Congratulations to the West Virginia Community and Technical College System for receiving one of six National Governors Association grants for a Governor’s Forum on Postsecondary Credential Attainment by Adult Workers.  The Community and Technical College System will use the event to launch a new initiative, called ON-RAMP (On Reaching Academic Momentum Points), aimed at increasing the number of adults who graduate from college with a credential, whether it be with a certificate degree, associate’s degree or bachelor’s degree.  Improving retention and graduation rates is likely to be the System’s top priority over the next five years, and this Forum, which will educate participants about best practices and be followed by institutional planning meetings ,is a great place to start if West Virginia is to do its part to help President Obama reach the goal of making America the international leader in postsecondary credential attainment again.

DCT Advisors is pleased to have the opportunity to support this initiative.

Congratulations to the West Virginia Community and Technical College System for winning a prestigious $635,000 U.S. Department of Education Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) grant with assistance from DCT Advisors LLC.

Given to organizations pursuing promising higher education innovations, the FIPSE grant will support the System’s Integrated Pathways for Adult Student Success (I-PASS) initiative aimed at addressing the need to expand high-need enrollment, particularly among adults; strengthening Adult Basic Education and Developmental Education; and improving persistence and completion rates.

Major initiatives focus on educational pipeline expansion and leakage reduction, with resources being devoted to an accelerated I-BEST exploratory curriculum involving early career planning, expanded learning support center services, and counselor/ coaches as primary points of contact for adult students, as well as improved recruitment strategies.