Onondaga Community College has been named a 2026 Leader College by Achieving the Dream (ATD), a national nonprofit dedicated to advancing community college student success. The announcement of OCC's selection was made at the Achieving the Dream annual convening in Portland, Oregon.
Each year, ATD recognizes a select group of institutions that demonstrate sustained, measurable improvements in student outcomes. Leader Colleges are distinguished for implementing evidence-based strategies that close equity gaps, strengthen student support systems, and drive long-term success.
"The designation of Leader College is a hard-earned honor with lasting impact," said Dr. Karen A. Stout, Achieving the Dream President and CEO. "We use lessons and cutting-edge approaches from colleges like yours to inform and inspire others across ATD’s highly diverse Network in their efforts to support the students and communities they serve. We at ATD are very excited to count Onondaga Community College among our Leader Colleges this year!"
"We are honored to be selected," said OCC President Dr. Warren M. Hilton. "This recognition reflects the outstanding work of our faculty and staff, and their Lazer-focus on student success. Across the college, our team is committed to supporting the whole student - and ensuring every learner has a clear path to graduation. As President of an ATD Leader College, I look forward to sharing our successes with community colleges nationwide."
Through OCC's most recent Strategic Planning process, one primary theme emerged as critical to student success: persistence. To support this priority, the college established three strategic goals: fostering student academic success, ensuring a positive student experience, and enhancing strategic communications to promote student success. With this framework in place, college leaders developed annual operational plans with clear objectives, action steps, timelines, and evaluation measures that align with strategic goals, priorities, and key performance indicators.
With a singular focus on helping our students persist and succeed, OCC implemented institution-wide strategies to improve student outcomes, including:
- Utilizing the 4 Disciplines of Execution (4DX): This slow, steady, and repeatable process is focused on each employee achieving Wildly Important Goals. Progress is updated weekly through our established cadence of accountability.
- OCC's Board of Trustees approved a Student Success Policy, which was created under a shared governance model. This policy reflects the college's institution-wide commitment to student achievement.
- The college established the Student Success Challenge Fund, which supports and encourages experimentation through collaborative, evidence-based initiatives designed to improve persistence and retention. Projects must include measurable outcomes to demonstrate their impact.
- OCC invested significant resources to support students both academically and personally. The Learning Center provides students with free tutoring services, while the Counseling and Community Care Hub connects students with essential services such as confidential counseling, the campus food pantry, and transportation assistance.
- OCC's “Box of Books” partnership with Barnes & Noble College, which is the first of its kind at a public college, makes the cost of attendance more predictable and affordable with per-credit textbook costs and fixed laptop prices. As a result, more students now have their materials on the first day of class, and it is contributing to higher graduation rates across diverse student populations.
- The college revised its academic structure to a “Schools” (meta-major) model with every student having a navigator (1:180 navigator to student ratio). Navigators help their caseload of students overcome barriers and persist towards completion.
As OCC continues to move forward with student success work, it will also be of service to ATD network institutions as a Leader College.
