How Do We Know We Are Hitting the Mark?

Today’s topic is how we determine that we are fulfilling our mission.

In last month’s anonymous questions, I received a series of inquiries asking how we know that NOVA is advancing opportunity; how we define community; how we ensure that NOVA students’ lives are transformed for the better, not burdened with high debt and unfinished degrees; how we know that our programs are exceptional; and how we “sell” students on attending NOVA. These are valid and important questions but take some time space to answer, so I shifted them out of the Zoom and into today’s topic, where I can take them one by one.

Advancing Opportunity
Last fall, NOVA created a public-facing set of strategic plan dashboards that will be updated each fall to show how we are progressing toward our goals. In the context of our work at NOVA, we have defined opportunity as connecting students to two post-completion outcomes that lead to economic and social mobility: transfer and employment. Thus, our other Inspiring Excellence goals support these outcomes by enrolling, retaining and completing students in programs that are linked to in-demand career pathways (whether direct from NOVA or after the baccalaureate). NOVA’s mission aligns with the VCCS mission: “We give everyone the opportunity to learn and develop the right skills, so lives and communities are strengthened.”

Community
There are many communities within the diverse and vibrant Northern Virginia region. In broad terms, our community is comprised of the residents of our four counties and five independent cities. But our strategic plan also recognizes that different communities engage in different ways; bringing different expectations to, and needing different supports from, our college. So, within Inspiring Excellence, we track progress with disaggregated data so that we understand the complexity of this story. I encourage you to use the drop-down menu in the dashboards to compare the outcomes for different populations of students.

Transform for the Better
At a time when the cost of college has never been higher and the impact of student debt continues to grow, NOVA is focused on ways to drive affordability. This is one reason why we continue to expand high school dual enrollment options. It is also why we advocated for (and won!) the expansion of Virginia’s G3 scholarship program to include career-path transfer programs. Tuition and fees are an easily identified cost, but others are less visible. For example, the financial and opportunity costs of repeating courses are significant. In addition, high numbers of withdrawals and course repeats are markers of risk for not completing degrees. NOVA has created discipline- and course-level outcome dashboards that have been shared with the academic deans to inform discussions about where supports may help students succeed on their first attempt at a course. Such work can make a difference: NOVA’s SACSCOC QEP is having early success in improving outcomes in ENG-111. NOVA has also continued to build out wrap-around student support programs—from emergency aid grants and childcare funds to TimelyCare mental health and other wellness services to career coaching and paid internships—to help them stay on their paths. All of us know that a student’s investment at NOVA receives the strongest return when that student earns a meaningful credential, so a central goal in our strategic plan is increasing program completion.

Exceptional Programs
Because of the quality of our faculty and staff and the success of our students upon transfer and in employment, we know that NOVA’s programs are exceptional, but getting external validation is always nice. A recent independent economic impact study conducted by Lightcast showed that for every $1 students invest at NOVA, they receive a return on investment of $8.70 in future earnings. This is $3 more than the statewide figure for the VCCS. Exceptional! NOVA’s ADVANCE partnership with GMU has been recognized as one of the most effective in the country and has served as a model for transfer partnerships across the nation. NOVA was recognized by the Harvard Project on Workforce as one of just five community colleges serving as models for advancing community prosperity (an assessment validated by our industry partners and wage outcomes). Exceptional! The number of NOVA faculty recognized with SCHEV teaching awards? Exceptional! The number of NOVA programs and employees recognized by VCCS and other organizations with awards? Exceptional! Military Friendly, Parent Friendly, Voter Friendly? Exceptional! The list goes on. One reason we are exceptional is that we never rest on our laurels at NOVA. We keep striving and driving to transform the lives of our students and advance opportunity in our community. This is YOUR outstanding work—thank you for being exceptional!!

“Selling” NOVA
We share our boldly NOVA message every day in meetings across the region, in gatherings with students, parents, school and business leaders. We run ads on social media and in areas of high visibility for populations who are most likely to be interested in obtaining a college degree or credential (for example, at D.C. United games and in community agencies like the WISH Family Services Center) letting them know that nothing will stop them from achieving their dreams at NOVA. Our goal is to turn every community member into a messenger for NOVA. I encourage you to share this message, too!

I want to extend appreciation to the individual who submitted these anonymous questions—there’s always so much happening at NOVA that it can be overwhelming to keep track of how it all fits together. In July’s Tuesday Topics, I’ll cover some FAQs from the last few months with written responses that will be archived with the Daily Flyer for easy and ongoing reference should the questions come up in the future.

Kind regards, Anne