Advising: It Takes a Village

 

 

I just came back from a wonderful conference on college advising at Springfield Technical Community College in Springfield, MA.  The keynote speaker, Susan Koll, who serves  on the Board of Directors for the national Academic Advising Assocition is very   passionate about her work with students.  This came across clearly in her keynote address in which stressed that advising is a collaborative effort.  Good advising takes the whole college working together to support the success of its students.

 

So often this doesn’t happen.  Various parts of our colleges can work in their own silo, never reaching out to collaborate on behalf of the student.  This can happen between academic departments as well as between student affairs and academic affairs.  Students don’t make that distinction.  What they really need and want is to have one reliable “go to” person who recognizes that while accurate academic advising is critical, a student’s needs go beyond that.  An effective advisor knows this.   While this doesn’t imply that  advisors  have  to be an expert in every area of student development, they do need to have strong ties with other parts of the college to make referrals.

 

Students don’t segment their lives into pieces.  When they come to college, they bring all parts of themselves as a package.  Our job is to support all these pieces in the name of academic success and that takes “a village”.

Hope and Determination

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of interviewing Hope Dillard who is in her second semester at BCC.  She talked to me about her coming to school after having been out for a number of years and how her journey has gone thus far including her experience in developmental classes.   As you listen to the interview, you’ll hear Hope’s  story about her unwavering determination to excel academically and her dedication to bettering her own life.  Thanks Hope.

 

Interview with Hope Dillard

Connecticut Legislature Passes Remedial Education Overhaul | Inside Higher Ed

Interesting Will MA. follow in CT.’s footsteps?  What does this mean for the future of developmental education?  Read on.

 

Connecticut Legislature Passes Remedial Education Overhaul | Inside Higher Ed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interesting Will MA. follow in CT.’s footsteps?  What does this mean for the future of developmental education?  Read on.

 

Connecticut Legislature Passes Remedial Education Overhaul | Inside Higher Ed.

An Inspiring Class

Last week I interviewed students in  one of our developmental English classes.  I asked them about their experiences, thus far, at BCC as well as their goals and dreams for the future. I want to thank the students for their willingness to be interviewed.  Attached is a short film of the interview.  Inspiring.  Thanks, also, to Joan Timberlake, the instructor of the course,  for inviting me in to talk with her students.

Click on the links below to hear the interview.  It’s in two parts in order to allow for upload.

Enjoy

 

Interview with Berkshire Community College English Class Spring 2012 ( part 1)

Interview with Berkshire Community College English Class Spring 2012 ( part 2)

 

 

 

The BCC Diamond Mine

This post  is from one of our GetREAL advisors, Mark Clatterbaugh.  It highlights one of our GetREAL students and shows that  we need not look further than our own backyard to find gems.  Thanks, Mark

The BCC Diamond Mine

 

 

Russell Conwell, the first President of my Alma Mater, Temple University, gave a lecture called “Acres of Diamonds” over 6,000 times around the world and it later became widely published due to its popularity.

 

The gist of the original lecture centers on the legend of a Persian farmer who sells his farm and travels the world hoping to find a diamond mine and his fortune. To make a long story short, after years of searching and much despair and futility the farmer in some versions of the lecture casts himself into the sea. Meanwhile a priest, the farmer encountered during his long journey returns to the farmer’s original home and the new owner has a shiny gem sitting on the mantle. The two go into the yard and explore in a small stream and discover many of the shiny rocks. The site becomes one of the largest diamond mines in the world.

 

I had heard snip-its’ of this story throughout my college days and upon retiring to the Berkshires, I spent some time taking in the full story. It has been for me an inspiration.

 

And, so, at BCC, I find myself mining diamonds in the GetREAL program. This program is designed to help get students off to a good start during their first year here. So imagine our delight when several of the faculty mentors stumbled upon a real diamond, when we were asked to help look over an English assignment for Samantha Lincoln. Samantha’s short essay about her grandmother entitled “Wait Until You Get a Load of This” bowled us over.  Our first reaction was to submit this to NPR and have them read it on Selected Shorts but that seemed a bit ambitious, so we forwarded the story to the Zine publication team.

 

Well Sam’s story was accepted and won the inaugural “Dr. Andrew Howitt Award For Best Humor”.  We continue to encourage Sam with her writing. We actually have found several other pieces that we think are of similar caliber. It is nice to see our mine producing gems.

A success story at BCC

Today I had the pleasure of interviewing Sara Cain, a young woman who came to BCC last fall through Project Link, a transitions program for students some of whom, like Sara, have earned a GED.

The transition  into BCC wasn’t easy for Sara.  There was a point where she almost left.  Thankfully, she turned things around and has worked hard to stay on track towards her goals.  Good luck, Sara.  I’m cheering you on!

Interview with Sara Cain