Program Review for General Studies
Program Review Framework & Criteria
I. Connection: From interest to application (Qualitative, program head and dean)
1) Please provide a description of any changes to the program since the last cycle and the appropriate updates to the catalog (general education changes, program requirement changes, ancillary program costs for students, hours/credits of credentials, etc.).
From a curricular standpoint, there have been no significant changes to the general studies program. However, major curricular changes are anticipated in the near future and will be discussed in Part VI. of the program review. While relatively minor, some curricular changes have been implemented. Math courses throughout the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) were redesigned with new courses created and the program curriculum reflects those changes. In addition, other changes related to the general studies program have occurred. With the arrival of the guided pathways initiative in the VCCS, obsolete electives have been culled and the presentation of electives within EAB Navigate for students has been prioritized. Finally, as a result of the PHCC Quality Enhancement Plan, the content of the SDV 108 - College Survival Skills was amended to include substantial professionalism content.
2) How do students find out about the program? Please provide examples of advising activities, marketing materials, or other outreach and engagement events designed to recruit students to the program.
The general studies program (no specialization) is the highest enrolled program at PHCC by a significant margin. Division brochures feature general studies information and information for all of the general studies specializations. These brochures are distributed at all high school events (field trips, senior nights, SEED events) at the college. Tables are set up to field curriculum inquiries and questions. Information about some programs such as visual arts and performing arts is also conveyed through events and activities connected to those specializations.
II. Entry: From application to pathway entry (Qualitative, program head and dean)
1) Please provide a description of your program credentials and how they stack into one another.
The general studies program and all of its accompanying specializations lead to an associate of arts & science (AA&S) degree. In addition, some of the specializations also include embedded career studies certificates (CSC). The associate degree specializations with associated CSCs (in parenthesis) are as follows: Media Design and Production AA&S (Media Design and Production CSC), Performing Arts (Theatre Arts CSC), and Visual Arts (Art Studies CSC). All of the CSCs are fully "stackable," meaning all courses within the CSC curriculum can be utilized to meet requirements of the parent AA&S. Although there are certificate and CSC programs with related subject matter, the AA&S specializations in Criminal Justice and Teacher Ed Prep are separate programs and intended for transfer, with the teacher ed prep specialization creating a transfer pathway to Longwood University's Liberal Studies Elementary Education Licensure program.
Questions for consideration:
1.a. What is the employability (or transferability) of each credential?
All of the CSCs within the general studies specializations purport to lead to employment. However, there is insufficient data to wholly resolve this question. Overwhelmingly, students who are in the parent programs enroll with the intent to transfer, not to seek employment in the field following attainment of the CSC.
1.b. Do all credits from a sub-credential transfer into the parent credential?
As indicated in section II-1, all credits from the sub-credentials transfer to the parent credential.
1.c. What is the timeframe of completion for all credentials within the program (i.e. is the program setup to award sub-credentials prior to the parent credential)?
All of the CSCs in general studies are structured so a student who is full-time will be awarded the sub-credential in the academic year prior to the parent credential. However, the student’s specific course-load or required developmental courses could impact the timeframe.
2) Program enrollment, if applicable, disaggregated by specialization (Quantitative, IE)
In reviewing program enrollment for general studies and its attendant specializations, it should be noted that while SCHEV productivity numbers do not apply to individual specializations, the productivity and cost-benefits of the specializations should be considered. The parent general studies program continues to be the highest enrolled program at PHCC by far. The enrollment in the specializations varies considerably. Human services and teacher ed prep are both among the top 10-enrolled programs at PHCC. Furthermore, there are limited personnel costs for these specializations. That is also the case for the visual arts, criminal justice, and information technology specializations as the courses in each of these specializations are generally taught by full-time faculty who would be employed by PHCC in the absence of these specializations.
There are also specializations that have extremely limited enrollment. These specializations include media design and production, music, and recreation, parks, and leisure. The most problematic aspect of the enrollment in these specializations is that enrollment is so low that courses in the programs do not have sufficient enrollment to be offered. As a result, we are currently offering programs in which students are highly unlikely to be able to complete as students here. It is not a cost issue, but arguably it is misleading to prospective students.
General Studies (697-01)
a. Annual program FTE and HC over the last review cycle (To include SCHEV program ratios and SCHEV class ratios)
Continuation of program enrollments with FTE and HC:
Information Technology (697-08)
| AcadYear 2014-2015 |
AcadYear 2015-2016 |
AcadYear 2016-2017 |
AcadYear 2017-2018 |
||||
| HC | FTE | HC | FTE | HC | FTE | HC | FTE |
| 23 | 16.63 | 24 | 17.07 | 22 | 15.97 | 24 | 13.50 |
Criminal Justice (697-12)
| AcadYear 2014-2015 |
AcadYear 2015-2016 |
AcadYear 2016-2017 |
AcadYear 2017-2018 |
||||
| HC | FTE | HC | FTE | HC | FTE | HC | FTE |
| 34 | 19.10 | 31 | 20.73 | 26 | 15.80 | 19 | 13.37 |
Media Design (697-13)
| AcadYear 2014-2015 |
AcadYear 2015-2016 |
AcadYear 2016-2017 |
AcadYear 2017-2018 |
||||
| HC | FTE | HC | FTE | HC | FTE | HC | FTE |
| 0 | 0.00 | 2 | 1.33 | 4 | 3.23 | 3 | 1.10 |
Music (697-14)
| AcadYear 2014-2015 |
AcadYear 2015-2016 |
AcadYear 2016-2017 |
AcadYear 2017-2018 |
||||
| HC | FTE | HC | FTE | HC | FTE | HC | FTE |
| 0 | 0.00 | 1 | 0.80 | 1 | 1.00 | 1 | 0.43 |
See above tables for head count.
