Cohesive Culture Through Faculty

PartnershipsPaying it Forward at CVTC in River Falls

Gregg Nelson

Chippewa Valley Technical College in River Falls400 Current Students – but how do we keep them coming back? Faculty collaboration and partnerships

play a big part!

Hypothesis: Cohesive Culture Improves Student Satisfaction and Retention!

• Question: What does cohesive culture mean?• Answer: General Education and Program faculty work together to create a

unified classroom experience, effectively blurring the line in students’ minds between the “classes that matter” and the ones “someone made me take.”

• Sample Effect #1: A Criminal Justice student might take four classes a day. The General Education course deals with CJ skills, just like the program courses.

• Sample Effect #2: A Business student feels that all classes are relevant to her success.

Hypothesis: Cohesive Culture Improves Student Satisfaction and Retention

• If cohesive culture is done properly, the students will feel that every class relates to why they are in school.

• This maximizes chances that the students will continue to pursue their chosen career path.

• They are reinforced from all sides, and no class feels like a “hoop jump.”

So, how do we do it in River Falls? Here are some examples.

English and Communication

• Criminal Justice

Business Management

Life Sciences

English and Communication

• Both English Composition 1 and Introduction to Criminal Justice require a research paper.

• Myself and the Criminal Justice instructor decided to time that assignment so students could write one paper for us both instead of two.

• I taught the writing, CJ taught the content. • We were both in each other’s classrooms several times so

students could ask questions of us both.

English and Communication• Semester #1 Business Management students in my English

Composition 1 are assigned a paper on active citizenship and community involvement.

• Guest speaker from Little Free Libraries on the effects of their nonprofit organization in the community.

• Semester #2 Business Management students come to my class to talk about how these issues come up in their program.

• Business Mangement students are told that the paper they write for me will be revised next semester for a Portfolio.

English and Communication

• Program students had to take Written Communication and Principles of Sustainability.

• A common assignment was created by myself and the Life Sciences instructor.

• Students were paired. Sustainability students were responsible for the environmental knowledge, my students were responsible for the quality writing.

• Classes were combined with both instructors present.

Life Sciences

• Students in Principles of Biology have to test DNA.• Criminal Justice students collect DNA from a simulated

crime scene for Criminal Investigations 1.• Principles of Biology students test the DNA to find out

who did it, and get to see a real world application of a General Education skill.

• These are just a few examples!

What do we have?

• General Education courses are linked with program courses whenever possible.

• There is an authentic connection between General Education and program. Students see that one needs the other, and everything relates to them.

• The line between General Education and program courses becomes blurred. Students see that everything relates to their program and career plans.

Cohesive Culture in River Falls

• Are there obstacles? Yes!• Scheduling, classroom availability, timing of paired

content.• What I see:

• Students go throughout their day at CVTC feeling like their coursework is all relevant, leading them to their goal. This motivates them to stay in school, try hard, and learn as much as they can from all their instructors – not just the program teachers!

Wrapup

• Questions and thoughts?• What are examples of collaboration at your schools?• Can you collaborate more than you already do? How

would you do it?• Individual• Department• Division