College Wide Collaboration=Student Success

Matthew R. Shupp

Student Life

Jan Harris

Career Services

Tarsha Scovens

Career Services

Jenavia Thompson-Weaver

Student Life

Research indicates that collaboration of many offices across college campuses leads to overall student success (Pascarella and Terenzini, 2005). Co-curricular activities complement the academic curriculum and anecdotal evidence of student success is numerous. Student involvement in such activities helps develop life-long skills that will lead to a healthy and well-rounded lifestyle.

The Career Services and Student Life Centers at Community College of Philadelphia have found success with student programmatic efforts due, in large part, to faculty and staff collaboration in and out of the classroom. Such programmatic examples from the Student Life Center include the monthly themed programs (Hispanic Heritage and African American Heritage), as well as our International Festival, Poets & Writers Festival, Law & Society Week, literary magazine publications, student newspaper, and the study abroad experience in Merida, Mexico. Almost all of the programs produced from the Student Life Center have direct faculty involvement and, when appropriate, build these programs into their academic syllabi. The ability for faculty to submit Co-curricular Program proposals has strengthened and codified many of the instructor's class objectives. Student Life offers other opportunities for faculty involvement through the Clubs and Organization Advisor Program and Student Leadership Development.

The Career Services Center provides specific workshops for majors on job search, resumes and potential careers as well as promoting classroom visits for assistance with informational interviews, learning to make effective introductions to employers and using Choices to see where students’ career abilities are. The Center works with faculty to encourage students to be informed about careers/jobs as part of their educational process. In some instances, faculty plan assignments around the students’ visit to the Center. The Center also participates in events outside of the classroom, including providing mock interviews and resume roundtables during Law and Society Week and a timely presentation on global employment during the International Festival.

Pascarella, E. & Terenzini, P. (2005). How college affects students: A third decade of research. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

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