Dual Enrollment Expands Resources for Continued Growth
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Dual Enrollment Student Ambassadors from left to right: Caroline Serrano, Hannah Dotson, Gracia Jeanty, Pascale Gachette, Aidan Vega, Willow Candelora, Nicole Rivera and Ashton Conan
Valencia’s Dual Enrollment program — which enables qualified public, private and home education students the opportunity to pursue an advanced curriculum that earns students both high school and college credit simultaneously — continues to expand program initiatives and services. This growth has been influenced by changes in departmental procedures, the implementation of state regulations and on-campus programming.
Currently, the team of nine Dual Enrollment employees serves approximately 6,000 public, charter, private and home-school students annually in Orange and Osceola County.
“The success of the program is due to our dedicated staff members who go above expectations to serve students and the immense support from campus and district partners,” shared Latishua Lewis, director, dual enrollment.
Recently, the Dual Enrollment team has implemented some major program enhancements. For example, in September 2018 the team transitioned to an online application process. This enhancement led to a 20 percent application increase, because it allowed for easier and quicker access to the application and helped to minimize errors that would occur frequently when the application was a manual process.
In addition, the team added new programs to engage prospective and current students, including application workshops for prospective students and their family members, group advising sessions for current students and a College Readiness Trivia Night to help dual-enrolled students further integrate into the Valencia College community.
“These programs have helped to create a sense of community and a seamless transition to enroll with Valencia College after high school,” Latishua explained.
To help teach our students leadership skills, the team has also developed a new group, the Dual Enrollment Student Ambassadors, current dual-enrolled students who assist with events such as orientation and gain volunteer hours by sharing their experiences about the program.
Additionally, the Dual Enrollment team developed new marketing materials in fall 2018 to ensure awareness of processes and procedures, including information posters, advising cards, a Step-By-Step Guide, a Student Guide and a detailed online reference guide with course equivalencies and other helpful resources.
What’s next for the Dual Enrollment program?
Campus presidents and other administrative leaders will discuss strategic priorities for the Dual Enrollment program in the coming months. There will be collaborative efforts with Academic Affairs and opportunities to strengthen the academic advising model. Partnerships with Orange and Osceola Counties allow Valencia College to help students gain access to higher education and experience the college atmosphere.
As the Dual Enrollment team prepares for the fall 2019 application cycle (which begins Monday, February 25, 2019), the team members are excited for continued growth and partnerships and look forward to continuing to enhance the educational experiences of students throughout Central Florida.
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