Olivia Vest
Managing Editor
With a push towards an academic restructuring at Butler Community College that would provide students with a more clear cut path to their associate’s degrees, a recent step was taken to advance the concept.
Headed by Butler’s Vice President of Academics Lori Winningham, the upcoming Pathways model has seen the most conversation around its implementation and development in January 2017.
According to Winningham, mentions of similar models have been a topic of academic discussion in the past as a proposed solution to increase student completion rates.
“When I stepped up to the role of Vice President of Academics, I was asked to lead the change to a “Pathways” model,” Winningham said. “After much thought and consideration, I decided the first step was a restructuring of Butler’s Academic Division. That restructure was discussed and implemented for the most part in January 2017. In addition, I have set up some teams across the institution to manage the changes that will need to happen as we implement Pathways.”
The Pathways model is not an entirely new concept to Butler. Pathway curriculum models are already facets of the college’s high school academies and specific Butler departments such as Nursing. Thus far, these programs have seen higher completion rates than average.
Because the full implementation of the Pathways model will not take place until Fall 2018, Butler President Kimberly Krull sees the “long-term transition” as an asset to the college and its future.
“The planning and implementation of Pathways will be at least an 18-month process, so there will be adequate time for the college to be prepared for the initial implementation,” Krull said. “This will be an ongoing process even beyond the fall of 2018. Because this is a college-wide transition, there are “teams” of Butler employees from all areas of the campus working in specific, small sub-groups to help create any needed changes prior to the first enrollments in Pathways for Fall 2018 and to set in place continuing processes for the future.”
Although fewer electives will be available for incoming students as of the Pathways implementation, Winningham believes that increased faculty monitoring and support may help students follow through with their degree programs more promptly and successfully than in the past.
“I predict that the major change that future students will see is a much more clearly defined, semester-by-semester degree plan,” Winningham said.
The potential impact of the Pathways model on financial aid is currently unknown, though it is expected that there will be a minimal impact.
Though it may bee too early to tell, some confusion that scholarship students will be required to take additional courses to fulfill the needs of Pathways and their scholarship agreements, Winningham does not expect any issues.
There is even the potential that some major pathways could have fewer courses required,” Winningham said. “We will consider the impact on students through every step of the process as our goal is to improve student success and completion.”
Krull has high hopes for Pathways, as other institutions with the model have seen “better student retention and higher completion rates.”
Students enrolled in courses currently and continuously will have the option to either switch to the Pathways model or to finish out their degree programs as normal.
