand-alone structure. During program development, the core planning committee held regular discussions with governance departments.

Alliance-Building. As mentioned above, ODE was developed with input from college-wide representatives. The program had the support of the president and board of trustees from the beginning. A crucial alliance for ODE was the purposeful collaboration between academic affairs and student services.

Lobbying/Demonstrating Impact. Chaffey’s Institutional Research department collaborated with MDRC to establish outcomes and evaluate ODE as part of MDRC’s Opening Doors project. When MDRC concluded their study, Chaffey’s institutional research continued. The strength of the evaluation allowed the program to obtain additional resources, recognition, and support for expansion.

Earnings Generation/Resource Generation. The initial MDRC funding for the program was matched by college funding commitments. With future expansion in mind, Chaffey integrated the core expenditures for the program into the college’s general fund. The MDRC grant was used as start-up money, funding program development, paraprofessional staff, books, supplies, travel, and training.

Replicating Impact. As the program grew, the core planning committee developed a continuous improvement process. Student learning outcomes and focus group feedback were used to refine program design. The committee encouraged regular sharing of practices among instructors along with professional development activities.

Stimulating Market Forces/Sustaining Engagement. Because ODE was integrated into the college’s core operational components from the beginning, it quickly became a regular function of how the college operates. Students embraced the program because enrollment incentives were put into place. The MDRC study allowed for easy dissemination of the model to other colleges. This gained national recognition for Chaffey, which ensured continued buy-in from leadership and the campus community.

What’s next? Chaffey has created a solution to their initial problem: ODE moves students from academic probation back into good standing. However, an MDRC study looking at ODE’s impact on moving students to completion revealed that the intervention does not result in increased rates of graduation or certificate attainment. While not the original intent of this intervention, it is none the less a critical objective that presents a new challenge in program development and scaling.  Now that Chaffey has a broad strategy that reaches the entire target population, it’s time to look at ways to scale the depth of the program’s impact, intensifying the intervention to amplify the impact or reach a new aim. The college intends to reconvene the core planning committee to explore strategies that can improve the likelihood that students who overcome their probationary standing also complete a degree and/or certificate.