When I was learning to knit during the pandemic, it took me about two months to finish my first scarf. As part of an innovative strategy to improve enrollment and retention, students at several Texas community colleges completed courses in 2022 and 2023 in about the same amount of time it took me to master the purl stitch, thanks to the launch of 8-week terms.

Institutionalizing 8-week terms is part of the Texas Success Center’s comprehensive Talent Strong Texas Pathways strategy. Trellis Foundation is proud to support this work and is excited to share the Center’s Texas Playbook for Scaling 8-Week Terms for Pathways Transformation. This playbook leverages lessons from Texas community colleges to help other institutions launch and scale 8-week terms to better serve all learners and improve enrollment and retention.

The playbook provides guidance on:

• Starting the conversation.
• Building the right team.
• Identifying programs for 8-week terms.
• Planning a launch date.
• Defining student outcome metrics.

“Texas community colleges are implementing and scaling 8-week terms with an intentional focus on improving program design and learning outcomes.” – Texas Playbook for Scaling 8-Week Terms for Pathways Transformation

The Center enlisted three “Leader Colleges” – Grayson College, Kilgore College, and Odessa College – experienced in implementing 8-week terms to mentor other Texas community colleges. These colleges observed improved course completion and credential awards after launching 8-week courses at their institutions. The “Leader Colleges” supported other colleges in adopting this strategy.

Is your college thinking about 8-week terms as a strategy to help students stay on the path to success? Check out the playbook! >>

Texas Pathways Institute, Pre-Institute Workshop: Implementing and Scaling 8-Week Terms (presentation slides), Odessa College, Kilgore College, and Grayson College, April 2022.

About the Texas Success Center

The Texas Success Center designs and manages the coherent, statewide framework for action and supports the 50 community college districts in the state as they evaluate, align, and integrate their work to increase student success through Talent Strong Texas Pathways.

This comprehensive reform strategy reflects the Texas Association of Community Colleges’ dedication to socioeconomic mobility through career-focused postsecondary success.  The association founded the Texas Success Center to provide statewide coordination of student success strategies and to tighten the linkages between practice, research, and policy.

Mia Ibarra joined the Trellis Foundation in 2023 with more than 14 years of experience in nonprofit, government, and philanthropic service. Before Trellis, she was an advocate and campaign manager at Every Texan (formerly the Center for Public Policy Priorities), a statewide public policy nonprofit. Her previous higher education background includes the Udall Foundation, where she managed the competitive undergraduate Udall Scholarship program. Mia holds a bachelor’s degree from The Evergreen State College and a master’s degree in public affairs from the University of Texas at Austin.