Last week was a big week for SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher. On Monday, December 5, she was at the White House sharing her insights on the future of American Higher Education with the President of the United States and the Secretary of Education. Two days later, she was here at Clinton Community College helping us to launch the first rural Strive partnership in the nation.
Strive is an organization that was co-founded by Chancellor Zimpher when she was President of the University of Cincinnati. In Cincinnati, Strive has already helped to increase student test scores and graduation rates. More recently, as head of the nation's largest comprehensive system of higher education, Chancellor Zimpher has used her influence to help expand Strive to a national network of community partnerships. The Strive Network exists to help each member community to build an infrastructure that promotes student success at all levels of education, from cradle to career. Until last week, all of the Strive partnerships were in urban centers like Cincinnati, Portland, Denver and Detroit. Last week, with Chancellor Zimpher's help, Clinton County, New York, announced that it is the first rural community in the nation to sign onto the Strive Network.
Strive recognizes that educational attainment and success are influenced at every level of the education pipeline. What happens in early childhood determines how well prepared students are for kindergarten. What happens in kindergarten has a great deal to do with how students learn to read, which in turn influences how students read to learn in higher grades. All of these factors accumulate to influence the likelihood of success in college and beyond. The sad fact is that, in New York State, for every 100 eighth graders, only 19 go on to earn a bachelor's degree in six years or an associate's degree in three years after they graduate high school. The numbers here in Clinton County are better, but there is still plenty of room for improvement.
The Strive approach to this work is based on four pillars: (1) shared community vision, (2) evidence-based decision making, (3) collaborative action, and (4) investment and sustainability. Clinton County is well on its way to erecting the first pillar. More than a year ago, a group of top-level leaders from a host of community organizations formed the Clinton County Workforce Development Roundtable. The CEOs of the Chamber of Commerce, The Development Corporation, the Workforce Investment Board, SUNY Plattsburgh, Clinton Community College, Champlain Valley Education Services and local businesses and schools began meeting to develop a vision for increased and sustainable educational attainment in our region. The presence of the business community is evidence that this work is not only important to educational leaders like me, but it is also important to business leaders and economic developers who are building a sustainable economy and a high quality of life for the people of our region.
Now, with the support of the Strive Network, we are ready to turn our attention to the other Strive pillars as we engage in evidence-based decision-making, as we take collaborative action, and as we work toward sustainable solutions. The point is that the tasks at hand are not as simple as they may at first seem, and therefore, no single person or organization can bring about the systemic change that is required. But working collaboratively, in accordance with the Strive approach, our chances of long-range success are greatly enhanced. I'm proud to be a co-founder of the Clinton County Workforce Development Roundtable, and I am especially proud that we have now become the first rural group in the nation to launch a Strive initiative.
That's what I think. Please tell me what you think by sending an e-mail to presidentsblog@clinton.edu.
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