Project Abstract
TITLE V PROJECT ABSTRACT
COOPERATIVE ARRANGEMENT: LAGUARDIA COMMUNITY COLLEGE AND NEW YORK CITY TECHNICAL COLLEGE/CUNY

Both LaGuardia Community College and New York City Technical College (NYCT) are part of the City University of New York, the largest public urban university in the country. Fiorello H. LaGuardia Community College, located in Western Queens, New York, was established in 1970 to provide access to higher education and meaningful employment for the city's historically under-served populations. Now, the college serves more than 11,000 matriculated students working towards associate degrees and certificate programs in the arts, sciences and technical professions. Its student population is 75% minority, with 37% being Hispanic.

New York City Technical College is the designated technical college of The City University of New York, opening in 1947. It currently offers both baccalaureate and associate degrees, as well as specialized certificates. Enrollment growth has stabilized at slightly above 11,000. The student population is extraordinarily diverse with Hispanic enrollment as a percentage of the total increasing steadily, and reaching 27% of the total and 30% of entering freshmen in Fall 2000.

Both colleges presently face two critical, linked challenges: (1) implementing college-wide strategies to assess student learning outcomes in order to implement broad curricular improvements; and (2) improving the transfer process—LaGuardia must assist Hispanic and other minority students to successfully transfer to senior colleges, while NYCT must strengthen its new baccalaureate program by increasing significantly the number of incoming transfer students.

To address these challenges, LaGuardia and NYCT seek Title V funding, under a cooperative arrangement, to support the introduction of Electronic Student Portfolios at both schools, using it to build student preparation, improve assessment, and promote seamless transfer between the two schools.

Activity: Introduction of Electronic Student Portfolios: To advance systematic assessment of student learning outcomes and facilitate transfer, we propose over 5 years to introduce Electronic Student Portfolios to Freshman Learning Communities, introductory level courses, and junior and senior level courses. Electronic portfolios use the interactive and constructive facets of Web-based technologies to deepen learning and improve assessment. An electronic portfolio is a selective collection of student work—papers, presentations, projects and performances, plus student reflections on their work-made available on the Web. Providing crucial information to faculty, counselors and administrators about what students have learned, portfolios enable effective program assessment and improvement. The portfolio template will incorporate information on transfer possibilities and requirements, prioritizing early in a students’ career what is often done as an afterthought. Cooperating on the portfolio, LaGuardia and NYCT will strengthen articulation and transfer, enabling more students to make a successful transition from community college to baccalaureate degree. Using on-line tools linked to the portfolio, the Virtual Interest Group will connect the students from the two colleges, further enhancing the successful transfer process.

Sample of key measures (a) 112 faculty will take part in professional development on assessment strategies and the use of electronic portfolios as well as in collecting and analyzing student data for the purpose of curricular improvement; (b) 2800 students will utilize electronic portfolios for improved student learning and to increase transfer between the two colleges; (c) 2000 students will participate in special discipline-based Virtual Interest Groups (d) retention and graduation rates at both colleges will be increased by 10%; and (e) transfer of students from LaGuardia to NYCT will be increased from 20/year to 100/year.

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