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Frequently Asked Questions
Integrated Planning & Execution Tools & Resources
Downloads (no email required)
- Multi-plan crosswalks
- Planning calendar templates
- Scenario planning resources
- Gantt Chart spreadsheet template
- Goal progress checker tools
- Logic model templates
- Evaluation tools & resources
Guide: Five Process Elements
Five Critical Questions to Ask When Launching a New Grant, Initiative, or Project.
Initiative Readiness Assessment Tool
Use this readiness tool before your college, division, or department commits to an initiative. Identify gaps and potential pitfalls before implementing.
Work Gap Analysis & Action Plan Tool
Take stock of any gaps in the work and use the action plan template to keep track of the work.
Goals, Strategies, Objectives, and Tactics: Implementation Perspective
Let’s Get the Planning & Execution Language Straight
Student Success Insights
Everything from dual enrollment to FYE to STEM Pathways and more.
Teaching & Learning Podcast Episodes
Faculty-driven, student-centered pedagogical practices.Â
Teaching & Learning Blog Posts
Thought-provoking ideas.
Culture Change & Continuous Improvement
Step-by-step guidance and reflection prompts.
Guided Pathways Resource Page
Actionable strategies to implement a student journey framework.
Organizational Change Blog Posts
Nuts-and-bolts and though-provoking strategies.
Ensure Learning & Equity
Discipline-Alike Inquiry & Action Instructional Improvement Team at Santa Barbara City College
Outcome: Learn how to continually improve instruction with equity intentionality.
Improving Instruction with an Equity Lens with Diego Navarro
Research-based Strategies to Create “Gravity” in the Classroom.
Outcome: Learn how to improve academic success for disproportionately impacted students.
Student Success & Equity in Math with Michael Wangler
Former Citrus College Dean Michael Wangler Describes Transforming Change in Math Instruction
Outcome: Learn how faculty improved their craft to significantly improve student outcomes.
Equitable Teaching Practices with Dr. Dayamudra Dennehy
Faculty Dr. Dayamudra explains how to teach more equitably, especially online.
Outcome: Learn examples of teaching with kindness.
5E Learning Cycle: Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate
Use the 5Es to Structure Lessons
Outcome: Learn how leverage an instructional model based on the constructivist approach to learning.
Accessibility with Dr. Denise Maduli-Williams
Faculty Dr. Maduli-Williams explains her journey on how to be more accessible.
Outcome: Learn how to improve accessibility for students and the campus community.Â
Equitable Pedagogy with Dr. Michel Estefan
Faculty Dr. Estefan unpacks a practitioner-friendly article he co-authored:Â From Inclusive to Equitable Pedagogy: How to Design Course Assignments and Learning Activities That Address Structural Inequalities
Outcome: Learn practical equitable pedagogy practices to improve student success, especially for DI populations.
Faculty Onboarding Program with Lisa Ratchford
Diablo Valley College Faculty Lisa Ratchford Explains the Nexus Program
Outcome: Learn how to onboard new faculty with a focus on equity.
Student Success & Equity with Dr. Christine Harrington
Faculty Dr. Harrington unpacks creative ways to engage students with assignments.
Outcome: Learn about culturally affirming and meaningful assignments.
Cross-Discipline Pedagogy Inquiry & Action Teams
How to Launch Pedagogy Teams per Meta-Major at Diablo Valley College
Outcome: Learn how pedagogy inquiry & action teams developed equity-focused communities of practice.
Online Learning Equitable Practices with Maritez Apigo
Contra Costa College Faculty & Distance Ed Coordinator provides practical guidance.
Outcome: Learn how to create an equitable online learning environment.
Student Success & Equity with Dr. Michelle Pacansky-Brock
Foothill-DeAnza Community College District faculty mentor provides the "why" and a few strategies to humanize online learning.
Outcome: Learn how to humanize asynchronous learning for college students.
