Annual Report 2007 - The Power of
The Power of Higher Education
Through a collaborative effort of UConn’s Stamford campus, corporate and foundation partners, and the Stamford public school system, more than 100 local middle school students have experienced college life firsthand in the University Pals program.
“Students and parents need to begin preparing for college in middle school, not in the early years of high school,” says Michael Ego, vice provost of the Stamford campus. “The University Pals program provides that initial step toward entering college.”
Support from RBS Greenwich Capital, First County Bank, Pitney Bowes, Purdue Pharma, the Nellie Mae Education Foundation and the Linda Richardson Harper Foundation, as well as private contributions, provided for the experience. The 12- and 13-year-old students in the class of 2007 were the first to complete the program. They attended UConn’s Stamford campus for an intensive introduction to the rigors of college life.
“I’m very proud of the students’ commitment and dedication to spending their summer at UConn,” says Ego. “The students were offered a real-life simulation of attending college and most of them responded very favorably to the experience.” Coursework ranging from mathematics and the sciences to the arts was adapted for a younger student body, and classes were taught by UConn professors or community leaders from the Stamford area. The students were assigned homework, and had to complete group projects and internships at local businesses outside of class.
“I did not know really how much I would be able to learn in four weeks in a college prep program, but I was very impressed with the way the UConn professors taught the courses and how I was able to comprehend the instruction,” says Michael Socci, who delivered the Pals class valedictory speech.
Students were required to apply for the program and priority was placed on those who would be the first in their families to attend college. To provide knowledgeable, steady insight throughout their experience, each student was paired with and mentored by UConn students. Parental involvement was also required, with parents participating in orientation sessions at the start and halfway through the program.
UConn launched the initiative to address a projected shortage of college-educated workers in the next decade, according to Ego.
“The state of Connecticut faces a workforce gap of college-educated employees, and therefore the University Pals program is vital to creating the pipeline that will respond to this issue in the future,” Ego says.
