Bossier Parish Community College is one of eight community colleges across the U.S. selected to participate in the Institute for Evidence-Based Change’s (IEBC) Caring Campus initiative, funded through a $600,000 grant provided by the ECMC Foundation, a nationally focused foundation investing in initiatives that improve educational outcomes and support post-secondary education and career success among underserved populations.
The objective of Caring Campus is to increase student retention and success in community colleges by creating and cultivating Caring Campus environments through intentional behaviors by faculty and staff to improve students’ sense of caring and connectedness to the college.
“We are delighted to be selected for the Caring Campus initiative and we're confident that the caring spirit with which we embrace each and every student will be enhanced as a result of this engagement,” said Chancellor Dr. Rick Bateman, Jr. “BPCC is a special place that seeks to embrace, educate, and empower students who go forth into our communities to be difference makers. This initiative seeks to strengthen the impact we have on students and our region.”
Over 70 colleges are implementing Caring Campus around the country. Colleges see improvements in course retention and success, increased term to term persistence, and improved completion and transfer. Achievement gaps are being closed rapidly among participant campus populations.
BPCC faculty and staff, working in collaboration with Caring Campus coaches, have developed a stronger partnership across departments in order to enhance existing student success efforts to ensure they feel welcome on campus.
Despite the challenges of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic on higher education, BPCC is committed to finding ways to implement their college-specific Caring Campus approach to student success. As a result of the need for flexible options due to the pandemic, IEBC coaches have experience successfully implementing Caring Campus in an on-campus, virtual, or hybrid learning environment.