National Spotlight on Community Colleges and on Delta

Visitors from eight community colleges from around the country will convene at Delta College on Oct 26-27 to showcase their innovative initiatives for student success.  The two-day meeting will focus on Teaching and Learning Centers, Developmental Education Learning Communities, and Academic and Student Support Centers. 

Delta College was chosen to host the Closing Meeting for community college faculty, staff, and administrators involved in the national Community Colleges CAN Mentoring Project, a grant project developed by the US Department of Education to strengthen the capacity of community colleges to improve student achievement and success.  The project is a fast-track, well-supported, and practical learning experience in which representatives from three colleges form collaborative mentoring communities.

This capstone event will provide the setting for mentoring program participants from across the country to gather to showcase their initiatives, share information, discuss ideas and lessons learned, engage in collaborative strategic planning, and network with other community college practitioners and community partners.  It promises to be an engaging experience and an opportunity to build upon the learning and sharing that has been a hallmark of the mentoring program.  The event also offers the chance to celebrate the commitment of mentoring team members to supporting student success and bringing transformative change to their colleges.

In fall 2008, JBL Associates (JBLA), Inc. invited Delta to participate as a mentee college in the peer mentoring project.  Delta’s involvement was built around the experiences of Developmental Learning Communities at Skagit Valley College, which constituted the mentor college.

Delta College will showcase the two integrated studies, counseling-enhanced developmental learning communities it has developed and launched.  These twelve-credit learning communities, centered on students’ career interests, address the needs of students in their first semester of college. This focus on entering students seeks to boost student success and retention by ensuring that, in their earliest weeks of college, students are aware of and use the many available support services and get actively involved in the college community.

Team members from eight community colleges will be in attendance along with mentoring community facilitators and program staff from JBL Associates.  Delta’s team consists of Dean Karen Wilson, English professor Mary Beth Looby, Student Development Specialist Elizabeth Dewey, math professor Katrina Nichols, and Bridge Director Marcie Carter. President Goodnow will offer closing comments on Tuesday, Oct. 27.

For more information please contact Mary Beth Looby, Director of Developmental Education, at 989-686-9616 or mblooby@delta.edu.