CAPS Redesign Team Earns Kudos

Congratulations to the CAPS Redesign Team for their hard work and dedication, which was recently recognized with a Citation for Outstanding Performance.

The winners of the citation were honored at a reception held November 9. President Gail Carberry spoke and presented the citation.

The CAPS Redesign Team, which included Shane Clark, Jennifer Guzman-Gayflor, Raymond Lawless, Diane Levinson, Lupe Lomeli, Martin Muysenberg, Henry Ritter and Eric Saczawa, were recognized for their hard work and attainment of program objectives.

The CAPS Program, Career Academic & Personal Success, entered its 10th year in 2016. During this time, institutional initiatives and student needs have changed, and the CAPS program needed a realignment to those goals (Complete College America, the new Strategic Plan, etc.). The CAPS Advisors and Coordinators, in the last year, have rewritten the Vision, Mission, Learning Objectives, Learning Activities, and Deliverables related to the CAPS program to respond to the changes.

The overarching goal was to create a better learning experience for students, creating active, engaging learning activities through their first year of enrollment at QCC.

Based on the varied needs and experiences our students bring, the result of this work was to divide the material into modules for easier student access and increased flexibility. The added flexibility of the modularization allows advisors to be more responsive to students’ individual needs, creating a customized CAPS experience for each student. Thus, more students will be able to form a relationship with their academic advisor and the institution in a meaningful way, utilizing multiple means of access (individual appointments, group advising, Blackboard).

It took a full year to do this work. The CAPS Advisors and Coordinators worked together toward this accomplishment as a team, supporting each other along the way, tolerating a high degree of ambiguity throughout the process.

During this time, they were serving the students for which they were responsible while also redesigning the program in its entirety. They have built, from the ground up, a foundation that responds to institutional goals and objectives, that is also responsive and flexible to student needs. This required much discussion and compromise. With every discussion, the needs of the students were at the forefront, and the CAPS Team worked tirelessly to make sure the student experience is engaging and meaningful.