The American Council on Education selected Rowan College at Burlington County (RCBC) as one of nine colleges to be part of its second Learner Success Lab cohort.

The Learner Success Lab is an 18-month inclusive learning community that integrates evidenced-based practices for retention and completion, career exploration and workforce skills development.

“Rowan College at Burlington County looks forward to implementing best practices that will help us support students’ ability to complete a credential, earn a better job or simply identify the steps they need to take to meet their goals,” said Dr. Karen Archambault, vice president of Enrollment Management and Student Success. “This selection speaks volumes about the work we do to help students succeed, yet it speaks more about the fact that we embrace continual improvement on behalf of our students.”

The program begins this fall and will include a review of existing activities and capacities of the college, analysis of that review in relation to the college’s mission and regular contact with the council’s staff and experts as the college develops its improvement plan.

“As the pandemic plunged the world into upheaval, not only have we seen the importance of centering learners and supporting them on their path to success, but the resilience and agility of our Cohort 1 institutions demonstrated that doing this hard work of institutional transformation at this profoundly disruptive moment is, indeed, possible” said Lindsey Myers, director of the Learner Success Lab. “This year's cohort is prepared to meet that challenge head-on, and we are proud to support them in this crucial work.”

Other members of this year’s cohort include: CETYS University (Mexico), Clarke University, Florida International University, Lewis University, New Jersey City University, Southern University at Shreveport, Washington State University Tri Cities and Western Illinois University.

“It’s an honor to be selected among these institutions,” RCBC President Dr. Michael A. Cioce said. “Student Success is the highest of priorities at Rowan College at Burlington County and we will relentlessly pursue new and better ways to support students as they transform their lives through education.”