How Tri-C Is Recovering Students Affected by COVID-19

Jenny Febbo writes about a new enrollment initiative for League for Innovation in the Community College

The League for Innovation in the Community College is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to cultivating innovation in the community college environment. The League often asks community college leaders to offer examples of best practices from their institutions.

The organization recently published an essay by Jenny Febbo, vice president of Integrated Communications at Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C^®), about the College’s recent recruitment and re-enrollment initiative for students who either postponed or stopped their education during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Here is a summary of her "Innovation Showcase" essay.

The interruption of high school students’ postsecondary education plans due to the COVID-19 pandemic is a troubling trend with long-term negative ramifications for students as well as for the nation’s economy. The trend has been particularly severe among low-income, African American, and Hispanic students.

A collaborative effort between Tri-C and Cleveland State University (CSU) — dubbed "Level Up" — was launched in 2021 to counter this trend. It aims to remove barriers for Greater Cleveland’s most vulnerable high school students and recent graduates — primarily from Cleveland Metropolitan School District and inner-ring suburban schools — and get them to enroll or re-enroll at Tri-C or CSU. The targeted outreach, wraparound student services, institutional and community resources and financial support provided through Level Up are getting these students back on track toward degree or certificate completion.

Key steps and considerations involved in developing and launching the Level Up campaign included:

• Emphasizing the long-term return on a college education, such as sustainable careers with advancement opportunities and family-sustaining wages;
• Effective marketing strategies to reach targeted student populations; and
• Offering additional financial support to help with the indirect costs of education.

February 28, 2022

By Anthony Moujaes, 216-987-3068 or anthony.moujaes@tri-c.edu