Bakersfield College was among one of 30 institutions invited, through a highly competitive national selection process, to participate in the American Association of Community Colleges’ Pathways Project.

A team of five to seven BC faculty, staff and administrators, including President Sonya Christian, attend six intensive institutes to learn and explore among a community of national leaders the Guided Pathways model, a data-driven institutional redesign of the student experience. This model emphasizes the design of clear, coherent, and structured educational experiences through the development of specific course sequencing, program milestones and learning outcomes that align with workforce and transfer degree needs; integration of student affairs and instruction for a more holistic approach to the student experience; simplification of student decision-making processes; and bridging K-12 to higher education to improve college-readiness and career exploration.

During its participation in the AACC Pathways Project, BC faculty are developing course sequences and discussing commonalities between the Guided Pathways model and its current general education recommendations.

Partners in the AACC Pathways Project include Achieving the Dream, Inc., the Aspen Institute, the Center for Community College Student Engagement, the Community College Research Center, Jobs for the Future, the National Center for Inquiry and Improvement, and Public Agenda. The project is funded through a $5.2 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

For more information about Bakersfield College's implementation of Guided Pathways, visit BC Guided Pathways.

Resources

• AACC Pathways 1.0 Project: What CCRC is learning from our research
• Redesigning Community Colleges Summit
• California Pathways Project
• AACC Pathways Description
• Guided Pathways Presentation, September 2015
• Pathways Application
• Join the AACC Pathways Project

Photo Gallery

Guided Pathways Institute, February 2016

Bakersfield College participated in the Guided Pathways Institute in San Antonio on February 4-6, 2016. This was one of six Institutes in the AACC Pathways program, which advocates for a comprehensive, data-driven approach to student success.

Guided Pathways Institute, February 2016

The Bakersfield College Pathways team sits together at the Guided Pathways Institute in San Antonio on February 6, 2016.

Guided Pathways Institute, February 2016

 

A visual diagram of the pathways model at the Guided Pathways Institute in San Antonio on February 6, 2016.

Guided Pathways Institute, February 2016

BC President Sonya Christian and Davis Jenkins at the Guided Pathways Institute in San Antonio

‹ ›

AACC Pathways History

The American Association of Community Colleges, with generous funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, recently launched a national project focused on building capacity for community colleges to design and implement structured academic and career pathways at scale, for all of their students. Building on emerging research and experience in the field, the project reflects AACC’s commitments to follow through on recommendations set forth in the 2012 report of the 21st Century Commission on the Future of Community Colleges, Reclaiming the American Dream, and the 2014 implementation guide, Empowering Community Colleges to Build the Nation’s Future.