What Fullerton College has done

There’s still a lot of work to be done to fully realize the goals of Guided Pathways, but Fullerton College has come a long way! Here’s what we’ve done to accomplish each of the Four Pillars.
Starfish logo

Starfish implementation

To further Pillar 3, Fullerton College launched software called Starfish. This effort including the following achievements:

  • Program Maps have been live on the Fullerton College Website since fall 2022.
  • Workgroup 1 of the Guided Pathways Steering Committee led an almost three-year discussion to develop the Hornet Pathways, the sorting of our 300+ programs into Hornet Pathways, and the design principles used by all programs to map their programs for display in Program Mapper.
  • Workgroup 1 also created a Canvas shell with a step-by-step guide for building new or editing old program maps.
  • The campus created the Program Mapping Advisory Taskforce (PMAT) to help oversee ongoing Program Map approval and design principle updates.
  • All 300+ programs have been mapped. 240 of them have been published and 60 are under review by either faculty, our counseling review team, and/or our Articulation Officer.
  • All updates and maintenance of the Program Mapper software is managed by the Admin II in the Guided Pathways Office.

Program Mapper

To advance Pillars 1 & 2, Fullerton College launched the Program Mapper. Following are the achievements to forward that effort:

  • Program Maps have been live on the Fullerton College Website since fall 2022.
  • Workgroup 1 of the Guided Pathways Steering Committee led an almost three-year discussion to develop the Hornet Pathways, the sorting of our 300+ programs into Hornet Pathways, and the design principles used by all programs to map their programs for display in Program Mapper.
  • Workgroup 1 also created a Canvas shell with a step-by-step guide for building new or editing old program maps.
  • The campus created the Program Mapping Advisory Taskforce (PMAT) to help oversee ongoing Program Map approval and design principle updates.
  • All 300+ programs have been mapped. 240 of them have been published and 60 are under review by either faculty, our counseling review team, and/or our Articulation Officer.
  • All updates and maintenance of the Program Mapper software is managed by the Admin II in the Guided Pathways Office.
Students look at a piece of art off camera in the Fullerton College Art Gallery.
A Fullerton College student in a mask looks into the camera at a campus event.

Real-Time Degree Audit

To advance Pillar 3, Fullerton College created the Real-Time Degree Audit. The following are the achievements 

  • The goal of real time degree audit is to ensure that students and student support professionals can see, in real time, a student’s progress toward program completion.
  • The Guided Pathways Office collaborated with the Curriculum Committee and A&R to update curriculum data and information in Banner to ensure accuracy of our CID, GE, and Program attributes and equivalencies with Cypress curriculum.
  • The Guided Pathways Office collaborated with A&R to code all Region Eight community colleges to make electronic processing of transcripts possible.

New Class Schedule/Registration Calendar

To move forward Pillars 1 and 3, Fullerton College created a new class schedule and registration calendar. This included the following landmarks:

Goal of the New Class Schedule/Registration is to increase enrollment of first year students, increase retention, increase opportunities for educational planning that leads to increased completion and transfer, increase opportunities for planning faculty schedules (full-time and adjunct)

The Guided Pathways Office facilitated conversations with cohorts from Cypress, Fullerton, and the district to develop a draft calendar that would change the dates for summer and fall 2025 registration.

The proposal was endorsed by the District and all three campuses and a commitment was made to changing the academic calendar in the District PRT on enrollment management in the spring of 23.

Three Fullerton College students smile at the camera with snacks in their hands.
A woman in regalia smiles with her arm in the air during a Fullerton College graduation ceremony.

Zero Cost Textbook & Low Cost Textbook Courses/Programs

To advance Pillar 3, Fullerton College created the Zero Cost Textbook and Low Cost Textbook Courses and Programs.

  • Guided Pathways is leading the collaboration with Faculty Senate Open Education Resources (OER) workgroup to oversee the ZTC Program grant
  • The grant is designed to encourage colleges to identify/create programs that are ZTC.
  • The Guided Pathways Office is leading the ZTC Acceleration grant. This grant is designed to develop ZTC programs that are shareable with other California community colleges.

FYE

To advance Pillars 2 and 3, Fullerton College created the FYE option. This included the following milestones:

  • The goal was to create an opt-out program for all first-year students that did not fall into one of our established affinity groups.
  • Students in the FYE program would be encouraged to complete several FYE engagements that are designed to help students find educational and career purpose, to establish a clear sense of belonging, to complete a comprehensive ed plan, and to connect students with the variety of student supports available to them.
  • The FYE program began in fall 2022 with a full-time faculty coordinator and a full-time student services coordinator.
  • The FYE program began fall 2022 without an operational budget.
Two Fullerton College students laugh together during a campus event.
Students smile as they walk in front of the library.

