Initiatives, Student Groups and Goals
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Strategic Planning Institutional Initiatives
As a result of the strategic planning process in 2006, and reaffirmed in 2010 and 2015, the college has adopted Institutional Initiatives that it will focus its resources on supporting.
Based on those foundational initiatives and incorporating ongoing transformational
processes taking place across the campus, the college has developed the four proposed
initiatives listed here, to be achieved through work related to De Anza's commitment
to equity and Guided Pathways:
- Outreach
- Student-Centered Instruction and Services
- Retention
- Civic Capacity for Community and Social Change
Institutional Initiatives, undertaken with an equity focus, have been the driving force behind the college’s strategic processes and have resulted in campuswide improvements in many areas and have become part of the institutional culture of the college. Separately, they each add value, but collectively, they become what the college is as an institution and reflect its deepest commitment to students. These initiatives will continue to drive efforts for the next five years and are intended to be attained through the work of Guided Pathways.
Student Population Groups
An essential element of the initiatives has been a focus on Black, Latinx and Filipinx students, first identified in the 2010 Master Plan. These groups were originally identified based on an extensive socioeconomic analysis conducted in 2006. Over the past five years, the college has been unsuccessful in closing course completion rates for Black and Latinx students, which have remained as large as 11 percentage points when compared to all other student groups. Equity gaps for Filipinx students have nearly closed and Filipinx students are no longer disproportionately impacted. However, the gaps have widened for other groups, including Foster Youth, LGBTQ+, Native American and Pacific Islander students.
For these reasons, the college will continue to focus on improving outcomes for Black and Latinx students and begin to focus more acutely on addressing the needs of Foster Youth, LGBTQ+, Native American and Pacific Islander students.
Seven Student Population Areas of Focus
- Black
- Filipinx
- Foster Youth
- Latinx
- LGBTQ+
- Native American
- Pacific Islander
Institutional Goals
Over the past ten years the college has instituted many different institutional metrics, often aligned with state or federal requirements and accreditation standards that have come and gone. These metrics, while important indicators of progress, have seen minor progress but have not moved the college towards achieving equitable outcomes for all student groups.
There has been one long-standing metric that has resonated throughout the years with the main focus on closing race and ethnicity equity gaps:
The annual course completion rate for Black, Latinx and Filipinx students will be no more than 5 percentage points different from the rate for all other students.
While the college has not been able to close the equity gaps to 5% for all student groups in the past ten years, the goal is laudable, specific, measurable and centered on race or ethnicity. The following metrics are proposed to accompany the historical metric to be achieved by spring 2026. They would expand beyond race and ethnicity to include other groups that the college has historically left behind.
Goal 1: Outreach to Historically Underrepresented Populations
Enrollment of students residing in geographical locations with historically low college-going rates will be proportional with all other groups within the county, with a focus on enrollment of Black, Filipinx, Foster Youth, Latinx, LGBTQ+, Native American and Pacific Islander students.
Goal 2: Achieving Success Factors
The rate at which students report they feel a sense of belonging on campus will be no more than 5 percentage points different for Black, Filipinx, Foster Youth, Latinx, LGBTQ+, Native American and Pacific Islander students, compared with the rate for all other students.
Goal 3: Course Success
The annual course completion rate for Black, Filipinx, Foster Youth, Latinx, LGBTQ+, Native American and Pacific Islander students will be no more than 5 percentage points different from the rate for all other students.
Goal 4: English + Math Completion
The rate of successful completion of transfer-level English and Math in the first year for Black, Filipinx, Foster Youth, Latinx, LGBTQ+, Native American and Pacific Islander students will be no more than 5 percentage points different from the rate for all other students.
Goal 5: Transfer
The annual transfer rates for Black, Filipinx, Foster Youth, Latinx, LGBTQ+, Native American and Pacific Islander students will be no more than 5 percentage points different from the rate for all other students.
Goal 6: Degree Attainment
The annual rate of degrees awarded for Black, Filipinx, Foster Youth, Latinx, LGBTQ+, Native American and Pacific Islander students will be no more than 5 percentage points different from the rate for all other students.
Goal 7: Certificate Attainment
The annual rate of certificates awarded for Black, Filipinx, Foster Youth, Latinx, LGBTQ+, Native American and Pacific Islander students will be no more than 5 percentage points different from the rate for all other students.
Goal 8: Workforce Training
The rate at which students report they are employed in a field closely related to their field of study will be no more than 5 percentage points different for Black, Filipinx, Foster Youth, Latinx, LGBTQ+, Native American and Pacific Islander students, compared with all other students.
Goal 9: Civic Capacity for Community and Social Change
The rate at which students report they are able to make a positive difference for others will be no more than 5 percentage points different for Black, Filipinx, Foster Youth, Latinx, LGBTQ+, Native American and Pacific Islander students, compared with all other students.
Goal 10: Meeting Basic Needs
The rate of basic needs challenges – including homelessness, housing insecurity, food insecurity and mental health issues – reported by Black, Filipinx, Foster Youth, Latinx, LGBTQ+, Native American and Pacific Islander students will be no more than 5 percentage points different from the rate for all other students, as measured by the annual basic needs survey.
Achieving the Initiatives
The college’s overarching goal of equity is supported by five initiatives that describe how the college intends to attain its vision of being a college that empowers all students to attain their educational goals, develop an equity-based mindset and become civic leaders in their communities, which will be attained through the work of Guided Pathways.
De Anza’s proposed 2026 initiatives are a call to action that outline the college’s intentions over the next five years.
While closing gaps to no more than 5 percentage points is a laudable effort, it will require commitment and collaboration across the college and community. All college planning documents, unit-level planning and program review should describe how departments, programs and services will need to work together to achieve the goals by 2026 in order to close equity gaps for the six student population groups.
The integration of annual planning and five-year planning will help ensure that the college directs investments of human, physical and fiscal resources to strategies that will help meet De Anza's ten goals by 2026.