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GC recognized for educational program, receives two awards
Liz Kohman
- Staff Reporter
The General College celebrated two awards in an informal luncheon and kicked off its Access and Excellence capital campaign at the Weisman Art Museum on Wednesday.
The awards came from two different organizations and recognized the General College nationally for its exceptional developmental education program.
One of the awards, originally presented to the college in August, came from the American Productivity and Quality Center, and was the result of a study concerning developmental education programs. The General College was the only university program in the nation to be recognized as one of five exemplary programs for best practices in developmental education.
With this award, the General College serves as a benchmark for other developmental education programs.
The second award was given by the National Association for Developmental Education, and will be officially accepted by the General College in March. The award annually recognizes excellence in one developmental education program nationwide.
"We can sit in this room and say that the dream we went after was accomplished," said David Taylor, dean of the General College. "We need to acknowledge that we are the best and the brightest in what we are trying to do."
Lori-Anne Williams, grant writer for the General College, said she noticed two things made the developmental education program different from other programs: the way the college serves students through classes and advising, and the focus on access and excellence instead of remediation.
"All of us make this work. We each have a role to play, and the sum of that benefits students," said Marjorie Cowmeadow, associate dean, to General College faculty members.
Hunter Boylan, former president of NADE, supported the General College during the award selection process.
"The GC model is one of the most durable innovations in American higher education," Boylan said. "It's a very well coordinated and a very well integrated program."
On the wave of this national recognition, the General College will start a campaign to raise more than $1.5 million to receive a matching donation from the Hubbard Family.
In addition to corporate contributions, the faculty and staff plan to raise $200,000 on their own. They have already raised $53,000.
The funds raised will be put into strategic initiatives, scholarship funding, and the teaching, research, and advising programs of the college.
-- Staff reporter Tess Langfus contributed to this report.
Liz Kohman welcomes comments at ekohman@mndaily.com
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