Guided Exit

To advance Pillar 3, Fullerton College created the Guided Exit program.

  • Guided Pathways office is collaborating with the directors of Admissions and Records and Transfer as well as the Counseling Division to support existing initiatives and the development of new initiatives to help students transition from the First Year Experience (FYE) to a guided exit or 2nd/3rd year experience program
  • Counseling and A&R are working on a pilot to target students that have applied for graduation but were denied. The project is designed to contact students to help them navigate their final steps to get through the gate of completion, transfer, and/or job placement. This pilot will be a part of the total Guided Exit plan.

Student Drop Survey

To advance Pillars 2 and 3, Fullerton College created the FYE option. This included the following milestones:

  • The current student drop survey does not provide adequate information about the student experience and is therefore not helpful to our enrollment planning. The Guided Pathways Office is collaborating with the OIE and Faculty Senate to develop a new survey.
A Fullerton College student in regalia gives a peace sign to the camera during graduation.
Fullerton College students collect signatures during a campus event.

Guided Exit

To advance Pillar 3, Fullerton College created the Guided Exit program.

  • Guided Pathways office is collaborating with the directors of Admissions and Records and Transfer as well as the Counseling Division to support existing initiatives and the development of new initiatives to help students transition from the First Year Experience (FYE) to a guided exit or 2nd/3rd year experience program
  • Counseling and A&R are working on a pilot to target students that have applied for graduation but were denied. The project is designed to contact students to help them navigate their final steps to get through the gate of completion, transfer, and/or job placement. This pilot will be a part of the total Guided Exit plan.

Student Data/Surveys

To advance Pillars 4, Fullerton College created the Student Data/Surveys. This included the following milestones:

  • The Guided Pathways Steering Committee collaborated with the OIE to gather and disseminate data about the student experience at Fullerton College. Our goal has been to increase the literacy of all campus constituent groups regarding the students we serve and their actual journey through our college.
  • In summer of 2021 the college held their first Survey Inquiry Group. A group of managers, faculty, classified professionals, and students examined three plus years of survey data and offered a campus report on the student experience.
Fullerton College students chat over a meal on campus.
A Fullerton College student plays Jenga during a campus event.

Guided Exit

To advance Pillar 3, Fullerton College created the Guided Exit program.

  • Guided Pathways office is collaborating with the directors of Admissions and Records and Transfer as well as the Counseling Division to support existing initiatives and the development of new initiatives to help students transition from the First Year Experience (FYE) to a guided exit or 2nd/3rd year experience program
  • Counseling and A&R are working on a pilot to target students that have applied for graduation but were denied. The project is designed to contact students to help them navigate their final steps to get through the gate of completion, transfer, and/or job placement. This pilot will be a part of the total Guided Exit plan.

Instructional Success Teams

To advance Pillars 4, Fullerton College created the Instructional Success Teams. This included the following milestones:

  • The Guided Pathways Office, in collaboration with the Professional Learning Committee and the OIE, has been piloting a new model of professional learning: Instructional Success Teams (ISTs). Each academic division has a team made up of faculty from their division who act as a professional learning coach, a data coach, and an equity coach. They also include a classified professional from one of our student service programs to act as the student support coach. These teams are working with one or two departments in their divisions to help facilitate instructional and curricular changes with their programs.
  • The Guided Pathways Office in collaboration with the Professional Learning Committee received Faculty Senate endorsement to continue this model of professional learning in spring 2023.
A Fullerton Collage student spins a hula hoop around her neck during a campus event.
A Fullerton College student shows off his muscles during a campus event.

Braiding with Student Equity and Achievement

To advance Pillar 4, Fullerton College created Braiding with Student Equity and Achievement. The following are the milestones reached in that effort:

  • SEA 2.0, our work on Guided Pathways, and the State Chancellor’s office encourage us to braid our efforts to ensure that the campus is working together to meet our student success goals.
  • The Guided Pathways Director and Faculty Coordinator both sit as non-voting liaisons to SEAC.
  • Co-Chairs of our Pathways Steering Committee (Dani Wilson and Matt Taylor) were writers on the campus SEA 2.0 plan.