BIO

My name is Julie T Pinto and I am from Miami, Florida. I am a dedicated biochemistry major interested in understanding living organisms with the ultimate goal of advancing my knowledge in the biochemical field through the lens of sustainability. My research interests have allowed me to expand my knowledge of diverse populations/needs as well as human understanding and my hope is to be able to carry on the things I have learned while conducting research into my educational and occupational careers.

Understanding the Guided Pathways Program in the California Community College System

Abstract

Guided Pathways is a program initiated in community colleges around the United States in an effort to restructure the community college experience for students completely. The program serves to offer students a well-rounded education with more available resources and program offerings to ease the process from entry to employment or further education. Specifically, California worked very hard to implement this program and conducted a complete overhaul of its educational procedures. In this project, we attempted to better understand the program, its successes, and its failures from first-hand accounts. We conducted and transcribed interviews with faculty members from a variety of institutions within the California Community College System. Here, they told us about their experiences as their systems changed, the perceived benefits, personal frustrations, and the observed experiences of students both within their college and across the system. We then coded those to form a holistic understanding of these first-hand accounts and apply them to what we know from previous research. We hope to be able to apply our knowledge in improving the system and creating reform to better the student experience.

Keywords: Guided Pathways Program, Community Colleges, Education.