Bunker Hill Community College

Bunker Hill Community College Mobile and Tablet Version

Perkins Activities 2012-2013

Overview

Bunker Hill Community College received an allocation of $459,579 from the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical (CTE) Improvement Act of 2006 for the 2012 – 2013 academic year. The goal of ‘Perkins’ is to ‘help students in secondary and postsecondary education develop more fully the academic and technical skills required by high skill, high wage, high demand occupations in current and emerging professions’. These funds were used for faculty/staff salaries, professional development and program improvement activities as described in our Local Improvement Plan for 2012 – 2013, as approved and accepted by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE).

Performance Indicators

Each spring, BHCC provides DESE with data describing the College’s performance in six general categories including; Course Completion, Program Completion and Placement. These indicators are compared with State standards to determine how well the College is performing overall. In the All Student category, the College exceeded all of the State requirements.

These data are further divided into sub-groups such as; Hispanic, Limited English and Disabled. In 9 of the 124 sub-categories reviewed, the performance standard was not met; Credential (Black), Retention (Male, Black, Disabled & Undefined), Placement (Male, Disabled, Disadvantaged & Nontraditional by Gender). Improvement Plans were required and submitted.

Improvement Plans

In March, 2013, the College submitted Improvement Plans describing activities for addressing the above mentioned Performance Indicators. These plans were reviewed and accepted by DESE and form the basis for the Perkins Budget and the use of Perkins funding during the upcoming academic year.

Advisory Committees

Our Perkins General Advisory Committee met on December 4, 2012 and again on April 2, 2013 to review our current and proposed activities in light of our obligations and industry trends. 'Have students treat school like a job- be workplace ready regarding attitude and behavior.' 'Improve linkages to 4-year colleges and to potential employers.'

Articulation

The articulation process works in two directions, down to high schools and up to 4-year colleges. Many articulation agreements exist between BHCC and area high schools providing college credit for high school technical courses. However, Massachusetts continues to develop state-wide agreement models. We will move forward in that direction as the models become available.

Secondary to Post-Secondary Linkages

A number of linkage activities are occurring beyond the articulation agreements. Most significantly, ‘Summer Career Days at BHCC’. The College has selected 110 of the 174 applicants from 57 schools for the 4th year of the program, scheduled for two weeks from July 8 to 19, 2013. The six programs offered this year are; Criminal Justice, Culinary Arts, Engineering, Game Design, Graphic Design and Robotics.

The Perkins Grant also co-sponsored an all-day program for more than 110 vocational students on ‘Careers in Sustainability’.

Tutoring/Mentoring

Culinary Arts faculty were provided additional time for career-focused tutoring and mentoring of their students. Computer Media Technology faculty provided technical tutoring in HTML and MAYA. Faculty in a hybrid Nursing program provided Perkins funded tutoring/mentoring. Similar support was provided students in the Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) program.

Conferences

The Perkins Grant provided financial support for faculty and staff to participate in conferences, then, report to their colleagues and integrate improvements into their instructional content and processes. Conferences attended include; National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship, Comprehensive Instructor Workshop in Medical Simulation, American Society for Microbiology, Association for Alternative Certification, New England Educational Assessment Network and Massachusetts Association of Vocational Administrators 2013 Conference.

New Equipment/Supplies

The Perkins Grant provided substantial funding for improvement through equipment and supplies. Equipment items acquired during the year include a SimBaby training simulator with related staff training, NAO Humanoid Robot with associated licenses, and a medical laboratory Osmometer. Supplies include Dell Vostro laptop computers, Paralegal program library reference materials, commercial kitchen mixers, start-up supplies for new EMT program, film/video editing systems and software for the qualitative assessment of programs

Professional Development

The Perkins Grant provided stipends for professional development. These include;

  • Develop program description videos for classroom and online outreach
  • Develop program grids for A.S. in Sports Management and Senior Living
  • Develop syllabus for a number new A.S. Degrees programs
  • Develop a new online website for STEM.
  • Develop new ‘capstone’ course for Paralegal Program
  • Provide tutoring in MAYA, JAVA and Game Engines
  • Provide Professional Development in ECE, CIT, BUS, HSV and CRJ programs
  • Develop new Business Ethics course
  • Integrate Excel into various Business courses
  • Develop and implement ‘Summer Career Days at BHCC’ program
  • Conduct focus group for the review and improvement of Media Communications program
  • Prepare for and acquire credentialing for Paralegal program
  • Research feasibility of developing Environmental Science program