Broward Community College – Davie, FL 
Integrating Democratic Principles into the Curriculum to Produce Practical Learning Outcomes

The Public Achievement/Civic Engagement program at Broward Community College is an instructive service-learning model that integrates democratic principles into the curriculum to facilitate three objectives:  increasing student engagement and retention, to develop the skills by which students become functional in a dynamic democracy and to increase access and aid to low-income students. 

Century College’s Student Success Day provides time during which best practices supporting excellence in teaching and learning are shared. The day includes seminars, keynote presentations, open houses, information tables, walk-in counseling, and open gymnasium. Since fall 2003, student participation increased approximately 63%. Learn how to create a Student Success-full Day!

The Center for Law and Society is an aggressive initiative designed to improve student outcomes at Community College of Philadelphia. Through innovative wraparound programs that empower students pursuing law-related degrees, the Center has spurred improved retention and graduation rates, better-prepared transfer students, and higher-skilled professionals joining the workforce.

Asoka Peiris has created an entire set of on-line tutorials and assessment modules that are algorithmic to enhance student performance in College Algebra. The modules help students understand concepts, addresses various learning styles, offers step by step assistance in solving problems, provides instant feedback, and reduces student's reliance on textbooks.

This program was developed to involve adjunct faculty in the academic advising process of the college.  Adjuncts were initially trained as “general advisors” for undecided students and were hired to staff the advising office during peak enrollment periods and during gap periods when full-time faculty were not on contract.  Further training prepared the adjunct advisors to work with students wanting to get into selective admissions health programs and other program areas.

Revolutionary concept videos for the mathematics curriculum have been developed and implemented at Johnson County Community College.  The videos cover a mathematics topic by engaging the learner in an application context, relevant to the learner, that motivates the instructional unit and, in the end, returns back to the application setting.

The First Year Academy provides a comprehensive first-year experience for students focused around their chosen discipline areas. Placing all freshmen into one of three Academies based on choice of major, the Program contextualizes basic skills instruction through discipline-based learning communities. Other key aspects include ePortfolio development and discipline-focused, co-curricular activities.

Three urban colleges are increasing college participation among public high school graduates by providing the first two years of college, tuition free. This five-year, $6 million demonstration project also provides students with intensive academic support. Its goal is to convince public officials to move Minnesota to a P-14 education model.

Sinclair Community College’s Student Success Plan is a comprehensive initiative designed to increase at-risk students’ success, retention and graduation rates.  Each student develops an Individual Learning Plan (ILP) as part of the intervention process.  Through counseling and a web-based support system, new degree-seeking students are identified, supported and monitored.

Middle College – a college recovery program for 18 to 24 year-old high school dropouts – breaks the generational cycle of educational underachievement. The Middle College Program in Virginia produces exceptionally high levels of success for this particular cohort: student persistence toward college completion is among the highest in the nation.

Amarillo College – Amarillo, TX
A Vision for “Anytime, Anywhere” Student Services

Amarillo College is advancing a new vision for student services and has worked to develop a state-of-the-art contact center that leverages people and technology to deliver “anytime, anywhere” service to students.

College Connection’s innovative approach, taking admission and enrollment services onto high school campuses, is increasing postsecondary enrollment rates, especially for minority and low-income students.  All participating seniors receive an ACC District acceptance letter with their diplomas resulting in increased college-going rates: 38% at ACC District and 9.8% during the first two years in overall Texas higher education enrollment.

Through service learning, Chattahoochee Technical College has impacted teaching and learning in both general education and technical courses.  Learn how the college maximized resources to fund, manage, and grow a nationally recognized program.  College representatives will explain program design through a multi-media presentation featuring students and community partners.

This program addresses how Cy-Fair College has created a partnership with local governmental entities, combining public resources to reduce training costs and maximize program effectiveness to train firefighters enabling them to develop skills using the latest state-of-the-art firefighting technology and equipment.  Participants will learn how this program can be replicated.

Delgado Community College lost 70 percent of its physical plant due to Hurricane Katrina.  The college quickly realized the need to move course offerings online.  Fielding Graduate University reached out to Delgado to assist with training and coaching in online course design and delivery, resulting in a successful partnership.

