MOUNT WACHUSETT COMMUNITY COLLEGEHigher Education

The College is implementing the following strategic steps to enhance the NCMTS program: 1. Enhanced Family Outreach and Communication- To address the limitations of communication tools like Parent Square at Murdock Middle High School (MMHS), we will implement a consistent newsletter and outreach strategy using independent communication platforms like Constant Contact or S’More. We will utilize parent contact information from student applications, pulling reports via Blumen to ensure direct and reliable communication regardless of school-level constraints. Existing efforts—including recruitment tables at parentteacher conferences, open houses, "meet the teacher" nights, and back-to-school events—will continue across all partnering schools. Additional clear and consistent communications with parents and families will help to raise the program profile through increased knowledge of programming and supports that are underway with families who are already participating. In the communities we serve, parent and family networks tend to be very closely connected, so shared information from an authentic and trusted source (a participating family) will help to bring additional qualified students into the program. 2. Administrative Strategy and Advocacy- Administrative turnover at our partnering high schools has been considerable over the past few years and has impacted our ability to effectively embed staff within existing school cultures. We have held strategy meetings with the new administration at MMHS and the administration at Clinton Middle School (CMS) to build collaborative recruitment models. We have secured support from the Superintendent and seen slight improvements in our connection with the MMHS High School Principal, and we are actively working to establish a plan with the CMS administration to resolve challenges staff face in being able to meet with students due to the structure of their schedule. We are also working with district partners, from administration to teachers, to align our services in new ways that help to alleviate some of the high demand on teacher time. In support of this effort, an informational campaign will be launched internally at schools that we serve to ensure that all teachers, staff and administrators have a clear understanding of the program, what supports are provided, and a clear invitation to engage. 3. Staffing Stabilization- NCMTS is currently fully staffed. This follows a focused effort during the fall semester to rectify vacancies that existed at the start of the school year, specifically addressing the lack of personnel at Sizer Charter School that hindered the program last year. All new part-time positions were successfully filled by the end of the fall term to ensure full operational capacity. Retention of staff is being supported in new ways, through both professional development opportunities and alignment of support toward individual staff's professional goals. 4. Community-Based Recruitment - We have expanded outreach beyond school walls to engage students and families in their own communities. Beyond the regular staff participation in Teen Nights at ‘the Hub’ in Winchendon—a dedicated weekend space for local youth—we have developed a new collaboration with HEAL Winchendon, a local organization dedicated to collective impact and action through active participation and leadership by residents, youth leaders, schools, businesses, and organizations. By attending community meetings and speaking at teacher professional development days, we are ensuring both community leaders and educators fully understand the impact of TRIO on student success while also building reciprocal relationships with other community organizations serving the region. We are also working to establish more formal partnerships in support of recruitment with local community organizations who serve families that may meet the qualification requirements for TRIO, such as our local Community Action Committees and food pantries. 5. Integrated Student Workshops and Recruitment - Recruitment efforts are integrated into the school day via lunch meetings and specialized workshops. We are partnering with sports coaches to develop workshops tailored for current TRIO students on their teams, while simultaneously using these athletic networks to recruit new eligible members. Student clubs and organizations are also being approached for potential collaboration on recruitment. 6. Accountability and Performance Monitoring To ensure transparency and progress, we provide monthly updates to staff regarding recruitment milestones. This includes a regular review of services provided to existing TRIO students, identification of students who are not being adequately served, and ensuring staff accountability for performance expectations and program goals. Timeline for Implementation of Corrective Action Plan: The correction action plan has already been implemented beginning in the 2026-2027 award year. Contact Person: Monique Coulson, Director of North Central MA Talent Search

2024-001

For the Educational Opportunity Centers project, it is important to note that during the 2022-2023 project year, the EOC was still operating in a global pandemic that resulted in lower postsecondary educational enrollments nationally. Additionally, a return to remote work was required due to the Leominster campus closure for complete renovations making it difficult to conduct outreach and recruit participants. The College is taking the following steps for EOC: 1) Return to fully in-person work (done) 2) Achieve full staffing (staffing continues to be a challenge in the current labor market with continual staff turnover) 3) Pursue new and renew community partnerships disrupted by the global pandemic (ongoing) 4) Implement new events (FAFSA Friday workshops, FAFSA completion with meal events, career/interest assessment workshops, adding tabling events – open houses, college fairs, community days, etc.) The College is taking the following steps for the North Central MA Talent Search Program (NCMTS) - The College is taking the following steps for NCMTS: 5) Staff will work in teams to recruit as well as working with the school districts to raise the profile of our recruitment process, creating more opportunities for families to become aware of the program, integrating program offerings into regular parent/guardian communications. We have had a number of recruitment efforts across all partnering NCMTS Schools, attending parent teacher conferences with recruitment tables, as well as having a table at open houses, meet the teacher’s nights, back to school nights etc. 6) Strategy meetings with the new administrations at Murdock Middle High School in Winchendon and existing Clinton Middle School Administrations have taken place to build collaborative approaches to student recruitment and address challenges staff are experiencing in meeting with students at those particular schools. 7) Hire Staff – as of March 2024, NCMTS is now fully staffed, with 2.5 FTE staff working directly in partnering schools. 8) Increase our outreach to students and families in and out of school. Outreach events have started taking place during Teen Nights at ‘the Hub’ in Winchendon, a community event space that is open for teens on the weekends. We have spoken at the HEAL Winchendon community breakfasts to spread the word about the program and have spoken at teacher professional development days to ensure that teachers understand the impact of TRIO for their students. 9) Increase in school workshops and increase recruitment opportunities – Lunch meetings with students as well as recruitment efforts at lunches. Working with sports coaches to promote team effort through workshops designed specifically for our TRIO students on those teams as well as recruiting other members of those teams. 10) Provide monthly updates to staff members on students’ recruitment progress and review of services provided to existing TRIO students, holding staff accountable for performance and ensuring transparency of expectations. Timeline for Implementation of Corrective Action Plan: The correction action plan has already been implemented beginning in the 2024-2025 award year. Contact Person: Valerie LePorte, Director of North Central Educational Opportunity Center Monique Coulson, Director of North Central MA Talent Search

