After graduating from New Commerce High School in Long Island City, Javier Gonzalez had no sense of what he wanted to do next—or what career he would pursue. After coming to BMCC with 7 transfer credits and a summer institute at the college, he’s on track to graduate from BMCC by end of the fall of 2008 with a degree in Business Management. Gonzalez plans go on to Baruch College and prepare for a career in marketing and advertising. “I couldn’t have done any of this without ASAP,” he says.
Currently being piloted at several CUNY campuses, ASAP—Accelerated Study in Associate Programs—was launched in 2007 as a way of creating a new model for the education of students working toward a college degree. Its objective: To provide a select group of highly motivated students with the one-on-one support, guidance and resources they need to graduate within three years. Upon graduating, students will go on to senior colleges—or take their place in the labor force. (Please note that the program, which serves 200 students, is currently full and no longer accepting applicants.)
Personal guidance, extra support
“In recent years the rate of timely graduation—that is, graduation within three years—at community colleges has been alarmingly low,” says Lesley Leppert, who heads ASAP at BMCC. “ASAP was created to reverse that trend.” The program offers small class sizes, personal advisement, tutoring, free textbooks, and help with career and job placements—giving students the extra support they need to obtain their associate degree within a three-year time frame.
In addition, ASAP students enjoy a range of scheduling options, enabling them to attend all of their classes in a morning, afternoon, evening, or weekend block of time. A choice of majors is available, including Accounting, Business Management, Early Childhood Education, Human Services and Liberal Arts.
Steven Rudnick, an adjunct lecturer in the Business Management Department, has been an ASAP faculty member since the program’s debut at BMCC last fall. “ASAP really offers a different kind of learning experience,” he says. “Because the classes are smaller, the teachers can develop a closer relationship with their students, and a sense that we’re all part of a great experiment.” Not uncommonly, students who might have been unable to keep up their grades and graduate in a conventional academic track flourish and excel in ASAP.
Catching fire
“I’ve seen it happen time and again,” says Rudnick. “Students will come into the program, struggle for the first few weeks either because of personal or academic issues—and then rally and make it to the end of the semester with decent grades.”
That is close to the trajectory Javier Gonzalez has traveled. “When I first came to BMCC, I was pretty lost,” he says. “But ASAP has provided me with teachers who really care, counselors who are always there for me, and a chance to succeed that I might not have otherwise had.”
