During the summer of 2008, the Office of University Life and Enrollment Management at SUNY System Administration and the Chief Student Affairs Officers for Community Colleges invited nominations from every SUNY state-operated community college campus for the third annual Outstanding Student Affairs Program Awards for community colleges. Campuses were asked to nominate programs that have made a positive impact on students and their development in the following categories: New Student/First Year Program; Assessment; Retention; Diversity and Multicultural Programs; Sustainability; and Student Affairs and Academic Affairs Collaboration.
I am very pleased to announce that MCC has two recipients for the 2008-2009 Outstanding Student Affairs Program. MCC’s program “WINS” (Workshops Initiated toward Needs of Students) won for the Student Affairs and Academic Affairs Collaboration category. “WINS” is a collaborative effort of the Department of Counseling and Advising and Academic Services. It is designed to help students learn more about how to succeed in college while effectively engaging professors, counselors and /or advisors simultaneously. WINS brings "how-to" workshops into classrooms. It enables the Counseling and Advising professional staff to reach a large number of students (a captive audience) in one setting, many of whom would not be reached in any other way. Also, the standardized workshop packets are "grab and go," which eliminates the "design" time for the WINS series. When a professor knows at least two weeks in advance that it will be necessary to cancel class, contact is made with the Department of Counseling and Advising to request a member of the staff attend a class and teach a workshop.
“Doorway to Success - African American Male Retention” by Damon City Campus Student Services won in the category of Retention and was created to strengthen the academic, vocational, and technical skills of African American men at Monroe Community College. African-American men are typically non-traditional college students. They are underserved and often under-prepared for the rigors of higher education. Greater than 90% of all of the participants of the Doorway to Success program are economically disadvantaged. Ten (10%) of the participants from this program disclosed that they were individuals with disabilities. The primary objective of this initiative is to address the cultural and academic barriers to achievement by providing culturally relevant support, guidance and programming to increase retention and program completion rates of African-American men. The nomination was submitted due to the longevity of the African-American Male Retention initiative, which spawned efforts to assist Latino male students who are considered economically disadvantaged and academically unprepared for college.
Please join me in congratulating the Counseling and Advising Department and DCC Student Services.
Dr. Susan M. Salvador
Vice President, Student Services
04/07/2009 |