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Community college expert speaks at CLC

Joshua Wyner, a nationally recognized expert on community college excellence and author of "What Excellent Community Colleges Do," addressed College of Lake County faculty and staff Jan. 12 as part of the college's orientation week activities preceding spring semester.

Wyner, vice president and executive director of the College Excellence Program at the Washington, D.C.,-based Aspen Institute, has appeared on PBS's "NewsHour" and before the Chicago Tribune editorial board.

"I have so much respect for community colleges because you do so many different things: career programs, four-year transfer and more," said Wyner. "You're working with many students who are underprepared, and what you're doing is more important for human capital development. You all are doing amazing work, both in pockets and collectively."

Wyner said that an excellent community college has four main components. First, it has a high percentage of students who earn associate degrees and other meaningful credentials.

Second, it ensures the success of minority, low-income and other underrepresented students. Third, it sets expectations for what students should learn, measures results and uses the information to improve.

And fourth, the graduates earn well-paying, family-supporting jobs.

Two of the Aspen Institute's initiatives are the Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, which strives to shine a spotlight on community colleges that deliver exceptional student results, and the New College Leadership Project. The latter works to align the hiring and professional development of college presidents with the goal of substantially improving student success.

Top community colleges have a committed culture from leadership down to faculty, and they foster good communication with the business sector, he added. Further, he said, achieving success among all ethnic groups is especially important as the United States continues to become more ethnically diverse.

"We can't develop the talent we need nationally unless we reach first-generation and students of color," Wyner said.

Following Wyner's remarks, CLC President Dr. Jerry Weber cited several CLC initiatives that support Wyner's four factors of excellence. They include a $2.4 million effort to increase graduation and transfer rates and a program that includes a new, five-member Coaching for Academic Success program that launched last fall.

According to Dr. Weber, the coaches have focused on helping nearly 3,000 students enrolled in 153 developmental math and English courses.

"Josh Wyner's presentations to our college community this week laid out goals and level of performance that all community colleges can use to reach for excellence," Weber said. "Wyner noted from his national work that all colleges have areas of excellence, but he was pleased to speak at CLC, where the college was seeking large-scale efforts to improve student learning and success."

Another program cited by Weber consists of seven dedicated tutors who worked with two sections of developmental math in the fall 2014 semester. The tutors attended class at least once per week to reinforce key concepts to students during workshops and tutoring sessions.

The college also hired a consultant to develop a strategic enrollment management plan that addresses areas ranging from the campus visit experience to holistic advising. Other CLC programs cited by Weber include college readiness programs aimed at area high school students and "Jump Start," a summer bridge program for entering freshman that prepares them for college-level courses.

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