In partnership with Binghamton University and Broome Community College, Broome County Higher Education Access, Retention and Success (BC HEARS) assists Broome County residents with academic, institutional and personal barriers. Educational tutors and staff help residents directly through community events, counseling and instruction to complete equivalency tests and enroll or re-enroll into college.

Launched in July 2016, BC HEARS began providing skilled mentors that help with literacy training, study- and test-skill development, job search support and personal and professional growth. This process of enrolling and re-enrolling Broome County residents is a central mission of the program, hosting community service events at local institutions to attract and interact with prospective students.

According to its second-year progress report, BC HEARS staff has provided services to approximately 290 community members. The services include workshops, secondary education equivalency enrollment, tutoring and summer reading programs.

BC HEARS has helped four participants earn their high school equivalency through weekly tutoring sessions at the Broome County Public Library. The tutors are primarily BU students seeking to involve themselves more with the local community.

Erin Marulli, assistant director of BC HEARS, wrote in an email that the program’s success is attributed to extensive partnerships within the county.

“BC HEARS works with a variety of agencies, both on and off-campus, to facilitate access to and success in education,” Marulli wrote. “At both Binghamton University and SUNY Broome, HEARS works with academic departments, advising offices, admissions and the registrar.”

On the topic of the enrollment and re-enrollment process, Marulli stated that every individual applying for the program comes from different backgrounds and factors. Instead, BC HEARS staff tailors specific academic plans toward these individuals after they meet the admissions requirements.

“BC HEARS supports their participants by providing one-on-one tailored support,” Marulli wrote. “Oftentimes, we are able to access information or responses from the academic institution faster than a student can so we are providing rapid detailed information to avoiding holding up the process.”

Cory Rusin, the student success coordinator for BC HEARS and a second-year graduate student studying philosophy at BU, helps students enroll or re-enroll in school and said her job focuses on guiding students through their barriers.

“My role as a student success coordinator is to figure out what walls stand in the way for a student to return or to enroll for the first time,” Rusin said. “Once we figure out what makes up that wall, it’s figuring out how to break it down, piece by piece.”

Rusin, along with the rest of the program’s team, utilizes community-based organizations and nonprofits in the area to obtain referrals of students and community members who are looking to complete their high school equivalency and go beyond.

However, according to its second-year progress report, BC HEARS’ partnerships with some local organizations have waned and low community participation persists, blocking progress. According to Marulli, BC HEARS has been working to overcome these obstacles by implementing two-way referral processes and providing incentives to attend meetings.

In the future, BC HEARS intends to complete two research projects that involve enrollment and retention and Broome County’s higher education attainment gap. To supplement these efforts, the program has been granted funding through January 2020, which seeks to continue focusing on community empowerment, providing resident accessibility to educational services and facilitating enrollment and completion.