CW Partners with Carnegie Mellon University

As President Obama tours key locations in the US this week to champion higher education accessibility, The College of Westchester continues to find ways to help college more accessible for more students. 

 

In September 2012, The College of Westchester was selected to partner with Carnegie Mellon University and a small group of other colleges across the country in Carnegie Mellon’s Open Learning Initiative (CMU-OLI).  Funded, in part, by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, The William and Flora Hewitt Foundation and the National Science Foundation, the CMU-OLI project seeks to improve the success of college students in certain “gateway courses”, identified as those that traditionally have high enrollments and are found to be the most challenging to entering students.  Click here for more CMU-OLI details from Inside Higher Ed.

The stated goals of CMU-OLI include:

• Support better learning and instruction with high-quality, scientifically-based, classroom-tested online courses and materials through courses that are designed based on learning science research and, in turn, contribute to that research.


• Share courses and materials openly and freely so that anyone can learn. Courses are designed to support the individual learner who does not have the benefit of an instructor.


• Develop a community of use, research, and development to allow for the continuous evaluation, improvement, and growth of courses and course materials.

The course materials include self-paced, fully illustrated readings, embedded multimedia elements, practice activities, responsive ungraded self-assessment questions, and graded assessments.

As a formal program participant, five CW faculty members participated in a research project evaluating the benefit of using a suite of open source online materials developed by CMU in Statistics, Psychology, and Anatomy & Physiology.  CW’s participation in the project continued through the Winter semester. Over 100 CW students participated in the project, all having agreed to do so as volunteer research subjects through CMU’s institutional review process.  Students in selected CW Gateway Courses taught by the participating faculty were administered a CMU provided pre-test at the start of each course, were assigned to either experimental groups that utilized CMU-OLI materials in the classes or to control groups that did not, and were administered a CMU provided post-test at the end of each course.  Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University are now evaluating the results provided by CW and the other participating colleges.

Several CW courses have been redesigned to make use of CMU-OLI resources with one, the online ‘Human Biology’ course for example, eliminating the need entirely for a course textbook as a way to help reduce costs for students. The College will continue to adopt these materials in the coming year.

According to Dr. Warren Rosenberg, Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty, and CW’s CMU-OLI project coordinator, “Partnering with Carnegie Mellon University’s Open Learning initiative is one of the many ways that The College of Westchester demonstrates its commitment to fostering student success and helping to control the cost of higher education.”

Pay it forward! September = Schooltime! Refer someone to CW and smile!

What are referrals?  Have you ever given a referral?  Did you ever walk out of a restaurant, doctor’s office, or a movie, and later recount the great experience you had?  If you are an animal lover, do you love your vet?  Do you tell others?   

When someone loves your haircut (gals), do we talk about our salon?  How about the last great round of golf, or vacation, or sporting event, and where we went?

The answer to the rhetorical question is yes, of course we give referrals!  

If you have ever attended CW’s commencement or another graduation ceremony, and most of us do at some point, whether it is our graduation or that of a family member or friend,  it is hard not to be caught up in the enthusiasm of our graduates.   

CW's 97th Commencement Ceremony, May 30, 2013

As grads walk across the stage and receive their diplomas, families and friends laugh, cry, hoot and holler – we are all so happy!  Last May 30, the date of our 97th Commencement ceremony seems so long ago.  But it is never too late to share the pride, the great experience, of how colleges touch student’s lives by guiding them, supporting them, sometimes reminding them and dragging them toward that milestone of a college degree, a professional future.  A college is one of the most meaningful experiences in an individual’s life, professionally and personally.

Pay it forward.  If you know a friend, family member or colleague who could benefit from a CW education, do it now.  Contact them, accompany them, encourage them to continue their education at CW.  Just think about how great you will feel when they graduate!  They can be in touch with Matt Curtis, our director of admissions at 914-831-0318, admissions@cw.edu. 

CW Military Advisory Council Meeting held Aug 7

The College of Westchester held its latest Military Advisory Council meeting last Wednesday, August 7.  Representatives from all branches of the service including Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, Marines, Air National Guard, Veterans associations, as well as all facets of the CW community were represented.

The purpose is to support our military and veterans students and their families in the best way possible, before, during and after attending CW, and at all points during their military service.

We would also be remiss if we did not say thank you to each and every Military Member for their sacrifice for all of us, and to their families for their support and sacrifice.

Navy Veteran and CW Graduate Ryan Barry helped lead the resurgence of the Military Advisory Council.  Ryan also services as the co-chair of the council.  For more information, please contact Ryan or Mary Beth Del Balzo, co-chair, at 914-831-0200. 

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for more info about CW, call or click:  800-704-6105, cw.edu/list

College of Westchester Busines Club hosted Microsoft Discussion at Microsoft Store in White Plains

The CW Business Club hosted a conversation with Jason Alvarez, Business Development Specialist, at the Microsoft Store in White Plains.  Jason’s role is to support small and medium businesses with their technology needs, providing consultations on services, software, and hardware to help a business run more efficiently.

Students, faculty, and staff had a chance to discuss some of Microsoft’s business initiatives along with what visitors to the store can expect in terms of products, services, and entertainment.

The club looks forward to hosting more guest speakers in the fall.

Get schooled again

What do you want to do with your life? Enjoy it, right?

Get back to school and you will be done in no time. You may already know from experience that learning itself can be its own reward. So what are you waiting for - a formal invitation? Ok, well, consider this your formal invitation.

There is nothing quite like that feeling when you are working on your education and your  classes just click. Get started on it right away. The rest of your life will thank you.

If you have been away for school for some time or are taking a gap between college semesters you do not need to panic. CW counselors are prepared to help you get restarted.

Call or click:  800-704-6015, cw.edu/list