WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Aspen Institute announced today that Rend Lake College was one of the 150 institutions eligible to compete for the $1 million Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, the nation’s signature recognition of high achievement and performance among America’s community colleges. The colleges selected for this honor stand out among more than 1,000 community colleges nationwide as having high and improving levels of student success as well as equitable outcomes for Black and Hispanic students and those from lower-income backgrounds.

The 150 eligible colleges have been invited to submit data and narratives as the next steps in an intensive data and practice review process, culminating in the announcement of the Prize winner in spring 2023.

“Every year the Aspen Institute has had this program, Rend Lake College has been named in the top 150 colleges across America,” said RLC President Terry Wilkerson. “This is our seventh time and it is always a high honor. It means we are among the top 15% at retention, completion, transfer, and equity. It recognizes and confirms the shared commitment of faculty, staff and administration here at the college. The methods may be different, but the mission has been the same for more than 50 years. Rend Lake College improves our communities with quality education and training options for everyone.”

Wilkerson added that Lori Ragland, the college’s Vice President of Instruction and Student Affairs, will be spearheading Rend Lake’s application again. Ragland has had a key role in putting together the last three Aspen applications for RLC.

“Our next step will be to put together a team to complete the application process,” Ragland said. “This team is made up of a cross-section of campus. It’s an honor for us to once again be qualified to apply for the top 10 prize.”

The Aspen Prize spotlights exemplary community colleges in order to elevate the sector, drive attention to colleges doing the best work, and discover and share highly effective student success and equity strategies. Since 2010, Aspen has chosen to focus intensively on community colleges because they are—as First Lady Dr. Jill Biden stated at the 2021 Aspen Prize ceremony—“a powerful engine of prosperity.”

But student outcomes vary enormously among community colleges, and improving those outcomes is essential to securing our nation’s economic future, strengthening communities, and ensuring that diverse populations experience economic mobility and prosperity. With these goals in mind, the Aspen Prize honors colleges with outstanding achievement in five critical areas: teaching and learning, certificate and degree completion, transfer and bachelor’s attainment, workforce success, and equity for students of color and students from low-income backgrounds.

“In an era of persistent inequity and workforce talent gaps, our nation’s best community colleges are stepping up to deliver more degrees to increasingly diverse students so they are prepared for the good jobs waiting to be filled,” said Josh Wyner, executive director of the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program. “Leaders of exceptional community colleges understand that achieving excellence requires expanding college access and increasing degree completion, but it doesn’t stop there. They are committed to ensuring that all students—including students of color and those from low-income backgrounds—graduate with the skills needed to secure a job with family-sustaining wages or successfully transfer to and graduate from a university. That same commitment that stands at the center of the Aspen Prize: to advance the goals of social mobility and equitable talent development.”

The eligible colleges represent the diversity and depth of the community college sector. Located in urban, rural, and suburban areas across 34 states, these colleges serve as few as 230 students and as many as 57,000. Winning colleges have ranged from smaller institutions serving rural community and smaller towns—including Lake Area Technical Institute (SD, 2017 Prize winner) and Walla Walla Community College (WA, 2013)—to large community colleges serving major metropolitan areas, including Miami Dade College (FL, 2019) and San Antonio College (TX, 2021).

The four other previous winners are Indian River State College (FL, 2019); Santa Fe College (FL, 2015); Santa Barbara City College (CA, 2013); and Valencia College (FL, 2011).

In this first round, eligibility for the Aspen Prize is based on publicly available data. Eligible colleges must show strong and improving student outcomes in key areas such as retention, completion, transfer, and equity. Nationwide, 15 percent of community colleges (150 of the approximately 1,000 public two-year colleges nationwide assessed for the Prize) have been invited to apply—the full list can be accessed on the Prize homepage.

The next steps in the process include:

Selection of the top ten finalists by an expert panel of 15 experts in community colleges, higher education, and workforce training, to be announced in spring/summer 2022
Fall 2022 site visits to each of the ten finalists, during which the Aspen Institute and partners will collect additional information, including employment and earnings data and insights about promising practices
A distinguished jury will meet and make award decisions in the first quarter of early 2023
Announcement of the Aspen Prize in late spring 2023
For a full list of the top 150 eligible institutions and to read more on the selection process, visit www.highered.aspeninstitute.org/aspen-prize.

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The Aspen Prize is generously funded by Ascendium and the Joyce Foundation.

The Aspen Institute College Excellence Program aims to advance higher education practices, policies, and leadership that significantly improve student outcomes, especially for the growing population of low-income students and students of color on American campuses. For more information, visit www.highered.aspeninstitute.org and www.linkedin.com/showcase/aspenhighered, and follow @AspenHigherEd on Twitter. The Aspen Prize hashtag is #AspenPrize.

The Aspen Institute is a community-serving organization with global reach whose vision is a free, just, and equitable society. For 70 years, the Institute has driven change through dialogue, leadership, and action to help solve the world’s greatest challenges. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the Institute has offices in Aspen, Colorado, and New York City, and an international network of partners. For more information, visit www.aspeninstitute.org.

By Jim Muir

A Halloween-themed event coming to Benton this weekend might best be “chalked up” to an overload of talent, enthusiasm and ambition by a pair of gifted Franklin County artists.

Triston Bigham, of Benton, and Jillian Grace Prudent, of Valier, have combined forces to create “Chalk Benton” – an event where a group of people get together and draw on sidewalks with bright-colored chalk. Previous events in Benton, including one at beautiful Benton Community Park, have drawn large crowds and chalk artists ranging from small children to senior citizens.

The latest event will take place Saturday, Oct. 30 on the Benton Public Square where the sidewalks around the historic square will provide the canvas for chalk artists to create temporary masterpieces. “Chalk Benton: Halloween Edition” is scheduled to begin at 12 noon.

“Our goal is just to get people to come out and show off their art skill with chalk,” said Triston, a 2020 graduate of Benton High School. “We have younger people, older people and all ages in between and it doesn’t matter about your talent level. It’s all about having a good time.”

The chalk event on Saturday will take on a heavy Halloween theme with several businesses providing “Trunk-Or-Treat” goodies for children and there will be several other family-oriented activities.

“Chalk art is very colorful, so my goal is to just add some life and color to the Benton Square,” said Jillian, who is a 2021 graduate of Sesser-Valier High School. “People who want to participate don’t even have to bring chalk, we’ll provide the chalk. So, all you have to do is show up.”

Triston and Jillian both emphasized that clean up from the chalk drawings is easy – just wait for rain.