2012 Innovation Award Winners

2012 Innovation Award Winners

Annie Schellinger, HEMI Program Coordinator (middle), with Rayma Waters, Co-Director for Partner for Achieving Success at the University of Cincinnati (right), and Ms. Schellinger's mother (left) at the Midwestern Regional Forum.

Sixteen CollegeKeys Compact members received special recognition as 2012 Innovation Award winners at the College Board Regional Forums. Each institution was recognized for programs that demonstrated innovation and efficacy in helping low-income students get ready for, get into or get through college successfully. As an Innovation Award winner, each institution received an award of $5,000 to help expand or sustain the program, recognition in the 2012 Catalog of Effective Practices and regional and national coverage of their outstanding programs.

The goal of the CollegeKeys Compact is to see that students from low-income backgrounds are represented in and graduate from colleges and universities at the same rate as their more affluent peers. As a program of the CollegeKeys Compact, the Innovation Awards celebrate some of America’s most powerful efforts to improve the academic success of students from low-income backgrounds. These award-winning organizations have instituted exemplary practices that can be replicated, adapted and expanded in other settings. They can be used by educators, institutional leaders and policymakers to promote policies and practices that have a far-reaching impact on low-income and minority students’ aspirations for academic success.

Congratulations to the 2012 Innovation Awards winners!

Middle States Region (MSRO)

Getting Ready: College Quest; Harlem Educational Activities Fund (HEAF), N.Y.

Getting In: College Access Initiative; Thurgood Marshall Academy Public Charter High School, D.C.

Getting Through: Retention Outreach Team; Georgian Court University, N.J.

Midwestern Region (MRO)

Getting Ready: Higher Education Mentoring Initiative (HEMI); University of Cincinnati, Ohio

New England Region (NERO)

Getting Ready: The College Crusade of Rhode Island; The College Crusade of Rhode Island, R.I.

Getting In: College Access Program; Bottom Line, Mass.

Getting Through: EDGE: Engage-Develop-Guide-Empower; Thomas College, Maine

Southern Region (SRO)

Getting Ready: Achieve Transition Program; Seminole County Public Schools, Fla.

Getting In: Single Stop MDC; Miami Dade College, Fla.

Getting Through: Carolina Firsts; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, N.C.

Southwestern Region (SWRO)

Getting Ready: College Institutes; Project GRAD Houston, Texas

Getting In: Go Center Program; Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, Texas

Getting Through: EOE First Year Interest Groups: Success in Engineering Starts Here; University of Texas at Austin, Texas

Western Region (WRO)

Getting Ready: Compact for Success; Sweetwater Union High School District, Calif.

Getting In: Sacramento State 4 All; Valley High School, Calif.

Getting Through: Designing Our Community (DOC); Montana State University, Mo.