OCAN invests in $300,000 in Ohio Programs that Prepare Kids for College
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: June 22, 2009
Contact: Kimberly Gormley, Director of Marketing and Communications
Office: 614-947-3504, Mobile: 614-688-2953, E-mail: GormleyK@ohiocan.org
Columbus, Ohio –The Ohio College Access Network recently awarded $300,000 to 14 college access programs as part of the competitive Invest in Success process. This grant is designed for community-based OCAN members to implement new programs, enhance existing initiatives or build capacity to strengthen their overall operations.
The need for college access services is supported by a recent report by The Joyce Ivy Foundation which states the role of an Ohio high school guidance counselor is often a “loosely-defined overflow position for the school administrator”. Rather than spending significant time assisting students with goal setting and college planning, guidance counselors are often required to spend their days managing student schedules, testing, records, signing tardy slips and tending to students other immediate needs. The OCAN member programs directly augment the work of guidance counselors by situating advisors in the schools who provide career guidance, financial aid advising, need-based scholarships and other services.
Like OCAN, the goal of grantee programs is to help more Ohio students pursue and complete education beyond high school, with particular focus on low-income students and those who are first in their families to go to college. Recipients include: A Call to College, Cincinnati Youth Collaborative, Coshocton C.A.R.E.S, Holmes County, Mahoning Valley, OACHE, Pickaway HELPS, Portage County, Preble County, Stark Educational Partnership, U-CAN, Washington State Community College, Cleveland Scholarship Program, and the I CAN Center of Excellence.
All of these programs are taking great steps toward the goal of college access and success. Specifically, U-CAN in Richland County is expanding its advising services to Ashland County, while A Call to College in Newark formed a middle school early awareness program. Moreover, A Call to College conducted research before forming the program to ensure the need of a middle school program. These are just two examples of the services provided by access programs to the students.
“OCAN is grateful that we have been able to assist community-based college access organizations for ten years with funding that has improved Ohio’s college-going rate. Local access organizations have leveraged state and private dollars in a remarkable way. I appreciate all of their contributions,” added Dr. Reginald Wilkinson, OCAN President & CEO.
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College access expands along Ohio’s North Coast
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: June 10, 2009
CONTACT: Kimberly Gormley, Director, Marketing & Communications
Office: 614.947.3504, Mobile: 614.668.2954, Email: gormleyk@ohiocan.org
Columbus, Ohio – The reach of the Ohio College Access Network (OCAN) has expanded to include previously access-lacking counties in Northwest Ohio thanks to generous funding from the Great Lakes Higher Education Guaranty Corporation.
OCAN has implemented this expansion with the president of Terra Community College and the director of the Workforce Development Council Tech Prep Consortium. This latest regional establishment, The North Coast Center of Excellence, will serve Wood, Hancock, Ottawa, Sandusky, Seneca, Erie, and Huron counties. The Center will utilize collaboration among 12 high schools, several career centers and education partnerships, and five higher education institutions in the region: Bowling Green State University, Terra Community College, Heidelberg University and Tiffin College.
Comprised of 37 traditional college access organizations and two Regional Centers of Excellence, OCAN’s reach covered 65 of Ohio’s 88 counties. Much of the access void was concentrated in Northwest Ohio, until OCAN’s third Regional Center of Excellence was established this spring, cutting the void nearly in half. Services will be provided by the Wood County-based center to seven additional counties and thousands of additional constituents in the north coast area of Ohio.
Fewer than one in five adults over 25 in three of these counties (Huron, Seneca, Sandusky) have obtained a post-secondary degree. This low attainment rate, which is not limited to only these Northwest Ohio counties, rivals rates found in Ohio’s Appalachian Counties.
“OCAN is strategically poised to address the critical need in Ohio’s most urban and rural counties…Great Lakes shares this vision, too. Fortunately, they have continually and generously supported access work in Ohio,” said Dr. Reginald Wilkinson, OCAN President and CEO.
Great Lakes Higher Education Guaranty Corporation, headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin, approved funding for the North Coast Center of Excellence partnership in March 2009. Great Lakes is dedicated to changing lives for the better through higher education, and provides financial, educational, and operational support at every stage of the educational journey. Beginning in this upcoming 2009-10 school year, its dedication will help OCAN make great strides in providing college access services and programming and in Northwest Ohio.
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Study shows college planning time is rare for Ohio high school guidance counselors
OCAN college advisors help in nearly 175 school districts
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: April 13, 2009
CONTACT: Kimberly Gormley, Director, Marketing & Communications
Office: 614.947.3504, Mobile: 614.668.2954, Email: gormleyk@ohiocan.org
Columbus, Ohio - According to a report released last week by The Joyce Ivy Foundation, the role of an Ohio high school guidance counselor is often a loosely-defined overflow position for the school administrator.
The study states that one-third of a counselor's time is spent performing administrative work such as scheduling, testing management, maintaining student records and signing tardy slips. Another 40% of a counselor's time is dedicated to responding to students' immediate needs, broad-based group counseling and other activities. Furthermore, if a student does receive post-high school planning services, counselors frequently have no more than 15 minutes of individual time with non-crisis students a semester.
In nearly 175 of Ohio's school districts, high school counselors have help from college access advisors associated with the Ohio College Access Network (OCAN). These college advisors work with Ohio students to directly augment the work of guidance counselors. This work is done through local OCAN member college access programs that provide career guidance, financial aid advising, need-based scholarships and other services. OCAN's goal is to help more Ohio students pursue and complete education beyond high school, with particular focus on low-income students and those who are first in their families to go to college.
