HEI is proud to spotlight our friends at the Spartanburg Academic Movement (SAM), a nonprofit organization and a community movement in Spartanburg, South Carolina. It is a partnership of education, business, government, foundation, community, and faith leaders across Spartanburg County, all working together in pursuit of high levels of academic success for all children in the community. SAM has made great progress in the K-12 area and has enlisted HEI to aid in the planning of its postsecondary achievement strategies. HEI’s role is to work with Spartanburg leaders to build a responsive action plan that:
- Improves student access, persistence/retention, and success in postsecondary education settings
- Focuses on the adult dimensions of college attainment in addition to high school to college
- Builds workforce alignment strategies that consider in-demand, high-wage jobs with pathways to wealth and the credentials and degrees that lead to them
HEI and SAM worked together to create a Postsecondary Attainment Task Force. This task force is made up of college presidents, superintendents, and other educational leaders in the county. The Postsecondary Attainment Task Force members organized themselves into three working groups: Data / Measuring Impact, Scaling & Piloting Solutions, and Community Engagement / Strategic Retreat.
HEI is energized and impressed by the collaborative nature of the educational leaders of Spartanburg and is looking forward to sharing the results of the Postsecondary Attainment Task Force in the future.