JSCC Announced as 2016 Bellwether Award Finalist

Dec 14th, 2015

Jackson State Community College has been announced as a finalist to compete for the 2016 Bellwether Awards. The Community College Futures Assembly announced ten outstanding community college programs from each of the three standard categories as the Finalists. The Assembly had issued a call for Bellwether Award nominations in the fall of 2015, and 30 finalist colleges in three categories were competitively chosen from the applicants.

The field of Bellwether nominations was very competitive this year with nearly 300 Bellwether applications. Prior to the application process, over 1,000 community college programs were nominated from a wide range of agencies including peer institutions, conferences, and the media. The ten finalists were selected in each category: Instructional Programs and Services, co-sponsored by the National Council of Instructional Administrators; Planning, Governance and Finance, co-sponsored by the Council for Resource Development; and Workforce Development, co-sponsored by the National Council for Continuing Education and Training.

Jackson State will compete in the Institutional Programs and Services category for its work in the Great Expectations college orientation program. According to Countance Anderson, director of registration and orientation, "We strongly believe that getting a great start to college is essential to student success." All new, degree-seeking students are required to attend one of the Great Expectations sessions before they start their first semester. "We have great expectations that students will accomplish their educational goals at Jackson State," Anderson states. Great Expectations is seen as the key to unlocking the door to future success.

All finalists will present at the Assembly on January 25th, 2016 in Orlando, Florida, and one winner will then be selected from each category by a panel of national experts within each category. The winners will be announced on Jan. 26th at the annual meeting in Orlando.



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