FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 20, 2003
CONTACT: Nicole Colangelo-Lessin, Northwest Vista College Public Information Officer
210.531.4851
Northwest Vista Receives National Award
Northwest Vista College has been named as one of four "best-practices community colleges" nationwide to receive a student retention initiative award from the MetLife Foundation, and is one of a handful of community colleges of its size to be recognized for outstanding performance on the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE), a national survey of the Community College Leadership Program at the University of Texas at Austin.
"This is a direct message from our students that we are on the right track," remarked Northwest Vista College president Jacqueline Claunch. "We are thrilled to be recognized in this way."
Northwest Vista College was chosen for the $10,000 grant based on a combination of results from the CCSSE survey as well as other retention and success data. Selection for the award was made by a panel of experts using a "blind" review of college portfolios.
The announcement was made by CCSSE representative Christine McLean at a celebration to commemorate Northwest Vista College's five years at the Ellison Drive campus.
Northwest Vista College has been administering the CCSSE survey since the Spring of 2002. The college has consistently outperformed the average score on many categories, and this year ranked among the highest in the nation in all five key areas of educational excellence including: Student Effort, Academic Challenge, Student-Faculty Interaction, Support for Learners and Active and Collaborative Learning.
Key retention strategies like active learning, cooperative-learning math labs and a college orientation course have resulted in gradual increases in retention and student success at NVC even with enrollment increases averaging 1,000 students per year.
The other three colleges to win this award were F.H. Laguardia Community College (NY), Muskingan Area Technical College (OH) and Skagit Valley College (WA).
"Community Colleges have a tall order. They serve students whose goals range from taking a single class to earning an associate's degree to transferring to another school," said Sibyl Jacobson, MetLife Foundation president and CEO. "Retention can be hard to measure when students have such varied objectives, but these four institutions have shown it can be done. They have used data to improve retention and create programs that meet a wide variety of student needs. Their work is an example to others."