Eastern’s GEAR UP Project Director Linda Morgan co–presented two workshops at the 2019 NCCEP/GEAR UP Capacity Building Workshop (CBW) recently held in San Antonio, Texas.
Morgan joined Marcie Samples Associate Director for College Access & Support, Washington Student Achievement Council and Lois Bramwell, Director of GEAR UP 4 LA. Each presenter brought a specific area of expertise for the group: Samples works with a state GEAR UP grant; Bramwell directs an urban partnership grant; and Morgan directs a rural partnership grant.
The first workshop, Preparing New GEAR UP Leaders for Success, Part 1: Compliance and Administration, brought over 250 GEAR UP leaders together to learn the fundamentals of managing a GEAR UP program, key compliance issues related to the legislation and regulations, and to provide a forum to discuss solutions to challenges they may be facing. Attendees reflected on their own practices, discussed practices with others, and left with ideas to enhance their grant management practices.
Preparing New GEAR UP Leaders for Success, Part 2: Foundational Issues in GEAR UP Implementation, the second workshop, focused on helping new GEAR UP leaders overcome the challenges that every GEAR UP leader faces when implementing a high-quality program. Whether a new GEAR UP director, central staff administrator, or site coordinator, their ability to navigate a complex set of relationships, requirements, and issues related to GEAR UP implementation will substantially influence their grant’s overall success.
“It was an honor to be selected to present at this year’s Capacity Building Workshop,” said Morgan. “The NCCEP staff selects presenters for the CBW. I was honored to co-present with Marcie and Lois. Together, we provided an array of experience in our very different settings.”
Morgan added, “The US Department of Education recently awarded 52 new GEAR UP grants. That makes for a lot of ‘newbies’ who are hungry for ideas, explanations and guidance. It was exciting to be part of their first conference experience. The networking began.”
