Breakout Session 1

“I Hate Surveys”: Practical Tips for Managing Surveys and Sharing Results

Strand: Research in Action

Room: Royal A

Survey work is often messy, but it remains one of the most important ways colleges hear directly from students, staff, and faculty. In this session, we’ll share how our institutional research office has learned to work with, rather than fight against, that messiness. We’ll give an overview of the routine surveys we run each year and how they are built into ongoing cycles that support participatory governance and institutional effectiveness. We’ll also discuss our survey workflows, including the use of dashboards, disaggregated results, and automated processes that help us turn results around quickly.

In addition, we’ll highlight practical strategies such as clear privacy levels, thoughtful redaction, and approaches for sharing survey feedback with Student Services and faculty—using our Student Drop Survey as an example. Participants will leave with ideas for making survey work more sustainable, more transparent, and more actionable on their own campuses.

Presenters: Kyle Crider, Leslie Flaming, and Alvir Sangha, West Hills Community College District

The Messy Work of Writing Support: What We Got Right, What We Got Wrong, and What We Learned

Strand: Planning for Change

Room: Terrace ABC

This session shares the ever-evolving, iterative work behind evaluating Writing Center support at Bakersfield College—what we got right, what we got wrong, and what we learned. Using multi-term transfer-level English and EMLS data, we found that students who engaged with Writing Center-aligned supports, including the noncredit ACDV B86NC course, showed significantly higher success and retention rates compared to peers who did not. At the same time, our analyses revealed meaningful equity gaps in who accesses support and why. To better understand these patterns, we developed a new Writing Center Engagement & Access Survey designed to surface structural, motivational, and logistical barriers.

Through Mentimeter-driven audience predictions and guided data reveals, participants will compare their assumptions to real outcomes and explore a replicable IRPE model that integrates institutional data, student voice, and practitioner insight to drive more equitable redesign of academic support programs.

Presenters: Kimberly Arbolante, Sooyeon Kim, Lysander Ramos, Susan Vicuna, and Tiffany Wong, Bakersfield College

College Enrollment Decisions and Trajectories Among Community College Applicants

Strand: Research in Action

Room: Terrace DEF

This session examines how applicants to Las Positas College make enrollment decisions by integrating large-scale quantitative data with interviews from students and prospective students. The project analyzes how demographic, educational, and socioeconomic-related variables from admission applications are associated with actual enrollment outcomes—including enrolling at a community college, enrolling at a four-year institution, or not enrolling in higher education. The qualitative findings complement these patterns by revealing how applicants’ knowledge, perceptions, and access to resources shape their choices and contribute to points of disengagement in the enrollment process. Together, these insights highlight structural barriers such as unclear communication, limited advising access, financial and logistical constraints, and complex registration processes.

Attendees will gain equity-focused, data-informed strategies to improve enrollment yield and better support the diverse needs of prospective community college students, along with a replicable framework for analyzing applicant journeys and designing interventions that advance equitable access across institutions.

Presenter: Rajinder Samra, Las Positas College

From Imperfect Data to Equitable Insights: Using Propensity Score Matching to Understand Corequisite Impact

Strand: Research in Action

Room: Harbor

Corequisite remediation—enrolling students directly in college-level courses with concurrent support—has expanded rapidly as a strategy to accelerate progress and reduce attrition. Evaluating these models is challenging because students are not randomly assigned, and prior Multiple Measures Assessment Project analyses show mixed results in one-year completion, while more academically prepared students disproportionately enroll in corequisites. These patterns raise concerns about targeting, equity, and the real-world effectiveness of corequisite implementation under AB 705, where placement tests have been eliminated and colleges use varied local practices.

In the spirit of Embracing the Messy Work of Equity & Change Together, this study acknowledges the imperfect conditions IRPE professionals must navigate to produce actionable, equity-centered evidence. We use Propensity Score Matching (PSM) to construct a matched comparison group based on academic preparation, demographics, and high school performance, reducing selection bias and providing more credible estimates of whether corequisite models are improving outcomes for students the reform aims to support.

Presenters: Kevin Hsu, Irvine Valley College; Lauren Ilano, The RP Group

Diet Equity: The Great Taste of Equity, Without Systemic Change

Strand: Real Talk

Room: Pacific

Colleges consistently express a strong commitment to equity. Yet, despite these public declarations, Black students continue to experience racialized harm and lagging success measures. Too often, equity becomes “diet equity,” where institutions adopt the language of equity without changing the practices. This session explores how community colleges must shift away from a junior college mindset rooted in content-centered teaching that lacks cultural relevance, toward the true community college mission of support, access, and transformation.

Participants will examine how the educational trauma that Black students carry into college must inform the design of instruction and student supports. IRPE professionals will learn how to reframe equity conversations to challenge deficit perspectives and hold institutions accountable for change. Ultimately, Black student success reveals whether equity is real or simply a public message. A system designed to support those most harmed by its default settings becomes a system that works for everyone.

Presenter: Marcell Gilmore, Mt. San Antonio College