Preface

Dave Dillon, Curator, and editor of Modern Blueprint for College and Career Success

As an adjunct counselor and instructor between 2004 and 2007, I began teaching counseling and personal development courses at multiple community colleges. Some campuses assigned textbooks for some courses and others gave the freedom to choose from a variety of texts. As my materials grew, the actual textbooks, an assortment of copies of assignments, handouts, class activities and exams for many different courses became challenging to transport and keep organized for preparation and teaching. I distinctly remember frantically sifting through a rolling suitcase bag (which my colleagues teased me about) trying to find the handout I wanted to use for the third campus I was at on that particular day. I told myself that when and if I became a full-time counselor, I would write my own textbook so that all of the material would be in one place.

Hired as a full-time counselor and instructor at Grossmont College in 2007, I decided to start writing my own textbook for a Study Skills and Time Management course instead of continuing to carry around so many different materials. I began writing in 2009 and some of the ideas from that first effort helped shaped this project.

Blueprint for College and Career Success, published in 2016, was accessed by over 10,000 students each term, received positive reviews, was adapted for other OER, was translated into Spanish (thanks OpenOregon!), and won two awards. However, when surveying what it was like to attend college after the pandemic in comparison to prior to the pandemic, it needed a major revision.  With a focus on equity, recency, and relevancy, and in striving to de-center my white male voice, Modern Blueprint for College and Career Success was born as a “start from scratch” model rather than a traditional revision. This College Success OER text is based on the revised (2024) version of a course outline at Grossmont College for Counseling 120 (College and Career Success).

Just like its predecessor, this book was also written because there is a need for it. Many students do not learn how to study effectively and efficiently or how to manage their time. Others aren’t certain what to choose for their major or their career. And some are lost trying to navigate through the maze and culture of college, often balancing their school workload while working and taking care of family responsibilities. Students are sometimes unsuccessful when they begin college—not for lack of motivation or hard work, but because they did not acquire the skills or information necessary to allow them to succeed.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, “the overall 6-year graduation rate for first-time, full-time undergraduate students who began seeking a bachelor’s degree at 4-year degree-granting institutions in fall 2012 was 62 percent. That is, by 2018, 62 percent of first-time, full-time students who had began seeking a bachelor’s degree at 4-year institution in fall 2012 completed the degree at that institution within 6 years.”^[1]

There are multiple reasons for these statistics, but there is clearly great opportunity for improvement, and I believe learning and utilizing better study skills and time management skills will yield higher graduation and retention rates for students. Research has proven students who complete a study skills course remain in higher education longer with higher grade point averages and more success than students who did not complete the course. ^[2]

Despite my interest in keeping the cost of the original textbook low, I found that the cost was still prohibitive for many students and as I began to research textbook affordability solutions, I found OER (Open Educational Resources). I made a decision to publish this book as an OER, as well as the second edition of Blueprint for Success: Indispensable Study Skills and Time Management Strategies, and the first edition of Blueprint for Success: Career Decision Making. As one of my colleagues said, “You have gone all in with OER.” There are many reasons for why this book is an Open Educational Resource, including but not limited to textbook affordability, access, empathy, openness, inclusion, diversity, and equity. I want students to be able to have access to the textbook on day one and after the course ends, not have to choose between buying food and purchasing the text, and not have to worry about a lost, stolen, or expired digital access code. This Santa Ana College student panel from the Open Education Conference 2017 exemplifies why this text is an OER:

Video: Santa Ana College OER Student Panel OpenEd 2017

Modern Blueprint includes high quality, peer reviewed College Success OER content, and is a remix (similar to its predecessor). I researched and identified content from multiple sources, chose what information best fit the project, and then “reused, revised, remixed, and redistributed” with a Creative Commons by attribution license so that future users can freely retain, reuse, revise, remix, and redistribute.

The intent is to provide an easy-to-read, simple-to-understand instruction manual for study skills, time management, and career exploration, full of real-life examples.

This textbook is not designed to preach to you what you should or shouldn’t do with your life, your time, or your study skills. It is not meant to judge you. It is, however, designed to allow you the opportunity to examine and explore how you do certain things, and offer suggestions along the way that have helped other students.

My general philosophy is that if you are doing something that works well for you, then continue doing it. But if your results are less than optimal, or if you want to try something new, this book gives you suggestions. Experiment. Try some of them out. Keep what works best. Toss out what doesn’t work. See what fits best for you. We are all works in progress.

This is a book that I wish I had when I was a college student. Through trial and error, I found some strategies that suited me, and many that did not. I improved my time management, but it was a long process marked by learning from failure rather than following a recipe for success. The same could be said for selecting my major.

The first edition of the Blueprint for Success: Indispensable Study Skills and Time Management Strategies text elicited this response from one of my students: “The book really helped me. It was supportive of the assignments and was extremely easy to understand and follow. It truly served as a blueprint. It was almost like a map or instruction manual for being successful in your course. The best part was it can be used and applied to any college level class.” I am hopeful Modern Blueprint will provide the expertise and content from other open licensed works that will provide similar value.

It is my sincere hope that this book will help guide you to success in college and beyond.