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(BLUEFIELD)--The Ohio college access program upon which the West Virginia Access Center for Higher Education (WVACHE) is modeled has been named one of the top five innovative programs in the nation, due in part to its successful replication in West Virginia.
The Institute for Government Innovation at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government recently announced that the Ohio Appalachian Center for Higher Education (OACHE), a consortium of 10 public colleges and universities that has dramatically increased higher education among the state's Appalachian citizens, is one of five winners of the prestigious "Innovations in American Government Award." The OACHE was selected from nearly 1,000 and 15 finalists.
A landmark 1992 study, initiated by famed restauranteur Bob Evans, found that the barriers keeping so many Appalachians from going to college appeared to be not only poverty and geography, but also low self-esteem and lack of information. Largely as a result of the study's findings, the Ohio General Assembly established the OACHE consortium in 1993, uniting regional colleges and universities with K-12 schools and the private sector to bridge the gap between Appalachians' educational aspirations and their attainment.
The OACHE awards competitive Access Grants to institutions of higher education and Appalachian schools for projects that promote college attendance. Starting as early as fifth grade, these grants fund career planning and financial aid, field trips to businesses and college campuses, guest speakers and other resources that help students and parents make informed decisions about higher education. The impact has been profound. College attendance increased in more than 77 percent of the 49 Access Projects funded to September 2000--by as much as 50 percent per school.
In West Virginia, the WVACHE is replicating the OACHE model. Headquartered at Bluefield State College, the WVACHE awards two-year competitive Access grants to public high schools throughout the state. The WVACHE is currently funding Access Projects at James Monroe High School (Monroe County, Mount View High School (McDowell County, Nicholas County High School, Petersburg High School (Grant County, Point Pleasant High School (Mason County), Princeton Senior High School (Mercer County), Richwood High School (Nicholas County), Valley High School (Wetzel County, and Wirt County High School. Implementing the college access model developed in the Ohio program, these nine WVACHE Access Projects have increased their college-going rates by an average of 37 percent.
"Money is not an issue if you have never thought of yourself as being ‘college material,'" stated Sarita Gattuso, WVACHE executive director. "WVACHE Access Projects address barriers like low self-esteem and lack of confidence, that keep our Appalachian students from even considering postsecondary education. The OACHE model works by giving students hope, and it has proven its effectiveness in West Virginia by changing school climates."
The WVACHE has earned the endorsement of the "Rocket Boys," whose inspiring story of college dreams in a McDowell County coal mining town was told in the Homer Hickam memoir The Rocket Boys and the major motion picture October Sky. Willie Rose, one of the original Rocket Boys, is a member of the WVACHE Board of Directors. OACHE executive director Wayne White is also a member of the WVACHE board.
"Our winning this prestigious award is due in no small part to the success of the West Virginia Access Center for Higher Education," noted White. "Replication is an integral part of the evaluation process, and we are grateful for the assistance of Sarita Gattuso, who gave such a compelling presentation before the National Selection Committee in Washington, DC."
The WVACHE is now assisting four other OACHE-style centers recently established in Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee. With the help of the WVACHE's successful replication experience, the doors to higher education will be swinging open for thousands more Appalachian citizens beyond West Virginia. For 16 years, the Innovations in American Government Award has recognized quality and responsiveness at all levels of government and has fostered the replication of innovative approaches to the challenges facing government. The award--a program of the Institute for Government Innovation at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government--is administered in partnership with the Council for Excellence in Government. The program was founded by the Ford Foundation to identify and promote excellence and creativity in the public sector.
The Council for Excellence in Government is a national, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization whose mission it to improve government performance by strengthening results- oriented management and creative leadership in the public sector, and to build understanding by focusing public discussion on government's role and responsibilities.
May 12, 2003
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