Following up on last year’s “College2Career: Five Commitments to the Students of Ector County,” Odessa College officials unveiled a sixth commitment — the first six semester credit hours of dual credit will be free for every Ector County high school student.
The announcement was made during a news conference in the lobby of the Saulsbury Campus Center Thursday.
“We believe in the transformative power of education. We believe in the transformative power of partnership and collaboration between ECISD, between the high schools in this community and between Odessa College and the community,” OC Vice President for Instruction Valerie Jones said.
This is part of an effort to show that college can be for everyone and that OC will be with students on their journey, even far beyond the first six hours. She noted that the first class will still be offered free if students have already completed dual credit hours.
“It’s a very simple start for students,” Jones said. “They will apply to Odessa College. They will test. The test will not determine whether or not they can start, it will determine how they start.”
Students will then be able to meet with the academic partnerships team, including the College2Career coaches at Permian and Odessa high schools and one serving the middle schools, Jones said. They include Casey Sims at OHS, Sydney Higar at Permian, and Michaela Anang for the middle schools.
OC President Gregory Williams reviewed the five commitments unveiled in May 2017.
They include:
- To give 1,000 presentations to the community and ECISD. They made 1,353 and plans are to increase that to 1,500 with community participation. “Next year, we don’t want to be so selfish. We want to welcome the community to join us, so let’s do 1,500 presentations,” Williams said.
- Placing College2Career success coach at Permian and Odessa high schools.
- Hiring a College2Career coach for the middle schools.
- Allowing students and teachers to have access to the Fab Lab.
- Committing to admitting all eighth-graders through “informational admissions.” Williams said some things are still being worked through on this.
“Through these commitments and the work of these people here, the landscape has changed and it will continue to change,” Williams said.
He added that there are a number of students in the community who cannot afford dual credit.
“They do not believe they can do dual credit. Therefore, they do not believe they can afford college and they never start. Dual credit has been a program that has benefited a number of people who are more affluent, to be totally honest with you. Now we can say it doesn’t matter what (your) level of affluence is,” OC will work with the community to raise more scholarship funds.
Jones added that so few career paths are now open to students unless they have a credential or post-high school training.
Awareness also needs to be raised that students can attend college for a credential that they can earn in less than a year, or earn a two-year associate degree that can transition to a four-year degree, Jones added.
During the last year, Katie Nisbet, associate dean of academic partnerships at OC, said the College2Career coaches have helped students fill out college and financial aid applications, and they have created an experience for students visiting the OC campus that “cannot be rivaled,” Nisbet said.
She noted that more than 300 people from the college participated in the OC Invasion of Zavala Elementary School and 70 representatives took part in the Soar to Success event at Ector Middle School last fall.
Education activist Lorraine Perryman said Odessa College is the place students can reach for and the community needs to show them that it is attainable and available.
Perryman, who is chairman of the executive committee of the Education Partnership, said Thursday’s announcement fits like “a glove and a hand” with the collective impact organization.
“This is the basic meaning of collective impact when everybody in the community — individuals, parents, educational institutions — are working together to create that education culture in Odessa for kids to stay in school and graduate and then go to college. Odessa College is that gateway to that … so I’m delighted with what they’re doing,” Perryman said.
Virginia Hunt, district coordinator for the AVID program at ECISD, said the dual credit commitment is “heaven sent” for students in the college preparation program. AVID stands for Advancement Via Individual Determination.
“Dual credit and AVID go together very well. With this new commitment, it will definitely be welcome by our AVID department both Permian and OHS and the other schools will benefit from it,” Hunt said.
Odessa College President Dr. Gregory Williams addresses the crowd. Odessa College held a news conference to report on the progress of the College2Career plan Thursday.
Mark Rogers/Odessa American
Associate Dean of Academic Partnership, Katie Nisbet, talks to the crowd. Odessa College held a news conference Thursday to report on the progress of the College2Career plan.
Mark Rogers/Odessa American
Odessa College President Dr. Gregory Williams addresses the crowd. Odessa College held a news conference Thursday to report on the progress of the College2Career plan.
Mark Rogers/Odessa American
Lorraine Perryman, Chair of the Education Partnership, addresses the crowd. Odessa College held a news conference to report on the progress of the College2Career plan Thursday.
Mark Rogers/Odessa American
Odessa College President Dr. Gregory Williams addresses the crowd. Odessa College held a news conference to report on the progress of the College2Career plan Thursday.
Mark Rogers/Odessa American
