Course Enhancement Grant Winners
Conn Early College Experience recognizes that educators across the state have limited access to funds, but do incredible things on behalf of students. As educators, each of you looks to leverage grant opportunities and the UConn...
UConn ECE Student Events
Another amazing semester of events for UConn Early College Experience Students: Marine Science Symposium (Avery Point), Chem Day, Italian Multimedia Contest, State Science Olympiad, Connecticut History Day...
Course Offerings
One of the most important fundamental principles in public policy is that the more complex a change, the less one can force that change upon stakeholders. Look to any state or federal education mandate, and one can understand the complexity of change. Simply mandating or forcing student...
Site Rep Conference
The annual Site Representative Conference was held this May at the UConn Storrs campus. The Early College Experience (ECE) program staff hosted 190 Site Representatives from 155 of our partner high schools. The morning kicked off off with a plenary session focusing on Promising Practices at Partner Schools. Representatives from Glastonbury Public Schools...
Teacher Appreciation
National Teacher Appreciation Day was May 7 and National Teacher Appreciation Week was May 6-10. For UConn ECE, we are extending our teacher appreciation and recognition throughout the summer! After receiving hundreds of instructor nominations from UConn ECE Students...
Wallace Stevens Poetry Contest
The theme of this year’s ECE newsletter “Doubling Down on Success” reminded me of the card game blackjack. My grandfathers and uncles used to play blackjack during summer family gatherings, so I was familiar with the phrase “doubling down.” In blackjack the term...
News to Know
UConn ECE Instructor Glenn Lewis and Maria Vilardo retirements, UConn ECE Faculty Coordinator Evan Perkoski promotion, UConn ECE Instructor Fahd Rafiq attends the International Studies Association Annual Conference in San Francisco, and UConn ECE Student Success and Perspectives...
Professional Recognition Awards
Each year, we look forward to receiving and reviewing hundreds of nominations for the Professional Recognition Awards and working with the review committees to select the winners. With that said, it is no easy task, as we have over 2,000 members of the UConn ECE community, making it very difficult to choose...
Scholarship Winners
Through a rigorous review process, the UConn Early College Experience Office scholarship committee selected six outstanding 2023-2024 UConn ECE Students as scholarship recipients. Each student has been awarded a $1,000 scholarship applicable to any institution. All recipients are high school seniors, who have completed at least one UConn Early...
Student Staff
As the Office of Early College Programs works to sustain our unprecedented growth, the program continues to rely heavily on the support, insights, and dedication of our OECP student workers. Undergraduate and graduate students alike, our ECE student staff works tirelessly to provide customer service to our students and families...
Professional Development Workshops
Throughout the 2023-2024 academic year, UConn Early College Experience partnered with dedicated Faculty Coordinators to offer 50 professional development workshops to certified Instructors. These opportunities were designed to enrich teaching practices, foster...
NEACEP Conference
The University of Connecticut Early College Experience Program hosted the 2024 New England Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships (NEACEP) annual conference on Friday, May 17, 2024 in the UConn Student Union. Approximately one-hundred dual/ concurrent enrollment and early college...
Members of the UConn ECE Community,
As an educational community, summer presents an incredible opportunity for all of us to take a moment to pause, take stock of the past year and rejuvenate for the academic year ahead. As each of us settles into our summer routines, I encourage you to find opportunities to reconnect with family and friends, pursue personal interests, and engage in new learning. Take advantage of opportunities that provide you with a renewed sense of motivation and excitement for the unrealized possibilities that lie ahead.
The Office of Early College Programs would be remiss if we did not take a moment to recognize the incredible work and undertakings of our community members this past academic year. In many ways, the 2023-24 academic year was a banner year for the ECE program. Student enrollment and newly certified instructors achieved all-time program highs; partner school leadership, faculty and staff engaged in frequent and on-going conversations about expanding course offerings and the Connecticut State Department of Education’s (CSDE) intentional focus coupled with the allocation of grant funding on the expansion of dual credit opportunities have shifted dialogue around student access, equity, and opportunity statewide. As we pause to celebrate each of these gains, we recognize that the challenge that awaits, is not only to maintain this momentum, but to double-down on these successes in the year ahead.
The entire country watched Coach Hurley and UConn basketball double-down on success with back-to-back national championships. While the Huskies’ dominant tournament run made this feat look easy, a multitude of challenges had to be overcome to put the Huskies in that position. Repeating success, in any modality, is incredibly difficult. However, the rewards of succeeding are substantial. It brings heightened recognition, solidifies legacy and ultimately leaves a lasting impact on the entire community.
Next academic year presents an opportunity for the entire ECE community to double-down on their success. To push boundaries that advance access, to re-imagine structures that have created unintentional barriers to success, or simply challenge ourselves to try something new. We hope that this edition of the UConn ECE magazine provides inspiration, or sparks your imagination, as you reflect on what will be your impact, your story, your legacy this upcoming year.