information from South Seattle College

South Seattle College announced today that it has been selected to participate in the Pathways Project led by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC). Through a highly competitive selection process, South was one of only 30 institutions from across the country chosen to participate in this project that is focused on student success and college completion.

The AACC is coordinating a national partnership to build capacity for community colleges to implement a pathways approach to support student achievement and college graduation. The project is funded through a $5.2 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

This focus will be supported by several partners. These partners include Achieving the Dream, Inc., the Aspen Institute, the Center for Community College Student Engagement, the Community College Research Center, Jobs for the Future, the National Center for Inquiry and Improvement, and Public Agenda. Partners have participated actively in the college selection process and also are substantively involved in designing a model series of six two-day pathways institutes, each focusing on key elements in a fully scaled pathway model for community colleges.

The selected colleges will be the first to participate in the pathways institute series over the next 2.5 years and will work with expert coaches at those institutes, complementing the work already underway at South focused on student success. Additionally, South will contribute to learning both across the initiative and more broadly, across the community college field.

“The Pathways Project is improving and increasing the odds for student success,” South Seattle College President Gary Oertli said.

“As national leaders in this endeavor, this will mean a great deal of hard work for our entire campus. However, we have a campus community that is dedicated to serving our students and this partnership will help strengthen our efforts in setting up our students for success.”