Bossier Parish Community College is in compliance with this federal requirement because the College comprehensively assesses academic programs; maintains individual program accreditations; monitors high employment statistics; encourages the development of multiple remediation and developmental course offerings which are designed to facilitate higher course completion and graduation rates; provides evidence of past and current success with graduate examination scores; and uses collected assessment data to improve the academic success of the College's graduates.

Implementation of Comprehensive Assessment

The College has a comprehensive assessment plan for all units at the College. This plan ensures that all areas of the College are examined for effectiveness of services provided each semester or annually. Programs of study utilize information from the Graduation Report, Student Course Evaluations, Student Opinion Survey, and individual program specific instruments that will be named and linked later in this narrative as part of this process. Many of the College's program personnel also internally track graduation and employment rates for their programs. This information is used annually to evaluate program content (courses) to determine appropriateness. Information on graduation rates is reported in the college's Annual Report 274 and in annual program reviews. In the following paragrahs, several examples from different divisions of the College are used to demonstrate how this comprehensive assessment is implemented.

In the Division of Science and Allied Health, the instruments used and data collected are identified on an established program assessment matrix. Pass rates on licensure/certification exams (where applicable) are evaluated annually. Program completion rates are tracked by individual program directors. Course completion/success rates for selected (high enrollment, core science courses) are compiled each semester. These rates provide information on needed improvement in student preparation and support and instructional strategies. Allied Health Program Employer Surveys of all degree-granting programs, except for General Science, are mailed six months after program completion. Additional information is collected by program faculty and administration in accordance with the requirements of accrediting and regulatory agencies and as appropriate for the program. All program assessment information (Resources, Employer Surveys, Graduate Surveys, licensure/certification pass rates, etc.) is collected and analyzed during the Annual Program Review. This information is used to identify program strengths and weaknesses and to develop improvement strategies for the next year. Improvement strategies are included in individual classes or programs.

Program accreditation is not an option within all divisions of the College. However, for all eligible programs in the Division of Science and Allied Health where program accreditation standards exist, accreditation has been achieved and maintained to ensure the highest quality of program administration. Integral to the program accreditation process is the ongoing assessment of student outcomes which ensures frequent collection of data regarding student success in multiple areas. This outcome data, with respect to some individual accredited programs, may also be accessed on the Internet. One example of program accreditation and student outcome data available online may be found for the Physical Therapist Assistant Program at the website of the American Physical Therapy Association.

In its endeavors to promote student success in online courses, the Educational Technology Division at Bossier Parish Community College collects data from the student evaluations of online courses and from the technical support surveys sent to students who have called in or emailed the division with technical concerns about the Course Management System Blackboard. Records are obtained from Presidium/BPCC 24/7 Technical Support HELP DESK used by faculty, staff, and students (Annual Report 199-200). All of the data collected from the above is used to implement improvements in services offered to faculty, staff, and students; in addition, the data is used in the planning process for training of faculty,staff, and students in the utilization of technologies. Student evaluations of the online orientations provided to them by the Division of Educational Technology are used to improve the delivery of these orientation sessions and for planning purposes. Evaluations of professional growth and training seminars hosted by the Division of Educational Technology are completed by faculty/staff and are used for improving training and for planning purposes (Annual Report 206-207).

To assist students in their academic success, the College Learning Center is available to all students. These instructional centers provide students with access to technology, one-on-one tutoring, computer software programs, study rooms, models, library/reference books, etc. The College also utilizes SMARTHINKING Online Tutoring Services which provides students with 24/7 tutoring services. This service is available to all students who are enrolled in a course and who have access to the Blackboard course management platform. The Division of Developmental Services tracks the participation of students by course in The Learning Center (TLC). This data is collected when students check-in and check-out of The Learning Center and is analyzed annually. Also, the Division of Developmental Services conducts a student satisfaction survey of TLC resources and offerings each semester. The TLC is also included in the institution's graduate exit survey. All results from survey instruments are used to develop strategies that align Division activities to the institutional goals and objectives. These strategies reflect assessment data collected using the survey.

Job Placement Rates

The College has a Job Placement Office to assist students in their search for employment while enrolled and for a year after graduation. This office maintains contact with local employers and posts a list of job opportunities on campus on the Job Opportunity Board and on the Job Placement Website. Not only does this office provide job postings, but it also conducts workshops in job-search skills and interview techniques. This office holds an annual job fair which is well attended by employers and student job-seekers. Throughout the year, this office sponsors on-campus recruitment to bring employers and students together to explore part-time, full-time, and seasonal career opportunities.

The Job Placement Office has recently developed a procedure for tracking graduates. Graduate Surveys are sent to graduates six months after each of the graduations in May, August, and December. The survey is designed to update mailing addresses and e-mail addresses and to gather information about employment or continuing education status. Graduates are questioned if they are employed in their field and by whom. The survey also requests permission to survey the employers to determine their satisfaction with our educational process. To begin this process, surveys were sent out six months after the August 2005 graduation.

