The Solution

Drive urgency for early registration by creating a schedule that’s intentional and solution-driven

With a solid foundation of nearly eight years of strategic course scheduling, Montgomery County Community College partnered with Ad Astra to further improve the student experience using actionable data insights. This process included determining how to accelerate pathways for part-time students, clarifying curriculum pathway goals to remove bottlenecks, and refining pathway opportunities to complete degree programs.

“We came from the vantage point that this was an opportunity,” said Sherry Phillips, Director of Records and Registration/Registrar. “We wanted it to be an evolution of the work we’d been doing for years.”

Collaboration between Academic Affairs and the Registrar’s Office further buoyed these efforts. Following an analysis of meeting patterns, the teams rallied together to redesign the scheduling grid into 4-credit hour blocks. Optimization of the scheduling grid through a reduction in the use of non-standard meeting patterns allowed the institution to reduce off-grid utilization and minimize off-grid waste.

“We are passionate about collaboration with our Academics Affairs partners because both sides are working toward a shared goal,” said Stephanie Prazenka, Associate Director of Records and Registration, Montgomery County Community College.

The improvement in underutilized course ratio allowed students to meet backto-back and created a more efficient use of faculty and classroom resources. As a result, students can better organize their time on campus and the institution can maximize their teaching and scheduling resources. Anecdotally, this also encourages students to spend more time on campus and has increased camaraderie and engagement between student peers and students and faculty.

Regular Ad Astra training sessions conducted by Prazenka build further inclusion and buy-in as users seek new ways to create enrollment health moving forward. As a welcome, each new user receives a Guiding Principles document that highlights the group’s approach to student-centric registration. Other collaboration efforts include working with the institution’s Academic Deans to highlight solutions for improved engagement and better scheduling.

“We continue to find opportunities to engage and learn different ways we can work together to meet unique student needs. We couldn’t do this without the academic partnership with Academic Affairs,” Prazenka concluded.