Programs for Student Success @ HCC
Just Ask...
Housatonic is dedicated to helping each student succeed, stay in College, and graduate. In order to help make this happen, the College has many programs and services that can help students have a successful Housatonic experience. Some of these programs start as early as high school because we know that those students who begin preparing for college early, have a better rate for success.
The Middle College Program is one of the programs that brings high school students to HCC to prepare them for college academics.
Housatonic is one of three community colleges in Connecticut honored to be involved with the national Achieving the Dream College initiative. Achieving the Dream is developing methods that will help students achieve college success. As part of this endeavor, HCC is currently in engaged in three programs: Bridges, Mentoring, and the Open Entry/Open Exit Math program.
Other Housatonic centers and services welcome students who may need assistance: The Counseling Center, Writing Center, Women’s Center, Tutoring, Academic Support Center, The Advising Center, and Career Services.
Most important, every faculty, staff, and administrator at HCC is willing to help students reach their goals and achieve their dreams.
All a student has to do is ask.
For more information on any of the following programs contact Joyce Gonzales, Director of College Success Programs, at 203-332-5066 or jgonzales@hcc.commnet.edu.
Student Success Programs
Summer GEAR UP –A six-week summer instruction and tutoring program for 60 rising seniors who are current GEAR UP participants in the Bridgeport Public Schools and are expected to graduate high school in June 2010. Students will enroll in developmental or introductory college courses for credit in mathematics and English composition to further their readiness for college. Students meet four days a week for classroom instruction provided by Housatonic Community College. Tutors will be available in the classroom and will also provide additional tutoring hours after class. Fridays will be dedicated to college readiness workshops which may include topics incorporated from Housatonic’s Bridges Program.
College Access Challenge Grant Program (Connections) – Under the College Access Challenge Grant program, the Connecticut Department of Higher Education partners with Housatonic Community College for the development, implementation and evaluation of a project to explore the success interventions designed to increase the retention and graduation rates of students who are categorized as students who have a high probability of not staying in school. Twenty-five students will each be assigned to an experimental and control group. Students will have access to success coaches, tutoring, advising, and counseling. The student cohort will be enrolled in Academic Skills course and Writing Paragraph to Essay course in a learning community.
Connecticut College Access and Success (ConnCAS) Program - The ConnCAS program focuses on increasing the enrollment, retention and graduation rates of minority students (defined as Asian American, African-American, Native American, and Hispanic/Latino.) HCC provides a summer bridge program for selected students to help them become “college ready.” Throughout the school year, students will have access to support services including advising, tutoring, and mentoring. Students will participate in the Bridges Program, a four-part workshop series focusing on topics including: Orientation to College, Applying for Financial Aid, Accuplacer Test Preparation, and Career Preparation. A ConnCAS liaison assigned to the selected students will be available throughout the academic year.
Bridges Program – The Bridges Program was designed to foster the successful transition of high school students to college and to develop stronger relationships between local high schools and Housatonic Community College. The Bridges Program consists of a series of four college readiness workshops which focus on the following topics: Orientation to College, Placement Test Preparation, Applying for Financial Aid, and Career Planning. The program will include all sixteen high schools in the College’s service region with the workshops tailored to each individual high school’s need.
Middle College Program –This program serves high school seniors from the three public high schools located within Bridgeport, Bassick, Central and Warren G. Harding High School. Students enroll in academic courses that are held on the Housatonic Community College campus and the classes are team taught by college and high school instructors. Students take both an English and a mathematics course. There will be two levels of instruction; developmental and college-level. At the conclusion of the program, all students who successfully complete their coursework with a grade of “C” or higher will be eligible to receive a $400 scholarship to Housatonic Community College.
College Career Pathways (formerly Tech Prep) – A high school-based and college-based experience geared towards high school juniors that combines academic and occupational learning. The program provides a link between high school and college-level curriculum in a sequential program of study that includes coursework in each of the following: mathematics, science, communication, and a career course in the student’s are of interest. Students are eligible to receive an Associate’s Degree or certificate after two years of post-secondary training.
Math, Science, and Technology Scholars (MST) – The MST program is a state-funded program that offers high school students the opportunity to take college-level courses in mathematics, science or a technical-career course at no cost to the student. MST students are required to take the Accuplacer Exam and must place into any college-level math course (no developmental courses) and they must place into English 101.