92 Western Avenue

Fairfield, ME 04937-1367

 

 

FOR RELEASE UPON RECEIPT                                    For more information

September 6, 2005                                                              contact: Erica Humphrey,

Public Relations, KVCC

(207) 453-5157

                                                                                                ehumphrey@kvcc.me.edu

 

 

Kennebec Valley Community College Selected to Participate in National Project

 

FAIRFIELD, ME –  Kennebec Valley Community College has been named one of 10 two-year “Founding Institutions” selected to participate in a national project known as the “Foundations of Excellence in the First College Year.”  The project, sponsored by the Policy Center on the First Year of College and endorsed by the American Association of Community Colleges and the League for Innovation in the Community College, will develop and test a model of excellence for the new student experience.  Funding for this project has been provided by Lumina Foundation for Education.

In response to the selection, Barbara Woodlee, KVCC President, said, “We are honored to be selected as a Founding Institution in this initiative.  Our work on this project will have a great impact on students’ first-year experience at KVCC.”

Research has long indicated that new students who are successfully integrated into college are much more likely to succeed.  Many colleges, therefore, work especially hard to create a first-rate experience for new students. According to Randy Swing, Co-Director of the Policy Center, attention to the new student experience will benefit students by helping them to meet their educational goals and will benefit institutions by helping them retain students through graduation.

“I am very excited about the year that lies ahead of us,” said Karen Normandin, Director of Educational Services at KVCC.  “We know the First Year is a critical time for learning and developing new skills.  The opportunity to inventory and assess our current programs and activities will result in an action plan that will enhance the total experience for first-year students.”

 

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Over the next 12 months, these ten institutions will measure their effectiveness in recruiting, admitting, orienting, supporting, advising, and teaching new students. They will then be able to make programmatic improvements that will increase student learning, success, and persistence.  The blueprint will represent the first holistic examination of the many elements that get students off to the right start.

In describing the importance of this project, John N. Gardner, executive director of the Policy Center on the First Year of College, located in Brevard, North Carolina said, “While much is known about how a campus can improve new student learning and retention, this information has never been synthesized or translated into aspirational standards that are reflective of best practice.  The absence of clear standards has powerful educational and financial consequences.  This project brings together a number of highly credible researchers, reformers, and practitioners, who are creating the blueprint that for too long has been missing.”

Other two-year institutions also selected to participate include Longview Community College (Missouri), Middlesex Community College (Connecticut), Montgomery County Community College (Pennsylvania), Oakton Community College (Illinois), Pellissippi State Technical Community College (Tennessee), San Jacinto College South (Texas), Spokane Falls Community College (Washington), University of Wisconsin Colleges, and Virginia Highlands Community College.

 

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