COALINGA, CALIF. (Feb. 25, 2016) — West Hills Community College District announced today a new partnership with Civitas Learning® to use advanced data analytics to enhance student support and improve retention and completion. The San Joaquin Valley-based public community college will draw on Civitas Learning’s technology and data expertise to uncover hidden barriers to student success and help students plan the most efficient pathway to a degree.
West Hills College joins a growing number of California two-year institutions, including Los Rios Community College, Coastline Community College and Golden West College, in partnering with Civitas Learning. The California community college system, which serves 2.1 million students at 113 colleges across the state, is a key point of access for degree- seekers across the socio-economic spectrum. Growing numbers are not only enrolling in two-year programs to earn a two-year degree or industry credential, but also ultimately transferring to four-year universities to pursue bachelor’s degrees.
Community colleges are looking to insights from advanced data analytics as a strategy for improving the transfer process and increasing student success rates. Civitas Learning works with partners to build institution-specific predictions of student success, enabling colleges and universities to develop a clear picture of the specific trends and factors driving student success on campus.
Across its two campuses in Coalinga and Lemoore, West Hills College’s mission focuses on raising local living standards and providing continuing education and technical training opportunities. The college plans to use the analytics platform making data-informed decisions and refine outreach to specific student populations in need of support.
“We’re excited to launch this new partnership with Civitas Learning, which will enable us to use data in more strategic ways, personalize outreach and support for students, and improve our effectiveness by using data to inform decision-making,” said Dr. Frank Gornick, Chancellor at West Hills College. “Our partnership with Civitas Learning will help our advisors and faculty to close gaps in student achievement and improve the support and services that students experience on campus.”
The partnership will enable West Hills College to combine disconnected data sources from across the institution into a single platform that provides insights and recommendations for allowing for the right intervention to the right student at the right time. West Hills joins Civitas Learning’s growing community of leading higher education institutions and systems, which now reaches more than 880 campuses serving close to 3.2 million students across the nation.
“We applaud our new partners at West Hills for their firm commitment to access and equity and what Dr. Gornick has called the relentless pursuit of student success,” said Dr. Mark Milliron, Chief Learning Officer and Co-Founder of Civitas Learning. “California community colleges are helping to lead the way with their bold transfer pathways initiatives, and a sound data analytics strategy is a central component of that work. It’s inspiring to see leaders who are embracing data as part of their culture and developing new models for predicting student success.”
