Zane State College Receives National Award - Achieving the Dream

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Lauren Lewis, 917-613-6419
llewis@achievingthedream.org
Zane State College Receives National Award
Zane State receives national recognition and cash prize for closing achievement gaps and
improving retention rates
DALLAS, TX (February 28, 2012) – Achieving the Dream, in partnership with AACC and
Lumina Foundation, this evening announced Zane State College as the winner of the fourth
annual Leah Meyer Austin Institutional Student Success Leadership Award.
Zane State College was recognized for their work in closing the achievement gap between
developmental education students and college-ready students, improving the retention of dropout
prone students, and the superb management of the college’s leadership team.
Zane State College’s Achieving the Dream strategies have changed the college’s culture and
raised the prospects of residents of Zanesville and the other low-income, rural Appalachian Ohio
communities served by the college. Seventy-six percent of the college’s entering students need
at least one developmental course; 87% of students receive financial aid.
“The Achieving the Dream Model has served as an invaluable guide as we embarked on a
journey to increase retention rates and close achievement gaps at the college, and overall
improve the lives of our students,” said Zane State College President Paul Brown. “Using data
to inform our program implementation and decision making processes, ever mindful of our core
values of respect, responsiveness, and responsibility, has changed the way we do business.”
“Zane State College’s resolute commitment to student success and completion has set them apart
as an impressive example of what is possible at community colleges all across the country,” said
Achieving the Dream President and CEO William Trueheart. “This award recognizes Zane
State’s strong leadership and broad institutional engagement, their breadth of successful
programs, and the pervasive impact of their programs on the community. Zane State is showing
the nation that high-level commitment and well-focused, evidence-based decision-making can
lead to substantial improvements in student success and completion.”
Zane State College’s engaged leadership and commitment to closing achievement gaps resulted
in the design and implementation of several innovative programs that bolstered at-risk student
support systems. The results:

The average success rate across all developmental courses at Zane State College is 78%,
and most strikingly, developmental education students are closing the gap with collegeready
students in gatekeeper courses. Since 2009, three out of four students are
succeeding in college-level gatekeeper courses irrespective of their initial placement
status. These increases were seen during a period of unprecedented enrollment growth,
with disproportionately high numbers of students who need developmental education.
Significant, ongoing investments in professional development facilitated broader
understanding among the college employees about the college’s “personal touch”
philosophy, its access mission, and the realities of growing up in generational poverty
that shape so many of its students’ attitudes, behaviors, and expectations.
Zane State College, in partnership with a number of other Ohio colleges, started
innovative programs to increase retention. Among the programs was QuickStart, a free,
eight-week programs for students unsure about their ability to enter college successfully
and those who try to register late without completing a FAFSA. Tuition from QuickStart
students has sustained the program. The school also implemented other programs
including conditional admission, MathStart, learning communities, and pre-enrollment
computer training.
After the overwhelming success of the Math Advising Initiative, a program that
encourages students to take developmental math in their first quarters in college and
provides dedicated math advising for students at-risk, the college expanded the program
to include all development education students. As a result, first year completion of
developmental math increased by 21 percentage points, developmental English by 24
percentage points, and developmental reading by 13 percentage points.
The Leah Meyer Austin Award, sponsored by the Lumina Foundation and administered by the
American Association of Community Colleges, recognizes outstanding institutional achievement
in creating excellence and equity through: 1) committed leadership; 2) use of evidence to
improve policies, programs, and services; 3) broad engagement; and 4) systemic institutional
improvement.
Leah Meyer Austin is a former Senior Vice President at Lumina Foundation and shaped the
development of Achieving the Dream. Zane State may use the $25,000 cash award for any
student success purpose it deems appropriate. Achieving the Dream also gave Special
Recognition to Phillips Community College of the University of Arkansas (Helena, AK) for its
excellence in culture change. The college received $10,000 to use toward student success
programs and initiatives.
Achieving the Dream is a national nonprofit that is dedicated to helping more community
college students, particularly low-income students and students of color, stay in school and earn
a college certificate or degree. Evidence-based, student-centered, and built on the values of
equity and excellence, Achieving the Dream is closing achievement gaps and accelerating
student success nationwide by: 1) guiding evidence-based institutional improvement, 2)
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influencing public policy, 3) generating knowledge, and 4) engaging the public. Conceived as an
initiative in 2004 by Lumina Foundation and seven founding partner organizations, today,
Achieving the Dream is the most comprehensive non-governmental reform movement for
student success in higher education history. With over 150 community colleges and institutions,
more than 100 coaches and advisors, and 15 state policy teams - working throughout 30 states
and the District of Columbia - Achieving the Dream helps 3.5 million community college
students have a better chance of realizing greater economic opportunity and achieving their
dreams.
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