Student Engagement

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 submission details the implementation and results of a Midterm Student Feedback (MSF) assessment conducted in Dr. Pargas' ESOL Level 2 class. The primary purpose of the assessment was to gain real-time insight into the factors that help and hinder student learning, enabling continuous pedagogical improvement within the current class term. The MSF was administered anonymously at the midpoint of the course using a three-question worksheet that focused on learning aids, barriers, and suggestions for improvement.

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!

This study showed how the creation of walkthrough videos, that move students through the complicated steps of doing calculations, leads to students empowering themselves and increasing their success in a PSY230WL online class that uses mastery learning, where students can engage the material as much as they want to earn a high grade. The videos have helped students persist with the material and be successful in the class.

This CATS reports from a STEM student engagement survey designed and deployed by the STEM Center of Excellence to understand connections between students’ beliefs about STEM education and their engagement with STEM Center programming. A sample of 57 students from a wide range of disciplines and identity backgrounds participated in the survey.

Work Ready Wednesday launched in Fall 2024 hosting sessions weekly to prepare students for the workforce by building a toolkit of essential professional skills, exploring trending topics in the workforce and connecting to industry leaders. Over the 2024–2025 academic year, the program hosted 25 sessions with 368 students and 60 staff or faculty attending. A 54.76% increase in attendance from fall to spring reflected the impact of campus collaboration, consistent scheduling, engaging guest speakers, faculty support, and targeted marketing.

This assessment focuses on supporting students retaking ALT 100: Academic Literacy Through Integrated Reading and Writing, a foundational course that prepares students for English 101. These students, having previously failed or withdrawn, faced a range of academic and personal barriers, including time management challenges, low confidence, limited access to technology, and gaps in literacy skills.

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 Career and Transfer Center collaborated with the Administration of Justice Studies Program to develop a customized resume handout that maps course and program outcomes to the NACE Career Competencies. This tool seeks to help students communicate their classroom experience into career-ready, transferable skills. Initial feedback suggests faculty satisfaction and engagement with career services as a result of the handout, improved Career Navigator confidence to guide specific career skill conversations, and improved resume quality.

GradAppaLooza (Transfer and Job Fair) is an annual event organized by Estrella Mountain County Community College's (EMCC) Career and Education Planning team, in coordination with Workforce Development, Admissions and Records, and Advisement! This event is aimed at providing opportunities for students transitioning to the next phase of their academic or professional journey.

This assessment evaluates changes made to the Spring 2025 Data Center Alliance event at EMCC, hosted in collaboration with iMasons. Following the initial 2024 event, several enhancements were implemented, including expanded panel offerings, increased marketing efforts, the addition of industry tabling, and the incorporation of national best practices from Northern Virginia Community College. Attendance nearly doubled, student engagement significantly increased, and the event resulted in a $10,000 industry scholarship commitment for AIT technician students.