ESCANABA, Mich. (WZMQ) – Bay College is one of only a handful of colleges nationwide selected for a three-year program to help rural learning institutions, as well as their students, succeed.
Bay joins 27 other colleges participating in the second phase of the Rural Guided Pathways Project, in connection with the National Center for Inquiry & Improvement.
“We explored guided pathways a few years ago, but we didn’t quite implement it to the manner of what we wanted to do,” said Dr. Nerita Hughes, President of Bay College. “Guided Pathways is just a framework for someone to say, ‘Hey, I’m interested in healthcare. What is the roadmap and the academic plan that I need to follow in order to make sure that by the time that I graduate and walk across that stage, now am I going to get connected with an employer?'”
Bay will collaborate with peer institutions across the country to share best practices, explore new opportunities, and improve the student experience.
“We will be able to say, ‘How do we build upon what we’ve already started with our rural guided pathways?’ but then, ‘What’s that next iteration for us to look at some of the challenges that we need to overcome? Are there any barriers that we need to remove?’ We’ll actually build our own network within these institutions.”
The college will also connect with industry leaders and economic and workforce partners. Bay Vice President of Workforce Innovation and Strategic Partnerships Cindy Gallagher says that community involvement is the most exciting part of the program.
“We are going to be able to bring in industry partners to join us at [one of the] institutes,” she said. “We will have the time, the resources, and the coaching to really look at, how do we reimagine community colleges and placing students along their journey to get into the jobs that are needed with local industries and businesses.”
Over the next three years, Bay College will be keeping track of graduation rates, student retention, credits earned, and other metrics. That information will be reported to the National Center for Inquiry & Improvement
“The greater goal is to dig deep into the data and see where we can maybe give some supports, make some enhancements,” said Penny Pavlat, Director of Institutional Effectiveness at Bay. “Looking at those dual enrollment students, making sure not just taking random classes but getting them intro a pathway so they can be successful and use those dual enrollment credits when they go on. Also, we’ll be working with our workforce partners and our four-year institutions so it’s a more seamless transfer for those students.”
Dr. Hughes believes Bay College is a great fit for the Rural Guided Pathways Project.
“Because of where we’re sitting right now and how we have designed our institution and the work that we’ve done, this is the perfect timeframe for us to move the needle forward,” she said. “We just completed our strategic plan, we did a reorg, and enrollment is increasing… Creating these pathways, that’s going to be ideal when we look at students wanting to move from poverty, for some, but for others into sustainable, living-wage jobs.”
The Rural Guided Pathways Project aims to help college communities like Bay’s better serve students, from their first day at college to their first day on the job.
“This allows for us to rethink curriculum, some of the things that we need to be able to reach our students,” Dr. Hughes said. “This will help us enhance and get the support that we need to be able to do this project.”
For more information on the Rural Guided Pathways Prokect, visit ruralguidedpathways.org.
