ECTC professors honored for positive impact on student success
Published on Apr 13, 2026
Two Elizabethtown Community and Technical College professors recently were honored
for the impact they have had on student success. The Kentucky Student Success Collaborative,
a unit of the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education, presented Dean of Physical
Sciences Dr. Shawn Kellie and Associate Professor of Mathematics Miky Wright with
the New Horizon Award.
“It feels good to be recognized and it is truly an honor,” Wright said. “We wanted to help students in ways that will accommodate their needs, but I didn’t expect an award.”
Wright, Kellie and their team at ECTC noticed that some college algebra students were struggling with the course material. They looked for reasons why and then determined how they could remove the barriers that were preventing the students from being successful in the class. The solution was the Engagement, Accessibility and Retention mode, or EAR.
Engagement allows faculty to connect with students through weekly video check-ins. Accessibility is a system wherein faculty are available outside of traditional work hours to support those students who are balancing full-time jobs, families and other responsibilities. With Retention, faculty reach out to students who miss weekly check-ins.
“Sometimes that simple message lets students know that someone notices and cares,” Wright said.
Since the initiative began in Spring 2024, withdrawal rates dropped from 67% to as low as 5%, and success rates increased from 54% to 77%. That success has led to more faculty participation and the addition of a second class to the EAR program – liberal arts mathematics.
“The dedication our faculty show to ECTC students is inspiring,” said Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. Telly Sellars. “They saw an issue that needed addressing and created a system to impart real and lasting change with measurable results.”
Wright and Kellie were presented with the New Horizon Award at the annual Kentucky Student Success Summit, hosted by CPE.
