Creating a College-Going Culture

Post-secondary education is now a necessity to secure employment at a livable wage. Presenters will highlight the collaborative efforts between Adult and Continuing Education and Enrollment Management and Student Development to facilitate the transition of non-traditional students into degree programs, and new initiatives aimed at fostering success and retention of first-generation students in pre-college programs and during first year coursework.

Presenters: Mimi Blaber, Renee Butler, Amy Dalsimer , David Housel and Reine Sarmiento (Enrollment Management & Student Development and Adult & Continuing Education)

Room: E251

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The Community College as a Catalyst for Change: Towards an Alignment of High School and College

In light of the increasing recognition that states need to define a common “framework of content and skills that meet an overarching goal,” from kindergarten through high school graduation,” (Washington Post, June 1, 2009), as well as the overwhelming need for remediation among high school graduates entering the college, the timing seems right for LaGuardia Community College to take a leadership role in facilitating the high school-college transition. This workshop will provide a forum for both high school and college faculty and administrators to develop a collaborative plan to meet the challenge of bridging the high school-college gap.

Presenter: Carolyn Henner Stanchina (Academic Affairs)

Room: E264

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Integrated Post Secondary Education Data System (IPEDS): What Can We Learn About the College and Our Peers, and How Can We Convert Data Into Evidence

Colleges are facing a constant need to evaluate their performances compared with peers, and understand their relative success and challenges in relation to other institutions nationwide. This workshop will allow users to gain better understanding of the relative location of community colleges in the post-secondary education system, and be introduced to tools that link this information into evidence for change in students’ life and across society.

Presenter: Erez Lenchner (Institutional Research &Assessment)

Room: E260

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Whither Community College? Opportunities and Challenges in the Age of Obama

With the sharp decline in the economy and the recognition that fewer Americans are prepared for the demands of a global, technologically advanced economy, public officials from President Obama to City Council members, are turning to community colleges to deliver the education, skills, and training individuals will need to succeed in this rapidly changing, competitive world. After decades of neglect, federal dollars for workforce development, student aid and possibly direct aid to community colleges is on the horizon. But the policy outlook is hazy and much is unknown about the changes to come.

This workshop will bring together higher education leaders to discuss the opportunities and challenges facing community colleges in the 21st century. Panelists will participate in a lively discussion on what lies ahead for community colleges on a federal, state and local level. They will analyze what’s being ignored and offer ideas on what it will take to advance a robust, long-term community college agenda.

Moderator: Robert Jaffe (President’s Office)

Room: E265

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Changing the Transfer Model: Faculty’s Role as Catalyst in Student Transfer

In the 21st century community college freshmen increasingly identify their goal as an advanced educational degree; they aspire to go from the associate to the bachelor’s to the master’s and even to the doctorate. This aspiration marks a significant change in the mission of the community college. While continuing to offer students career paths, community colleges are evolving into institutions with broader goals as we prepare students for the future. LaGuardia will be launching new initiatives in the Office of Transfer Services in response to this change, encouraging students to become actively involved in making decisions about academic transfer. Faculty will be invited to become catalysts by serving as mentors and engaging in discipline-specific instructional models to help students make informed choices and not just accept default plans.

Presenters: Dr. Cecilia Macheski (Academic Affairs) and Ms. Sandra Cevallos (Office of Transfer Services)

Room: E262

Wikipedia Demystified: Content, Coverage & Controversies

Outright rejection of Wikipedia's validity and utility no longer makes sense in the post-Web 2.0 environment. Given the immense positive potential inherent in the rise of Wikipedia as an open, collaborative resource, academics need to explore it and actively participate in its creation so that Wikipedia becomes more than superficially useful and less problematic as a centralized, socially produced information hub. This interactive discussion will raise critical questions and facilitate a better understanding of the workings of this widely-used and constantly changing reference source. Are there any beneficial ways we can use Wikipedia content creation, editing, and analysis in an educational context? Wikipedia’s policies and operations are mysterious to many of us; this conversation aims to help unravel some of the questions and confusion surrounding them.

Presenters: Ann Matsuuchi and Louise Fluk (Library)

Room: E266

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From Math in the Modern World to Math in the Modern Classroom: Bridging the Gap

"Your majesty, people are hungry, they do not have bread!"
"Let them eat cake." - The last queen of France is alleged to have replied, leading to a Revolution.

Perilously, I propose a similar remedy for our students who struggle with mathematics. They may not have the most elementary skills, yet it is still possible for them to discover the wonders and pleasures of math in their everyday experiences and awake their hunger for learning more. This workshop will focus on several mathematical surprises which arise from contexts familiar to a wide, non-mathematical audience and whose appreciation requires little to no mathematical background.

To what extent do people who do not aspire to become scientists or engineers need to be exposed to mathematical ideas and trained in mathematical thinking? What parts of mathematical curriculum are essential to an educated non-scientist in the modern world? Even as we desperately try to increase the success rates of students in our Basic Skills courses, these are the questions that colleges, and especially community colleges, must address, as it is up to us to define the criteria for baseline mathematical background necessary for an individual to be well equipped for survival and advancement in the modern world.

Presenter: Dr. Marina Nechayeva (Mathematics, Engineering, & Computer Science)

Room: E225