Power of SUNY

Cayuga Community College Earns Completion Grant

Cayuga Community College is taking action to do its part to support its students to successful completion of their degrees, with help from a $25,000 Gateway to College National Network Innovation Collaborative grant. The funds will enable the College to create and pilot learning communities that link developmental courses with a student success course and mentoring support system.

The College will use the money to help cover the costs of training and planning time for faculty and campus leaders to create developmental learning communities, which create a cohort of students who are enrolled in the same course or courses and often focus on a common reading or the same major theme across a variety of academic disciplines.  

Innovation Collaborative, a new Gateway to College National Network initiative, brings together representatives from select American colleges to create and scale learning communities and engaging pedagogy within their developmental education departments. During start-up training, participants receive intensive instruction on integrative curriculum design techniques, active-learning teaching methods, and solution-focused student support strategies. The program also provides each college with a coach to support teams in the implementation and refinement of their learning community designs.