2015 EDUCATION MAGAZINE LINCOLN DAILY NEWS.com February 25, 2015 43
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not only is it free professional tutoring,
but our instructors personally spend
a lot of their free time in those labs.
This is not paid time; they give it to
the students because they want them to
succeed.”
This summer the college also started a
pilot program Blackburn referred to as
the ‘Summer Bridge.’ Approximately
40 students were selected for
conditional admission to LC with their
final admission being dependent on their
successful completion of the program.
Blackburn explained, “The Summer
Bridge program we piloted this summer
is to help students be better ready to
enter their freshman year. We’re real
excited about it.”
In Summer Bridge, students register
for nine hours of class. Blackburn
said, “They were here for four very
intense weeks. They took math and
composition, which were seven of the
[nine] hours. We did a PE class because
we needed to let them get out and get
some fresh air because each of the two
classes is four hours a day.”
Then program also included ‘The First-
Year Experience,’ which granted one
credit hour. It introduced students to
how to operate socially in college, time
management, dorm life, civility, and all
those things that will help them on the
social side, Blackburn said.
“We did a survey in the end, and
they raved about it. These kids are
ready, and they would not have been
ready. Again, these students are very
bright, but they need to accelerate their
readiness. This program has got us
excited.”
The result of the program -- 75 percent
of the students passed conditional
status and were admitted. After their
first year is completed, he said, “We
want to evaluate it now, improve it, and
expand it.”
