IMPLEMENTING THE CALIFORNIA GUIDED PATHWAYS PROGRAM IN THE GEOSCIENCES: A DEPARTMENTAL APPROACH AT A SMALL COMMUNITY COLLEGE

The Guided Pathways Program is a state initiative designed to facilitate greater program completion and transfer rates at the community college level among underserved students. Guidance would be initiated early in a student’s academic pursuits at the community college level, or ideally at the K-12 level. Pathways would culminate in a final bridge to the workforce in their profession.

In the Geoscience Program at Crafton Hills College, the focus of the pathway would be the existing Transfer Model Curriculum (TMC) in the Geology, Geography and Environmental Sciences programs. All of these majors have course overlaps, which can be used as gateway courses within the geoscience disciplines. For a timely program completion, these gateway courses would preferably be taken in the first year at the community college. Furthermore, some of the courses overlap with disciplines outside of the geosciences, and these courses could provide a bridge into another related major if a student decided to switch paths.

As with most STEM fields, limitations of the Guided Pathways Program within the geosciences will be directly related to meeting prerequisites, typically in mathematics. As a result, program maps of individual majors will need to be somewhat flexible, and strong advising from both faculty and counselors can help the student maintain their path to success.