April 2015
Employee Giving Newsletter
Scholarships Help Students Attend COD
What is COD4COD?
What is COD4COD? It is the College’s Employee Giving program, run
through the COD Foundation, and it allows you to donate to any part of COD
that you feel most passionate about, including faculty grants, the MAC and
student scholarships to name a few. It is the College’s Employee
Giving program that allows you
to give to the area of COD that
you are most passionate about.
There are more than 200 different
scholarship options and programs
for you to choose from and if you
cannot find one that suits you,
there is a way to create your own! Last year more than 100 employees supported scholarships, which made
attending COD possible for students like Ivonne Hernandez.
“Whenever someone asks me
what school I attend, I proudly
say College of DuPage. And
whenever I meet someone who
is planning to attend college,
I recommend COD.”
Employee donations can be
made any time of year through
COD4COD, but we encourage
gifts during the campaign
from April 15 to May 15, 2015.
View our COD4COD FAQs!
Visit www.cod.edu/cod4cod
—Ivonne Hernandez
As a working adult, Ivonne knew it would not be easy returning to school.
She received financial help through the COD Foundation Scholarship
program—made possible by donors like you! In 2014, Ivonne received the
Jill Johnson Hall Memorial Scholarship.
She didn’t even live in DuPage County when she began researching colleges.
But after looking into College of DuPage, Ivonne decided it was a school
worth moving for. She also discovered she could earn a bachelor’s degree
through the 3+1 program.
For questions or to
learn more contact
the COD Foundation
at (630) 942-2462 or
[email protected].
“This type of program fits my needs as a working adult going back to school,
and I no longer need to worry about finding another school after COD,”
she said. “After I first started looking into COD, all of the pieces fit into place
like a puzzle. I needed a school that I could afford, that would also allow me
to keep my current job and that would fit my schedule.”
Donate to scholarships today! Visit www.cod.edu/cod4cod
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Your Donation Makes a Difference!
Last year you raised almost $33,000 for student scholarships and
programs! Remember, every donation makes an impact on the lives of
students. Our goal is for every COD faculty and staff person to make a
donation each year. Please print a form and make your gift today!
Visit www.cod.edu/cod4cod for details.
Scholarship Support:
$18,106.51, 55%
For questions about
COD4COD contact
the COD Foundation
at (630) 942-2462 or
[email protected].
Or contact a 2015
COD4COD Chair:
Program Support:
$14,763.17, 45%
Mark Collins
Associate Dean of Adjunct Faculty
[email protected]
Tracey Frye
Student Affairs Administrative
Assistant
[email protected]
Robyn Johnson
News Bureau Manager
[email protected]
Program Support
Scholarship Support
Diana Martinez
McAninch Arts Center Director
[email protected]
Last year, the top 10 funds employees
supported included:
Lauren Morgan
Speech Communication Professor
[email protected]
· Resource for Excellence Fund
· General Scholarship Fund
· Catherine M. Brod Scholarship for Speech and Theater
· Donald Carter Memorial Scholarship Fund
· Healthcare Instructional Support
· MAC General Fund
· G.E.D. Scholarship Fund
· Margarita Salazar Respiratory Therapy Scholarship
· Dr. Joseph and Donna Collins Student Success Scholarship
· College of DuPage Faculty Association Scholarship
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Resource for Excellence Spotlight:
Jane Smith
The work of Jane Smith, Director of Enrollment Services, is a wonderful
example of the innovative, collaborative, interdepartmental efforts on
campus to benefit students. Jane and a campus-wide team identified a way
to streamline the student enrollment process through a series of seminars on
campus. Funding for the project was secured through the College of DuPage
Foundation Resource for Excellence Grant. As a grant recipient, Enrollment
Services was awarded $17,480 by the Foundation to be used throughout the
development and implementation phases of the program.
What are Resource
for Excellence Grants?
Resource for Excellence is an
internal grant program designed to
foster innovation by providing seed
money to test new ideas, pilot new
programs or services, or conduct
research. The Foundation recognizes
that given the resources, all COD
employees have the capacity to
contribute to the improvement of
instruction and support given to the
students and community we serve.
Learn more at www.cod.edu/
foundation.
“Don’t be afraid of
a big idea, think
in terms of a pilot
program upon which
you can build,”
—Jane Smith
In summer of 2014, the program was implemented and 178 students attended
the grant-funded New Student Enrollment Seminars, which gave them
an opportunity to complete multiple enrollment tasks such as registering,
academic advisement, time management and financial assistance. From the
beginning to the end, “connection” opportunities with student leaders, staff
and counselors were created to make the interaction easy and fun. A couple
student comments from the experience: “I learned a lot today and feel better
about attending in the fall” and “very helpful and highly recommended.”
The success and results can be seen in higher credit hour registration,
higher GPAs and a higher overall percentage of student registrations.
The plan moving forward is to follow the students that participated and
make a concerted effort to continue to interact. Research has proven that
continuous engagement activities have a positive influence on student
success, which also impact completion rates and provide a comprehensive
student experience from the very start.
For questions or to
learn more contact
the COD Foundation
at (630) 942-2462 or
[email protected].
What is Jane’s advice to other departments when starting a new program?
“Don’t be afraid of a big idea, think in terms of a pilot program upon which
you can build,” she said. To learn more about the Resource for Excellence
Grant program, go to: www.cod.edu/foundation.
Way to go Jane and to all that made this idea a reality!
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