Pathway Teams
Pathways Teams and Guided Pathways
The Pathway Teams project supports and continues PCC’s work to implement a Guided Pathways framework at the college. This project will build cross-disciplinary Pathway Teams that are focused on creating equity-centered processes for students.
What is Guided Pathways? Guided Pathways is a movement that seeks to streamline a student’s journey through college by providing intentionally designed choices, revamped support, and clear learning outcomes – ultimately helping more students achieve their college goals. Guided Pathways seeks to improve existing self-service community college models that can lead students to unintended academic detours and delays in the form of excess or out-of-sequence credits.
The Four Pillars of Guided Pathways
The Pathway Teams, formed with this project, will guide PCC’s implementation of Guided Pathways and its’ four pillars:
- Mapping Pathways to Student End Goals
- Helping Students Choose and Enter a Program Pathway
- Keep Students on Path
- Ensuring that Students are Learning
By forming Pathway Teams, PCC will be emphasizing the student experience in our process building and refinement. We’ll use a human-centered design approach that is grounded in continuous improvement. The cross-functional Pathway Teams will enable PCC to better understand our students and achieve more equitable student outcomes.
How did we get here and where are we going?
PCC college leaders started this work in 2016 by committing to changing systems and creating a structure that works better for students by centering them and their journey. Aligning PCC systems with a Guided Pathways framework involves disrupting the status quo and will take time to get it right. Pathway Teams will be charged with engaging a wider college community on this journey of transformation on behalf of our students. To that end, Pathway Teams will aim to build trusting relationships and a unified vision, so that we can work together to enhance PCC student success.
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- 2016 and on
- Commit to Change: YESS vision, YESS goals, Join Achieving the Dream
- Understand the Problem: YESS metrics, Qualitative/quantitative data, conduct iCat, conduct org student
- Consider Solutions: Guided Pathways, Structure change, curricular reform, integrated equity and inclusion
- Build the Foundation for Change: ACPs formed, One College reorg, Strategic Plan, Title III grant, align budget, training & development
- 2022 – 2023
- Design & Planning: Assign lead, form work groups, seek synergy & silo-span, human-centered design
- Implement: New systems, new operations, do things differently!
- Measure Impact: Evaluate, modify, evaluate again, continuous improvement
- 2026
- Achieve Success Goals: Student and institutional outcomes to brag about!
Pathway Team Goals
The primary goal of Pathway Teams is to provide students with a seamless transition into, through, and beyond their PCC experience. To achieve this goal, the work will span across divisions in the college and aim to integrate Academic Affairs and Student Affairs processes. Pathway Teams will be accountable for collecting equity-focused input from business, industry, and the community, monitoring systems change implementation, and utilizing data for continuous improvement and ongoing Guided Pathways development.
Pathway Teams Project Overview
The Pathway Teams Project started in the Summer of 2022 with a group of Academic Affairs and Student Affairs leaders meeting to brainstorm approaches for Pathway Teams development and implementation. Throughout the 2022-2023 academic year, the project leader team worked with key internal partners in Academic Affairs and Student Affairs to gather input from the wider college community, including faculty and staff. During Summer 2023, project leaders prepared for the launch of Pathway Teams in Winter 2024. For more details about the Pathways Teams Project work, please click to expand the sections below.
Pathway Teams Project Development
The Pathway Teams Project development took place during Summer and Fall 2022. Academic Affairs and Student Affairs leaders Karen Paez, Jeremy Estrella, Sonya Bedient, Josephine Pino, Ari Petrides, and Alycia Kearns met to work on the following project objectives:
- Investigate possible Pathway Teams models
- Identify the Pathway Teams Project timeline and goals
- Conceptualize the Pathway Teams Project kickoff and follow-up activities
- Identify individuals to include in an expanded Pathway Teams Project leadership group
Pathway Teams Project Kickoff and Orientation
The Pathway Teams Project kickoff and leader orientation occurred during Summer and Fall 2022 with Karen Paez, Jeremy Estrella, Sonya Bedient, Josephine Pino, Ari Petrides, Heather Lang, Katy Ho, and Alycia Kearns leading this effort. The group worked to accomplish the following project objectives:
- Planning for the Pathway Teams project kickoff
- Preparing the agenda and materials for the Pathways Teams project kickoff
- Facilitating the Pathway Teams project kickoff
Foundation Setting for Pathway Team Leaders
From Fall 2022 to Spring 2023, the Pathway Teams Project leaders focused on Pathway Team leader foundation setting. In this work leaders Karen Paez, Jeremy Estrella, Sonya Bedient, Heather Lang, Katy Ho, Ryan Clark, Jason Pinkal, and Bridget Jones worked through the following project objectives:
- Process a live scenario
- Host ongoing Pathway Teamwork Workshops with leaders from across the college
- Send surveys to inform focus areas for brainstorming tactics and strategies
- Assign tactics and strategy homework for stakeholders
- Draft Community Agreements and Glossary of Terms
Input on Pathway Teamwork
From Winter to Summer 2023, Pathway Teams Project leaders focused on how to best gain input on Pathway teamwork, analyze input, and report findings. Academic Affairs and Student Affairs leaders Josephine Pino, Ari Petrides, Alycia Kearns, Karen Paez, Jeremy Estrella, and Sonya Bedient met to work on the following project objectives:
- Solicit participation from senior leadership and Pathway Leaders
- Focus Group Facilitator Training in Winter 2023
- Focus Groups for faculty and staff input were held during Spring 2023
- Complete a Pathway Teams Focus Group Report during Summer 2023 that analyzes and summarizes Focus Group input.
- The Pathway Teams Focus Group Report distributed to Focus Group participants and the college at large in Fall 2023.
Launch of Pathway Teams
Planning for the Pathway Teams to launch occurred during Summer 2023 with Josephine Pino, Ari Petrides, Alycia Kearns, Karen Paez, Jeremy Estrella, Sonya Bedient, plus Pathway Team Leaders meeting work on following objectives:
- Solidify Pathway Team Charters and Oversight Group Charter
- Pathway Team Leader training on program mapping processes, which will be a team focus for the first year
- Build a first-year work plan with goals, deliverables, and timelines
- Identify project leads for year one program mapping
- Identify roles within the Pathway Teams and plan a process to invite participants
- Update the Pathway Teams Project communication plan and launch phase two communications
What’s next?
The Pathway Teams Project is focused on launching the Pathway Teams in Fall 2023. PCC faculty, staff, and students will have an opportunity to express interest in joining a Pathway Team prior to its launch. A specific plan for program mapping within each pathway will be developed to further PCC’s Guided Pathways work in the next year and beyond.