Equitable Teaching Practices with Dr. Dayamudra Dennehy
Faculty Dr. Dayamudra explains how to teach more equitably, especially online.
Outcome: Learn examples of teaching with kindness.
Accessibility with Dr. Denise Maduli-Williams
Faculty Dr. Maduli-Williams explains her journey on how to be more accessible.
Outcome:Â Learn how to improve accessibility for students and the campus community.Â
Teaching Online Resources
Online Practices & Resources (created when colleges made the “great shift” to online)
Outcome: Learn the online teaching basics
Improving the Committee Structure
Improve the Committee Structure to be More Student-Centered (pp. 18-29)
Outcome: Learn to leverage logic models and a student journey framework to improve committees.
Blocking Student Success & Equity Work
The Ugly Side of Participatory Governance
Outcome: Learn how participatory governance is abused (often by the few).
Doers vs Inputters
Minimize Burn Out
Outcome: Learn why it's key to take stock of doers and inputters in all committees, task forces, etc.
Clarity Regarding Student Success Teams
Case/Cohort Management | Dr. Al’s Inquiry & Action Teams
Outcome: Learn why student success teams are difficult to implement and what models to consider.
Holistic Student Supports with Dr. Melinda Karp
Findings from Phase Two’s Study on Early Student Success Team Adopters
Outcome: Learn about the three different cohort management student success team models.
SST Do’s and Don’ts
Why Reaching Consensus on Student Success Teams is Challenging
Outcome: Learn the pitfalls to avoid in student success team development
SAMPLE CONTENT
Free Guide
Why Colleges Struggle to Implement Priorities and What To Do About It
Implement practical approaches to improve student success & equity
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"Dr. Solano is a consummate professional with amazing insight and knowledge which he openly shares with higher education leaders and practitioners. The Continuous Learning Institute website resources are comprehensive and his Student Success Podcast piques dialogue, thought, and action. His authentic, courageous, and forward-thinking approach is refreshing and is exactly what is needed to meet the moment. "
Dr. Julie Asperin Barnes
Chancellor, South Orange CCCD (former president, Cuyamaca College)
"Dr. Solano is extraordinarily skilled in helping colleges implement complex, whole-college student success reforms."
Dr. Davis Jenkins
Co-Author, Redesigning America’s Community Colleges; Senior Research Scholar Community College Research Center, Columbia University
"Dr. Solano journeys with us in the inquiry process that engages our thinking, encourages reflection, and inspires our teams to reach peak performance so that the students we serve will get the educational experience they need to help them live the lives they deserve."
Dr. Michael Baston
President, Cuyahoga Community College
"Dr. Solano clearly outlines practical strategies that can lead to institutional transformation and drives home the point that any meaningful conversation about student success must start and end with a focus on equity within a 'culture of kindness.' "
Dr. Angelica Suarez
President, Orange Coast College
"Dr. Solano's approach is helpful in framing the issues and useful in providing methods for addressing them."
Diego Navarro
Professor Emeritus, Cabrillo College; Founder, Academy for College Excellence
"I'm thankful for Dr. Solano's dedication in spreading kindness and his expertise across our educational field. It is always a pleasure to receive his emails as they are resourceful, relevant, and always invoke a positive tone while calling for us to engage in transformational work."
Dr. Monica Green
President, Norco College
"Dr. Solano writes and provides advice and support through a practitioner's eye, knowing from personal experience how institutions are designed and operate. Institutional transformation is a marathon, not a sprint--scaled reform takes resiliency and refinement that only comes when a culture of improvement is embedded at all levels of an organization."
Dr. Gretchen Schmidt
Senior Fellow, National Center for Inquiry & Improvement (NCII); recent Executive Director, American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) Pathways Project
"Dr. Solano's honest candor is refreshing and so needed during this time. He knows how to balance truth with kindness in the only way an amazing coach can. He blesses the field with free, accessible, practitioner-focused resources that are easily digestible and ready for application."
