College of the Desert receives national honor
Just one day after the College of the Desert (COD) garnered attention for its new Palm Springs temporary campus, the center of learning is back in the limelight. COD announced via news release that it would be one of the recipients of a 2018 Bellwether award for its innovative EDGE Program.
“The Board of Trustees and I are extremely proud of this recognition of the efforts of everyone at College of the Desert,” stated COD President Joel L. Kinnamon, Ed.D. in the release. “We have a really great story to tell and we’re proud the Assembly recognized its value to our students and their success.”
The EDGE program, which stands for Engage, Develop, Grow, Empower, is a 3-week summer bridge program that “offers a fast-paced review of basic skills in mathematics and English,” according to the release. The EDGE program won in the Bellwether’s “the Instructional Programs & Service” category. The College also received a nomination in the “Planning, Governance & Finance” category.
COD’s official submission name for the program was ” “Breaking Down the Basic Skills Barrier: Creating Pathways through the Basic Skills Sequence to Support Student Success, Equity, and Completion.” There are three total categories for the awards, with ten finalists in each field.
The Bellwether Awards were established in 1995, are a part of the Community College Futures Assembly, and are sponsored by the Institute of Higher Education at the University of Florida.
