{"id":11072,"date":"2020-12-01T18:19:57","date_gmt":"2020-12-02T02:19:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lesliedinaberg.com\/wordpress\/?p=11072"},"modified":"2020-12-01T18:19:57","modified_gmt":"2020-12-02T02:19:57","slug":"sbcc-foundation-delivers-the-promise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lesliedinaberg.com\/wordpress\/?p=11072","title":{"rendered":"SBCC Foundation Delivers the Promise"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"SBCC<\/a>

SBCC Foundation Delivers the Promise, originally published in Santa Barbara Independent on November 19, 2020.<\/p><\/div>\n

An Update on the College’s Signature Project <\/b><\/p>\n

The SBCC Promise<\/a> \u2014 which provides regional high\u00a0school graduates the opportunity to attend Santa\u00a0Barbara City College<\/a> full-time, free of charge, for\u00a0up to two years \u2014 started its fifth year this fall, with 5,000\u00a0students projected to have benefited by the end of the year.<\/p>\n

SBCC Foundation CEO Geoff Green<\/a> gave us an update.<\/p>\n

Have there been any changes to how the SBCC Promise works?\u00a0<\/strong>We\u2019ve been adjusting the offerings of the Promise based on\u00a0feedback, so for us it\u2019s a real-time experiment. One of the\u00a0things we\u2019re trying to figure out is how many students complete\u00a0two or three years of the Promise but still have to stay\u00a0one or two or three more semesters to be ready to transfer.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve also gotten requests from a few students saying,\u00a0\u201cI\u2019m ready to go, but I can\u2019t afford to pay for all of these\u00a0transfer applications.\u201d So we just added that if they go to\u00a0a counselor and say, \u201cI need help with this,\u201d we\u2019ll pay for\u00a0their transfer apps. We\u2019ll do that for students who were\u00a0Promise students in, say, 2016-17 and are just now completing\u00a0what they need for transfer.<\/p>\n

You also changed the program so students\u00a0who have a unit load accommodation, and\u00a0take fewer classes because of a disability, can\u00a0stay in SBCC Promise for longer.<\/strong> Yes, as we\u00a0learn about different things, we\u2019ve been\u00a0doing that kind of stuff as we\u2019ve also tried\u00a0to measure and monitor.<\/p>\n

Does SBCC Promise pay the college the same\u00a0amount it would get if the students were\u00a0paying individually?<\/strong> Yes, and in fact this\u00a0was one of the unanticipated benefits that\u00a0[former SBCC president] Jack Friedlander\u00a0told me about the first semester we did\u00a0this, before he retired. He said, \u201cDo you\u00a0realize you actually generated a half million\u00a0dollars last semester for the college? All of those students,\u00a0who based on previous data would not have been\u00a0full-time, they went full-time so they could take advantage\u00a0of the Promise. Because of those additional units they paid\u00a0for, that equaled half a million dollars of revenue for the\u00a0college.\u201d<\/p>\n

How are you doing right now in terms of funding?<\/strong> It\u2019s tough.\u00a0We have now sustained it for 4.5 years. [Initially,] we raised\u00a0about $3.5 million within six months. So we raised enough\u00a0money to get all the way through year one and two and part\u00a0of year three very early and then it sloughed off.\u00a0Basically, we were excited, we put all our energy into\u00a0the program, and now we have to circle back and kick up\u00a0our fundraising. So you can expect after the pandemic\u00a0moment starts to shift back to whatever our new normal\u00a0is, you\u2019ll see a big public campaign around funding the\u00a0Promise.<\/p>\n

\"SB<\/a>

SB Independent Cover, Schools of Thought, November 19, 2020.<\/p><\/div>\n

Originally published in the Santa Barbara Independent<\/em><\/a> on November 19, 2020. To read the section as it appeared in print, please click here.<\/a><\/p>\n

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