Institutional Effectiveness

The Office of Strategic Initiatives and Institutional Research supports student success at Seattle Central College by providing a framework for planning, supporting and measuring educational excellence.

Institutional research at Seattle Central works with faculty, staff and students to support participatory, continuous learning through quantitative and qualitative research methods.

Focus on: Faculty Leads Continuous Learning in Integrated Assignments

Over the last three years over hundreds of Seattle Central students have participated in integrative assignments, which have been shown to improve student success (1). In winter quarter 2015, Seattle Central faculty Greg Hinckley, Lynn Kanne, Katie Chenu, Marian Lyles, Grace Sparks, Rebecca Boon, Mohamad Al–madani, Anne Richards, Barbara Kline, Laurie Kempen, Mary Saldin, Taare Giday, Wendaka Jordan, Tara Hardy and Scott Futura engaged students in integrative pedagogies that linked diverse disciplines, from chemistry to anthropology to culinary arts. The faculty team also took initiative to improve tracking of pedagogical and student innovation by reaching out to Seattle Central's photographer and institutional research to document the project outcomes.

(1) Institutional Research's quantitative research suggests that students participating in integrative assignments in 2013–2014 showed a persistence rate in course completion of 93 percent, compared to the 86 percent 3–year average for that group. This initiative directly supports Seattle Central's mission fulfillment, as expressed in Core Theme 2: Catalyst for Opportunities and Success, Outcome 2.B.1., Innovative initiatives improve student persistence and retention.