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Academic Credit: Office and Departmental Programs

  • CAPS (College Awareness Partnership Scholars) Online Mentoring Program (FW/V)

    Leslie Williams

    Education Outreach Fellow

    (845) 437-7360

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    CAPS is a Vassar partnership with the Collegiate Institute of Math and Science (CIMS) in the Bronx, and is a structured curriculum Vassar students follow online with high school freshmen to help them and their families start thinking about the college process.

  • Casperkill Assessment Project (URSI)

    Kirsten Menking

    Associate Professor of Earth Science

    (845) 437-5545

    Students participating in URSI (Undergraduate Research Summer Institute, see below) conduct research under faculty direction to assess the health of the Casperkill Creek, its ecosystems and environmental damage it has sustained. Each summer culminates in a formal plan for restoration presented to the community.

  • ESL Tutoring Program (V, FW, HISP 205)

    Leslie Williams

    Education Outreach Fellow

    (845) 437-7360

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    Students are given the opportunity to work with native-Spanish speaking students, in the English as a Second Language program at Poughkeepsie High School. Vassar students may work under the supervision of the high school instructor in a special classroom devoted to ESL or they may assist ESL students in their other classes during the school day.

  • Exploring Science at Vassar Farm (FW/V)

    Lynn Capozzoli

    Director

    (845) 437-7362

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    This program partners students and faculty to design and implement lessons on science and the environment for local second- and third-grade students at the Collins Field Station on Vassar Farm Property.

  • Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Science Education Internship Program (FW)

    Bill Straus

    Associate Professor of Biology

    (845) 437-7431

    Students of the sciences get paired with a local science teacher at the elementary, middle or high school level, to gain teaching experience and to provide resources and assistance to the Poughkeepsie public schools’ science programs.

  • Sistah Power! (FW; AFR, WMST Ind. Stud.)

    Jocelyn Tejeda

    Associate Director of Campus Life and ALANA Center

    (845) 437-5954


    Diane Harriford

    Associate Professor of Sociology

    (845) 437-5514

    The Sistah Power! Program is a collaboration between the ALANA Center/Campus Life Office, the Women’s Studies Department and Girl Scouts Heart of the Hudson, that uses African drumming and educational activities to foster sisterhood and empowerment with 9-12 year-old girls.

  • VAST (Vassar After School Tutoring) Program (FW/V/CSWS)

    Leslie Williams

    Education Outreach Fellow

    (845) 437-7360

    Visit website

    VAST offers subject tutoring, academic and life skill- building, and mentoring to forty seventh and eighth grade students at the Poughkeepsie Middle School.

  • Vassar College Urban Education Initiative (VCUEI)

    Leslie Williams

    Education Outreach Coordinator

    (845) 437-7360

    Funded by the Arthur Vining Davis Foundation, this initiative is aimed at urban education outreach and professional development in the field. The CAPS and VAST Programs are supported through VCUEI.