Around Campus: ‘Gateway to the Associate Arts Degree’ program announced

  • By Suzie Kendrick
  • Sunday, November 6, 2016 8:04pm
  • NewsSchools

Beginning in fall 2017, a residential based academic program called ‘Gateway to the AA and Beyond’ will be available to students. The program will create a specific academic cohort built around common classes and themes in a living-learning community in the KRC Residence Hall. The initial cohort will be up to 16 students who are admitted to the KPC associate of arts program. They will live in a quad of four suites (four private bedrooms per suite) in the Residence Hall allowing the students to focus collectively on their academic programs.

The program will bring the Gateway students together in common classes, some delivered at the Residence Hall. There’s a myriad of potential benefits for students in the cohort including dedicated advising to assist with major exploration, study skills development, specialized activities and programs to help students understand their strengths and challenges, as well as assistance with financial aid and identifying scholarships. Students will also be mentored to effectively plan and prepare for successful articulation into bachelor degree programs.

The Gateway program’s first-year students will live in the Residence Hall and take at least two classes with their cohort. Second-year students will be encouraged to remain on campus to help form natural mentorships and study groups with new students.

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

Similar programs around the country tout important benefits including better academic performance, increased intellectual development and smoother transition for first-year students into college life. The intent of the program is to increase student retention, student satisfaction and engagement, and to provide for stronger faculty/student mentorship relationships. It is hoped to facilitate greater ease in the high school to college transition that continues on into the second year and through to graduation.

KPC expands free English as a Second Language program

The KRC Learning Center has offered ESL instruction for many years. The free instruction is offered to non-native speakers of English to become more fluent and proficient in the English language.

The new ESL instructor in the Learning Center, Bridget Clark, is excited to announce that she has revamped the program to include a wider variety of course options to diversify instruction from basic English to more advanced offerings.

“In addition to the traditional ESL course format, I am offering students classes in reading, academic vocabulary, citizenship, U.S. history and current events to further enhance their language proficiency so they can pursue college and career opportunities,” Clark said.

Classes are offered daily, Monday through Thursday, at the KRC Learning Center in Brockel Building room 191. All classes are free and students can enroll at any time. For more information or to sign up, stop by the Learning Center or call 262-0327.

KPC Showcase An evening with adventurer Dick Griffith

The popular, continuing humanities-based series, the KPC Showcase, will be hosting Dick Griffith and Biographer Kaylene Johnson at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 10 in the KRC McLane commons. The program is funded in part by a generous grant from the Anna Fossett Goodrich Program of the Damon Memorial Fund.

The public is invited to the free presentation that will feature Griffith describing many of his solo wilderness adventures including occasionally death-defying moments while rafting down the Green and Colorado Rivers, skiing across the Northwest Passage, and being the first non-native to drop into the treacherous Barranca Del Cobre in Mexico. Johnson, the author of “Canyons and Ice: The Wilderness Travels of Dick Griffith,” published by Ember Press, will be on hand to talk about the biography.

For more information about this event, or to propose other KPC Showcase ideas, contact Coordinator Dave Atcheson at 262-0346.

 

This column is provided by Suzie Kendrick, Advancement Programs Manager at Kenai Peninsula College.

More in News

Robert Weaver was last seen at the Doroshin Bay public use cabin on June 25, 2025. (Photo provided by the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge)
Kenai wildlife refuge seeking information on missing man

Robert Weaver was last seen near Skilak Lake on June 25.

The Alaska Dive Search Rescue and Recovery Team conducts a training mission in Seward, Alaska in 2024. Photo courtesy of the Alaska Dive Search Rescue and Recovery Team
Anchor Point fundraiser to benefit Alaska rescue and recovery group

Alaska Dive Search Rescue and Recovery Team is an all-volunteer nonprofit organization established in 2016.

Kachemak Bay Family Planning Clinic staff (left to right) Angie Holland, RN; Jane Rohr, Sonja Martin Young, CNM; Robin Holmes, MD; and Cherie Bole, CMA provide an array of reproductive and sexual health services. (Photo provided by KBFPC)
Kachemak Bay Family Planning Clinic releases report on STI trends on the Kenai Peninsula

The report pulls from data gathered from 2024 to early 2025.

Pool manager and swim coach Will Hubler leads a treading water exercise at Kenai Central High School in Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, June 17, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Swimmers, parents call on Kenai to support Kenai Central pool

The KPBSD Board of Education last week said communities will need to step up and take over administration of pools within the next year.

Traffic passes by South Spruce Street in Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai drops effort to rename South Spruce Street

The resolution would have changed the name to make it clear which road led to North Kenai Beach

Gov. Mike Dunleavy compares Alaska to Mississippi data on poverty, per-pupil education spending, and the 2024 National Assessment of Education Progress fourth grade reading scores during a press conference on Jan. 31, 2025. Alaska is highlighted in yellow, while Mississippi is in red. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)
Dunleavy calls special session for August

Lawmakers on Wednesday said they were surprised by the move.

A makeshift coffin decrying the risks of Medicaid funding cuts is seen on Thursday, June 26, in front of the Blazy Mall in Soldotna. The cuts were included in legislation passed by the U.S. Senate early Tuesday morning. (Photo by Jonas Oyoumick/Peninsula Clarion)
Ahead of Senate vote, Soldotna protesters defend Medicaid funding

Cuts to the program were included in legislation passed by the U.S. Senate early Tuesday morning.

Board President Zen Kelly speaks during a meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District’s Board of Education in Soldotna, Alaska, on Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai Peninsula Borough school board to finalize budget

The new budget designed by the committee will be considered at a public hearing during the full board meeting on Monday evening.

Most Read