Thank you to everyone who attended yesterday's Presidential Fireside Chat. Although many issues were discussed, the one most pressing seemed to be the Sprint System. For those who couldn't make it, here's a brief overview of what was discussed:
But First, for the uninitiated, what is the Sprint System?
Over a quarter, students take two or three classes at a time, which reduces distractions from multiple, competing subjects, and attend those courses 5 days per week, for 5 weeks straight, for up to 4 hours (per class) per day, for up to a full 8 hours per day of instruction. A student might have a 3 hour class, a 2 hour class, and a 1 hour class. Some classes carry over from one Sprint to the next, but for the most part you'll have a 25 day lecture topic in Sprint One, followed by a 25 day lab on that same topic in Sprint Two, a Core Course on an elective-type topic in one Sprint and a General Education class in the next.
Why does Neumont have a Sprint System?
Without the Sprint system we found that students were struggling to keep up with the homework demands of taking 4-5 classes at a time, and our project classes didn't have adequate classroom time to give students real focus on their projects (and since projects is what we're all about we wanted to make sure to give MORE project time.) Plus - for some of our less exciting courses (not that we have them, but our students tend not to love English for example) you can move through the course and on to topics you're interested in much faster. Plus, it moves at a pace that more closely resembles industry. Plus, in the real world you've got to be ready to learn on your toes, nobody's going to give you 10 weeks!
Now, for the downside the students expressed (Student Complaints:
Some students who started at Neumont before the Sprint system began found the adjustment to the intense 25-day sprints a little intense, while those who entered after the Sprint system was already in place had any easier time adjusting. During the first quarter when Neumont students moved into the Sprint system (vs. the standard quarter system) there were some hick-ups - courses moved too quickly and students didn't feel they had the necessary time to absorb the content. This was mostly an issue in elective courses rather than curriculum-critical courses, but Neumont's curriculum development committee took those concerns very seriously and responded by Neumont reviews of EVERY single class, syllabus, and student performance outcome (GRADES and TEST SCORES), quarter over quarter student retention, and also carefully reviewed the course and faculty assessments by Neumont students at the end of the each Sprint in order to make the best possible adjustments to the Sprint scheduling in the future.
As a result:
Some courses were moved off the Sprint system and now continue to run during the standard quarter, and some courses were given more in-class time, or changes to the syllabus , students on campus have probably noticed this by looking at the Course Schedules. Neumont has now been on the Sprint system for four quarters and we've seen that grade point averages are up across the board, student satisfaction on faculty assessments is higher than previously reported (although we've always been fortunate to have high student satisfaction of our instructors), and our Industry Partners are amazed at how quickly students can grasp new concepts.
Still, due to the rigorous nature of attending classes on a Sprint system, there are some students who aren't happy with the Sprint system and would like to move back to the traditional approach - assuming that would make it easier to grasp the complex topics. The issue that idea forgets is that the students would then take MORE classes at a time and actually have LESS time for the homework in any given class than the Sprint system allows.
Educating students for exciting careers in a fast-paced, ever-changing, industry is a challenge, especially in an intense 2.5 years. And Neumont's TOP PRIORITY is ensuring that our students leave fully prepared to launch into exciting careers at a generous rate of pay. Just as technology evolves, Neumont must continue to review and adjust our approach from time to time, but our commitment to our mission, and that top priority remains unwavering.
President Ned Levine strongly encouraged any student who is concerned about the CURRENT approach to the Sprint to voice their concerns on instructor assessments, or to our VP of Academic Operations, we can only support and adjust based on information that we have available, and the students and the administration are 100% aligned in our desire to ensure you succeed - unlike at big state schools that talk about legacy and tradition, Neumont REALLY cares about how well our students DO in school and after graduation, the better you do professionally, the better we look academically, everybody wins!
With such a bold statement about graduate placement and salary, we obviously have no interest in making any changes to our approach that would make Neumont students or graduates less prepared for the world of work; that would be counter to everything we say to help bring students in.
It's this type of approach that the US Department of Education and The Chronicle of Higher Education have recognized in Neumont and reviewed as innovation in higher education. Read more about the recognition we've received, to see why Neumont can honestly say we are the MOST results oriented educators in the nation.
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