From start to finish: Cal U launches new degree-completion initiative
Officials at California University of Pennsylvania are working more diligently than ever to lead their students from start to finish.
Last month, the university launched The Finish Line, a new enrollment initiative to give students who started, but never finished a degree, the opportunity to earn a college diploma.
“We started this program because we saw a need, specifically in the state of Pennsylvania,” said Stephanie Franks-Helwich, a success coach for The Finish Line and the executive director for Graduate Admissions and Global Online.
To build the Finish Line program, Franks-Helwich said the university relied on data from a Lumina Foundation report that found there are an estimated 1.2 million Pennsylvanians who spent some time in college but never completed a degree.
“We took a look at that grouping of individuals, and we worked to create a portfolio of degree completion options that could be offered in two platforms, online and on-campus so that we would meet the demands and needs not only of the workforce, but also the individuals looking to get the degree,” Franks-Helwich said.
Beginning this spring, former college students can request a complimentary review of their previous college credits from a Finish Line success coach at Cal U. Then each student and his or her coach will develop a personalized plan for completing a Cal U degree on campus or online.
“They could have started at Cal U, and left, because life got in the way, and just decided that now is the right time to come back for career enhancement, career advancement, competitive wages or personal achievement,” Franks-Helwich said.
With The Finish Line, former students can get a head start on a college degree by using credits already earned; take a community college diploma to a new level by earning a bachelor’s degree; and discover which courses “fill in the gaps” to complete degree requirements.
Franks-Helwich said the university has received about 250 responses since the program launched late last month.
One of those respondents needs only three credits to finish his degree.
“He was that far along, but he stopped out because things got in the way,” she said. “We were able to work with him to get the course in the spring. He will graduate in the summer group. A huge benefit to this is, we’re assisting them to obtaining a degree in a much shorter amount of time then they ever thought was possible.”
Franks-Helwich said the program took about two years to develop, and differs significantly from past university efforts.
“What we try to do is to provide that one-stop support, and one-stop guidance, to lead them from start to finish, and that may just be what they needed to get them back into the educational environment that they had left,” she said. “We don’t know why they left, so we are going to talk to them about why they previously left and ask them, what’s different now? How can we better support you through this journey? What are the things you personally need to be successful?”
Finish Line coaches will do all the outreach and act as a mediator between the prospective student and the variety of services at the university, including financial aid and billing.
“We’re different because we provide all these opportunities to help guide them through this process,” she said.
Once the coach learns the student’s goals, the student will be connected to the academic adviser of his or her program of interest who will complete a degree audit.
Franks-Helwich said the university is finding that a large majority of the students are choosing liberal studies.
“It’s a degree where you can customize what classes you take,” she said. “It’s very flexible. It’s probably the most flexible degree we have on campus.”
Cal U Spokeswoman Christine Kindl, said she believes most significant difference between The Finish Line, and past university efforts, is in its outreach to students.
“It’s a concerted outreach to those students,” she said. “Rather than waiting for them to come to us, and say, ‘Hey, life has changed again, and I’m think I’m ready to come back and finish,’ we are reaching out to them very proactively, and saying, “There’s an opportunity here, we can help you take advantage of this opportunity. It’s a change in focus. We’re being very proactive.”
Ryan Barnhart, a program coach and the assistant director of Marketing and Recruitment for Global Online, said the goal is to bring in 100 students through the program in the spring.
“Really, the sky’s the limit,” Barnhart said.
Franks-Helwich said while the program has been launched at Cal U, she and her colleagues would love to see it grow to other universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, as well as schools not affiliated with the state system.
“We want to focus on satisfying the needs of employers and individuals in the local area to finish their degree, but we want anybody to be able to say, ‘I can achieve something through Cal U.'”
To request information or a courtesy check of a college transcript, students can visit finishline.calu.edu. To learn more, e-mail finishline@calu.edu or call 866-595-6348.