Building Relationships/Community

Abstract

College students with disabilities can experience anxiety and discomfort when communicating with instructors about their approved accommodations.  This may be due to fears of stigma and negative reactions, communication challenges, or a sense of burdening faculty. These student concerns can lead to underutilization of accommodations, despite their potential to enhance academic success. 

This assessment evaluates the effectiveness of the 2026 Earth Forward Event, hosted at Estrella Mountain Community College, in supporting student learning related to environmental literacy, sustainability, and engagement with career pathways in life sciences and conservation.

This assessment evaluates changes implemented for the Spring 2026 Arizona Data Center Alliance event at EMCC. Based on feedback from the previous year, the event format was redesigned to reduce the number of panel discussions and expand networking opportunities between students and industry professionals. The updated structure featured two focused panels representing IT and technician career pathways and significantly increased networking time with industry partners.

Additional contributors to this include ALL volunteers across campus as well as the Open House Planning Group:

Laura Porritt

Angela Ho

Gerniah Liburd

Miyah Gaston

Nahum Cabrera Olivas

Tracy Tanner

Alissa Manzoeillo

This assessment examined the impact of a targeted engagement strategy designed to increase students’ sense of belonging and awareness of free campus resources at Estrella Mountain Community College (EMCC). Motivated by Noel Levitz survey results showing that only 71% of students felt a sense of belonging, this student activation promoted Arts and Composition Division’s production of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare – abridged (November 13–22, 2025).

The following also helped with planning and organizing this event:

Laura Porritt

Tracy Tanner

Alissa Manzoeillo

Gerniah Liburd

And the many........many.....many volunteers who participated.  Thank you!

Subjectively, it is believed students are more successful in MAT 151 ONLINE if they can process the information over 16 weeks versus 8 or 5 weeks.  After analyzing the data objectively, students enrolled in Bobbi Mohr's MAT 151 ONLINE courses from Spring 25 to Spring 24, using the same MOER course structure, yield the highest average success rates in 5 week courses.  The collective student success rate average for 5 week classes was 75.4%.

With OPIE data from AY 22-23, MAT instructors have implemented instructional best strategies to improve student retention rates from Fall 23 to Fall 24.  To contribute to the EMCC Strategic Goal of increase college retention and persistence by reducing the within semester withdrawal rate from 16% to 14% by 2026, MAT instructors have implemented and documented (monthly) instructional best practices, as well as reported (monthly) the number of students retained in their courses.

• Continue to review processes and look for ways to simplify/streamline whenever possible.
• When there are continual pain points, challenges, or overly complicated processes use that to identify a solution. Put your time toward finding/creating/requesting automation to improve the process. It will take additional time in the beginning to determine and implement a solution. Once the solution is implemented it will make up for the extra time it took to identify/make the changes.

The assessment of the game’s effectiveness was based on participant feedback, which was overwhelmingly positive. All participants rated their overall experience and engagement as excellent. Despite the high ratings for the format and interactive elements, there was variability in the perceived enhancement of knowledge regarding accreditation and assessment, suggesting areas for improvement in content delivery.

This CATs explores the use of a game-based learning activity, modeled after Taboo©, to boost student engagement, communication skills, and conceptual understanding across disciplines. Students worked in pairs to describe and guess course-specific terms without using certain "taboo" words, reinforcing complex concepts while improving verbal and listening abilities. Mixed-methods assessments revealed increased engagement, deeper understanding, and enhanced skills critical for STEM, healthcare, humanities, and social sciences.