SKC receives national award
<p>Salish Kootenai College brass—President Robert DePoe, III (left), Tribal Councilwoman Carole Lankford (second from left) and Board Chairman Jim Durglo (right)—accept the IHEP Champions of Access and Success Award at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. last month.</p>
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) announced recipients of its inaugural IHEP Champions of Access and Success Awards in December.
Winners of the Institutional Champions of Access and Success Awards and Champion of Champions Awards include postsecondary institutions and individuals who have successfully advanced strategies that increase opportunity, persistence, and degree completion for low-income, first-generation, minority, veteran, and other underserved students.
Recipients of the Institutional Champions of Access and Success Awards are being recognized for scaling and institutionalizing their access and success strategies.
Awardees have strong leadership, faculty, and staff who are committed to achieving positive outcomes for students. Each institution has put in place robust data systems that inform their decision-making and interventions.
The IHEP Champions of Access and Success Awards were presented during IHEP’s National Policy Summit: Redefining Access for the 21st-Century Student held at the National Press Club. That signature IHEP event brought together critical stakeholders—policymakers, institutional decision-makers, business leaders, and other influential individuals whose reach extends across and beyond the postsecondary community—to foster policy and practice solutions in support of increased access and success.
SKC President Robert DePoe, III accepted the award on behalf of Salish Kootenai College. DePoe thanked the college Board of Directors, faculty, and staff for their dedication to student success.
The IHEP Champions of Access and Success Awards were selected through an open application and nomination process; for the institutional awards, all institutions committed to improving access and success were invited to apply. Selections were vetted by IHEP staff, board members, and external postsecondary access and success experts.