Bunker Hill Community College Learning Communities Recognized for Excellence

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Mar 07, 2012, 05:02 ET

BOSTON, March 7, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Bunker Hill Community College Learning Communities program has received the New England Board of Higher Education's Robert J. McKenna Award for Program Achievement. The College was recognized at the Board's 10th annual Excellence Awards celebration on March 2, 2012, at the Marriott Long Wharf hotel in Boston.

In accepting the award for Bunker Hill Community College, President Mary L. Fifield thanked the College's faculty and staff and asked several in the audience to join her onstage. "The establishment of learning communities at Bunker Hill Community College represents a major transformation of teaching and learning at our institution," she said. "The effort required the commitment and involvement of more than 120 faculty and staff members over five years. The results have been significant for our students."

Bunker Hill Community College's Learning Communities, which serve more than 4,000 students, are the cornerstone of a comprehensive student success campaign that has increased student year-to-year retention by 28 percent since 2003. "Students enrolled in the College's learning communities are more likely to persist in their studies," says Lori Catallozzi, Dean of Humanities and Learning Communities at BHCC. "They are better equipped to surmount the range of complex issues faced by urban community college students."

Established in 1955, the New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE) promotes greater educational opportunities and services for New England residents. Each year, NEBHE presents state and regional awards to individuals and institutions that have made substantive contributions to improving higher education opportunities for students across the six New England states.

PRESS CONTACT INFORMATION:
Colleen Roach
Executive Director of Communications & Marketing
Bunker Hill Community College
250 New Rutherford Avenue
Boston, MA 02129
Phone: (617) 228 2177; Email: [email protected]

Bunker Hill Community College is the largest community college in Massachusetts. The College enrolls more than 13,500 students on two campuses and at four satellite locations. BHCC is one of the most diverse institutions of higher education in Massachusetts. Six in ten students are people of color and more than half of BHCC's students are women. The College also enrolls 780 international students who come from more than 90 countries and speak 75 different languages.

SOURCE Bunker Hill Community College