CUNY is the nation’s leading urban public university, serving 274,000 degree-seeking students across 25 campuses in NYC. CUNY, a partner in all three of New York’s Gear Up programs, will support the 2022-29 project by replicating two extremely successful programs used in the 2014-21 project: The Creative Arts Team and College and Career Bridge for All and add the work of CUNY Explorers. The Creative Arts Team will use interactive drama and skill–building strategies to zoom in on specific issues and behaviors that are challenging to NYGEAR UP students. Workshops will focus on problem solving, decision-making, critical thinking and building self-advocacy skills. Through their Literacy Through Drama program, students will have the opportunity to use drama as a means for exploring social and academic literacy.
Summer Bridge Programs will be offered to reduce “summer melt” and prepare students for a successful transition to college. Each CUNY enrolled student will be assigned a College Success Coach to guide them through acclimating to college life, signing up for classes, communicating with professors, meeting deadlines and financial aid challenges. College Success Coaches, integral to the success of current NYGEAR UP CUNY students, will begin working with students in the summer following high school graduation and continue until the beginning of their sophomore year. CUNY Explorers will take the lead in offering monolingual and bilingual college tours to NYGEAR UP students in grades 7 – 12 and college readiness workshops to ensure that every student knows they can go to college, they can afford college and how early college-ready NYGEAR UP interventions will pave the way to post-secondary enrollment.
Contact
Sarah McConnell
Associate Director, College Readiness Initiatives/College LINC
[email protected]