National Dissemination Center for Career and Technical Education
The Ohio State University
Columbus, Ohio 43210-1090

For Immediate Release

Webcast Addresses Strategies for Retaining Nontraditional Students in 
Community Colleges
The National Dissemination Center for Career and Technical Education will 
present a webcast entitled "Serving Adults and Nontraditional Students" on 
October 18, 2005, 3:00 to 4:30 PM (EDT). This interactive event, and 
previous webcasts, can be viewed on any computer with Internet access at 
http://www.nccte.org.

Education and earning power have always been linked, and in recent decades 
the need for education beyond high school has become even greater. 
Community colleges provide opportunities for individuals with educational 
deficiencies to continue their education, but many students who start 
programs do not complete them. This problem led MDRC, an organization that 
studies the effectiveness of public policies, to launch Opening Doors, a 
study of different strategies for retaining nontraditional students in 
community colleges.

This webcast examines the Opening Doors program at three community 
colleges: Delgado, in New Orleans, LA; Kingsborough, in Brooklyn, NY; and 
Owens, in Toledo, Ohio. Each of these community colleges is testing a 
different strategy for retaining students. Representatives from MDRC and 
the community colleges will present the overall design of the study, 
describe the retention strategies being used, and summarize initial findings.

The presenters for this webcast are Thomas Brock of MDRC, New York; Estella 
Lain of Delgado Community College, New Orleans; Rachel Singer of 
Kingsborough Community College, Brooklyn; and Linda Stacy of Owens 
Community College, Toledo.

Dr. Thomas Brock is the Director of Work, Community, and Economic Security 
at MDRC. His research focuses on combining qualitative and quantitative 
methods to describe how social programs operate and how people experience 
programs. It includes people delivering the services and the people who are 
the intended beneficiaries. He is the research director for Opening Doors, 
an initiative designed to help low-income adults complete educational 
programs in community colleges. He also codirects the Project on Devolution 
and Urban Change which examines the implementation and effects of welfare 
reform in large cities. Prior to joining MDRC, Brock served as an 
evaluation officer at the Wallace Foundation where he designed and managed 
multi-site evaluations of after-school programs for youth, community arts 
initiatives, and audience development programs for nonprofit theaters. 
Brock has a bachelor's degree in anthropology from Pitzer College, a 
master's degree in public administration from Columbia University, and a 
doctoral degree in social welfare from the University of California, Los 
Angeles.

Ms. Estella Lain is the Executive Director of Program Development/High 
School Relations at Delgado Community College. Previous positions held by 
Lain were Dean of Occupational Studies at Delgado Community College; 
Director, Louisiana Technical College; and Adult Education Instructor, 
Jefferson Parish School System, also in Louisiana. She has a bachelor's 
degree from Southern University, Baton Rouge, LA; and a master's degree 
from the University of Wyoming, in Laramie, WY. Lain is currently 
completing requirements for a doctorate in educational leadership from 
Argosy University, in Sarasota, FL.

Ms. Rachel Singer has been at Kingsborough Community College since 1986, 
beginning her tenure as a counselor in the Department of Student 
Development. For the past 13 years, she has served in the Office of the 
Provost and Academic Affairs. For the first 9 years, she served as Director 
of Academic Scheduling and Evening and Weekend Studies. For the past 4 
years, she has been the Director of Academic Affairs, overseeing many 
academic projects, including the Opening Doors Learning Communities 
program. Singer has been in private practice as a clinical social worker, 
for the past 22 years. She has a bachelor's degree in social welfare and a 
master's degree in social work from Adelphi University, and she is a New 
York licensed clinical social worker.

Ms. Linda Stacy is the Vice President of Workforce and Community Services 
and a Special Assistant for Government and Community Relations in the 
office of the President of Owens Community College. Stacy has been a member 
of the Workforce Advisory Committee since 1992. She is responsible for the 
college's outreach to business, industry, government, and labor. Stacy 
developed the college's Adult Basic Education program and designed the PETE 
(basic skills) program for the state of Ohio. She has a bachelor's degree 
in elementary education in elementary education/remedial reading, a 
masters' degree, and an educational specialist degree in curriculum 
development instruction from the University of Toledo.

Viewers of the webcast may ask questions of the panel by signing up (no 
charge) for a chatroom account at http://www.nccte.org. The chatroom allows 
you to submit questions during the presentation. Please allow one full day 
for your account to be validated by e-mail confirmation.

To subscribe or unsubscribe from this e-mail list, please visit this web 
page:http://www.nccte.org/ctemail/subscription.asp or send an e-mail to 
nagy.8 at osu.edu or contact Barbara Reardon below.

The work reported herein was supported under the National Dissemination 
Center for Career and Technical Education (PR/Award No. VO51A990004) and/or 
under the National Research Center for Career and Technical Education 
(PR/Award No. VO51A990006), as administered by the Office of Vocational and 
Adult Education, U.S. Department of Education. However, the contents do not 
necessarily represent the positions or policies of the Office of Vocational 
and Adult Education or the U.S. Department of Education, and you should not 
assume endorsement by the federal government. The National Dissemination 
Center for Career and Technical Education and the National Research Center 
for Career and Technical Education are funded by the Office of Vocational 
and Adult Education, U.S. Department of Education.

For Additional Information Contact:
Barbara Reardon
The Ohio State University
Director of Communications
Columbus, Ohio 43210-1090
Phone: 614-292-2894
Fax: 614-688-3258
Email: reardon.30 at osu.edu
Web site: www.nccte.org