Mesquite University Case Proposal

Lisa Gilbert

Northern Arizona University

 As a university of the future, it will be important to build strong ties with the community

and build strong relationships with prospective students. It will be important to build a college

community that will benefit and inspire future generations. (Lincoln, Y. 2000, p. 245) One way

this could be done is to develop summer programs for students of all ages, but especially high

school students that are in the process of deciding on where they will attend college. By giving

prospective students experience with a school, and a what it is like to take a college level class,

they will build confidence, and feel prepared to take the necessary steps to enter collage. Studies

have shown summer bridge programs to be beneficial for students transitioning from high school

to college. (Wathington, H., Pretlow, J., Barnett, E., 2016, p. 173, and Bir, B. and Myrick, M.) ,

2015, p. 24) When their child attends a summer program at Mesquite University, parents will

also become more familiar with the facility, and perhaps it will make the process of applying for,

and financing their student’s education, go more smoothly.

For this summer program to be of minimal cost to the university, the programs will

provide university students with practicum credit to develop and teach these summer classes,

alongside a supervising professor, and the program will be offered at a reduced rate to parents

that volunteer as a helper for the summer program. Also, as the programs are developed,

partnerships with local businesses will be sought out to help with supplies. A focus for the

programs will be to develop workforce skills, such as social intelligence, adaptive thinking,

computational thinking, and virtual collaboration. (Davies, A., Fidler, D., Gorbis, M., 2011, pp.

8-12) Along with these skills, students will be engaged in programs that develop their

competency in science, technology, engineering, art and math, or STEAM, and prepare them for

college.
 The main goals of this summer program, would be to ensure the high school students in

the program are prepared to be a successful college student, and they have a positive experience

at Mesquite University, so they consider it as a school they would like to attend. Another goal

would be that the school age children enrolled, gain knowledge and excitement in the STEAM

areas, so they continue to improve as they move to the next grade level. The last goal would be

to provide the college, and parents that assist in the program, with experience in developing their

teaching skills. All those involved will be able to see the value of investing in the young people

of their community. Mesquite University would be doing its part in ensuring students are

successful in their education and have the enthusiasm and skills to graduate high school and

college, and thus doing its part to help with the high school graduation crisis. (Swanson, 2008, p.

14)

Mesquite University will develop summer programs for school age children that focus on

STEAM and college and career readiness. To develop a relationship with local schools and

potential students, Mesquite University will develop three summer programs. The first would be

for high school students. High school students will be able to earn college credits, while at the

same time, learning more about their career choices and what education would be needed to enter

those fields. Perhaps the MOOC classes could be utilized to give students experience with the

online formats college classes are being presented in. (Mangan, 2012 and Perry 2012) The

second summer program would be for those entering grades 6-8 and would be focused on

allowing students to explore career choices. The programs will also help guide students toward

the classes they should be taking in high school to get them on the correct path toward their

chosen career. The third program will be for students entering grades 1-5 that focus on exploring

concepts in science, technology engineering, art and math. Data will be collected each year to
evaluate the program’s effectiveness and follow up data will be collected to see the success rate

of the students when they move on to college.

New programs require a financial investment by the college. Mesquite University is

looking to meet its budget requirements, so it may be a challenge to find the money needed to

properly run the program. The support of local businesses and community members may be

needed so the program can be developed and have the supplies needed. Another challenge may

be finding college students to develop the program alongside a supervising professor. Since

these summer programs are new, it may be difficult to get students and parents to apply for the

program. The administration and staff members involved in this program will need to work

through these challenges to build a successful program.

Mesquite University would benefit from fostering strong ties with the community and

developing relationships with future students. By working with potential students, especially the

high school students, the college can assure they have the basic skills they need to be successful

at the college level. (Wathington, H., Pretlow, J., Barnett, E., 2016, and Bir, B. and Myrick, M.) ,

2015) The more that is accomplished in these summer programs, the less remediation should

have to be done when the student attends college. All students will benefit from summer

programs that keep them engaged in learning. Mesquite University seeks to create lifelong

learners that are excited about discovering new information and want to be on the path to a

college education. An investment in the youth of the community will benefit all parties that

participate.
S.M.A.R.T. Goals for the Mesquite University Summer Programs

By June 5, 2017, the high school summer program at Mesquite University will begin, and will

have developed curriculum, sponsorship, a minimum of one college student intern for every

twenty high school students, and forty high school students enrolled.

By June 4, 2018 the high school summer program will be expanded to 60 students, there will be

a minimum of one college student intern for every twenty high school and middle school

students, and the curriculum will be developed for the middle school STEAM programs, and 20

middle school students will be enrolled.

By June 3, 2019, the high school summer program will expand to 80 students, and the middle

school program will expand to 40 students, with a minimum of one college student intern for

every twenty high school and middle school students, and one college student intern for every 10

elementary students, and the elementary school program will begin, with STEAM curriculum in

place, and with 20 students enrolled.

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