Faculty-Driven Innovation at CUNY Medgar Evers Optimizes Gateway Courses for Student Success

The Brooklyn-based institution partners with Echo360 to extend access to course materials and encourage engagement


NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - Jan 10, 2017) - Medgar Evers College, a senior college of The City University of New York (CUNY), today announced a partnership with Echo360 to provide faculty with classroom tools and analytics to increase student engagement and develop digital pedagogies to enhance student success in first and second-year courses.

"The incorporation of cutting-edge video technology will give a strong foothold in achieving our strategic goal to increase retention and graduation rates by 25% in 2020," said Senior Vice President and Provost Augustine Okereke. "This platform supports our faculty's ongoing innovation in creating an environment that fosters highly engaged and successful students."

The College has awarded 25 competitive grants to faculty members to re-design gateway courses in mathematics and English. This fall, faculty are using the Echo360 academic video platform to provide students with 24/7 access to course materials. Insights generated will help faculty better understand how students are interacting with content and provide support for students throughout the courses.

"At Medgar Evers College, our commitment is to ensure that every student is afforded a fertile environment conducive to academic success," said Karen Mitchell, Special Assistant to the Associate Provost and IT/Academic Technology Manager. "Engaging students in active learning is a hallmark of Echo360's innovations -- these tools offer faculty invaluable insights about student performance."

"Giving students more comprehensive access to their academic content counterbalances the distractions in their increasingly busy lives and ensures their success," added Ian Josephs, Director of the Office of Academic and Emerging Technologies at Medgar Evers.

Sixty-five percent of Medgar Evers students are first-generation students and many students attend school while working or juggling additional responsibilities. The mobile-friendly platform allows students to review course material before or after class, ask questions during class, and engage with faculty and peers anytime and anywhere.

"For today's students, we know that on-demand access to course materials and deeper engagement in the classroom matter. Technology is making it easier for faculty to optimize lectures and course content for student attention and participation, which provides students with a strong foundation for success," said Fred Singer, CEO of Echo360. "The thoughtful incorporation of video into pedagogy taking place at Medgar Evers is inspiring, and we're proud to support their work."

About CUNY Medgar Evers College:
Located in Brooklyn, NY, Medgar Evers College is the youngest in the City University of New York (CUNY) system. It is the mission of the College to provide high-quality, comprehensive, and career-oriented degree programs to its diverse student body. Its liberal core curriculum endeavors to improve students' awareness of self and society in order to prepare them for successful integration into their communities as both professionals and civic innovators.

About Echo360:
Echo360 believes that improved outcomes start with great moments in the classroom. Developed by educators, Echo360 helps instructors capture and extend those moments to improve student engagement before, during and after class. Through our academic video platform, students have 24/7 access to classroom discussion, presentation materials, and the lecture itself. We generate data that helps instructors and institutions identify problems early and take action. Today, Echo360 technologies are used by over 3 million students in 11,000 classrooms at 750 schools across 30 countries. Echo360 is backed by Revolution Growth led by Steve Case, Ted Leonsis and Donn Davis.

Contact Information:

Media Contact:
Caitlin Cox
202-479-7149