February 3, 20250

Community College Students at the Center

“Students gave us time and money, and we failed to get them where they needed to go,” says South Puget Sound Community College Vice President of Instruction Michelle Andreas. “We have a social justice mission and were compelled to do better.”  

South Puget Sound Community College wasn’t alone. The statistics on community college completion rates across Washington and nationwide were shockingly low. “From looking at the data and talking to students, we learned that students weren’t wondering; they were wandering,” says Pierce College Fort Steilacoom President Matt Campbell. “Even more powerful because that’s a direct quote from a student. They didn’t know what to take or why it mattered.”  

In 2016, to help address the problem, College Spark Washington and the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) launched an eight-year, $7-million Guided Pathways Initiative. The effort, informed by the Community College Research Center, focused on data-informed action to increase student completion, close equity gaps, and develop change leaders. 

Five willing colleges (Everett Community College, Peninsula College, Pierce College, South Puget Sound Community College and South Seattle College) began the work as a cohort in 2016, with another five-member cohort (Clover Park Technical College, Lower Columbia College, Renton Technical College, Spokane Falls Community College and Tacoma Community College) joining in 2018.  

A Reform Movement 

Many in the early adopter group saw Guided Pathways not as an isolated initiative but as part of a continuum. It built on efforts like Achieving the Dream, also funded by College Spark, to help more community college students succeed.  

South Puget Sound Community College Dean of Enrollment Services Valerie Robertson has championed putting students first for decades and continues to incorporate lessons from earlier efforts. “You still have the same priorities for streamlining the enrollment process, helping the students get on track, stay on track, and graduate to success,” she says. She also notes how Achieving the Dream created a culture of evidence, and another effort, TRIO, showed that if you do a particular intervention strategy to serve one group, it helps everyone.  

“At its core, this work is a reform movement,” says Clover Park Technical College Associate Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness Samantha Dana. “It’s the next generation of student-centered work that has been happening in the sector for the last twenty years.” Related to that concept is the idea that the work doesn’t have an end date, but instead seeks to fundamentally change how schools operate.  

“At it core, this work is a reform movement. It's the next generation of student-centered work that has been happening in the sector for the last twenty years.”
Samantha Dana, Associate Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness at Clover Park Technical College

Data-Informed Culture Change 

This kind of institutional movement requires intentionality, commitment and courage. “Having full access to the data was like taking your shirt off in front of everyone — scary,” says Pierce College Health and Technology Department Chair and Physical Therapy Assistant Program Advisor Lisa Murray. “It helped to see administrators and the math department openly modeling.” They demonstrated that it wasn’t about shame and punishment but about open dialogue and shared learning over time.   

Leaders also understood that it wasn’t about tinkering around the edges. “When you read the book, you get the idea that this work focuses on making maps and changing the student experience, but first and foremost, it’s about changing the culture to be student-centered,” says Pierce College former Vice President for Learning and Student Success Deb Gilchrist, now retired. 

The sought-after results bring it back to why community colleges exist. “Nobody works in a community college who doesn’t want to be here,” says Spokane Falls Community College Director of Disability Access Services Kathy Shearer. “It’s a lot of effort. But Guided Pathways has been transformational in how people think about the impact on students and what we can do better.”  

A Way to Activate Mission-Driven Educators  

In 2019, following College Spark’s investment in Guided Pathways, the Washington State Legislature passed the Workforce Education Investment Act, providing support to all 34 Washington community and technical colleges in implementing Guided Pathways.  

As this effort continues, and more colleges join, progress won’t come easily, especially with all the challenges post-pandemic. But schools need to continue to center this work. “We’re getting stretched in higher education, but students are still struggling,” says Murray. “We have to stay true to our work and not let it fizzle away.”  

While every school will have its own unique journey, there are also many champions with much relevant wisdom to share. “Because of the scope and scale of these reforms, it’s easy to get lost in the sauce in terms of accomplishments,” says Dana. “There are wins for every college. Sustain the work by celebrating.”  

Forming a strong collaboration between educators and staff is also critical. “There are many good-hearted, equity-intent educators on every campus,” says Jared Anthony, English instructor and director of the Center for Engaged Teaching and Learning at Spokane Falls Community College. “But it’s difficult to build the bridge from intent to action, and there’s a real role for administrative leaders to support that.”  

Additionally, it’s important to think about what’s next. There continues to be a substantial need to make pathways between high school and technical colleges and the workplace easier to navigate in ways that reach more people. “It’s one of the things that we’re still wrestling with, and it’s important for Guided Pathways moving forward,” says Clover Park Community College Vice President for Instruction Thomas Broxson.  

Find more inspiring insights from some of the early adopter schools in these highly scannable case studies featuring Clover Park Technical College, Pierce College, South Puget Sound Community College, and Spokane Falls Community College. 

To go more in-depth, read the 2023 Guided Pathways report, Progress, Next Steps and Future Directions. 

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