Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College has been selected to participate in a new college mentoring program to support the development of effective intervention strategies for improving student achievement in postsecondary education. Through the mentoring program, practitioners from community colleges across the country will participate in an intensive, collaborative learning experience to share knowledge and experiences and receive technical assistance and expert advice.

The college mentoring program is a central component of Community Colleges CAN, www.communitycollege initiative funded through June 2009 by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Vocational and Adult Education. The initiative, which is administered by JBL Associates, is designed to strengthen the capacity of community colleges to meet students’ academic needs and support their success in college and the workforce.

Eighteen community colleges were selected to participate in the college mentoring program. Teams of faculty, staff and administrators will work collaboratively in six mentoring communities — each with one mentor college, two mentee colleges, and a facilitator with extensive professional experience in the two-year college community. Mentee colleges were selected through a national competition and matched with a mentor college experienced in the implementation of an effective initiative similar to that which the mentee would like to develop.

Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College was chosen to participate in the program to further develop its public and allied health program. Southeast has the largest health science education program among the state’s 16 community colleges and offers degrees and/ or certificates in eight fields. Along with Mt. San Antonio College located in California, Southeast will be mentored by Pasadena City College located in Pasadena, CA. Richard (Rick) Voorhees, Principal of the Voorhees Group LLC will serve as facilitator of Southeast’s mentoring community.

“Everyone involved in the program at Southeast is excited to have this opportunity. We have a variety of educators and administration to ensure the success of the Summer Bridge First Year Experience program; at Southeast it is our responsibility as educators to see that the students succeed,” said Erin Wilson, director of the Academic Support Center and leader of the Summer Bridge/ FYE program at SKCTC.

“We know that colleges all across the country are experiencing tremendous growth in health science professions. We also know that two-year colleges are able to provide extra support and academic preparation to those who want to better themselves professionally and socially. By working with Pasadena City College, we can develop the Summer Bridge/FYE for those who may seek a career in health sciences but who also need to have some developmental preparation beforehand. We do not want to let shortfalls in preparation hinder anyone who wants a better future for themselves and their families. It’s our future as a region as well as theirs,” said Dr. Wheeler Conover, the academic dean at Southeast.

Each mentoring community focuses on a program area that is important to all community colleges and centers on an initiative successfully implemented at a mentor college. The mentoring communities are: Academic and Student Support Centers, Career Pathways, Developmental Education Learning Communities, Innovations in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math), P–20 Educational Partnerships, and Teaching and Learning Centers. For a full list of the mentoring communities and participating colleges as well as descriptions of the colleges’ initiatives, visit www.communitycollegescan.org/about/factsheet.cfm

(http://www.communitycollegescan.org/about/factsheet.cfm).

Through the program’s fast-track, collaborative learning experience, the mentoring communities will develop practical strategies that mentee colleges can use to advance their own initiatives. They will focus on critical issues or challenges commonly faced by community colleges, such as program planning and design, building community partnerships, staff training and professional development, evaluation and assessment, data collection and funding strategies.

Six issue briefs, each focusing on one of these critical challenges, will be developed in the first half of 2009 to support the learning of the mentoring communities and to share practical strategies broadly within the two-year college community.

The college mentoring program will allow participants to benefit from expertise to which they might not otherwise have access,” said William Munn, program coordinator and research associate, JBL Associates. “In recent years, many community colleges have developed innovative interventions for improving student access to, preparation for, and persistence in postsecondary education. Peer mentoring can serve as an effective method to share knowledge and inspire development of successful implementation strategies.”