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Profiles
One of the objectives of Community Colleges CAN! is to share the stories of innovative community college programs that offer promise for improving academic preparation, participation, and success of students. The research team visited the following programs for site visits and to learn what elements work toward their success. Six of the sites visited will serve as mentors for the final phase of the project, the peer mentoring project which is designed to build partnerships among community college practitioners. The initiative will facilitate the development of learning networks to strengthen the efforts of community colleges to help students overcome barriers to success.
Cabrillo College: Digital Bridge Academy
Aptos, CA
The Digital Bridge Academy (DBA) represents a significant departure from conventional practices aimed at addressing the learning needs of students at risk of not entering college or not obtaining a degree or certificate. It is a curriculum-based model of instruction and skill development that aims to strengthen self-efficacy and improve academic abilities within the supportive context of a learning community. The program blends a variety of methods and approaches drawn from research in education, corporate training, psychology, and neuroscience to create an intensive and accelerated learning experience for students. This innovative program is built upon the perspective that all individuals have the potential to excel and to meet the challenges they face, and that this potential can be tapped when individuals are immersed in conditions that directly challenge them to learn and that validate their ability to change.
El Paso Community College: EPCC-UTEP Partnership
El Paso, TX
El Paso Community College and the University of Texas at El Paso have shared a comprehensive and unique working relationship over the past several years, to the benefit of the institutions and their students. Their partnership is manifested through a diverse array of initiatives and practices that cut across administrative and institutional boundaries. These initiatives include joint committees and procedural agreements, cooperative academic and scholarship programs, research projects, and consortia, among other collaborative arrangements. The partnership also includes twelve local independent school districts in the El Paso area. Together these institutions work to address the needs of their students and the community in the economically challenged setting of southwestern Texas.
Monroe Community College: Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program
Rochester, NY
The Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program (CSTEP) was established by the New York State Education Department to provide academic support for students who are either low-income or members of an historically underrepresented minority group, and who are interested in licensure and careers in the fields of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, or health-related professions. The program provides a variety of services to students in addition to classroom learning experiences, including academic support, mentoring, skill-building and enrichment workshops, and research internships. One of the hallmarks of the program is that it links students with research programs at four-year schools across the country, giving them the opportunity to conduct laboratory research with researchers, as well as with graduate and four-year college students. This enables them to better prepare for advanced training and to more effectively compete for career positions in STEM fields.
Parkland College: Center for Academic Success
Champaign, IL
The Center for Academic Success (CAS) is a comprehensive, one-stop learning assistance center that provides a wide variety of academic services and programs aimed at addressing the learning needs of students. The services provided by the Center include peer and faculty tutoring, study skills workshops, a writing center, an academic development lab, and advising and personal planning. CAS also facilitates the development and use of innovative and diverse teaching approaches through the provision of tutorials and modules that respond to student needs and support regular classroom activities. The Center opened its doors in 2006, and quickly emerged as the centerpiece of the college’s efforts to improve the efficacy of its developmental education program and to strengthen the academic skills and persistence rates of at-risk students.
Pasadena City College: Teaching and Learning Communities
Pasadena, CA
The Teaching and Learning Communities (TLC) initiative supports the learning needs of under-prepared, first-generation college students and helps them successfully advance from basic skills to transfer and vocational courses. The TLC functions as a comprehensive academic and learning community comprised of faculty members, counselors and students. Instructional models range from single courses to block programs. Current initiatives include a summer bridge/first year experience program, intensive math courses, career pathways, ESL blocks, transfer and probation workshops, and faculty development projects. The TLC is structured to ensure that teachers and students mutually engage in the learning process. The objective is to create an environment in which students benefit from the support of faculty and staff who help them improve their academic skills and find their own voice. Faculty members benefit from the opportunity to explore innovative approaches to teaching and learning, and the college benefits from a center which serves as an incubator for new programs and services.
Salt Lake Community College: InnovaBio and Biotechnology Technician Program
Salt Lake City, UT
InnovaBio and the Biotechnology Technician Program are core pillars of an innovative partnership between secondary and postsecondary education institutions and corporations working in Utah’s biotechnology industry. The initiatives support the region’s education and workforce development infrastructure in STEM-related fields by building a pathway designed to provide students with the skills and experiences necessary to participate in knowledge-based careers. InnovaBio is a contract research organization created to provide industry-based research internship opportunities for high school and college students. Currently, over five hundred high school students are involved with research and instructional programs at InnovaBio. Students can earn high school internship credits and community college course credits for their participation in these programs. In addition, over sixty college students are involved with the lab. The biotechnology initiatives reach out to all students and also strive to encourage an excitement about science among at-risk students who might not otherwise pursue study in a science field.
Skagit Valley College: Counseling-Enhanced Developmental Learning Communities
Mount Vernon, WA
The Counseling-Enhanced Developmental Learning Communities program is designed to strengthen basic skills education and learning support at the college. The approach of the program is to team counselors with faculty and students to form developmental education learning communities. Counseling and teaching faculty work collaboratively to incorporate college success skills into course content tailored to meet in-class needs and generally support student learning and educational planning. The initiative is aimed at enhancing the efficacy of the college’s approach to addressing the learning needs of its most academically challenged students, accelerating their progress to academic-level coursework and improving their persistence to degree or certificate completion. The program emerged from the college’s longstanding and highly successful experience with learning communities as a method to achieve positive learning outcomes.
Southwestern Oregon Community College: Career Pathways
Coos Bay, OR
Career Pathways at Southwestern Oregon Community College encourages, guides and supports high school students and adults re-entering the workforce in the development and completion of a course of academic preparation and skill enhancement necessary to achieve their career objectives. The approach aligns and connects secondary and postsecondary education institutions, workforce training initiatives, and student support services to create a cohesive pathway to the attainment of a certificate or degree. Among the goals of Career Pathways are the strengthening of partnerships among education institutions and other community service providers to improve the success of students, the development of a workforce trained to meet the dynamic needs of the labor market, and the promotion of economic development in the local area. The pathways framework is inclusive, encompassing departments across the college as well as local high schools and job training agencies.
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