Improving Student Success - Institutional

The Excellence in Education (EIE) Award: Improving Student Success - Institutional recognizes individuals who may not directly teach students, but have nonetheless positively affected student success. This includes personnel such as deans, student aides, tutors, advisors, program heads, and those in the areas of finance, student affairs, H/R, admissions, outreach, police and safety, health, library, testing, etc. 

Examples

• A process to streamline the advising scheduling.
• A policy on late enrollment or withdrawal that greatly improves student success.
• A library procedure that somehow has positively affected student success.
• A successful tutoring system.
• A pedagogy used to prepare at-risk students for the rigors of college.
• Collaboration with high schools or 4-year institutions.
• A dual enrollment system that streams successful entrants into community colleges.
• A collection of resources for helping students with non- academic issues such as homelessness.
• A reengineering of paperwork.
• A customer service plan that has improved student retention or satisfaction.
• A process that allows quick access to course enrollments for the upcoming semester.
• A financial aid policy that helps students acquire and budget funding.
• A system to update lab equipment.
• A policy or procedure enhancing student retention.
• A process for coordinating internships or introducing students to potential employers.
• Specialty email systems.

Judging Criteria

The following criteria will be rated on a scale from 1 to 5.

(1 = needs improvement; 2 = fair; 3 = good; 4 = very good; 5 = excellent; NA = not applicable)

• Describing the process, procedure, or policy, including: 1) the connection to Achieve 2015, 2) the creative, “out-of-the-box” nature of the project, and 3) the project’s connection to sound educational practices and processes. 
• Describing applicability of the project, including: 1) its “user-friendliness,” 2) transferability across disciplines, units, and institutions, and 3) viability over time. 
• Describing the impact of the project, including how it makes teaching and learning more effective with particular student groups.
• Presenting effectively at the EIE Awards reception.

Eligibility

• Individuals or teams of VCCS part-time or full-time faculty, staff, and administrators.

Submissions

Self-nominations for individuals or teams for the EIE Award: Improving Student Success - Institutional will be accepted through close of business Monday, November 28, 2011. Finalists will be notified by Tuesday, December 20, 2011. Finalists will have until Friday, January 6, 2012 to confirm their acceptance.

• Multiple nominees for a single project are asked to make their submission together. At this point, they are nominees.
• Out of the nominees, finalists will be selected to present their project at the Excellence in Education Awards judging from 3:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. and the reception from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 pm on Wednesday, March 21, 2012, in the Crystal Ballroom, Hotel Roanoke.
• In addition to the above presentation, EIE finalists are required to create a PowerPoint presentation of their project that touches on the four project criteria questions asked in the EIE Submission Form. Finalists may choose to use this PowerPoint as part of their presentation stated above.

PowerPoint Presentation Requirements

• Your presentation should be in Microsoft PowerPoint format, self-running, and a maximum of 3 minutes in length. Your PowerPoint may include video clips and audio; if video or audio clips are used (other than PowerPoint’s built-in narration), make sure to submit all associated files along with the PowerPoint file, preferably combined in a Zip file. Test your presentation on a computer other than the one that you create it on to make sure your audio and video run.
• The presentation submission will be shown at your project table, the Awards reception, for conference promotions, and the VCCS New Horizons iTunes University website.
• Presentations that are not in the allotted format and time will not be viewed by the judges, used onsite, nor used in follow-up New Horizons activities.
• Email Greg Cook from BRCC with your PowerPoint presentation by Friday, February 10, 2012.

Technical Assistance

• Finalists may email Greg Cook from BRCC with any technical questions regarding their PowerPoint presentation.
• Finalists are required to register for and attend the conference.
• Winners will be determined among the finalists and will be announced at the awards banquet on Thursday, March 22, 2012. The college of the winning project will receive $300. The 1st Runner-up will receive a $200 award. If multiple colleges are involved, the purse will be split between the colleges. Both awards may be used by the college(s) for travel, hardware, software, or other expenses to support the project. Each project participant will receive a certificate.

** The EIE Award Submission Form is Now Closed. Finalists will be posted soon.**