A faculty and staff development program is earning national recognition for turning data into meaningful improvements for students.
Contra Costa College’s (CCC) Comet Data Academy has been named a finalist for the 2027 Bellwether Award, a national award recognizing innovative programs and practices at community colleges.
Announced October 29 by the Bellwether College Consortium, the Comet Data Academy is one of 10 finalists nationwide in the Planning, Governance and Finance category, which recognizes innovative approaches to college planning, management and the effective use of resources.
Launched in 2025, the Comet Data Academy is a professional development program that equips CCC faculty and staff with the skills to analyze institutional data, identify opportunities for improvement and develop solutions that support student success.
“Our goal is not just to teach people how to use data,” said project lead and Dean of STEM Chao Liu. “We are building the capacity for our college community to use data collaboratively, tell meaningful stories, and make better decisions for our students.”
The academy grew out of CCC’s partnership with Achieving the Dream (ATD), a national organization focused on advancing community college student success. An institutional assessment conducted through the partnership highlighted data empowerment as an area for growth. With institutional research resources stretched thin, CCC developed the Comet Data Academy to make data more accessible and useful across the college.
Turning Data Into Action
The academy brings together employees from different departments and disciplines for semester-long professional development cohorts. Participants complete independent coursework and attend six collaborative, in-person sessions built around the PACE model: plan, analyze, construct and execute.
The program’s first cohort launched in 2025 with 22 participants, including faculty, classified professionals and managers. By bringing together employees with different perspectives and areas of expertise, the academy encourages collaboration and makes data-informed decision-making a shared responsibility.
Each cohort culminates in a capstone project in which participants investigate a college challenge, analyze relevant data and recommend improvements.
Those projects are already producing measurable results for CCC students.
One participant examined missed Student Services appointments and found that shortening the advance scheduling window from 30 days to 10 days helped improve attendance. From one semester to the next, missed appointments decreased by 38.9%, from 758 to 463.
Another participant analyzed the college’s Chromebook lending program to better understand equipment replacement needs. The findings prompted CCC to allocate funding and establish a replacement schedule, helping ensure students have continued access to technology.
In a third project, an English faculty member analyzed differences in student success rates across multiple sections of the same course. By sharing anonymized findings with colleagues, the project opened conversations about teaching practices and opportunities to improve student outcomes.
Together, these projects demonstrate how the Comet Data Academy is helping CCC move beyond collecting data to using it to make practical improvements in classrooms and student services.
The academy’s second cohort is now underway, with participants working in larger teams on projects aligned with CCC’s five-year strategic educational plan.
College leaders are also exploring opportunities to expand the program through online professional development and share its model with other community colleges. Other colleges in the Contra Costa Community College District have already expressed interest in adopting the approach.
As CCC President Dr. Kimberly R. Rogers told Achieving the Dream, “We want people to know that this is replicable, it’s scalable.”
About the Bellwether Awards
The Bellwether Awards recognize community college programs that address challenges in higher education through innovative, effective and evidence-supported approaches. Finalists are selected for their demonstrated results and potential to serve as models for other institutions.
The awards are presented by the Bellwether College Consortium, an independent think tank and national network of award-winning community colleges, sponsored by the Alamo Colleges District in Texas.
CCC’s selection in the Planning, Governance and Finance category recognizes the Comet Data Academy’s approach to strengthening institutional effectiveness, encouraging collaboration and using available resources to improve student outcomes.
What’s Next?
Representatives from CCC will present the Comet Data Academy at the 2027 Community College Futures Assembly, Feb. 21-23, in San Antonio, Texas, as part of the final round of competition.
The annual assembly brings together community college leaders from across the country to share innovative programs, exchange promising practices and explore solutions to challenges facing higher education.