A BluePrint for Success: Case Studies of Successful - Educational ...

A Blueprint for Success
was established to fill an identified need and it is predicted to be an important aspect to supporting
students through college graduation.
Confidence and Trust
It can be hard to have confidence in your abilities when you are an outsider trying to make a difference
in others’ lives. Trust in your abilities and take the time to create trust among the staff, students,
and families. Once you have established trust, continuing and graduating students and their
families demonstrate that trust to incoming students and families by interacting at events. For example,
when new students join, they attend a “spring into bridges” event that all outbound seniors attend
with their parents. This summer program involves a ceremony and banquet where the students
graduating from high school wear stoles at graduation inscribed with the college they will attend.
New entrants see this and get an immediate view of success that enables them to see themselves getting
there one day.
High Expectations
Once the program identity is clear and the right people are on board, it is crucial to maintain a program
culture of high expectations. This sets the tone for data collection and analysis, encourages
high individual performance, and ensures overall high performance of the program. Once the outcomes
data reflect the high expectations, it is easier to convince others of the value of the program –
facilitating fundraising and improving the sustainability of the program.
If faced with the opportunity to do something different, Director Swartz indicated it might be time
to hire a social worker. She commented,
We have spent many years refining and improving all aspects of the program. However,
the students’ emotional, family, and social issues have grown to be overwhelming. Therefore,
we would like to have a social worker on staff, at least part-time, to assist with the issues
that our students and families encounter. We address these student issues to the best of
their abilities, but it would be in the best interest of the students in the program if the professional
support of a trained social worker was available.
A challenge that the program will face in the future is achieving a balance between the success of the
program and the interest to expand or replicate. Bridges to a Brighter Future at Furman University
has been tremendously successful and the program model has already been replicated at Elon University.
Director Swartz noted that they “are faced with the decision of creating a formal model or
simply sharing the program when approached.”
Educational Policy Institute 26 www.educationalpolicy.org