SCCC First Capital Region College to Join Achieving the Dream

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. - July 15, 2016 - PRLog -- Schenectady County Community College announced today it has joined Achieving the Dream's growing network of colleges (http://www.achievingthedream.org/about-us) dedicated to improving student success, making it the first higher education institution in the Capital Region to be a part of the national program. Achieving the Dream acts as a catalyst to help colleges strengthen and build their capacity to ensure that more students complete postsecondary education and have greater opportunity for economic success.

"This presents a tremendous opportunity for our college, and most importantly our students," said SCCC President Dr. Steady H. Moono. "SCCC is dedicated to utilizing every tool we can to ensure our students are able to find success once they leave our campus to pursue further education or enter the workforce. Our partnership with Achieving the Dream will expand our peer learning network, help us address equity and achievement gaps and ultimately improve the education our students receive here at SCCC."

SCCC joins 8 other New York colleges already enrolled in the program, including three that joined this year. Suffolk County Community College, SUNY Broome County Community College and Dutchess Community College also signed on for Achieving the Dream, joining a network made up of more than 200 other colleges across the country.

SCCC has created several new opportunities for local students in recent years, including establishing New York's first International Student Program Partnership with Niskayuna High School, and the Minority Mentoring Program.

"All of these programs play a vital role in improving graduation rates and guiding our youth towards a path to successful, fulfilling lives," said Moono.

ATD offers a capacity-building framework and companion self-assessment that allow colleges to pinpoint strengths and areas for improvement across seven institutional capacities in areas such as leadership and vision, teaching and learning and data and technology. ATD sends coaches to college campuses to provide coordinated, personalized advice to help build needed capacities, align student success efforts and support change where it's needed.

A team from Schenectady County Community College and teams from the 11 other colleges now joining ATD met last month to launch their ATD work. This group of colleges will be the first group to use the capacity framework from the start of their ATD work. They also join the network as ATD is consolidating lessons learned from more than a decade of experience leading and supporting community college reform.

For example, ATD will guide colleges toward making institution-wide changes because initiatives that don't reach most of a college's student body have not shown strong results. Developmental education must be accelerated, customized to learners' needs and connected to students' programs of study. And colleges will be encouraged to connect deeply and dynamically to other education systems, employers and community-based organizations.

As colleges in the new cohort progress, they may apply to participate in initiatives supported by philanthropic funding and managed by ATD. These initiatives help incubate new ideas that help colleges refine practices based on evidence of what works and allow ATD to disseminate knowledge to the broader network and the field. New initiatives address the challenge of engaging adjunct faculty more deeply as key members of colleges' workforces and implementing degree programs using only open educational resources (OER).

About Schenectady County Community College: One of the 30 community colleges in the State University of New York system, the nation's largest comprehensive system of higher education, Schenectady County Community College (SCCC) in upstate New York enrolls more than 7,000 students. SCCC offers more than 45 career degree, transfer degree and certificate programs. The College opened its doors for classes in 1969 and continues to provide affordable comprehensive higher education and adult educational opportunities in response to local educational needs. To learn more, visit www.sunysccc.edu. (http://www.sunysccc.edu/)

About Achieving the Dream, Inc.: Achieving the Dream, Inc. is a national nonprofit leading the nation's most comprehensive non-governmental reform network for student success in higher education history. The Achieving the Dream National Reform Network, including over 200 institutions, more than 100 coaches and advisors, and 15 state policy teams - working throughout 34 states and the District of Columbia - helps nearly 4 million community college students have a better chance of realizing greater economic opportunity and achieving their dreams. You can follow Achieving the Dream on Twitter at @AchieveTheDream or through LinkedIn at LinkedIn.com/company/Achieving-the-Dream-inc.