Wallace State named Innovation of the Year Award winner for Guided Pathways Model

HANCEVILLE, Ala. – Wallace State Community College has been named a 2017 Innovation of the Year Award winner for its Guided Pathways Model initiative. The award is given by the League for Innovation in the Community College.
Wallace State won in the Leadership and Organization category.
“We are deeply honored to have been recognized by the League of Innovation for Innovation of the Year.  Wallace State’s transformation began through Achieving the Dream and has broadened through the AACC Pathways Project. The Pathways model assures that students have every opportunity to complete what they start and to earn their degree in two years,” said Wallace State President Dr. Vicki Karolewics.
The Guided Pathways model is a new organizational model that comprises specific curricular maps grouped around broad meta-majors for Wallace State students. The framework lends itself to students’ changing programs within a meta-major without having to start over. The four meta-majors are Liberal Arts/General Studies, Applied Technologies, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) and Health Science. Electives are replaced with specific courses that are in alignment with learning outcomes and program goals.
Wallace State was one of 30 colleges to be chosen to participate in the Pathways Project spearheaded by the American Association of Community Colleges. The project is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Wallace State was commended for its creativity, efficiency, cost effectiveness and timeliness in regards to the Pathways Model for its students.
Making up Wallace State’s Guided Pathways Model Implementation Team are employees Dana Adams, Dr. Mary Barnes, Suzanne Harbin, Mattie Hudson, Matthew McCrickard, Karen Morris, Renee Quick, Wes Rakestraw, April Sutherland, Amanda Tillman and Christine Wiggins.
The League’s Innovation of the Year Award recognizes innovations that reflect extraordinary achievement and the spirit of innovation and experimentation upon which it was founded.
The League’s Innovation of the Year competition was devised as a way to recognize significant innovations at Alliance member colleges. These innovations reflect capstone achievements and the continuing renewal of the spirit of innovation and experimentation upon which the League was founded. The award is designed to recognize faculty, staff and administrators at member colleges who have created and implemented innovative programs, practices, partnerships, policies and activities that improve the institution’s ability to serve students and the community.
More information on the League for Innovation is available at www.league.org
For more information about Wallace State, visit www.wallacestate.edu.