III. Progress: Pathway advancement (Quantitative, IE)
1) Student learning outcomes data
Student learning outcome performance by students in general studies has been inconsistent. The results in critical thinking, information literacy, and quantitative reasoning are especially alarming. Any suggestions about the reasons for the poor performance would be speculative. It is noteworthy that information literacy will not be tested as a core competency in the future, but is considered an important outcome across the curriculum at PHCC. There has also been some discussion about moving the quantitative reasoning to math courses so those competencies would be tested in a more timely fashion. General studies students performed at an exemplary level in oral communication and written communication, and at a decent level (with room for improvement) in scientific literacy.
2) Program credit attainment (15/12 in one semester, 30/24 for those who enrolled in two consecutive semesters)
General Studies Credit Attainment
The credit attainment refers to credits in which students are enrolled, and does not refer to credits earned by the students. The numbers are surprising considering the high credit-per-student average at PHCC. We must consider that a significant percentage of our students will be considered part-time in any given semester. That being said, the SEED program will likely increase the percentage of students taking 30 or more credits in consecutive semesters.
3) Program retention and persistence relative to the start date of the program (subsequent term calculation)
General Studies Persistence & Retention
The persistence rate (from one semester to the next) ranges from 76.76% to 78.63%.
The retention rate (fall to fall) in general studies ranges from 45.77% to 53.64%.
IV. Completion: Credential attainment (Quantitative, IE)
1) Sub-credential attainment and timeframe (are students completing sub-credential prior to or at the same time as parent credential?)
General Studies Sub-credentials
These numbers are more relevant in the career and technical programs. The numbers are so low as to have little significance for the general studies program.
2) Parent credential attainment and timeframe, if applicable, disaggregated by specialization
General Studies Parent Credentials
The general studies cohorts have had credential attainment rates ranging from 27.03% to 32.73% (the 2017-2018 numbers are incomplete). In 2016, according to the American Association of Community Colleges, at 2-year public institutions (cohort year 2010), the official graduation rate nationally for two-year public institutions was 21.8%. The previous year was 21.2%. https://www.aacc.nche.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/TrendsCCEnrollment_Final2016.pdf
However, the AACC graduation numbers above are based on the measure of the cohort by starting semester. Our data is based on the students who graduate in the particular year with the rate based on those who began in the program and graduate in the program. The 150% rate indicates the percentage of the graduates who complete within three years. Students who move into another program are counted as non-completers within the indicated program of studies.
According to IPEDS, the 150% rate for first-time full-time PHCC students who entered in fall of 2014 was 38%.
a. Are students completing within 6 semesters (150% of graduation time)?
The 150% rate of those who graduated in general studies ranged from 48.45% to 58.65% (the 2017-2018 numbers are incomplete). This compares favorably with the IPEDS data indicated above for college-wide first-time, full-time students.
*******V. Transition: Employment or transfer post-credential (Quantitative, IE)
1) Transfer outcomes (students who transfer with associate degree, students who transfer without)
PHCC's transfer rate compares favorably to other VCCS institutions.
2) Student perspective/satisfaction
| Acad Plan | Instruction in your major | Faculty expertise in your major | Program materials in your major | Labs and equipment in your major |
| 697-01 - General Studies | 3.25 | 3.41 | 3.39 | 3.55 |
| 697-03 - Visual Arts | 3.33 | 3.33 | 3.33 | 3.00 |
| 697-05 - Teacher Ed | 3.63 | 3.75 | 3.75 | 3.88 |
| 697-06 - Human Services | 3.50 | 4.00 | 4.00 | 4.00 |
| 697-08 - Information Technology | 2.50 | 2.25 | 2.25 | 2.75 |
Interpret as "Graduating student satisfaction with..." for each column, on a scale of 1-5, 1 = Strongly Disagree to 5 = Strongly Agree.
VI. Sustainability: Future Program Outlook (Mixed methods, IE, program head and dean)
1) Program forecast (major expenditures, changes, personnel needs, etc.); any future costs should be explained in this section)
The general studies program will continue to be the highest-enrolled program at PHCC in large part to its unofficial, but pragmatic designation as the default program for students who aspire to transfer to a four-year institution. At the current time, there are no anticipated major new expenditures for general studies. However, there are some imminent curricular changes. SDV 108 - College Survival Skills will be replaced as the "intro to college" course by SDV 100 - College Success Skills. SDV 100 is currently offered by 20 of the 23 VCCS members and, by course description, is a better fit for the intended purpose of the course. In addition, PHCC will abolish the distinction between "humanities" and "fine arts" courses as categories for designated electives and instead combine the two categories. This modification will align PHCC's categorization with that of the VCCS in table 5-1 for curricular development. The human services specialization will also undergo some curricular changes. Credits currently designated as human services electives will likely be replaced with prescriptive courses that augment career preparation related to the burgeoning opioid crisis.
a. Any other pertinent information relevant to the review process should be provided here (e.g. community need, state/federal requirements, external accreditation, SCHEV low enrollment warning, etc.)
As indicated previously, a number of specializations are currently experiencing very light enrollment. The specializations are not subject to SCHEV enrollment requirements. However, in light of the inability to offer required courses in some of the programs and with the implementation of guided pathways within the VCCS, those low-enrolled specializations may warrant scrutiny.
b. Employment forecast for program (Analyst data)
Due to the transfer nature of the general studies degrees, no employment data is available.