About the Mentor College Initiatives

You are asked in the application material to provide the name of a mentor college with whom you would like to work in a mentoring relationship. Six colleges will be participating as mentors, and their team members have particular expertise related to a specific type of initiative and program area. You should select the initiative that most closely matches the one you would like to enhance or develop at your college and which would benefit directly from the experiences of mentor team members. The colleges are listed below along with the name of the initiative and a brief description. Also included is a website address for more information.

El Paso Community College: El Paso Partnership (El Paso, TX)

El Paso Community College and the University of Texas at El Paso have shared a unique and comprehensive working relationship over the past several years to the benefit of the institutions, their students, and the community. Their partnership has developed to include a wide variety of programs, initiatives, and practices. These include joint committees and procedural agreements, cooperative academic and scholarship programs, research projects, and consortia, among other collaborative arrangements. The partnership also includes twelve local independent school districts in the El Paso area. Together these institutions work to address the needs of their students and the community in the economically challenged setting of southwestern Texas. http://www.epcc.edu/

Parkland College: Center for Academic Success (Champaign, IL)

The Center for Academic Success is a comprehensive, one-stop learning assistance center that provides a variety of academic services and programs aimed at addressing the learning needs of students, in particular those taking developmental education courses. The services provided by the Center include peer and faculty tutoring, study skills workshops, a writing center, an academic development lab, and advising and personal planning. CAS also facilitates the development and use of innovative and diverse teaching approaches through the provision of tutorials and modules that respond to student needs and support regular classroom activities. The Center is a centerpiece of the college’s efforts to improve the efficacy of its developmental education program and to strengthen the academic skills and persistence rates of at-risk students. http://www.parkland.edu/cas/

Pasadena City College: Teaching and Learning Communities (Pasadena, CA)

The Teaching and Learning Communities functions as a comprehensive academic and learning community comprised of faculty members, counselors, and students. The initiative supports the learning needs of under-prepared, first-generation college students, helping them advance from basic skills to transfer and vocational courses. Instructional models range from single courses to block programs. Current initiatives include a summer bridge/first-year experience program, intensive math courses, career pathways, ESL blocks, transfer and probation workshops, and faculty development projects. The center is structured to ensure that teachers and students mutually engage in the learning process. The objective is to create an environment in which students benefit from the support of faculty and staff who help them improve their academic skills and find their own voice. Faculty members benefit from the opportunity to explore innovative approaches to teaching and learning, and the college benefits from a center which serves as an incubator for new programs and services. www.pasadena.edu/tlc

Salt Lake Community College: InnovaBio (Salt Lake City, UT)

Skagit Valley College: Counseling-Enhanced Developmental Learning Communities (Mount Vernon, WA)

The Counseling-Enhanced Developmental Learning Communities program is designed to strengthen basic skills education and learning support at the college. The approach of the program is to team counselors with faculty and students to form developmental education learning communities. Counseling and teaching faculty work collaboratively to incorporate college success skills into course content tailored to meet in-class needs and generally support student learning and educational planning. The initiative is aimed at enhancing the efficacy of the college’s approach to addressing the learning needs of its most academically challenged students, accelerating their progress to academic-level coursework and improving their persistence to degree or certificate completion. The program emerged from the college’s longstanding and highly successful experience with learning communities as a method to achieve positive learning outcomes. http://www.skagit.edu/directory.asp

Southwestern Oregon Community College: Career Pathways (Coos Bay, OR)

Career Pathways at Southwestern Oregon Community College encourages, guides, and supports high school students and adults re-entering the workforce in the development and completion of a course of academic preparation and skill enhancement necessary to achieve their career objectives. The approach aligns and connects secondary and postsecondary education institutions, workforce training initiatives, and student support services to create a cohesive pathway to the attainment of a certificate or degree. Among the goals of Career Pathways are the strengthening of partnerships among education institutions and other community service providers to improve the success of students, the development of a workforce trained to meet the dynamic needs of the labor market, and the promotion of economic development in the local area. The pathways framework is inclusive, encompassing departments across the college as well as local high schools and job training agencies. http://www.socc.edu/pathways/index.html