STUDENT SUCCESS

Rise 360° A Mentoring Model for Student Success

Colleges are ramping up efforts to ensure students aren’t just academically prepared but also ready for life post-graduation. Programs like Assumption University’s ASPIRE connect students with alums to help them navigate adulting, from managing finances to fostering relationships. 

This initiative reflects a growing recognition that academic success doesn’t always translate into real-world readiness. This shift towards holistic education is vital as many graduates face the daunting transition from student life to the workforce, with many not landing degree-requisite jobs.

🦁 Leadership Lessons »

The need to prepare students for life beyond campus can’t be understated. A recent survey by Intelligent found that 40% of business leaders believe recent college graduates are unprepared for professional environments.

Soft skills like adaptability, grit, confidence, empathy, communication, and more consistently show up as challenges for students. That’s why it’s crucial in education to embrace a holistic wrap-around approach that weds learning objectives with rich experiential opportunities to develop these core skills.

⚡️One such approach is the RISE 360° model. This model is part of our Rise of a Leader program and has gotten great results with children, young adults, equity programs, and even developing boards. 

Here’s how the RISE 360° model works:

• Innovative Learning Experience: You start with a well-defined learning objective supported by a blend of curricular and extracurricular activities. The key is to inform AND inspire the learner by providing a hands-on, innovative learning experience.
  • Reach Up: Provide learners with mentorship and access to influential figures that broaden their horizons, expand perspectives, and encourage new levels of aspiration.
    
    The deeper the mentorship and the more opportunities to shadow, model, and learn, the better. Acquisition of soft skills works best when modeled.
    
  • Reach Out: Provide learners with a supportive community experience that fosters camaraderie and teamwork among peers, instills tribe pride, and encourages collaborative competition.
    
    A strong peer group facilitates individual growth, grit, and the ability to collaborate and work in teams.
    
  • Reach Down: Provide learners with leadership roles that contribute positively to people outside the peer group and encourage their potential to guide and assist.
    
    Giving every participant a “consequential” leadership role helps foster higher confidence, self-esteem, and communication skills.

The RISE 360 model is an accessible toolkit for creating a holistic program for acquiring the much-needed combination of hard and soft skills. We believe all learners can RISE when well-defined learning objectives are combined with innovative learning experiences that help students Reach Up, Out, and Down.

P.S. ~ Check student stories for our Rise of a Young Leader program at Claflin University.

STUDENT SUCCESS

The Power of Collaboration In Driving Student Success

A critical challenge facing the education sector is ensuring students graduate and transition smoothly into the workforce. Demographic changes and an impending enrollment decline compound this challenge, signaling a pressing need for robust collaboration between K-12 education and community colleges. 

Education leaders in North Carolina have taken innovative steps to address this need, notably through the Career and College Promise (CCP) program. This program has been revamped to provide a more structured and cohesive curriculum tailored to align students’ education with workforce requirements. 

🔑 A key strategy has been the deeper engagement of local families and the restructuring of course offerings, which has led to notable successes, including a 14% increase in CCP enrollment. These changes reflect a commitment to educating and effectively preparing students for post-graduation success, with the program seeing enthusiastic parent advocacy for student participation.

🦁 Leadership Lessons »

Similar collaborative approaches can be transformative for higher education, helping build a more robust, more effective educational pipeline. Many schools are pursuing these opportunities, for example, through growing dual-enrollment programs.

However, the challenge is to go further in developing collaborative partnerships at every educational phase. This involves crafting a continuous support structure that begins with the K-12 pipeline, extends through the college experience with wrap-around services, and transitions into strong post-graduation networks for employment and support, such as alum associations.

The full-collaborative support pathway seeks to provide seamless support for students before, during, and after their college journey.

Strategically integrating partners at each stage of the student’s journey smooths their path and ensures a robust launchpad post-graduation. Leveraging these collaborations is essential to covering every critical aspect of a student’s journey, providing a seamless transition at every turn and preparing them for successful futures.

🎯 Cabinet Conversation »

• Pre-College: How can we better integrate our K-12 schools, families, and community support partners? (pre-college)
• During-College: What partnerships can we forge to support our students while they are in school? 
• Post-College: How can we better facilitate and support students’ transition into the workforce?