Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Campus & Community
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Campus & Community

Project Advance, One of Nation’s Oldest Concurrent Enrollment Programs, Marks 50 Years

Wednesday, May 3, 2023, By Josh Davis
Share
Students

Syracuse University Project Advance (SUPA) celebrates 50 years this spring. One of the nation’s oldest concurrent enrollment programs, SUPA has also grown to one of the largest, with over 12,000 high school students around the world taking an SU course through SUPA this year. To celebrate, events were held in New York City and at the Syracuse University Sheraton Hotel & Conference Center to recognize the teachers, staff and faculty who make the program a success.

School partnerships have been at the heart of SUPA since its beginning in 1972, when educational leaders from six local school districts convened with University administrators to collaborate on an innovative educational model called concurrent enrollment. These early visionaries sought to foster students’ college readiness and address the need for more challenging and advanced coursework for students who had already met most of their high school graduation requirements. Together, they helped conceptualize and pilot “Project Advance.” The program began a year later, in 1973.

“Curing ‘senioritis’ was one of the goals of Project Advance and the pilot schools 50 years ago,” says SUPA Director Christina Parish. “And while that is still one of the issues for high schools, we see benefits for students and schools that go far beyond that.”

Students in a SUPA Chemistry class at East Syracuse-Minoa High School in 2013.

Students in a SUPA chemistry class at East Syracuse-Minoa High School in 2013.

The hallmarks of SUPA involve high school students enrolling in college courses during their regular school day, taught by a high school instructor, with SU faculty providing ongoing academic oversight and teacher professional development. SUPA’s concurrent enrollment model was seen as providing students with the skills and confidence to be successful in college and easing an otherwise oftentimes difficult transition between secondary and postsecondary education.

From those first founding partners, SUPA quickly grew the next year (1974-1975) to encompass over 40 school partners across New York State and extended into neighboring New Jersey soon thereafter. Today, SUPA annually enrolls over 12,000 students at over 250 partner schools in nine different states and six other countries. And SUPA continues to serve as a model for many other concurrent enrollment programs across the country, as well as being a founding member of the National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships (NACEP).

A half century later, SUPA’s mission of providing high school students with the opportunity to challenge themselves by engaging in authentic college courses (not a high-stakes testing program) and cultivate their college readiness before they formally matriculate at a postsecondary institution has only increased in significance. The benefits of concurrent enrollment have become more widely understood and valued, not just locally or domestically but internationally.

These days, nearly every college or university in the U.S. now offers some form of concurrent enrollment or dual enrollment programming to high school students. The National Center for Education Statistuics estimates that one-third of all high school students across the country enroll in concurrent or dual enrollment courses, and the vast majority take those college courses at their high school campus.

However, as a New York Times article from 1981 titled  “Experiment to Join High School and College is a Lonely Effort” observed at the time, SUPA  was part of a novel educational “experiment” in the country that came with many challenges.

Syracuse City School District staff and administrators

Syracuse City School District (SCSD) Superintendent Anthony Davis, center, holds a “founding district” plaque presented by SUPA. Davis is joined by SUPA and SCSD teachers.

The participation and dedication of the Syracuse University faculty who are involved with SUPA is essential to the success of the program. Over 70 SU faculty are involved as course liaisons and visitors, ensuring that the courses taught in the high school classrooms have the same content, rigor and assessments as the course taught on campus. These faculty members train high school teachers every summer, visit their classrooms to meet students and oversee professional development seminars for their course cohorts. Their efforts do more than prepare the teachers to deliver course content, they create communities where teachers can share best practices, engage with each other and the subject material in-depth, and form lasting professional and personal relationships.

“I have devoted almost two decades of my career to SUPA because it is one of those rare things that I have encountered in my career that is a win-win-win for all involved,” says Andrew London, associate dean and professor of sociology in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. “In my experience, the impacts of SUPA on students and high school teachers who serve as adjunct faculty members in a diverse array of high school contexts are broad, deep, enduring and meaningful.”

Throughout economic downturns, superstorms, technological revolutions and pandemics, SUPA’s school partnerships have remained strong in support of educational excellence and innovation. A shared commitment to high quality professional development and student achievement, ongoing dialogue and reciprocal engagement has enabled SUPA partnerships to stand out from the multitude of other programs.

In March, SUPA held an SU basketball watch party in New York City at the East End Bar and Grill. Guests included teachers and administrators from downstate New York and New Jersey school partners.