Online Student Service provides all students and the community, access to college information regarding the admissions process, financial aid, testing, Veteran affairs, International admission, tuition costs, programs offered at each HCC location, courses offered, interactive online advising and access to information 24/7. Online Student Services will assist all students who contact HCC Student Service Associates via the chat forum, “contact us,” or through our internal HCC e-mail account. 

This presentation reveals how Illinois Central College used a proven model for dialogue, action, and change to involve students, faculty, staff, and trustees in giving voice and ownership to the diversity planning process.  A comprehensive college diversity plan was created based on key stakeholder input and best practices in diversity.

“Dream, Design and Deliver” outlines the development of the Las Positas College Educational Master Plan, an intensive strategic planning process that took place over the course of one academic year.  The result is a living document that captures the institution’s commitment to student success, teaching and learning, and educational excellence.

Following Best Practices, Mohave Community College has developed an Instructional Program Review Model that has transformed its decision making processes. Using this model the College can make informed decisions on the appropriation of its scarce resources and can ensure that its students are truly its first priority.

In a rural North Carolina county that has experienced no economic or population growth for five years, Southeastern Community College was losing enrollment and employee morale was poor. Under the direction of a new president hope has returned and the college is now beginning to impact the community.

Anne Arundel Community College  – Arnold, MD
School at Work:  Building a Career Ladder for Entry Level Healthcare Workers

School at Work delivers healthcare training to entry level workers through a unique combination of original and healthcare-based DVD, print, and web-based curricula. Learn how this unique partnership works, how hospital workers are moving up the career ladder, and benefit from the lessons learned in developing and delivering such an innovative program.

Brookhaven College presents a creative, vertically-integrated approach combining credit and continuing education to transition learning in spatial data visualization and geospatial technology from middle school students, actively participating in GIS and GPS projects, to college students engaged in hands-on experiences and viable projects to high demand industry-specific training for technicians.

A one-credit college based program designed to educate high school seniors about today’s manufacturing environment and career paths that will allow employers to retain local talent.  Students gain academic knowledge of manufacturing systems while spending time on-site to gain practical knowledge of the world of manufacturing and break through the misconceptions associated with the industry.

The Graduate Transition Program (GTP) is a custom-tailored learning community program for students with developmental disabilities upon exiting from high school.  GTP is a two-year, tuition-based, credit-free, certification program.  The overall objectives are to enable students the opportunity to have a real college experience and to foster greater independent living skills through academic, vocational and employment and life skills education.

NorthWest Arkansas Community College – Bentonville, AR 
No Responder Left Behind:  Emergency Preparedness and the Concentric Circle Training Model

The Concentric Circle Training Model for Emergency Preparedness Training was initiated by the Institute for Corporate and Public Safety in response to groups and individuals who have been neglected in the delivery of emergency response training, prompting directed efforts to create training partnerships with the underserved public and private sectors.

Oregon’s Pathways Initiative: The Journey from Promising Practices to Sustainability will focus on the multi-pronged effort to implement career pathways across the state’s educational enterprise. The Pathways Initiative bundles critical systemic supports to increase enrollment, retention and completion for post-secondary students, particularly those who “stop-in” and “stop-out” of employment-related coursework.

STRIDE (Skills, Transition, Respect, Integrity, Direction & Employment) is a grant funded bridge program designed to support motivated female inmates with dependent children with the skills essential to securing and maintaining post release employment. Through employment readiness workshops and case management support, STRIDE moves to reconnect families and reduce institutional recidivism rates.

This session will focus on the paradigm shift needed to incorporate technology, specifically e-learning courses, into the home health care and hospice industries.  This change in educational strategy has been successfully implemented through the Minnesota Home Care Association, with positive impact on employee learning and the fulfillment of education requirements. 

Learn how a community college partnered with a state-supported medical school, a major private teaching hospital, and public and private independent school districts to turn a declining degree into a program of study that enhances medical research and economic development through the development of a state-of-the-art bioscience institute.

Serving more than 30,000 students in its pilot year, Virginia Community College Career Coaches target “middle majority” students—the mainstay of the emerging workforce—through a unique, student-driven career planning process that actively partners business and industry, higher education, and high schools to increase rates of student participation in postsecondary education and workforce training.