How TxCAN is Supporting College Access in Texas
Texas College Access Network (TxCAN) is a critical component of the Educate Texas’ portfolio of programs. Read about TxCAN’s transition from a convenor to an action network focused on increasing college access in Texas and learn about the three priorities they are focusing on to achieve this goal.
Texas College Access Network (TxCAN) is a critical component of the Educate Texas’ portfolio of programs. TxCAN specifically is a coalition of statewide leaders including the tri-agency (Texas Education Agency, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, and Texas Workforce Commission), regional organizations, and funders. The coalition is focused on connecting and supporting college access efforts across the state of Texas. TxCAN has now expanded its work as a convener to include collective action on strategic priorities focused on improving college access in Texas.
TxCAN finalized these strategic priorities thanks to your help. The priorities were selected from a series of interviews of college access leaders across Texas, and a survey sent out to over 2000 Texas college access practitioners. You might remember participating in one of these interviews or answering our priority survey. Thanks to you TxCAN finalized these priorities and is now excited to provide an update on the work currently being done to create the conditions for change needed to increase college access in Texas.
TxCAN’s Strategic Priorities
Core Competencies: Development of a set of minimum knowledge standards for professionals providing college and career advising.
This team will work with our key partner THECB’s Texas OnCourse team to collaboratively update existing competencies created for the Texas OnCourse academy. Together they will identify core competencies for counselors, advisors, and others providing college access advice to students. The team will further encourage the adoption of core competencies statewide through local pilots and partnerships with state agencies.
The core competencies team believes that if we create and activate college and career advising competencies, then more students will have access to quality advising and successfully transition to postsecondary.
Effective Practices: Identify and share proven and emerging effective college access practices to professionals providing college and career advising.
The team will work to identify and activate proven and emerging effective college access practices for Texas CCMR practitioners. Together they will identify partners to provide training on the practices to Texas colleges and ISDs and activate practices through partner networks and EAF school district network. The team will work with state agencies to embed the practices in Texas OnCourse, the new college advising credential, and EAF supports.
The effective practices team believes that if we identify & activate proven and effective college access practices, then more Texas students will have an equitable advising experience and successfully transition to postsecondary.
Advising Capacity: Research and expand the capacity and knowledge base of advisors supporting student postsecondary transitions
This team will work to conduct research on Texas advising capacity and making recommendations for methods to expand advising capacity. The team will then share and activate their research findings with relevant stakeholders. The team will advocate for expanded funding and resources to strategically increase advising capacity and create or advocate for a statewide system to track advising staff & vendors on campuses.
The advising practices team believes that if we expand the availability of advising, more Texas students will receive access to advising and successfully transition to postsecondary.
What does this mean for college and career practitioners?
TxCAN believes the strategies discussed above will allow for Direct to College Enrollment to increase to at least 65%. Texas will become a state where college access professionals have easy access to learn and implement effective advising practices Texas will be a state where the standards for college advising knowledge are widely known and understood by practitioners and a state where there is a widespread availability of quality advising to students everywhere.
TxCAN hopes you will join TxCAN’s email list so you can continue to receive updates regarding our project teams and ways you can continue to stay involved. As these project teams continue this work, there will be opportunities to provide additional feedback, pilot new programs, and so much more!
