MIDDLETOWN, N.Y. — An innovative overhaul of SUNY Orange’s developmental math course sequences and placement strategy has dramatically improved student success and retention in those courses, and has now also earned the College national recognition as one of 10 finalists for the prestigious 2026 Bellwether Awards’ “Instructional Programs and Services” category.

The nationally recognized Bellwether Award competition focuses on cutting-edge, trendsetting programs worthy of replication. Annually, 30 community colleges are deemed finalists—10 each in three different categories—from a large group of applicants in the United States and its territories. The awards are presented by the Bellwether College Consortium, composed of institutions addressing critical issues faced by community colleges.

Finalists in the Instructional Programs and Services category are celebrated for having designed and implemented programs that foster or support teaching and learning in the community college setting. Other finalists in the category include Bergen Community College, Brookdale Community College, Cerritos College, Dallas College, Florida Gateway College, Isothermal Community College, Joliet Junior College, Odessa College and Springfield Technical Community College. SUNY Orange is the only SUNY community college among the 30 finalists.

When the COVID-19 pandemic forced SUNY Orange to suspend in-person classes in March 2020, hundreds of applicants lost access to required math placement testing. The College responded by developing a guided self-placement survey through collaboration between the Mathematics Department, advising staff, and academic leadership. Recognizing that placement reform required corresponding curricular changes to be effective, SUNY Orange redesigned its developmental math program with an integrated approach that aligns placement with curriculum to support student progress. What began as an emergency measure evolved into a comprehensive placement reform that has become the College’s ongoing model.

Results have demonstrated that the proportion of students placed at the lowest developmental course level have decreased, while enrollment in gateway and general education mathematics courses increased. Pass rates in gateway courses remained stable or improved, even as more students bypassed developmental coursework. Significantly, equity gaps also narrowed: students from historically underrepresented backgrounds enrolled in and succeeded in gateway mathematics at higher rates than under the previous system. 

Representatives from SUNY Orange will attend the final round of Bellwether Award competition during the 32nd Annual Community College Futures Assembly (CCFA), to be held Feb. 22-24 at the St. Anthony Hotel in San Antonio, Texas. The Futures Assembly affords each finalist team the opportunity to provide a comprehensive 60-minute presentation to an audience of their peers and an anonymous team of judges, selected as subject-matter experts, policy leaders, and respected practitioners in higher education.

The Community College Futures Assembly convenes annually as an independent national forum for innovators to work as a think tank. It identifies successful responses to critical issues facing the future of community colleges and hosts a national award competition among innovative colleges in the United States and its U.S. territories. The consortium is supported by Alamo Colleges District in San Antonio, Texas. Consult the Bellwether College Consortium website for more information, www.bellwethercollegeconsortium.com.

SUNY Orange President Dr. Kristine Young: “Being named a 2026 Bellwether Award finalist is a tremendous accomplishment for SUNY Orange. It reinforces that we are adhering to our mission as an educational institution and our vision to transform lives. Our work over the past decade has been focused on strategic approaches to growing enrollment, maintaining academic rigor and fully supporting students. As a Bellwether finalist, SUNY Orange joins some great company with other colleges across the country who are innovating and elevating their teaching and learning environments for the benefit of community college students. I commend our academic leadership, specifically Dr. Erika Hackman and Dr. Josh Lavorgna, as well as our entire Math Department faculty, for embracing a student-first solution that has enhanced student outcomes.”

SUNY Orange Provost Dr. Erika Hackman: “We were forced to restructure our math placement process out of necessity, but our faculty, staff and leadership approached it thoughtfully, creatively and with sound assessment methods. We learned several key lessons through this process. First and foremost is that faculty leadership is critical; the legitimacy of the math placement process depends on faculty engagement in design, implementation, and ongoing revision. Advising partnerships are essential to ensure students make informed choices, and ongoing data monitoring is non-negotiable in order to evaluate and improve. With these elements at the foundation, and a culture of collaboration, SUNY Orange has created a scalable and replicable model that improves accuracy, supports persistence, and advances equity in mathematics pathways.”