Most of our partners are aware that UConn ECE offers an excellent opportunity for high school students

to get a head-start on their college career, and at a very affordable price. What many are probably not aware of is that the UConn ECE program is self-supporting. The fees that UConn ECE students pay for classes, cover all of the administrative costs of the program. For the past several years,  UConn ECE has been able to support motivated students that could not otherwise afford to take ECE courses by providing scholarships for these students. In 2013-2014, UConn ECE funded more than 1,600 students state-wide.

But the need grows greater each year. The UConn ECE office is faced with increasing requests for student scholarships, classroom supplies, or to help cover the cost of an event or field trip. Unfortunately, because we operate within an increasingly limited budget, many of these requests will go unfulfilled. Through our new fundraising efforts, our goal is to be better able to support our students and partner schools. “We would love to say yes to every request we get. There are amazing students and classes at our partner schools,” said Wendi Richardson, Assistant Director. Program and giving information can be f o u n d o n o u r n e w s i t e www.ece.uconn.edu/donate. Please take a moment to check it out and consider a gift to support a student’s academic success!

Annually, UConn ECE con- ducts surveys of students who have gone through the program the year before and also four years out of the program. The last survey of the year was done on the 2008-2009 cohort. The results were extremely positive and add to the volume of results supporting the claim that concurrent enrollment greatly contributes to student success. Of the 605 responses, 100% continued their education beyond high school at a post-secondary institution. About 90% were able to successfully transfer some or all of their UConn credit to their new institution. Students reported that they graduated on average in 3.98 years with an average GPA of 3.53. Among the responses, 73% strongly agree or agree that they were better prepared academically for college and 64% strongly agree or agree that they were more confident about their ability to succeed in college as a result of taking UConn ECE courses in high school. Alumni rated their experience as excellent or good 85% of the time and 95% of respondents would recommend the program to current high school students. In many of the openended comments, students mentioned that the classes were very rigorous  and that they learned valuable college skills while in the course. For more information about these results and results of previous surveys, please visit ece.uconn.edu/research.

UConn ECE has completed a study which investigated how concurrent enrollment credits transfer to higher education institutions, the largest study of its kind ever attempted. Institutions responded that they accept UConn ECE credit about 82% of the time. From student surveys, the researchers discovered that the transfer success rate is actually higher. When students take an active role in the credit transfer process, when they contact university departments and send in a syllabus of the UConn ECE course to be examined, they are more likely to have that credit transfer. The researchers are confident the rate of transfer is about 87%. A mixed methods approach was used involving a student survey, a survey of registrars and admissions officers, and data-mining of policy information. Data was collected on the type of credit earned and rejected, student experience, and the perception of concurrent enrollment among higher education administrators. Armed with this information, the researchers developed strategies for successful transfer: educating students early about the credit transfer process, training high school staff to talk about it effectively, and providing an extensive portal of information online, which includes a public database of transfer frequency. The Credit Transfer Database will be available in early spring 2014 for students and parents to explore where UConn ECE credit will likely transfer before applying to college. The study was supported by a grant from the National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships (www.nacep.edu) and the results were presented in part at the National NACEP Conference in Jacksonville, FL in October. For more information about the results, please visit ece.uconn.edu/.

The Provost’s Award for Excellence in Public Engagement is a yearly award given to honor faculty, staff, students, alumni and programs that engage the public to address critical societal issues. The University community submits nominations and faculty and staff members of the Public Engagement Forum evaluate the candidates. The criteria used in the evaluation process are as follows

ECE’s rich history of excellence ensured that all criteria were thoroughly fulfilled, culminating in this prestigious honor. Originating in 1955 as the High School Cooperative Program, the program today has grown to enroll over 10,000 motivated students in approximately 160 partner high schools and is the nation’s longest running program of its kind. ECE ensures that students from all socioeconomic backgrounds are provided the opportunity to experience college while in high school by offering student scholarships to those who qualify. When UConn faculty perform site visits to view our certified instructors at work, they report that not only do ECE courses meet the rigor required of a UConn class, but also are often enhanced with hands-on activities – a beneficial addition to syllabi. In addition to courses, ECE sponsors educational events to enhance student engagement in various subject areas. Most recently, students across Connecticut attended an on-campus French Immersion Day and Quiz Bowl and this past summer played host to the third annual Biology Summer Institute. ECE alumni that choose to attend UConn are markedly successful, posting significantly higher first and second semester grade point averages than freshman admitted without ECE credits, and constituting one-third of all honors

students at UConn. UConn ECE is honored to have been selected for this award and incredibly grateful for all of the hardworking parties that made it possible.

