Weekly Message from Dr. Belinda S. Miles – September 30, 2016
We submitted our application for one million dollars to the Laura and John Arnold Foundation to implement a replication of the City University of New York Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (CUNY ASAP). If funded, we imagine using January 2017 through August 2018 for planning, building infrastructure, and recruiting a pilot cohort of 150 students beginning fall 2018. This highly successful model would provide additional support to students. Thank you to the team that worked to design the program, and thank you to our faculty reviewers who provided valuable insights as we prepared to send off our submission, and special thanks to Dr. Laurie Miller McNeill for your focus and facilitation through the process.
The national focus on expanding access to educational pathways includes the White House initiative to open FAFSA to students as early as October 1, 2016. This is a great opportunity for students to file their application early to secure funding for the fall 2017 semester. Our strategic enrollment management team is working on a campaign to encourage students to file their FAFSA early. In your various capacities, please encourage students to take advantage of this tremendous new opportunity! We may even see FAFSA days in the coming year.
We are preparing to launch a college-wide Student Success and Academic Excellence Summit on October 14. We are also excited about the momentum we have gained on the academic transformation forums and the broad-based and inclusive ways to receive input on defining the key elements of each of our schools which will help us identify resources needed to support and enhance these elements.
Further extending our efforts to move from “theory to practice,” I will host open table hours starting next week, October 4th at 3 pm in the Siegel Café. Ms. Yolanda Howell will announce the open hours and location in a weekly email, and anyone may drop in at any time during the open hours. Also, I welcome the opportunity to participate in more class visits this fall. I found these visits insightful and informative last spring. Please send Yolanda an email if you would like me to visit one of your classes Yolanda.Howell@sunywcc.edu.
Thanks for making it a great week.
Dr. Belinda S. Miles
President