Student Ambassador Pilot Program

Achieving the Dream's Student Ambassador Pilot Program offers students the opportunity to positively shape the student success and completion agenda across the country, and engage directly in our National Reform Network’s efforts to help more community college students (particularly low-income students and students of color) stay in college and earn a certificate or degree.

Meet the 2012-2013 student ambassadors -- affectionately known as DREAMbassadors:
Sandra Valley Bagley
Phillips Community College of the University of Arkansas

“Sandra is very dedicated, organized, and an excellent student who has emerged as a strong student leader. She serves on the Executive Board of Phillips Community College’s Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa. She is very committed to engaging students in the completion agenda to impact student success.” - Dr. Deborah King






Elizabeth Davis
Tarrant County College

“Elizabeth returned to [TCC] in her late 20's, carrying with her a number of life experiences – including an honorable military discharge and experience as a Tarrant County Detention Officer. Through these experiences, Elizabeth has continuously proven her commitment to becoming the best she can be and inspiring others to do the same. She is a first generation non-traditional student with hopes of transferring to a university to pursue a career in the Oncology Department of either Cooks Children’s or Children’s Medical Center Hospital, working with terminally ill cancer patients.” -Cacy Curtis





Sam Jones
University of the District of Columbia

“Sam is dedicated to the mission of the college, thoughtful in his leadership approach, and invested in serving and representing other students. In his role as the President of the Phi Theta Kappa Chapter at UDC-CC, he has already been thinking about how to integrate the aims of Achieving the Dream with Phi Theta Kappa … planning to develop a poster/communications contest for students to develop messages and designs to support student success.” -Julie Johnson






Robert Ramirez
Brazosport College

“Robert is a bright, expressive young man who is taking the steps necessary to achieve his dreams of becoming a Physician’s Assistant. He intends to transfer to university to complete a degree in Biology before applying to a Physician’s Assistant program. Robert has faced some challenges in his personal life. Although his father was incarcerated for the majority of his childhood, Robert has used the experience to move forward in his life in a positive manner by using education as a tool to reach success and prosperity.” -Dr. Lynda Villanueva





Read the full press release

During their term of service, the DREAMbassadors will collaborate with Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society of the Two-Year College to contribute to the Community College Completion Corps (C4) work on their respective campuses. Their voices will be instrumental in engaging more students nationwide in the student completion movement, and they will achieve this largely through Achieving the Dream’s social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. As presenters at DREAM, they will share their work and ideas for improving student success with the Achieving the Dream National Reform Network. In addition, as participants in this pilot program, they will help to inform the development of a full-scale DREAMbassador Program.

DREAMbassadors:

• Commit to staying enrolled at a community college through Fall 2012 and Spring 2013 semesters
• Commit to a term of service of 4 months (October 2012–February 2013) with an average time commitment of 15 hours per month
• Commit to participate in DREAMbassador Orientation Training November 1-3, at Achieving the Dream National Headquarters in Silver Spring, MD
• Collaborate with the local Phi Theta Kappa chapter on C4 efforts
• Develop and present a workshop at DREAM 2013, February 5-8 in Anaheim, CA
• Participate in other assigned duties at DREAM 2013
• Participate in the Achieving the Dream social media efforts, including Facebook, Twitter, and the blog, as assigned during the term of service

Achieving the Dream will provide each DREAMbassador with the following benefits:

• Travel accommodations to DREAMbassador Orientation and Development Training
• One complimentary DREAM 2013 registration
• A stipend to help support the student during their term of service, upon successful completion of the DREAMbassador Orientation and Development Training 
• An additional stipend to help support the student during their term of service, after having fulfilled Achieving the Dream milestone requirements and upon submission and approval of a DREAM workshop proposal, DREAMbassadors will receive 
• A $1,000 Completion Award to support the student in their effort to complete their degree or certificate and enter the workforce or transfer to a four-year college or university, once a DREAMbassador has completed remaining milestone requirements, presented a workshop at DREAM, and participated in other assigned activities at DREAM 2013
• An iPad with Wi-Fi capability to assist the student in completing milestone requirements

Colleges agreed to carefully select students that are representative of the diversity on their campus. Colleges are not required to provide financial support to a student ambassador, and Achieving the Dream will provide selected students with stipends upon completion of milestones. Colleges understand that their Public Information Officer (PIO; the person on the college’s Achieving the Dream Core Team who is serving the communications and marketing function) serves as a contact on campus and provides the participating students with guidance whenever possible.