From Access to Ascend™: Redesigning the Student Experience Through Institutional Stewardship

What if the greatest barriers to student success are not found within students, but within the systems they are expected to navigate?

Every student enters college carrying a unique story shaped by aspirations, prior experiences, responsibilities, and varying levels of understanding about how higher education works. Yet institutions often measure student outcomes without examining how institutional structures shape those outcomes.

This highly interactive 90-minute experience moves beyond traditional professional development by placing participants in the role of a student navigating the college experience. Through an immersive Student Stewardship Canvas activity, participants work collaboratively to experience the hidden curriculum, identify institutional barriers, and redesign the student journey from initial access through completion and career.

Rather than discussing student success in the abstract, participants will examine how institutional decisions create student experiences and how those experiences influence belonging, persistence, completion, and long-term success.

Grounded in the From Access to Ascend™ Framework, participants will explore four institutional stewardship commitments—Honor, Connect, Develop, and Empower—as practical design principles for creating student-centered systems that foster Worth, Belonging, Growth, and Purpose.

Participants will leave with practical implementation tools, including a Student Stewardship Canvas, a Hidden Curriculum Reflection Guide, a Student Journey Mapping process, and an institutional action plan that can be implemented immediately within classrooms, departments, and student services.

Designed for faculty, classified professionals, administrators, and executive leaders, this session challenges participants to move beyond asking, "How do we help students navigate college?" and instead asks, "How do we intentionally design institutions where every student can thrive?"
Participants will leave not only with new strategies, but with a transformed understanding of institutional responsibility and a clear roadmap for helping students move From Access to Ascend™.

Audience

• Full-time faculty
• Adjunct faculty
• Managers

Presenter

Dr. Sylvester White is the organizer and facilitator of this session. He is an adjunct faculty member at Sacramento City College and a special education teacher with over ten years of experience supporting student success, instructional practice, and collaborative professional learning.

Flex Credit

Flex credit is available for this event.

After the event: Professional Learning Evaluation Form

ADA Accessibility

For ADA accessibility accommodations, please contact Cassidy Larkin at larkinc@scc.losrios.edu. Contact Cassidy for disability accommodations only. For general inquiries, please use the contact information listed in the sidebar.