Concurrent Sessions I

9:40am - 10:25

Alabama's Dual Enrollment Boom in a National Enrollment Bust

Presented by: Tessa Brown

The Alabama Community College System (ACCS) operates under a rather unique structure. This structure in combination with intentional efforts to remove admission- related barriers has resulted in a boom in Dual Enrollment. Dual Enrollment across ACCS has grown over 59% in the last five years. This significant increase has allowed the state’s community college Dual Enrollment programming to flourish while other states have experienced a decline in enrollment. These programs support students wishing to transfer to four-year institutions and those seeking to begin high-wage, high- demand careers quickly. Learn how recent revisions to the procedure for policy facilitated access to even more Dual Enrollment opportunities for students.

How Community Benefits Agreements can Build Career Pathways for Historically Disadvantaged Workers

Presented by: Will Tucker

Jobs to Move America will present about our Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) with New Flyer of America, Inc., which manufactures transit buses at its factory in Anniston, Ala.Four provisions of our CBA in particular are designed to work together as a pathway out of poverty. Those provisions, which we will cover in this session, are a commitment to “ban the box,” a commitment to make 45 percent of all new hires from historically disadvantaged groups, a pre-apprenticeship program, and a new apprenticeship program.In our session, we will illustrate how these community-designed initiatives represent a new way to approach workforce development from the grassroots.

Mentoring Magic: Making it Work for all Students

Presented by: Kathy Smith

This session will present lessons from the Panther Partnerships Mentoring Program at Birmingham-Southern College. Specifically, it will address strategies for designing a mentoring program that supports all students – including underrepresented and first- generation college students – in building strong relationships with mentors that help them achieve individualized goals.

Supporting Student Success through a Thoughtful Data Strategy

Presented by: Bill DeBaun

Data is a word with four letters, but for some practitioners it’s also a “four-letter word.” Despite that, it is really important for districts and schools, and the professionals within them, to understand how to incorporate data into postsecondary advising strategy and a broader career and college readiness plan. In this session, we’ll walk through some thoughts about where data fits into our CCR goals, where the data we can use to measure our progress comes from, and consider what data students and families need to make choices about their postsecondary pathways.