EOP Summer Academy Gives First-Year, First-Generation Students a Head Start at College

This year’s Educational Opportunity Program Summer Academy at SUNY Plattsburgh welcomed a record number of incoming EOP students July 5 for a five-week residency designed to give them a boost ahead of the fall semester.

According to EOP Director Cristina Garcia, EOP Summer Academy “helps students be better prepared and be more successful navigating their first year of college.”

They do this through the academy’s program, which includes enrollment in three credit-bearing courses that fulfill Cardinal Core courses as well as EOP-curated, non-credit-bearing math and English classes meant to “build and strengthen their foundations for math 101 or English 100 or 101,” Garcia said.

Credit-bearing courses include introduction to: psychology,  sociology, elementary American sign language, introduction to public speaking, and business ethics and professionalism in a global society. Students don’t choose their own classes from this list, however.

“We place them after looking at things like preferences, transcripts and intended major,” Garcia said. “Our counselors look at these things and place them accordingly.”

More than ‘Ever Before’

Counselors will be figuring out more than 130 students’ schedules this summer, more than ever before, Garcia said.

“This year’s target was 110,” she said. “Last year, we brought in what was then the largest class at 100.”

Summer Academy is required attendance for first-year EOP students. Admittance in the fall is conditional upon successful completion of the summer program, Garcia said.

“These students are predominantly first-generation and limited income. A good portion of our students come from one of the five boroughs of New York City and Westchester County. One hundred of our students are from Queens, the Bronx and Westchester,” she said.

But Garcia said it isn’t all academics.

EOP Staff Member in Residence Hall

Taj Ellis, EOP senior counselor and program coordinator, will be in charge of the academy beyond the academics. He’ll live in the residence hall with the students and be present at all times.

“I used to run afterschool programs in New York City, and I would employ a lot of (Summer Academy programming) skills there,” he said. “This is the first year we’ll have a full-time EOP professional in this role. It’s validating to the students to have a staff member in the residence hall, someone who has a greater understanding of the institution. I’ll be there; they can always come find me in the Community Director’s office. I’m awake, present and available for support and for emergencies."

He'll also plan the evening programming.

“It’s fun, and I’m a kid at heart. This helps build community, having an actual counselor in EOP who can employ the skills of counseling while playing in the evening with them,” Ellis said.

Garcia said that members of the EOP Student Association are planning some evening activities, including a downtown tour and scavenger hunt that Ellis will coordinate, where students will find landmarks like Plattsburgh City Hall, the public library and post office.

Students Denzel Ford and Nicholas Motilal, friends since elementary school in the Bronx and Summer Academy roommates, said they are looking forward to meeting other students as they prepare for returning in the fall.

“I’m looking to assimilate to college life and meet people so that at move-in day, I’m not so alone,” Ford said. The 17-year-old hopes to study journalism as a SUNY Plattsburgh student.

Motilal, 18, agreed, saying he’s looking forward to making new friends “and forming new bonds.”

“This is my first time (outside of New York City),” he said. “It’s nice. It’s quiet; not like the city.” Motilal said he hopes to study pre-medical sciences with plans to become a pediatrician. “I want to help people, to give back,” he said.

Jamaica native Quaneisha Johnson said she’s looking forward to Summer Academy to help her build on her current skills set.

“I hope to be pushed to do more,” said the 18-year-old who will study psychology in the fall. Johnson said she wants to get to know as many of her fellow EOP students during academy “so we can get close and can talk on Instagram” after the five-week program ends Aug. 7. “I want to keep in touch so it’s a lot easier when I first start out (at the university),” she said.

Opening week, including new-student orientation and move-in day, begins the Wednesday before classes start on Monday, Aug. 24.

For more information on EOP Summer Academy, visit https://www.plattsburgh.edu/plattslife/student-support/educational-opportunity-program/accepted-students.html.

— Story By Associate Director of Communications Gerianne Downs with Photos by Downs and Karen McGrath, vice president for enrollment and student success