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Summit Highlights Ed Planning Tool Suite

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The 1st Annual CCC Starfish Users Group Summit was held Dec. 11-12, 2017, at Crafton Hills College, Yucaipa, Calif.Just before winter break last December, colleagues from 29 campuses across the California Community Colleges (CCC) convened for a two-day summit on education planning tools from the CCC Education Planning Initiative (EPI).

The 1st Annual CCC Starfish Users Group Summit was held Dec. 11-12, 2017, at Crafton Hills College in Yucaipa, Calif. Organized by the CCC Starfish Users Group and the EPI, the summit brought together 163 attendees from the colleges, in addition to vendor partners and external higher education organizations. Cross-functional college teams represented admissions, administration, counseling, instructional faculty, information technology and retention services.

Following welcome remarks from Dr. Wei Zhou, President of Crafton Hills College, and Rhonda Mohr, Interim Vice Chancellor of Student Services and Special Programs at the CCC Chancellor's Office, the opening presentation by Richard Calhoun, Starfish Principal Product Manager, offered a “Vision for Guided Pathways with Starfish by Hobsons.” The keynote from Beth Davis, founder of PAR Framework (Starfish Analytics), provided a data-driven look at real-life experiences and increases in student success and retention among colleges using Starfish tools.

The Performing Arts Center was the location for a welcome message from Dr Wei Zhou, President of Crafton Hills College.

Over the course of two days, attendees got a comprehensive look at the capabilities of the EPI’s education planning tool suite, with best practices interactive panels on Early Alert and Degree Planner tools and a deep-dive into Starfish reporting features. Additionally, representatives from Northeast Wisconsin Technical College reported on NWTC’s experience with the tools. The program also offered several networking and small-group activities aimed at building a strong community of users.

Crafton Hills College's Central Complex building.

Julie Preston-Smith from Fresno City College shares feedback with summit co-chair Michelle Stricker during the keynote by Beth Davis.

Attendees take part in one of many group activities during day one of the summit.

Best Practices Interactive Panel: Degree Planner, with (from left to right): Dr. Melissa Raby, Dr. Dipte Patel and Kayla Mannon.

As day one began to wind down, the sun shone brightly into Crafton Hall.

Day two began with a networking breakfast, where attendees were grouped by functional roles. Here, Tijan White of Ohlone College discusses issues with fellow Starfish users.

Breanna Andrews of Crafton Hills College shares her insight during the networking breakfast on day two of the summit.

Clinton Slaughter of Butte College shares with colleagues during the networking breakfast.

Day two networking breakfast exercise in full swing.

The opening slide of the presentation from John Grant and Kelly Casperson from Northeast Wisconsin Technical College instantly had everyone's attention.

John Grant and Kelly Casperson had the crowd in stitches with their engaging presentation on lessons they learned and best practices around the use of Starfish.

Crafton Hills' campus was a beautiful location for the summit, with tropical flowers and pine trees living in harmony.

The next CCC Starfish Users Summit will be held in conjunction with the upcoming Hobsons Summer Institute, July 16-18, in Palm Desert, Calif. The summit will offer all day sessions and exclusive access to Hobsons staff and resources. Registration and additional information will be available soon.

Crista Souza is the TechEDge News Editor