The UConn ECE office would like to introduce, and welcome our newest staff members: Mrs. Wendi Richardson, Ms. Magdalena Narozniak, and Ms. Jessica Parker. We are very excited to welcome Wendi, Magda, and Jessica into brand new positions with the Office of Early College Programs. While expanding the program to reach more high school students, we are also expanding our office staff with these extremely talented individuals.

Wendi Richardson joins the ECE office as the Director of Enrollment Operations and as Assistant

Director for the Office of Early College Programs. Wendi is responsible for managing student registration and other administrative activities such as fund raising and event coordination. Wendi

has many years business management experience and has earned her Bachelor’s degree as a returning adult through the University of Connecticut’s Bachelor of General Studies program.

Magdalena Narozniak is the Program Assistant for Research and Development and assists in the planning, development, and evaluation of program objectives and activities. Besides conducting studies and preparing analytical reports, Magda serves as a resource for staff and others regarding program information and research on concurrent enrollment partnerships. She is also a primary contact person for developing programs at the high school level. Magda earned her Bachelor’s Degree from Fordham University in Political Science and International/Intercultural Studies and her Master’s Degree from

Jacobs University (Bremen, Germany) in International Relations, with a focus on qualitative and quantitative statistical analysis.

Jessica Parker is the Program Assistant for the Office of Early College Programs and the Registration Specialist for UConn ECE. Jessica is responsible for managing the student registration process, and providing program and administrative support to ECE students and affiliates. Jessica attended the University of Connecticut where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Human Development and Family Studies.

“Why does UConn run this program?” It is not uncommon for me to hear this question when I visit a new high school looking to partner with UConn ECE. The first time I heard it, eight years ago, I was taken aback.” Isn’t it obvious? We want your students to have a leg-up and succeed in college no matter where they attend.” Sometimes that answer falls flat. After I tell principals, guidance counselors, and instructors about the credits and advantages in the college admissions process, I start to talk about the student and faculty access to the library and academic conferences. Yes, conferences for students and faculty. This is when the conversation starts to be convincingly genuine.

In the central office, we know that rigorous coursework is the keystone to UConn ECE. But a bridge is not just a key-stone; you need extensions. Last October, like every Fall since the 1990’s, UConn ECE

and the French Department hosted the French Immersion Day and Quiz Bowl Competition. To me, this student event never gets old. Ninety to a hundred UConn ECE students, on campus, speaking French,

w a l ki ng ar ou nd c am pu s (occasionally getting lost), and competing in a Jeopardy-style French Quiz Bowl for huge shiny trophies. Finally, academic competition for the fun of it! We run student conferences because it inspires lust for higher learning. Incidentally, it is fun for more than just the students. People who love learning, want others to love learning. Karim Mabrouk, third-year doctoral student in French has been offering immersion classes for us for over two years. “As an instructor, the [UConn ECE] students’ excitement from the day’s activities is absolutely refreshing”, he observes.

This Spring we will be running the 6th annual Globalization Conference on the Stamford Campus. (Yes, it has huge trophies that tower over high school football trophies. The bigger the better. I love visiting a high school and the front office is cluttered with trophies, especially when they are educational.) In the years to come, we are discussing a STEM conference. Although these things take time, resources, and planning, they serve a vital purpose: academic socialization, self-motivated learning, you name it. Besides student conferences, we are very proud of our faculty development. Not only are we expanding our annual discipline workshops, but also we are in our third year of offering a three -day Biology Summer Institute. And for several years now Tom Recchio, the ECE English faculty coordinator, has been offering an annual writing conference for his instructors. It used to be nicknamed, the “English mini-conference”. That is a euphemism now as fifty -plus ECE instructors regularly attend. Now that the large NACEP conference is out of our system (remember Mystic 2011?), we are back to offering a regional conference on con-current enrollment. Reminder: hold May 29th on your calendar for our regional conference.

So, why do we do it? Well, as part of the UConn ECE community, why do you do it? It’s about the academic community, the faculty, the departments, and the outreach. But it’s about the students, really.