(Long Island, NY) Students from the Suffolk County Community College Honors Program traveled to Columbia University last week to meet with Dr. Thomas Bailey, Director of the Community College Research Center (CCRC).
Housed at Teachers College, Columbia University, CCRC is the leading independent authority on the nation’s nearly 1,200 two-year colleges. Bailey, who holds a Ph.D. in Economics from MIT, has authored or co-authored nine books about various topics connected to higher education. One of his areas of expertise is student persistence, completion, and transfer. Honors students spent a few hours discussing some of the CCRC’s research findings in these areas and also had an opportunity to discuss higher education equity and funding issues with Dr. Bailey.
Students from the Suffolk County Community College Honors Program traveled to Columbia University last week to meet with Dr. Thomas Bailey, Director of the Community College Research Center (CCRC). Photo Credit: SCCC.
This is the third year that the Honors Program has visited Columbia University. Honors students met with Dr. Andrew Delbanco, author of College: What It Was, Is, and Should Be in 2012; and in 2013, Honors students met with post-doctoral research associates to discuss a journal article about the community college first-year experience.
Honors Program counselor, Professor Matthew Zisel, hopes to continue this collaboration with Columbia University. By visiting an Ivy League college for a day and discussing issues related to higher education with Ivy League faculty, Honors students feel empowered and motivated to transfer to highly selective colleges and universities. And indeed, many Honors students have done so with the assistance of the Honors Program faculty.