In addition to the graduate surveys, the Job Placement Office administers an Employer Survey to those employers who use the BPCC Job Placement services during the school year to fill positions. Job opportunities are posted for thirty days. After thirty days, the employer is sent a survey to collect data about BPCC student hires and their satisfaction with our students' skills.

Some individual programs collect data regarding job placement rates of graduates. For example, Allied Health reports job placement rates for most of its programs. The EMT/Paramedic, Medical Assistant, Medical Office Specialist, Pharmacy Technician, and Surgical Technology programs all reported 100% job placement rates for the 2004-2005 school year. The other programs reporting for the 2004-2005 school year were Dietary Management (83%), Phlebotomy (66%), Physical Therapist Assistant (94%), and Respiratory Therapy (96%). Biotechnology and Dietary Management were too new to have collected data.

Also Bossier Parish Community College tracks graduation rates which are then used to assess students' completion of courses as prescribed in the programs of study. The Graduation Exit Survey is administered by the Executive Dean of Instruction to graduates at the end of the semester of graduation. A Graduation Report is generated by the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment and sent to all Division Chairs and Program Directors for their review. This information is used to identify program strengths and weaknesses and to develop improvement strategies for the next year.

The Offices of Institutional Research and Assessment tracks first-time, full-time, degree-seeking students and reports to the federal government and to the state the number of them who graduate within 150% of the accepted time to obtain the degree (3 years).

Licensure Examinations

The Division of Science and Allied Health offers seven programs that prepare graduates to sit for a licensure, certification, or registry examination to be employed in their field. In all programs offered at the College where graduates must sit for a licensure, certification, or registry examination to be employed in their field, the pass rate of graduates is monitored. This information is used to determine the degree to which the College and program missions are achieved, to make adjustments in the curriculum to strengthen graduate outcomes, and to report in the College's annual review of the program. The Division of Science and Allied Health academic program summaries for these seven programs and the strategic planning that occurred in response to the data may be found in the 2004-2005 Annual Report 228-233.

Examination pass rates expressed in percentages for each of the programs may be found in Table B of the 2004-2005 Annual Report 273. In addition, many of the program pass rates may be found on websites of their regulatory agency or professional organization. The following indicates each of these programs, the examination graduates are prepared to take, and the outcome data which is accessed by the program director for reporting purposes.

The Dietary Management program graduates are eligible to sit for the Dietary Managers Credentialing Exam provided by the Certifying Board of Dietary Managers (CBDM). The CBDM oversees the certification program. The examination is administered by the ACT testing firm. Applicants must have taken and passed both parts of a two-part examination to qualify for CDM certification. This program is only a year old and does not currently have certification scores to report. Information about the Dietary Managers Credentialing Exam is located at http://www.dmaonline.org/certification/examinfo.html. Once the program has graduates who have taken the exam, the program director will be able to login to a secure site to view those student scores.

Medical Assistant students sit for the American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA) Certification Exam to become Certified Medical Assistants (CMA). The scores from the exam are reported to the College approximately twelve weeks after the graduates complete the exam. Although the pass rates by college are not posted on the AAMA website, the names of new Certified Medical Assistants who have successfully passed the examination are posted and can be viewed online.

Paramedic graduates take the National EMS Certification Exam for the Paramedic produced by the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (NREMT). The program receives a copy of the score results each time students take the examination. The Program Director can view student scores using the NREMT website secure login.

Pharmacy Technician students sit for the Pharmacy Tech Certification Board Examination. The Program Director collects graduate scores by downloading each graduate's information from the Pharmacy Tech Certification Board Examination website using a secure login. In addition to this process, an annual subscription to score reports is available for $125.00.

Physical Therapist Assistant (PTA) Program graduates take the National Physical Therapy Examination (NPTE) for the PTA. This test is developed by the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy (FSBPT). The College purchases score report access annually. The score reports are made available for download from the website using a secure login. Information about the National Physical Therapy Examination (NPTE) may be accessed at http://www.fsbpt.org/exams/NPTE.asp. The FSBPT posts three-year ultimate pass rates by school on its website. The NPTE three-year ultimate pass rate for the Bossier Parish Community College PTA Program is 95.64%.

Respiratory Therapy graduates take a credentialing examination published by the National Board for Respiratory Care (NBRC). The Program Director may obtain graduate testing results free of charge at any time by using a NBRC website secured login. The credentialing exam pass rates are not published for public review. However, NBRC members ($25 membership fee) may access certification information on the NBRC member website. In this way, potential employers can verify credentials of any individual without having access to his/her scores or how many times it took him/her to pass the test. Public access to licensure information can be found at the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners site in order to verify current licensure in the state of Louisiana if the person inquiring has the license number or the name and address of an individual.

Surgical Technology students do have the option of taking a certifying examination. Many of the local hospitals do not require certification; consequently, many BPCC Surgical Technology graduates do not take the exam. Exam scores are reported to the program every fall and spring by the Liaison Council on Certification for the Surgical Technologist (LCC-ST). Certification may be verified online by program directors at the LCC-ST website.

