Senior U.S. Education Officials Darnieder and White to Participate in National Council for Community and Education Partnerships Workshop

U.S. Department of Education officials Greg Darnieder, senior advisor to the Secretary of Education on the College Access Initiative, and John White, deputy assistant secretary for rural outreach, will participate in the National Council for Community and Education Partnerships Workshop on Monday and Tuesday, Feb. 13-14 at the New York City Hilton Hotel.

Darnieder will participate in three portions of the workshop. He will participate on a panel for GEAR UP Directors on Monday, February 13th at 9:00 a.m., give remarks at the general session morning breakfast on Tuesday, February 14th at 8:00 a.m., and finally, help lead a roundtable discussion titled "Emerging Issues in College Access Evaluation: A National Perspective," on Tuesday, at 9:00 a.m. Throughout the Workshop, Darnieder will discuss the value of keeping the GEAR UP program innovative and illustrate how the program can help drive the Administration's education agenda.

On Tuesday afternoon at 2 p.m., White will discuss "Rural and Ready: Models and Resources to Tackle Rural Schools’ Unique Challenges." This presentation will explore the resources available to GEAR UP programs and discuss successful model partnerships that focus on improving college access and success, which can be replicated and put to work in other rural settings. White will join Dreama Gentry, director of externally sponsored programs at Berea College in Kentucky, for the discussion where White will give an overview on his rural outreach throughout the country while Gentry will share experience with GEAR UP, as a leader who has creatively built upon the program's partnerships and interwoven other federal resources to serve students in rural Kentucky.