This article will probably make you very sad. This is why the Academic Incubator, and other Learning Hubs need your support. The level of inequality minority college students face is inexcusable. Click the picture to read the full story:
Everyone learns differently. Information can be absorb in a multitude of ways: listening, watching, reading, writing, sketching, dramatizing…etc. We all have a preferred method of learning that allows us to most effectively upload and retain information. Unfortunately, after preschool in the United States, most schools only focus on read, write/type, and regurgitate. Our homogeneous approach to educating most students in this nation leads to less than favorable results for students who need a non-linear method of instruction.
When we were developing the New Prospect Academic Incubator, we placed major emphasis on creating a program that was:
1. Flexible – All of the accredited course work we offer to students through University of the People is delivered online. This enables students to complete coursework 24/7 via any web connected device. Additionally, the Academic Incubator provides a physical facility and support services to ensure that students receive individualized help and guidance. Each member of the Incubator Team will know each student on a professional, academic, and personal level. We will holistically care for our students, and our top priorities will be their success and well-being.
2. Student-Centric Approach – The Academic Incubator is perpetually seeking feedback from students. We value students’ opinions, and through our daily dialog, we will be able collaborate on many important decisions. Furthermore, we will have daily academic check-ins with each student and weekly check-ins with the students’ professors and employers. Our goal is to provide continual support to each student, while acting as a conduit between students and professors/students and employers. Students will sign a learning agreement upon joining the Academic Incubator stating that they are willing to receive help immediately if academic, employment, or home life issues arise. Pro-activity, resourcefulness, and authentic care will be the strongest traits of our Academic Incubator.
3. Translatable – University of the People offers four accredited degree programs. The Academic Incubator then helps students apply what they are studying via internships, professional workshops, industry networking events, and interacting with guest speakers who will visit the Incubator on a regular basis. Our students will have the opportunity to receive a world class education from University of the People, and the chance to immediately translate that education into real world experience through the resources provided by the Academic Incubator.
Our program couples the flexibility of studying online with the benefits of a caring local support team devoted to student success! The Academic Incubator looks to assist students above and beyond the support offered by most traditional “bricks and mortar” colleges and universities. You are never on your own in our program!
Every year, naive college graduates eagerly start applying for their first professional job positions. Then, students quickly realize that employers are looking for candidates with experience. The students don’t have any meaningful experience, because they were under the impression that they needed to finish their degree program before working in their desired career field. What a conundrum!
If you are college student, please do not make this mistake. From the moment you start your post-secondary studies you should begin exploring various career options. Furthermore, you should gain practical experience in that field to determine if that career path is the right fit for your personality and skill set. You can quickly build experience without making a lifelong career commitment in a variety of ways:
1. Find an adviser/mentor that works in the field you would like to investigate. Ask your adviser about their experience, and see if they would be willing to let you shadow them at work.
2. Attend an industry specific event or training. You can extrapolate quite a bit from workshops designed for the career you are exploring.
3. Internships are probably the best way to delve into a possible career option. Attempting to find an internship that gives you the ability to evaluate multiple aspects of the career is always helpful.
At the New Prospect Academic Incubator we place a major emphasis on students developing “marketable” skills. Our Incubator requires that students have at least a part-time job or internship to maintain their membership in our program, but we don’t stop there. At minimum, every month one of our Academic Incubator team members will sit down one-to-one with a student, and go through a career coaching session. The session helps students explore what type of work they would like to pursue after college. Also, the coach is able to aid students in identifying the key skills and experiences needed to successfully obtain the desired career. Then, the student and coach collaborate to find industry mentors, industry events, or internship programs that will help the student to evaluate the potential career path on a deeper level. Our Academic Incubator firmly believes that students need to perpetually apply their “book knowledge” in the “real world”.
Here’s an image of our career coaching form:
If you want to be successful, it helps to have diverse network of professional connections. It’s commonly believed that a person typically achieves success equivalent to the five people they spend the most time with. If you are still in school, and you aspire to operate a company, or hold a high-level corporate position, it is imperative to start building your network immediately. It is also critical to spend time around individuals that can be positive role models. Students at the New Prospect Academic Incubator will constantly be given the opportunity to learn from, speak to, and interact with professionals from a plethora of industries. The Incubator will attempt to host entrepreneurs, executives, politicians, artists, entertainers, and community leaders for weekly “fireside style” chats. The conversations will typically start out with an Incubator team member introducing our guest and asking a few initial questions, and then the conversation will center around the students’ questions. We would like to help students get used to conversing with professionals. Additionally, we would like students to speak with a guest about what they are learning, and seek the guest’s feedback on how they can start applying their knowledge in the “real world”. We are optimistic that facilitating this dialog will quickly help our students build an incredible professional network that they can leverage throughout their career.
New Prospect Academic Incubator will soon be making a big announcement. We are building a relationship with a world-class online university that offers multiple accredited degree programs. Our students will have the ability to earn a globally recognized Associate’s or Bachelor’s Degree, while utilizing our high-tech workspace, executive function coaching, academic assistance, and career preparation coaching. All of this will cost students just $2,600 per year or $216 per month! This is an unbeatable value. We will publish a chart in the near future comparing our cost to other area colleges; our program blows away all other options.
Also, our Academic Incubator is building relationships with local employers to help qualified students secure paid part-time internships that will more than cover the cost of both the online university and the Academic Incubator. This program will allow students to stay free of loan debt, gain valuable work experience, and earn a degree.
With all of that said, if you are a student in the Cincinnati, OH area looking to attend college, or a company that offers student internships, we would love to hear from you!!!
zak@academicincubator.com
New Prospect Academic Incubator has been created to provide low-income students interested in attending college online with local support services that promote: program retention, higher academic performance, and job skill training. Students will have access to our facility at 1580 Summit Road, Cincinnati, OH, 5 days a week, from 9 AM to 9 PM. Students that become members of our Academic Incubator will receive a high-tech workspace, executive function coaching, academic assistance, career preparation coaching, and possibly transportation assistance. Attending college exclusively online can make it difficult to stay motivated, have meaningful peer-to-peer social interaction, and receive in-depth academic assistance. The academic incubator looks to provide students with the freedom of online learning, coupled with beneficial enrichment services that can be accessed at New Prospect’s facility.
More details will be available very soon! To learn more please email or call Program Director, Zak Nordyke
E: zak@academicincubator.com
P: 513.623.8422
Talk you shortly!
academicincubator.com 