Collected Data Used to Promote Student Achievement

Evidence that systematic and thorough academic assessment is valued within the College's programs for quality improvement can be referenced both in the comprehensive assessment plan and in the strategic planning made by each division in response to annual review located in the 2004-2005 Annual Report. In addition, the following are examples of program or curricular modifications that have been made and/or preparation strategies that have been included in direct response to student outcome data for the purpose of providing additional preparation and/or remediation for the enhancement of student performance within many of the College's academic divisions.

To facilitate student success and course completion in relation to the College's mission, the Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences offers EDUC 099 (College Success Skills) and the Division of Liberal Arts offers READ 099 (Developmental Reading). These courses focus upon test-taking strategies, reading and comprehension strategies, time-management/organizational skills, note-taking techniques, and activities to heighten motivation and build self-esteem, thus helping students acquire the skills necessary for success in college. Identification of need for enrolling in these courses is obtained through ACT and Placement Testing. These courses may also be taken for enrichment by any student enrolled at the College.

Also, the Division of Developmental Services has implemented a tutor training program and outlined expectations more clearly in response to the annual assessment of the Learning Center (TLC). Additionally, supplemental learning resources have been added to The Learning Center inventory including a number of software programs and science models. Due to the low number of visits represented on the sign-in sheets by students enrollment in English courses, the TLC has purchased more writing resources and included a provision to write grants to offer writing lab services within TLC.

The Division of Educational Technology has made several changes based upon the student evaluations of the orientation sessions and online courses, technical support surveys, and the faculty/staff evaluations of professional growth training and seminars. Dates have been extended for orientation sessions beyond the dates of registration, and orientation sessions are provided for classes at the request of instructors. Educational Technology has also developed and distributed a CD with important information about Blackboard, BPCC Email, and CAVS to the student participants in an effort to reinforce what they have learned in the orientation sessions. These orientation CDs are revised every academic semester. Additional training dates and times in which adjunct instructors could participate in training seminars presented by the Division of Educational Technology have been implemented as a result of evaluations. Several evening and Saturday training times are now offered and well attended by adjunct instructors. (Annual Report 206-207). The Division of Educational Technology has purchased additional technologies and softwares that allow the enhancement and improvement of the support and services that are offered to faculty/staff/ and students. The division has improved the webpage by adding additional resource links and tutorials for faculty/staff/students, including a revised "Student Self-Assessment" survey, and an Educational Technology statistical page. In spring 2006, the division implemented a new series of seminars for students who might be considering taking an online class in the future. These seminars were informational in nature and the Division invited online instructors to talk with these potential online students about the expectations in the online environment. New software was purchased that will aid faculty in the enhancement and development of their online and face-to-face classes (Annual Report 209).

The Division of Mathematics and Technical Education tracks data on graduation rates, enrollment, and employment rates each semester and presents this information at an advisory committee meeting once a year. The advisory committee members discuss the appropriateness and effectiveness of the programs and identify needs based upon the information presented. One example of a problem that was identified at the advisory committee meeting was the need for laboratory work in the programmable logic controllers class. As a result, a laboratory class for programmable logic controllers was created in response to this discussion and has been a success for the program. New equipment has also been purchased in order to keep the programs up to date. Page 241 of the Annual Report shows the amount of funds spent by the division to upgrade equipment available to students.

PTA Program faculty, based upon results from the 2001-2002 annual program review, implemented a change with the addition of a review class PTAP 217 called Comprehensive Interventions. The purpose of this course is to provide more comprehensive review and competency testing of skills from earlier in the program during the final semester of class work. This new course has evolved over the past four years to also include more thorough licensure examination practice testing and, most recently, the purchase and use of some licensure preparation software. The addition of this course and the subsequent curricular additions were precipitated by program first-time pass rate of 73.7% in the graduating class of 2002. The subsequent three academic years, after the addition of this course, have resulted in the steady improvement of first-time pass rates: 80.0 % in 2003; 84.6% in 2004; and 92.3 % in 2005.

The Respiratory Therapy Program made curricular modifications to its review courses, RSTH 230 and RSTH 285, in response to changes made in 2004 by the NBRC test matrix for the entry level certified respiratory therapist (CRT) exam as well as for the registered respiratory therapist (RRT) exam. The RT Program has adopted and uses the newest review books for these courses. In addition, opportunities are included for the students to become familiar with the new "online" testing format of the official exams. Respiratory Therapy faculty encourages students who are having a difficult time with exam material to contact them for "informal remediation" and, additionally, have assisted them by bringing in a nationally recognized review seminar speaker. These opportunities are available to enrolled students and also to graduates who may need the review for future testing.

The Paramedic Program prepares students for the practical portion of their registry examination by requiring three tests minimum for each practical station prior to being allowed to apply for the National Registry Examination.

Multiple examples have been given in the previous narrative to clearly illustrate that Bossier Parish Community College evaluates student achievement in relation to the institution's mission using multiple measures of success. In summary, Bossier Parish Community College comprehensively accesses academic programs, maintains program accreditations, and utilizes collected assessment data to improve the academic success of its graduates. In addition, the College monitors graduation rates through surveys and examination scores. The College's Comprehensive Assessment Plan illustrates the thorough academic assessment process which BPCC uses to evaluate the quality of its programs, thus ensuring the student success.