3.4.2 Continuing education/service programs
The institution’s continuing education, outreach, and service programs are consistent with the institution’s mission.
Judgment of Compliance
Compliance
Narrative of Justification
As a small, private, historically Black liberal arts college for women, Bennett’s continuing education, outreach, and service programs are directly related to issues that impact its primary population: young women of color. The college’s Mission Statement and Philosophy contain sections which are directly linked to these programs:
“The College offers women an education conducive to excellence in scholarly pursuits; preparation for leadership roles in the workplace, society, and the world; and lifelong learning in a technologically advanced, complex global society. . . .Bennett College’s under girding philosophy is that a high quality college experience should provide its women students with strong academic and co-curricular programs that encourage their personal development, endorse lifelong learning, and prepare them to meet the needs of an ever-changing society.”
One of Bennett’s educational objectives is to “promote the pursuit of social justice and political activism by encouraging and enhancing the desire to serve society through service learning, and community and public service.”
Continuing Education
Bennett recognizes the importance of providing women in the Greensboro area an opportunity to take advantage of the rich resources available at the College. While the college does not have a formal Continuing Education program, through the development of its Returning Women’s program, the College has been able to offer non-credit courses in the evenings and on the weekends. For example, the college’s Artist-in-Residence, a nationally recognized quilter, offered a series of courses during her residence that were open to the Greensboro community at large. While these art courses were consistent with the College’s mission to foster lifelong learning, they also supported the College’s mission to promote the pursuit of social justice and political activism by incorporating a social consciousness component. Many of the quilters who presented at the college, as was the Artist-in-Residence herself, were previously New Orleans-based and infused their art presentations with social commentary, particularly related to justice and activism.
Outreach Programs
Bennett College’s outreach programs are also consistent with and clearly related to the purpose, mission and philosophy stated above. These programs are reviewed regularly to determine their consistency with Bennett’s mission and philosophy. The program evaluations are completed as a part of the program management and review processes and as a part of the grant requirements when the program is supported by external funding. Each program receives resources and services that are adequate to meet the purposes of the outreach programs.
The following descriptions are outreach programs offered by the College. Each program description includes a statement of the purpose of the program and its relationship to Bennett’s mission and the resources and services provided by the program.
Power Girls
Power Girls is a unique summer camp learning experience focused on early leadership training and personal development for young women of color ages 14 – 17. The program brings infinite possibilities within reach through education, training, and preparation.
The Power Girls program focuses on:
- Developing oral, written and interpersonal skills to more effectively communicate with others.
- Developing personal presentation skills that display “readiness” for leadership.
- Advancing awareness and knowledge of future educational and professional opportunities.
- Enhancing cultural competencies aimed at accepting and appreciating the differences of others while utilizing their own differences to make a difference.
- Examining, reviewing and discussing the “work” of minority female thought leaders around issues that affect the global marketplace.
- Encouraging the participation in community and world activism and involvement for evaluation and feedback.
SISTA
Because of the impact of HIV/AIDS on the population primarily served by Bennett, one of its most directly-related outreach programs to its mission has been in the area of HIV/AIDS education and prevention. Bennett, as one of four United Negro College Fund Special Program-managed Community Impact Program grantees, chose to focus on the HIV/AIDS disparity that is disproportionately impacting communities of color. Under the broad heading of Bennett Sisters Informing Sisters on Topics about AIDS (B-SISTA Project) and named “Elect to Protect,” the project promotes HIV/AIDS education and prevention awareness on the campus and in the surrounding community. Through workshops and seminars, the project emphasizes self-respect and assertiveness as a means of protecting youth from contracting HIV. The project teams Bennett students as HIV/AIDS peer counselors and educators with African-American women, aged 13-22 in selected communities surrounding the college.
The primary goals of the project are to increase HIV/AIDS awareness and knowledge of the participants, to develop intervention strategies with participants that will decrease behaviors placing them at risk, and to develop better self-management and greater partner communication and negotiation skills.
The NSF Summer Academy
This federally funded program provides academic support to participants in their preparation for college entrance. The program provides opportunities for participants to succeed in pre-college performance and ultimately in higher education pursuits. The goal of the NSF Summer Academy is to increase the rates at which participants major in STEM fields.
The NSF Summer Academy has the following objectives:
- Preparing students, through course work, enrichment activities, computer projects and science laboratory experiences, for success in first-year mathematics and science courses.
- Offering courses in mathematics and science that are geared to the needs of the students.
- Including academic, recreational, and cultural activities that will help the new college student meet the challenges of higher education.
- Enabling each student to earn a minimum of seven (7) college credits.
- Introducing students to Computational Science—a new interdisciplinary field.
Service Programs
Consistent with the purpose, mission, and philosophy statements of the College, community service is a requirement for graduation, as civic engagement and service learning are integral components of the Bennett educational experience. Students at Bennett must satisfy 40 hours of community service for graduation, which equates to ten hours for each year of matriculation. Transfer students must complete a minimum of ten hours for each year of matriculation at the College. Student hours for community service projects to fulfill the requirement for graduation are recorded in the Center for Teaching, Learning and Technology and are placed in each student’s individual folder. Credit is given for the number of actual hours performed by the student.
In addition, through service learning components of courses (such as the HIV/AIDS program described below), students are able to participate in meaningful service activities that complement course content. These programs are designed to promote leadership and advocacy skills in students.
An exemplary service learning component to a course at Bennett is the Sisters Informing Sisters about Topics on AIDS (SISTA) Project which was developed by African-American women and is tailored towards the needs of African-American women. This program, which has been frequently paired with a Bennett course as a service learning project, for example, Introduction to Human Sexuality in the Social Work program, has been offered in collaboration with the Sickle Cell Disease Association of the Piedmont. Through this program, Bennett students are trained with the knowledge and skills to become certified as HIV peer counselors. In turn, the students who have received the training, provide training to other Bennett students. The objectives of this service learning project are to complete the training to become a peer counselor, to publish and disseminate an informational brochure on HIV/AIDS, to organize and present at least one HIV/AIDS awareness workshop in one of Bennett’s residence halls or to a freshwoman class, and to write a self-reflection on the project.
Supporting Documents