Education and Camp Guide 2.1 - Flipbook - Page 14
14 The Baltimore Sun | Sunday, February 1, 2026
Academic Support
Programs Enhance
Student Experiences
Colleges help students succeed in
and out of the classroom
By Alex Keown, Contributing Writer
Photo: Adobe Stock
C
ompetition in the workforce
is increasing, and Maryland’s
colleges and universities are
establishing environments that
address academic achievement and holistic development. Programs at Stevenson
University, University of Maryland and
Harford Community College are in place
to not only boost students’ chances for
success in the classroom but also make
themselves ideal candidates in the workforce.
At Stevenson University, students
can find support through three specialty scholarship programs, Leadership
Scholars, Service Scholars and the
Honors Program. The honors program
is available through invitation to students
based on academic their profile. They
can apply to the leadership and service
scholars programs. The programs, which
include financial stipends for tuition and
other expenses, have been “up and running” since 2019, says Amanda Hostalka,
dean of Stevenson’s school of design,
arts, and communication and senior vice
provost for academic affairs. Hostalka
says academic support is a critical component of the student experience, and
the school seeks to create an environment that helps students succeed. That
means getting to know the students on a
personal level, she says.
“We want students to thrive academically, and we have to get to know who
they are and challenges they may be
facing,” Hostalka says.
This approach allows the university to
engage the “whole student” and support
them in their efforts to embrace all of the
opportunities available to them at the
university and set them up for life after
college. Hostalka says the programs are
popular with students who are “looking
for ways to differentiate themselves from
their peers and are stacking their credentials” as they look to the future.
“These are exciting ways for students
to get involved in the university and add
to their individual development as they
prepare for careers,” Hostalka says, and
adds that Stevenson has “an impressive
group of students who are engaged all
across the campus.”
Alex Reimert, a fourth-year biomedical engineering student at Stevenson,
has been involved with the honors program since his freshman year. He says
the rigors of the honors program, which
includes an independent research project, is providing him with additional skills
and experiences. Conversations with
honors program professors and advisors
have enabled him to identify skills gaps
that future employers will be looking for.
“That’s one thing I really appreciate
about the honors program. It has given
me that (research and communication)
experience and made me more competitive,” Reimert says.
Providing students with the tools that
make them more competitive after graduation is a focus for the University of
Maryland’s engineering career services
program. Its offerings are designed not
just to help students secure an internship or a job, but to excel in it. Veronica
Perrigan, director of engineering career
services at the University of Maryland,
says the career services program aims
to help students leverage their academic
backgrounds into more successful job
searches. They do this in multiple ways,
Perrigan says, such as helping students
get comfortable with networking skills,
learning how to research companies and
executives they will interview with and
practicing “elevator pitches.”
The advisors encourage the students
to be adaptable, to be able to continue
to learn on their own outside of a classroom environment. That’s a key skill that
future employers look for, Perrigan says.
Problem solving is also a skill they tell
students to develop. With artificial intelligence, Perrigan says there are new issues
that arise daily, and students should be
able to show employers how they can
address them. Collaboration is also a
key skill career advisors help develop.
Students who can demonstrate an ability
to work with colleagues from disparate
backgrounds is something that will make
them more attractive as a potential candidate for hire, Perrigan adds.
The engineering career services program helps students gain confidence in
themselves as they start post-academic
careers, Perrigan says. Advisors provide
information about career fairs and other
networking opportunities and also teach
the students how to have a professional
online profile on platforms like LinkedIn.
“We don’t want students to feel like
they’re on their own in this process and
for them to use the resources that are
available to them. We want to make sure
they’re looking at all the opportunities
available to them on campus, leverage
skill sets gained through student activities and bring order out of information
chaos,” Perrigan says. “We want to help
them be able to market themselves to
future employers.”
UMD junior Siloe Selebangue, an
aerospace engineering student, first went
to the career services program in his
sophomore year. He participated in a
course the program offered that gave
school credit while he searched for an
internship. Selebangue says the course
taught him a lot about finding the right
internship program and how to make
your application “go that extra mile.”
He started the internship the summer
between his sophomore and junior years
and continues to work it now.
“That experience benefited me
so much. It showed me how to present myself as a top candidate,” says
Selebangue, who hopes to find an engineering role that will help him pay for
graduate school while he works.
The SOAR ASAP program at Harford
Community College, based on the national SOAR ASAP model, is focused on providing significant assistance to students
so that they can earn their degrees with
fewer worries. SOAR ASAP at Harford
provides students with dedicated academic advisors who provide support from
enrollment through graduation. The advisors help students remain on track and
connect them to available resources to
make their academic journeys easier.
SOAR ASAP students receive financial
support, including book stipends, funds
to cover monthly transportation fees and
tuition gap scholarships.
Additionally, the Harford program provides its students with personal and
professional development opportunities.
Leadership programs will provide students with opportunities to strengthen
their professional skills and boost their
resumes. Resume-building workshops
will prepare students for success following graduation. SOAR ASAP also connects students with networking opportunities in support of future internship and
employment opportunities.
SOAR ASAP at Harford launches in
the spring of 2026.
