CUNY Newswire

Bayside (January 7, 2009) – The National Council of Instructional Administrators (NCIA), has selected Queensborough Community College as the winner in the 2008 Exemplary Initiatives Competition in the Organizational Change category for the College’s entry entitled, ASAP: The Spark that Ignited the Transformation.
Queensborough’s entry describes the positive impact the Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) has had on the model of the Freshman Academies, which will be introduced to all first-time, full time students at Queensborough in the fall of 2009.
The ASAP program at Queensborough, sponsored by CUNY with funding from Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the citywide Commission for Economic Opportunity, was implemented at Queensborough in the fall of 2007 to provide qualified students with the tools necessary to ensure academic success. One of the outstanding features of the program are the ASAP staff who regularly advise students on academic and extra-curricular issues, as well as outside problems that may be affecting their overall academic performance. ASAP students have reported that the extra support is extremely helpful in fostering team-learning, good friendships and helpful peer support.
“It is clear to me, based on what we’ve learned from ASAP, that specially trained advisors in the Freshman Academies will be a keystone to its success in raising the retention and graduation rates of our students,” says Eduardo J. Martí, Ph.D., President of Queensborough Community College.
The Freshman Academies will span every academic discipline at the College. They are: Business; Education, Liberal Arts; Health Related Sciences; Visual & Performing Arts; and Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM).
“The daily interaction between the ASAP staff and students results not only in forming strong bonds but in motivating students to persist towards their goals, no matter what their obstacles may be,” says Bobbi Brauer, Director of ASAP, who co-authored the NCIA entry with Anna May Jagoda, Director, Institutional Research and Assessment.
“By the time students have finished their first two semesters in the Freshman Academies, they will have a deeper commitment towards accomplishing their academic goals,” says Dr. Dan L. King, Vice President for Academic Affairs.
Queensborough Community College, a College of The City University of New York, was founded in 1959 and is located on a picturesque 37-acre site in Bayside, Queens offering a rich liberal arts and science curriculum, as well as career and pre-professional courses. Over half of the faculty holds doctorates compared with 21% of faculty in other community colleges nationwide. Comprising the most diverse population of any college in the U.S., more than 13,000 students pursue an Associate degree or Certificate program and another 10,000 students of all ages attend continuing education programs. Among the campus’s prized resources are the Kupferberg Holocaust Resource Center, the QCC Art Gallery, and the Queensborough Performing Arts Center (QPAC), created to stimulate ideas and intellectual curiosity while exposing students and the public to culture and the arts. Please visit our website at qcc.cuny.edu.
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