A Record of Excellence

Since its inception, UCO’s Student Transformative Learning Record (STLR) has earned accolades across state and national borders. Most recently, the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) named Central one of its 2018 Excellence and Innovation Award winners, highlighting the UCO STLR program and its role in student success and retention.

For its work with STLR, UCO received the Student Success and College Completion Award. A reflection of student success though the program was captured among a group of first-time, first-year students, comprised of low-income, first-generation and/or underrepresented students – all of whom participated and completed STLR. The group’s students began at UCO in fall 2015, with retention among the group increasing 13 percent. Additionally, student grade point averages within the group had an average increase of 0.56 points.

Many Spring 2019 graduates will comprise the first group of students who will leave Central with four years of STLR experiences alongside their earned bachelor degrees.

UCO accepted the Student Success and College Completion Award for its STLR program during AASCU’s 2018 Excellence and Innovation Awards ceremony. Pictured from left are Dana G. Hoyt, Ph.D., president of Sam Houston State University and past-chair of the AASCU Board of Directors; UCO President Don Betz; Jeff King, Ed.D., Central’s executive director of the Center for Excellence in Transformative Teaching and Learning; and AASCU President Mildred García, Ed.D.

A Legacy of Excellence

More than one AASCU award has Central connections this year, as Central alumnus Lane Perry, Ph.D., (BS ’05 MEd ’06) accepted one of the 2018 Excellence and Innovation Awards on behalf of Western Carolina University (WCU). Perry currently serves as the director for WCU’s Center for Service Learning, which helps facilitate the university’s Student Democracy Coalition – an organization focused on increasing student civic engagement. The coalition registered more than 3,100 students to vote, established a campus early voting poll that raised WCU’s voter turnout rate by 16 percent and held an election watch program with nearly 500 attendees. For their work, Perry and WCU earned the Civic Learning and Community Engagement Award.