SPSCC named Top 2 in the US!

Teaching and learning systems are very strong at South Puget Sound, leading to improvement at both the program and course levels. Faculty and deans engage in a robust, data-driven program review process that focuses explicitly on improving student success. The process begins with program leaders analyzing data on student success, demographics, enrollment, completion rates, and other factors that yield insights into shortcomings within each academic program. Faculty and deans then work collaboratively to develop and implement two-year action plans for improvement. This has led to concrete changes in course-level teaching that have, in turn, yielded better student outcomes.

South Puget Sound also stands out for its efforts to improve completion through several ambitious research-backed practices. Advising is especially impressive. Each student is assigned to a support network: a team of staff advisors, a faculty advisor, and a financial aid advisor. These support networks guide students toward carrying out their individualized plans for completing degree programs, securing funding to pay for college, and receiving nonacademic supports such as food or housing assistance.

Eighty-five percent of South Puget Sound students build individualized plans for completing their program, developing them with the support of advisors during a college success course that must be taken within their first two quarters of enrollment. Research suggests that when students have an individualized plan in their first year—including defining courses to be taken across multiple semesters—they are more likely to earn their degree. 

South Puget Sound also excels in providing wraparound services that support students’ nonacademic needs. These include not only a food pantry, gas cards, and refurbished laptop computers, but also short-term housing and the services of a dedicated housing administrator to help students experiencing homelessness. The college has implemented a case management model for providing such services, as well as a system and training to ensure that as many faculty as possible are involved in identifying and referring students who would benefit from them. Among students, such services are largely destigmatized, leading eligible students to utilize them at high rates.

South Puget Sound has made significant structural changes and financial investments to broaden access for several groups of students. To help underprepared students, the college has arranged for every degree program to offer at least one course that follows the Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training (I-BEST) model, a Washington State teaching model that places two instructors in the classroom: one to teach, and the other to provide targeted individual support to students who need it. While other colleges have typically implemented I-BEST in math and English gateway courses, South Puget Sound has scaled and spread the model to expand access to other credit-bearing courses for students in Adult Basic Education and/or English for Speakers of Other Languages. 

President Timothy Stokes has led South Puget Sound for 11 years, and during that time, he has moved the college toward focusing on improving transfer and bachelor’s attainment. For example, South Puget Sound is actively working with four-year partners to better align their courses/pathways to help more students graduate with a bachelor’s degree. As noted above, the college helps most students develop individual plans to complete degrees—and for many, that includes plans to transfer. But the college does not wait for students to arrive at the front door—it strongly encourages dual enrollment students to complete a course during high school on going to college that covers transfer preparation.