Dual Enrollment

Lessons from a Year Online

25 May 2021

It’s been a year since CLP launched the webinar series Problem-Solving: Moving Dual Enrollment Online. Since then, practitioners have come up with creative ways to support students in this challenging environment:

    • College specialists who help students apply, enroll and make sure they’re up and running in their classes
    • Embedded tutors
    • High school teachers who access Canvas to provide support for students in college classes
    • Education plans and regular meetings with counselors
    • Direct cash aid for students

These are some of the innovations that dual enrollment partnerships put in place over the past year and will be carrying forward as colleges prepare a return to campus. In the May 13 webinar, Dual Enrollment: Lessons from a Year Online, practitioners from Oakland Unified School District, Compton College, and Skyline College talked about their work and lessons learned over the year.

Practitioners from Oakland Unified School District shared their commitment to providing access to dual enrollment opportunities through their partnership with the Peralta Community College District. Leslie Hsu Freeman, Dual Enrollment Manager, and Fatima Ghatala, Dual Enrollment Specialist, described how they provided wrap-around support services for students by embedding tutors into their dual enrollment courses. They also shared how they have been able to maintain a strong partnership by providing access to virtual tools and the Canvas technology platform, making it easier to communicate with students. One of their main themes for the past year has been finding creative ways to strengthen their partnerships and provide dual enrollment opportunities for students.

We also heard from Carlos Castellon, Dual Enrollment Specialist, who shared how Compton College recognized that there was a need to provide direct support to students and deeper collaboration across departments to ensure student success. To meet this need, the college hired three new dual enrollment specialists to support student success and retention and used their Emergency Grant Fund to provide dual enrollment students with a $114 stipend. To further strengthen the dual enrollment program, continuing work at Compton College will focus on providing direct counseling and wrap-around services to students.

Skyline College also shared innovative ways they have engaged dual enrollment students, while ensuring dual enrollment was integrated into campus-wide initiatives and programs. We heard from Andrea Vizenor, Dean of Strategic Partnerships and Workforce Development, about the college’s success in providing high-touch student onboarding services through county-wide collaboration and leadership. They also were able to keep students engaged by distributing welcome kits and 1,500 program kits for students in their health, network engineering technologies, and biotechnology pathways. Skyline College also focused on engaging students and families through various marketing campaigns, virtual tours, and industry days. The goal of the dual enrollment program as it continues to expand is to support students in college preparedness, college acceleration and career exploration and preparedness.

Access the webinar recording and presentation slides.

Resources