Models of Excellence Honorees Bossier Parish Community College, Louisiana Open Campus The Open Campus features free, open-source developmental courses for students readying for placement testing and those enrolled in credit-bearing coursework. Brief lectures recorded and uploaded to YouTube, as well as multiple-choice quizzes, are the core of the program, which has been accessed by nearly 35,000 users, only about half of whom have been Bossier Parish students. Open Campus has attracted the attention of the U.S. Department of Education, which rewarded the college’s innovation with a $1.8 million First in the World Grant. Read the full story. Moravian College, Pennsylvania Backpack to Briefcase A two-day interactive seminar held at the end of winter break, Backpack to Briefcase helps students learn about life after graduation: topics include graduate school, finding an internship, and negotiating salary and benefits. Students choose from a variety of workshops with industry experts, participate in individual mock interviews, learn table etiquette, and even enjoy a dress-for-success fashion show. Within a year of graduation, 90 percent of participants find a job or start graduate school, while 97 percent say they would recommend it to others. Read the full story. Northwood University, Michigan Educational Success Program Northwood’s Educational Success Program is a 12-day immersion for incoming students who have been admitted on a probationary basis. Living on campus, they take development mathematics and English classes and engage in a variety of co-curricular activities that help them adjust to college life, meet academic expectations, and acclimate themselves to the new campus and community. Peer mentors—many of them previous program participants—live in residence halls with the incoming students as support. Read the full story. Seton Hill University, Pennsylvania Fit for the World Program Fit for the World is a four-year career readiness program, blending targeted and personalized career prep work within a liberal arts education. All freshmen enroll in the required Connections class, in which each student’s interests, skills and values are evaluated to determine if their major is the best choice. Students then can confirm they’re on the right track or explore other paths of study. Ninety-seven percent of graduating students are happy about their post-graduation plans and feel they’re moving in the right direction. Read the full story. State University of New York at Geneseo,New York Geneseo Opportunities for Leadership Development (GOLD) Program Developed to help boost students’ leadership and teamwork abilities in a formalized environment, SUNY Geneseo’s GOLD program combines required courses with four core one-hour skill-building free workshops, plus four electives and journal reflections. Of more than 7,000 students who have participated in the program, 96 percent expect to use the skills learned in the program, and 94 percent say it has helped them to become more effective leaders. Read the full story. Washburn University, Kansas Ichabod Success Institute The Ichabod Success Institute supports first-generation, low-socioeconomic-status students from their first few pre-college days through their sophomore year. Administrators track student performance against that of a comparison group in academic and nonacademic areas, including grade point average, timely graduation, and on-campus employment and involvement. One hundred percent of students who participate in the summer portion have become full-time students in the fall semester; summer participants have also earned a collective 3.85 GPA in their first two courses. Read the full story. Westchester Community College, New York Money Smart Forum Westchester’s Money Smart Forum uses workshops, training and coaching to encourage students to improve their financial literacy. Last year, students saved a total of more than $54,000, reduced debt by an average of $660 each, and saw an average improvement in credit scores of 20 points. Among the Money Smart Forum students who graduated last spring, about half earned academic honors; a third of participants were from the English-as-a-Second Language program, while about two-thirds were from credit and degree-seeking programs. Read the full story. University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Vira I. Heinz Program for Women in Global Leadership The year-long Vira I. Heinz Program for Women in Global Leadership empowers women to become familiar with international and community engagement. Three women from each of 15 Pennsylvania universities, including the University of Pittsburgh, where the program is headquartered, participate in on-campus retreats and four weeks of study abroad, plus have to share their experiences with the local community. The program is geared toward women who are LGBT, registered with their disability office, racially diverse STEM majors or Pell Grant recipients. Read the full story. This e-mail was sent to: [EMAIL]. One Click Unsubscribe | Manage My Subscriptions [COPYRIGHT] 35 Nutmeg Drive Suite 205, Trumbull, CT, 06611