Second College Access Summit to Focus on Reaching Out to HS Students, Parents
ORLANDO, April 23,2008 -- The importance of informing high school students about college opportunities and calling attention to strong programs at community colleges will be highlighted Friday, April 25, at the University of Central Florida’s College Access Summit.
More than 100 academic leaders from Central Florida high schools and community colleges are expected to attend the second-annual summit at UCF’s main campus. The summit is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Fairwinds Alumni Center across the street from the UCF Arena.
The focus of the summit is to develop a regional strategy for expanding access to college education for high school graduates in Central Florida. That includes improved communication with families of high school students and solutions that could better align K-12 and higher education.
Organizers hope to generate ideas among superintendents, principals, guidance counselors and UCF and community college leaders to expand college attendance rates of high school graduates. The challenge is to prevent obstacles such as the competitive admissions process and state budget cuts from getting in the way of students’ access to higher education.
“There is a lot of uncertainty in higher education right now. Familes are confused,” said Dave Harrison, vice provost of UCF Regional Campuses. “Our partnership with community colleges makes sure there is a pathway to a UCF degree for students in our region.”
To improve access, UCF became the first state university to sign a resolution with regional community college leaders to guarantee admission to their graduates. Brevard, Lake-Sumter, Seminole, and Valencia community colleges partnered with UCF to create the Central Florida Higher Education Consortium in 2005. The consortium established the DirectConnect to UCF program, which more closely aligns UCF’s admissions policies and procedures with its community college partners, resulting in an easier transition for students, preferential admissions for graduates of partner community colleges, the expansion of joint-use facilities and joint faculty and staff.
More than 18,000 students at the consortium community colleges have enrolled in the DirectConnect to UCF program. Last year, more than half of all of UCF’s bachelor’s degrees were awarded to community college transfer students
In addition to the consortium colleges, Central Florida Community College is participating in Friday’s summit.
In November, UCF hosted more than 150 academic leaders from high schools and community colleges at the inaugural College Access Summit. Panelists discussed trends impacting the college attendance rates of Central Florida high school graduates.
Even with UCF’s increased efforts to unite with community colleges, participants in the November summit expressed concerns about high school students’ awareness of the partnerships with local community colleges, financial aid, potential career paths and preparations for the college application process. A stronger emphasis should be put on parental involvement, participants said.
Invitations to the summit Friday were distributed in conjunction with UCF’s community college partners. For more information or to RSVP, call UCF’s Regional Campuses administrative offices at 407-823-4547
--UCF--
Contact: Chad Binette, News and Information, 407-823-6312, cbinette@mail.ucf.edu