SKIP
DOWNING
is an international consultant in the field of faculty
development and student success strategies. His popular text, On
Course: Strategies for Creating Success in College and in Life (Houghton
Mifflin) is used in both student success courses and college
writing courses.
Dr.
Downing has earned degrees from Princeton University, Johns Hopkins
University, the University of Santa Monica, and Carnegie Mellon
University.
He holds advanced degrees in both English and counseling
psychology. He was Professor of English at Baltimore City Community
College (BCCC) for 32 years.
In
addition to his role as an academic instructor, Dr. Downing created and
coordinated BCCC's Student Success and Learning Community Programs.
These programs teach students how to apply proven strategies of success
to achieve their full potential in college and in life. The College
Success Program resulted in a significant increase in both student
academic success and retention. Click
here
to see the data from BCCC as well as many other institutions using the On
Course text.
Before
developing the College Success and Learning Communities Programs at BCCC,
Dr. Downing was Coordinator of Writing for eight years, overseeing the
revision of the college's writing program, including the creation and
implementation of an innovative curriculum and assessment process for freshman
writing and developmental writing courses.
The
American Community College Trustees has recognized Dr. Downing as its
Northeast Region teacher of the year.
He is a recipient of the NISOD Community College Leadership Award
for teaching excellence, and he was named in USA
Today as one of the fifty best community college teachers in the
United States and Canada.
Dr.
Downing has made numerous presentations at national conferences and
conducted faculty development workshops at many two- and four-year
colleges and universities in the United States, Canada, Bermuda, and the Virgin Islands. Since 1996, he has facilitated the
On Course
Workshops, intensive four-day retreats for college educators
focusing on proven strategies for empowering students to become active,
responsible partners in their education and to achieve greater success in college
and in life.
These workshops offer participants the option of earning three graduate
credits in a follow-up course on-line.
Dr.
Downing’s teaching, writing, and consulting are all guided by his
belief that the greatest mission of any educational institution is
empowering its students to live rich, personally fulfilling lives.
Contact Skip:
