Welcoming Sister Institutions into the LC Fold: Institutional Mentorship Programs at the Regional College Level

10-10:50am

Location: Cassatt B

Type: Interactive

Audience: Linked Courses, Coordinated Studies, Living Learning Communites, Residential Colleges

Presenters: Kate Midday, Aaron Lawler, and Steven Zusman, McHenry County College, Waubonsee Community College

For six years, McHenry County College has mentored Waubonsee Community College in the creation of a Learning Communities Program. Through a collegial willingness to understand the unique dynamics of sister institutions, consistency, patience, and some old-fashioned persistence, Waubonsee Community College is in the pilot year of their own supported Learning Communities program. We encourage others to get on the path toward mentorship as they lay the groundwork for an LC program launch, specifically with a college that is similar in mission, scope, size, and programmatic possibility. There is a benefit to understanding the context of a program's growing ground, and a success that can come from that shared experience as faculty/program leadership. This session will lay out the unique challenges facing a community college in forming a new program, some strategies that were ineffective and effective in bringing the launch to life, and some steps for forming a mentorship with another institution.