Most rankings, like the U.S. News and World Report (U.S. News) are not targeted to the average resident. At best, these rankings contain irrelevant factors of concern; at worst, they perpetuate inequality and do more harm than good. These new rankings challenge the old criteria and ratings of U.S. News, which are not geared to an average urban city and are only useful for the small percentage that can attend elite schools that are too costly for the majority. U.S. News criteria such as undergraduate academic reputation, faculty resources, faculty salary, student selectivity, and financial resources do not promote college attendance for the average resident. In fact, these indicators incentivize colleges to limit accessibility to the average student. Colleges can serve as inflection points for social mobility, changing the trajectory of an individual’s economic outlook. However, if college administrations manage to outcomes driven by the U.S. News and World report, they cater to students and parents already sitting at the top of the economic ladder while eliminating opportunities for students seeking social mobility through higher education.
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At this time of heightened time in which we are operating in a global economy this edition and symposium of the Social Innovations Journal titled: SOCIAL INNOVATIONS TO ADVANCE SOCIAL MOBILITY MODELS IN URBAN CITIES, examines successful and innovative social mobility models in corporations, higher education, institutions, and social enterprises and offers strategies for them to scale or scale their impact. The edition concludes with policy and scaling recommendations that allows for a greater number of urban city residents to move up the economic – social mobility- ladder.
SYMPOSIUM AGENDA
2:00 WELCOME/OVERVIEW
Donald Guy Generals, President, Community College of Philadelphia
Nicholas Torres and Tine Hansen-Turton, SIJ Co-Founders
2:15 Cat McManus, PennGSE Educational Leadership Moving Toward Efficiency and Legitimacy: A Research
Example from Higher Education and College Access Partnerships
2:30 Ginger Zielinskie, President, Benefits Data Trust: From Safety Net to Safety Ladder: Focusing on What
Works to Build Pathways out of Poverty
2:45 Greater Philadelphia’s College Rankings based on affordability; graduation and retention;
social mobility; and class size college data presented by Michael Clark.
3:00 ROUNDTABLES DISCUSSION: Policy and Scaling recommendations that allows for a
greater number of urban city residents to move up the economic – social mobility – ladder.
Donald Guy Generals (Moderator), President of Community College of Philadelphia
David Griffith, President, of Episcopal Services
David Castro, President of I-LEAD
Sylvie Gallier Howard, City of Philadelphia Department of Commerce
Joe Coyle, President of Year-Up Philadelphia
Tinesha Banks, CEO Tabor
Diane Corman-Levy, President of Women’s Way
4:35 CLOSING REMARKS/NEXT STEPS
Nicholas Torres and Tine Hansen-Turton, SIJ Co-Founders
4:45 Reception
Tickets: $15