American College Application Campaign: Working with Higher Education Leaders to Promote Access and Completion

By Melissa Caperton

During the ACE2017 session on “American College Application Campaign: Working with Higher Education Leaders to Promote Access and Completion,” attendees heard from key leaders of Delaware’s college application campaign, Delaware College Application Month.

Harry Williams (president of Delaware State University), Keisha Brinkley (principal of Appoquinimink High School), and Kelley Sheretz, who serves as Delaware’s ACAC state coordinator in her role at the University of Delaware’s Institute for Public Administration, served as panelists for the session, which I moderated. Key takeaways included: 1) the importance of a partnership between higher education and K-12 in the planning and implementation of college application initiatives; 2) the role a college application campaign can serve in a larger college access and success strategy, be it at the state, high school, or postsecondary level; and 3) how attendees can engage with their state’s ACAC initiative.

One session attendee, Rob Gira, who serves as executive vice president of the AVID Center and the state coordinator for California’s College Access and Success Campaign, shared the success California had with their pilot initiative in fall 2016.

He described the campaign as an opportunity to lift up and support the important work our school counselors do. To see an example of California’s campaign in action, watch this video produced by Ocean View High School in Orange County, CA at their November 2016 California College Application and Success Campaign.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_ki6bn7gZ8

To learn more about ACE’s American College Application Campaign, please visit www.acenet.edu/acac where you will find links to individual state profile pages and national resources.

For more about Delaware College Application Campaign, see http://delawaregoestocollege.org/college-application-month/.

This session was sponsored by ACT, Inc.