Using the Placement Process to Build More Equitable, Student-centered Colleges

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For over a decade, colleges and universities have shifted how they place students into gateway courses in order to address inequitable placement, progression, and completion rates. While alternative methods like Multiple Measures Assessment have improved early academic momentum for many students, they have not yet fully removed systematic barriers to equitable access to first-level college courses nor have they closed equity gaps in early student outcomes such as course completion and progression (Hu et al., 2019; Barnett et al., 2020).

One possible reason for the muted impacts of these widely-used placement approaches is that, in many instances, they are stand-alone technical changes rather than broader interrogations of inequitable and racialized structures and practices. However, a new generation of placement reforms moves beyond tweaking existing systems toward using placement reform as a means for shifting advising, teaching, and student support towards more equitable practices and structures. This webinar will share findings from a national study, funded by the Ascendium Education Group, that explores evolutions and innovations in placement practices and how institutions are engaged in placement-as-transformation—using those innovations as a lever for broader, student-focused change.

Learning Outcomes:

Participants will:

gain an enhanced understanding of new placement approaches and their potential to encourage placement-as-transformation;
learn about strategies to engage in placement-as-transformation in order to shift campus structures, practices, and cultures towards more equitable support for racially-minoritized, first-generation, and low-income learners; and
be empowered to initiate discussions and implement innovative placement-as-transformation practices on their own campuses, fostering more inclusive and equitable educational environments.

Suzanne Lyons, Ph.D.

Senior Consultant

Phase Two Advisory

Dr. Suzanne Lyons is a senior consultant with Phase Two Advisory, supporting their national research and practitioner learning networks related to college access, success, and holistic student support. In addition, she is an educator and systems-level social worker, with over 20 years of experience working in K-12, public and private colleges, and national non-profits, including work with The Posse Foundation, TRIO, and Promise programs. As a first-generation, low-income college graduate, Dr. Lyons has dedicated her career to focusing on policies, programs, and multi-sector partnerships across the K-20 pipeline that support college access and success. Among other publications, Dr. Lyons is co-author (with Dr. Karp) on a chapter in the Routledge Handbook on Higher Education, “Advising the whole student: Current approaches to integrating academic, career, and personal support.” Prior to joining Phase Two, she led private and federal grants geared toward systems-level change to improve student outcomes in high schools and at Hispanic-serving community colleges. Dr. Lyons holds her Bachelor’s in Psychology & Spanish from the University of Notre Dame, her Master’s in Social Workfrom the University of Pennsylvania, and her Ph.D. in Higher & Postsecondary Education from NYU's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development.

Melinda Mechur Karp, Ph.D.

Founder & Principal

Phase Two Advisory

Dr. Melinda Karp, Phase Two’s founder and project lead, has extensive research and thought-partnership experience in the areas of college access, student support, and completion strategies. She is a nationally-known expert on community colleges and strategies to support low-income, first-generation, minoritized, and otherwise under-served students in and out of the classroom. Dr. Karp has authored or co-authored over 70 articles, book chapters, and working papers and 35 practitioner-focused blogs, op-eds, and practical toolkits. She served as panel chair for the Institute for Education Science’s What Works Clearinghouse Practice Guide on Effective Advising for Postsecondary Students and a reviewer for the U.S. Department of Education’s 2024 Postsecondary Success Recognition Program. She is also a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Postsecondary Student Success and a coach for the NCII Rural Guided Pathways Project.

Bobby Pace, Ph.D.

Vice President of Academic Success

Community College of Aurora

Dr. Pace serves as the vice president of academic success at the Community College of Aurora (CCA), where he has served in a variety of capacities since 2008. Dr. Pace served as adjunct, faculty, chair, and dean before being named VP in 2021. During his tenure, he led his college’s first comprehensive academic program review with the faculty and chairs—selecting 30 programs for sunsetting and reinvestment of those resources into program revitalization and new program development. Under his leadership, CCA has launched four new engineering degrees and secured $2.5 million dollars from the state to begin a school of nursing as well as launch new pathways in behavioral health.