Pamela Schram, a guidance counselor at Claymont High School in Uhrichsville, Ohio has witnessed the positive impact of an OCAN program in her community. "Our OCAN program is called ACE or Accessing a College Education.ACE and OCAN have saved my students," said Schram. "I could never have gotten to so many and created the scholarship blitz, and free application night like we have for the entire county without an additional person helping me."
The findings outlined in the Foundation report support the principles on which OCAN was founded. OCAN was created a decade ago to help address the need for additional services to help students prepare for and succeed in college. As the first network of its kind, OCAN was charged with replicating 11 existing college access programs. Today, OCAN links 37 community-based programs across the state and serves as a national model through its work with the National College Access Network (NCAN) and Lumina Foundation for Education.
A recent study conducted by the University of Cincinnati found that high schools with an OCAN program have a 3.8% increase in average college-going rates among graduates. Additionally, when compared to similar schools without an OCAN program, there was an average 4.5% increase high school graduation rates.
With the downturn in the economy, the collective work of OCAN advisors and high school guidance counselors continues to grow in importance; moreover, it is essential to furthering President Obama's strategy to increase the number of Americans who commit to at least one year or more of higher education or career training.
The Joyce Ivy Foundation's 2009 Ohio High School Counselor Report also sites that OCAN is working toward better college access in the State of Ohio.
For the full Joyce Ivy Foundation report go to: www.joyceivyfoundation.org. For the University of Cincinnati study go to: www.ohiocan.org/UCStudy.aspx.
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A Decade of Excellence - Ohio College Access Network Winter 2009 Newsletter Now Available
The Ohio College Access Network Winter 2009 newsletter is now available in PDF form. Newsletters were mailed in March. If you did not receive a copy, please email ocan@ohiocan.org and provide us with your mailing address.
Members: If you would like your organization to be included in the Spring edition, email us at ocan@ohiocan.org.
Please click the link below to access.
Ohio College Access Network Named Top Organization of its Kind in the U.S.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: September 25, 2008
CONTACT: Kimberly Gormley, Director, Marketing & Communications, Ohio College Access Network
Office: 614.947.3504, Cell: 614.668.2954, Email: gormleyk@ohiocan.org
Houston, Texas – Yesterday the National College Access Network (NCAN) concluded its annual conference by presenting the Ohio College Access Network (OCAN) the College Access Organization Award of Excellence, recognizing OCAN’s work to improve access to and success in postsecondary education for first-generation, underrepresented and low-income students.
"We did a tremendous amount of work researching the impact an organization is making before we honor it with this distinction and I can assure you OCAN is truly deserving," pronounced Willis J. Hulings, III, NCAN Board Vice President and President and CEO of The Education Resources Institute.
Founded by the KnowledgeWorks Foundation in cooperation with the Ohio Board of Regents, Ohio Department of Education and Ohio Business Roundtable, OCAN offers program development, sustainability and advocacy for college access programs across the state. Since 1999, OCAN has provided organized infrastructure as the first statewide coordinating body of its kind in the nation and is now revered as a national model for college access.
"We love what this organization represents but more importantly we love providing opportunities for students to access and succeed in college…by creating talent through human capital we increase global competitiveness and positively impact the U.S.," said Dr. Reginald Wilkinson, OCAN President and CEO, as he accepted the award.
OCAN was selected to receive the College Access Organization Award of Excellence based on its outstanding achievement and the accomplishments of its members. Today, 35 OCAN member college access programs serve 205 of Ohio’s 612 school districts, touching 173,000 students annually. Evidence of OCAN’s efforts and student success can be seen in an average college-going rate increase of 3.8 percent among high schools who implement OCAN college access services, and a 4.5 percent increase in high school graduation rates with OCAN member programs. Additionally, more than 5,000 students received scholarships from OCAN member programs that totaled nearly $6.5 million for the 2005-2006 school year and, in other forms of financial aid, OCAN and its members helped secure $84.5 million for Ohio students.
Ultimately, those who carry out OCAN’s mission are clearly driven by student success. OCAN’s recent Student Summit essay contest winner, Denzel Palmer, articulates why OCAN members continue to passionately and effectively make a difference in the lives of students by answering, "What does college mean to me?"
"When I picture college I see a long hallway that never ends crowded with distractions and fortuity. Hanging from the ceiling is a flashing neon sign, and on that sign is the word "SUCCESS". As I look down the hallway, I can see beautiful carved doors with shiny brass knobs. Mounted on the front of all the doors are shiny brass plates that are marked "OPPORTUNITY". I walk past the first door and move down the hallway to the next door. I place my hand on the knob and try turning it only to find that this door is locked. I go from one door to the next, but I see that I have to take this endless arduous journey from door one, High School. Now to answer your question, what does college mean to me? College means everything." ~ Denzel Palmer, Class of 2011.
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OCAN Encourages its Members to Join OASFAA & OACAC
The Ohio College Access Network believes it is important to work closely with local associations to ensure that college access advisors have the most up-to-date college application, financial aid resources and information.
OASFAA (Ohio Association of Financial Aid Administrators) and OACAC (Ohio Associaton for College Admission Counseling) are committed to providing professional development and training for individuals dedicated to making college accessible and affordable. As a member of each organization, you will find a wealth of resources available on their respective websites www.oacac.org and www.oasfaa.org member's only pages, in addition to being eligible to participate in numerous training and other developmental opportunities to ensure that you are always current with Federal and State regulations and information. To join these associations, visit their website for more information.
Mission Statement