2023-001

Corrective Action Plan: For the Educational Opportunity Centers project, it is important to note that during the 2021-2022 project year, the EOC were still operating in a global pandemic that resulted in lower post-secondary educational enrollments nationally. Accompanied by remote work conditions and lack of access to many of the community partners where recruitment occurs, it was extremely difficult to recruit participants. The College is taking the following steps for EOC: 1) Return to fully in-person work (done) 2) Achieve full staffing (done) 3) Pursue new community partnership opportunities 4) Implement new events (FASFA workshops, career workshops, etc.) For the North Central MA Talent Search Program (NCMTS), we were back in schools and regaining our footing due to the pandemic. We lost our partnership with Ralph C. Mahar School District, so we had one less school district to work with, which meant less students to recruit. With the loss of a partner school and only two full time staff members with our director pulling double duty covering both the NCMTS grant and the UBMS grant for that school year the program had a difficult time recruiting. The College is taking the following steps for NCMTS: 1) Work in teams to recruit as well as working with the school districts to better streamline our recruitment process. 2) Hire Staff – throughout the year, NCMTS has had a staffing shortage. We only had one full-time staff person for NCMTS, no part-time staffing and four school districts to work with for the current year. We have hired another full-time staff member and are in the process of hiring a split-funded (50% NCMTS 50% ETS) position which will put us in all of our target schools at least 2 days a week. 3) Increase our outreach to students and families to be readily available for workshops. 4) Increase in school workshops and increase recruitment opportunities. Timeline for Implementation of Corrective Action Plan: The correction action plan has already been implemented beginning with the loosening of COVID restrictions beginning in the 2022-2023 award year. Contact Person: Valerie LePorte, Director of North Central Educational Opportunity Center Monique Coulson, Director of North Central MA Talent Search

Finding number: 2019-001 Federal agency: U.S. Department of Education Program: Talent Search CFDA #: 84.044 Award year: 2019 Corrective Action Plan The below corrective action plan was implemented and corrected in our FY19 program year, and the subsequent FY19 APR. Of particular note, on page 13, NCMTS recruited 500 students by the end of August 31, 2019, demonstrating success of the corrective action plan. Recruitment Plan 2019-2020 NCMTS: All staff will work in teams. The counselors from AHS, ARMS, Sizer, Clinton, Orange and Murdock will work together, being cross-trained and with a core foundation of training and expectations. The staff member serving as lead at their respective schools will make sure that all recruitment efforts logistics are addressed and communicated in a timely manner. Together, the full team will develop dates and times that they will come together to recruit students as a team at their respective schools. Staff will run workshops at each other?s schools as well as sit in on meetings together as a team with guidance and (if need be) principals and other key staff. The schedule will be shared with their supervisors, the Assistant Dean of A&T and their schools. Each staff member will be at a school other than their primary site where they serve as lead at least one day a week, working with each other to ensure that the students who are recruited for the program fit the eligibility criteria. This schedule will be for January, February and March or until the program has hit the capacity of students (500). The goal is to have everyone working together as a team, to ensure that the recruitment is complete, and consistent. The lead staff member at each school will be responsible for completing the recruitment process (i.e. calling parents to finalize the application, gathering the proper documentation and ensuring all parties involved are aware of each other's responsibilities). A new program Director has been hired and trained, with a focus on recruitment and goal attainment. Timeline for Implementation of Corrective Action Plan This corrective action plan is already in place and is a continuation from the 2018-2019 school year. Contact Person Ralph Hogan, Director of Upward Bound Math Science & North Central MA Talent Search

2018-001

Finding number: 2019-002 Reporting Changes in Status to National Student Loan Data System (?NSLDS?) Reporting Federal agency: U.S. Department of Education Program: Federal Pell Grant CFDA #: 84.063 Award year: 2019 Corrective Action Plan To address the typo in the effective date of withdrawal, we have reviewed with employees the importance of accurate data entry. We normally catch these errors when the R2T4 is calculated by Financial Aid, but this error was on the course withdrawal level, not the college withdrawal level. This particular situation was discovered by the employee via internal audit, and corrected in the 6/21/2019 files submission to NSC. The three students who were not reported to NSLDS within 60 days, was the result of an employee taking 14 days to resolve discrepancies with the April report to the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC), which in turn led the April status changes not being report to the NSLDS by NSC until the May file was submitted, which was scheduled more than 30 days after the April file submission. First action was a review of the reporting schedule to NSC, to assure that reports are submitted no less than every 30 days throughout the semester. Second, training and documentation was updated to request an extra submission of data to NSLDS by NSC if there is a delay in resolving NSC errors/discrepancies. Timeline for Implementation of Corrective Action Plan The action plan was implemented in August of 2019. Contact Person Rebecca Forest, Assistant Dean of Records and Research

2018-002

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2017-002

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