Grayson College awarded Texas Pathways Grant
Based on outstanding accomplishments and dedication to student success, Grayson College has been selected to participate in Texas Pathways. The $11 million five-year grant, administered by the Texas Success Center, a division of the Texas Association of Community Colleges, is designed to support the implementation of guided pathways.
The Center organizes community colleges in one of four cadres to support the redesign of student experiences. GC has been recognized as a Cadre 1+ college in the Texas Pathways strategy, honoring its diligent work and commitment to advancing pathway practices.
“The college’s continued participation in this project is an important factor in our work with Guided Student Pathways,” GC Dean of Academic Instruction/Interim Dean of Workforce Dr. Chase Machen said. “Continuing into round two as a Cadre 1+ team member again, will help policy makers at the College be ever-mindful that GC must make sure it is aligning courses to ensure a student’s progression is based upon the greatest possible success scenarios. These hopefully will build upon one another giving students more confidence as they progress.”
Based on the American Association of Community College (AACC) Pathways Model, Texas Pathways is an integrated, system-wide approach to student success based on intentionally designed and clearly structured educational experiences that guide each student effectively and efficiently from the selection of their high school endorsement to entry into higher education and attainment of high-quality credentials and careers.
“GC’s ultimate goal for participation in this work with the Texas Pathway’s Project is to decrease the average time to degree, decrease the number of semester credit hours taken and increase the number of completers at the college,” Dr. Machen said. “Structured pathways will focus on the development of clearly defined and structured degree/certificate pathways that provide students with a focused sequence of courses to ensure timely completion of credentials.”
Texas Pathways Round Two is the next evolutionary step of the pathways strategy to provide continuous support for colleges as they redesign the student experience. Cadres enable a multi-tiered approach to meet a wide variety of needs by grouping colleges at similar stages. Colleges in Round Two Cadre 1+ have previously implemented all or nearly all guided pathways essential practices at scale, and in Round Two will evaluate implementation and institutionalize ongoing review and improvements.
“Texas is very fortunate to have a set of funding partners willing to invest in the important work of the community colleges. The Texas Success Center and our funding partners are impressed by the college commitment to design and implement pathways” said Dr. Cynthia Ferrell, Vice President of the Texas Success Center. “We are excited to work with Grayson College as they continue to transform student experiences.”
For more information regarding Texas Pathways, please visit https://tacc.org/tsc.
