Approximately 200 Baldwinsville High School students had the opportunity to learn more about life on campus during a recent visit to Onondaga Community College. The event was part of a growing initiative to connect college-bound high schoolers with the wide range of opportunities available to them at OCC.
The visit was coordinated through OCC's Concurrent Enrollment program, which allows high school students to take college-level classes at their home high schools while earning transferable college credits.
The idea for the visit was sparked a year earlier when the nearly 200 concurrent enrollment instructors in surrounding school districts came to campus for professional development. OCC Librarian and English Professor Michelle Malinovsky led a session about Artificial Intelligence, research, and topics relevant to the instructors. "My colleagues and I thought it would be great for students to see this," said Baldwinsville High School English teacher Cheryl Meany, who has taught OCC-level classes for 15 years. "We thought, 'They're OCC students, so let's expose them to things that are available here.'"
Over the summer, Professor Malinovsky created a resource guide for College Credit Now instructors like Meany, and the College's IT department enabled those instructors to access the College's research resources remotely. During their October 9 campus visit, students participated in an information session led by Malinovsky on AI, databases, and OCC information systems. They also learned about the OCC Admissions process, toured campus, and were enjoyed lunch.
The visit was coordinated by Amber Ingalls, OCC's Director of Concurrent Enrollment. "It involved a lot of collaboration with partners across campus, and I'm grateful for the way everyone came together to make this happen," Ingalls said.
"We really appreciate the work Amber and her staff put into this," said Meany. "It's really amazing here."
As tuition costs at some colleges and universities skyrocket, more and more area high school students are taking advantage of OCC's concurrent enrollment program. During this semester, more than 3,700 high school students are taking OCC-level classes, and earning more than 17,225 credits. Both of those numbers are up more than 8 percent from one year ago.
