The Academy at SVCC
About The Academy
The Academy at SVCC provides access to an engaging and rewarding college experience to high achieving high school seniors. The Academy is built on four educational tenants:
- Academics: Challenge students with rigorous college classes and high academic standards
- Leadership: Develop leadership skills by engaging students in discussions with some of the best community leaders in the Sauk Valley area
- Service: Create and implement a service project that benefits the Sauk Valley area
- Cultural, Historical and Scientific Appreciation: Develop more appreciation of the world by having some of Sauk's best faculty lead
them on local educational excursions and experiences
Benefits and Goals
The Academy has many benefits including:
- Earning enough transferable college credit to possibly complete the General Education Core Curriculum (GECC) Credential
- Free admission into Phi Theta Kappa academic honor society in the spring semester (if eligible)
- Developing college success skills by completing the First Year Experience (FYE) class
- Meeting new, interesting, motivated people in the Academy student cohort from all over the SVCC district
- Developing leadership skills
- Growing personally by being involved in service, cultural and historical activities.
Student Requirements
- Mandatory participation in the FYE class (fall semester) and Leadership Class (spring semester).
- Students should be highly motivated, have the ability to work independently without direct supervision, display self-discipline and demonstrate the desire to pursue college-level coursework beyond the high school curriculum.
- Students should have reliable transportation to and from the College.
- Students must be high school seniors and apply by February 1 of their junior year.
- Students must have a minimum high school cumulative unweighted GPA of 3.0 after 5th semester (confirmed by official high school transcript submission).
- Students must currently have earned enough credits to be on track to graduate with their high school class.
- Students will need to place into ENG 101 (Composition I) or have ENG 101 already completed.
- Students will need to place into a college-level mathematics course or have one already completed.
- The Academy application including all supporting documentation must be completed and submitted by stated deadline. Supporting documentation includes:
- High school counselor recommendation form must be completed and submitted (a separate web form is sent to the counselor when the student application is submitted).
- SVCC High School Student Information Form must be completed and submitted to SVCC.
- High school transcript and test scores
- Parent/Guardian approval and signature upon acceptance into the program
Example Course Schedule
Note: The Academy participants will work with an SVCC Academic Advisor to create a
plan of classes tailored to meet their individual needs based on identified major
and school. Students will be enrolled in an Academy cohort classes when possible.
Students are responsible for final course articulation.
Fall Semester Example Schedule
- BIO 105 Principals of Biology M, W 8:00-9:15AM and T 9:30AM -12:10PM
- ENG 160 Introduction to Literature T,Th 12:30-1:45PM
- FYE 101 First Year Experience 9:00-11:00PM
- MAT 240 Elementary Statistics T,Th 2:00-3:15PM
Spring Semester Example Schedule
- ENG 101 Composition I M,W 2:00-3:15PM
- ART 102 Three Dimensional Design T,Th 8:00-10:30AM
- ART 121 Renaissance Through Romantic Art M,W 11:00-12:15PM
- COM 131 Introduction to Oral Communication T,Th 11:00-12:15PM
- ART 113 Basic Drawing I M,W 8:00-10:30AM
- EDU 225: Topics in Leadership F
SVCC reserves the right to cancel The Academy model based on minimum enrollment requirements.