On April 17, a luncheon was held at the Syracuse University Sheraton Hotel & Conference Center. Chancellor Kent Syverud delivered remarks, and SUPA honored the five local school districts that participated in the pilot program a half century ago: North Syracuse, East Syracuse-Minoa, Fayetteville-Manlius, Jamesville-DeWitt and the Syracuse City School District.

Chancellor presents award to SUPA staff at One University ceremony

Chancellor Kent Syverud presented SUPA with the Chancellor’s Citation of Excellence for Outstanding Contributions to the Student Experience and University Initiatives at the One University ceremony on April 21. Accepting the award were SUPA Director Christina Parish, Business and Budget Manager Victoria Toper and Senior Associate Director Rob Pusch.

Individual honorees included retired SUPA Office Coordinator Debbie Lavine, who provided program support for 40 of those 50 years; former SUPA program directors Joe Mercurio and Leo M. Lambert, president emeritus at Elon University; retired SU faculty member Ron Sutterer, faculty liaison for SUPA’s psychology course in its pilot year (who continues to visit school partners for the program 50 years later); and Ron Cavanagh, former vice president for undergraduate studies and SUPA’s original faculty liaison for religion. A special shout out was given to Professor Emeritus Marvin Druger, SUPA’s faculty liaison for biology for many years who is as legendary at partner high schools as he is on campus.

Noliwe Rooks, professor and chair of Africana studies at Brown University and author of “Cutting School: The Segrenomics of American Education,”  delivered the keynote address and took questions from the audience. Attendees included local school officials, teachers and members of the Syracuse University community.

Representatives from the offices of Assemblyman William Magnarelli (129th District) and State Sen. Rachel May (48th District) presented proclamations  Rep. Brandon Williams (22nd District) read his recognition on the floor of the House of Representatives.

At the 2023 One University Awards ceremony on April 21, SUPA received the Chancellor’s Citation for Excellence for Outstanding Contributions to the Student Experience and University Initiatives. Director Christina Parish, Business and Budget Manager Victoria Toper and Senior Associate Director Rob Pusch accepted the award on behalf of the staff.

“The mission of Project Advance to provide access to higher education and high quality Syracuse University courses to high school students has been successful well beyond what our founders could have imagined fifty years ago when they undertook this ‘project,’” says Parish. “As a pioneer in concurrent enrollment partnerships, we are excited to continue innovating as a program into the next half century in service to our SUPA students.”

  • Author

Josh Davis

  • Recent
  • Scott Warren Promoted to Senior Associate Dean for Research Excellence at Libraries
    Wednesday, June 7, 2023, By Cristina Hatem
  • Syracuse University Professor Calls for Proper Treatment for Clergy Sex Abuse Victims
    Wednesday, June 7, 2023, By Keith Kobland
  • Vice Chancellor Haynie and IVMF Advisory Board Members Recognized as Nation’s Finest 50
    Wednesday, June 7, 2023, By Stephanie Salanger
  • ‘There’s No Safe Place from Wildfire Smoke’ says Maxwell Environment Professor
    Wednesday, June 7, 2023, By Daryl Lovell
  • Ana Caliz Casanova Joins Libraries  as Monograph Cataloging Librarian
    Tuesday, June 6, 2023, By Cristina Hatem

More In Campus & Community

Scott Warren Promoted to Senior Associate Dean for Research Excellence at Libraries

Scott Warren was recently promoted to senior associate dean for research excellence at Syracuse University Libraries. In this new role, Warren has additional responsibilities including oversight of Syracuse University Press and the Department of Digital Stewardship. He will also have…

Ana Caliz Casanova Joins Libraries  as Monograph Cataloging Librarian

Ana Caliz Casanova recently joined Syracuse University Libraries as monograph cataloging librarian in the acquisitions and cataloging department. In this role, she is responsible for maintaining bibliographic and authority records for single subject works in the Libraries’ principal (non-special) collections…

Yvonne E. Hyland Joins Libraries Advisory Board

Syracuse University Libraries is pleased to announce that Yvonne E. Hyland recently joined the Libraries Advisory Board. Hyland is a senior international advisor with corporate, entrepreneurial, intrapreneurial and venture capital experience. She has worked with global organizations including IBM, SAP…

Free Trolley From Campus to Downtown Farmers Market Will Begin June 13

The Syracuse University community is invited to visit the Downtown Farmers Market in Clinton Square this summer, with free transportation provided by Parking and Transportation Services (PTS). The market runs from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Tuesday beginning June…

Syracuse Views Summer 2023

We want to know how you experience Syracuse University. Take a photo and share it with us. We select photos from a variety of sources. Submit photos of your University experience using #SyracuseU on social media, fill out a submission…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • @SUCampus
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2023 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.