Private College

Outlook Private College

The Outlook University Independent School Network’s “Private College” is grounded in participatory research coupled with qualitative methodologies.  This college is strategically designed to address the need for a coupling of life experiences, collegial study, and trade careers in the attainment of bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate degrees.  The global population of individuals unable to build capacity toward their personal best due to inequitable opportunity and access based on race, ethnicity, geographical region, sexual orientation, and economic capacity is targeted by this private college for “open admissions” and “longitudinal opportunities.”  

The ethos of The OUISN Private College is to be a consistent lever for the population that is overrepresented regarding underachievement in education, business, healthcare, justice reform, and family capacity-building.  Focus on Educational Equity and Identity Development for students historically low on standardized proficiency measures have the opportunity to demonstrate standard-based competencies using a project-based methodology that assesses learning using a portfolio technique. 

The OUISN Private College focuses on building a forward mindset in youth and adults while offering a new pathway for individuals with unique life stories.      

The OUISN Private College is divided into three sections.  First, the OUISN Junior College focuses on building trade skills and readiness coupled with collegial pathway readiness.  Students beginning at the equivalence of 6th-grade level will have established a formal trade by the end of their 8th-grade equivalence year.  Second, the OUISN Senior College begins at the 9th grade equivalence year and allows students to carry up to 12 credit hours toward OUISN Collegial Pathways.  Third, the Adult Learners College focuses on individuals that have been immersed in the trades for five years or more and seek to build capacity into their lives with a college degree.  

The OUISN Junior, Senior, and Adult Learners College have the same common collegial schools that are coupled with trade careers.  The divisions of OUISN Private College are:

Private College “Junior Learners” and “Senior Learners” Readiness Pathways:

School of Business, Trade, and Wellness
Pre-Medicine
Engineering
Fine Arts
School of Teacher Education
Global Equity and Leadership

 

Accreditation

OUISN Private College is a newly formed postsecondary institution predominately minority-serving institution.  OUISN was established in 2013 in the State of Mississippi as a Junior College.  OUISN expanded to reestablish secondary services; OUISN operated as a six-school independent school district in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (2005 – 2010).  During this period OUISN worked with the accreditation process implemented by the Marquette University Institute for the Transformation of Learning.  Currently, OUISN Private College is collaborating with its college development team, former students, and community stakeholders to complete the SACS application for accreditation.  During this critical time in the COVID-19 Pandemic of 2020, our journey toward national and international accreditation as an intervention for Black and Brown families begins with blending existing programming with the highest standard-based content available.    

Any students receiving diplomas from The OUISN Private College during 2020 have participated in coursework, development of trade and general collegial studies couplings, and have acted as participants with a formal development investigation and research study.  

OUISN Private College has two degree-granting pathways (Business and Education).  Each degree-granting pathway offers areas of emphasis within.  The degree-granting pathway coupled with the area of emphasis offers a continuum from an Associates Degree (AD), a Bachelor’s Degree (BS), a Master’s Degree (MS), to a Doctorate of Philosophy (Ph.D.).   The OUISN Private College Business and Education Majors start with open admissions and support toward terminal degrees.  Equity as a platform for global community building resonates as a living theme within each course within majors.    

The Majors within the Schools of OUISN Private College consist of the following:

School of Business Management – Trade, Wellness, and Global Leadership

  1. For-profit profession and trade for wellness

  2. Non-profit profession and trade for wellness

Trades

  1. Entomology / Adult Learners

School of Education and Global Equity and Leadership 

  1. School of Teacher Education

  1. Alternative Route-to-Teacher Licensure / Adult Learners

  2. Parents-to-Instructors / Adult Learners

Degree Sequence Methodology:  All students must complete 120 hours of “hands-on field experience/methods training” aligned to each course prior to the content.  60 hours must be core general education coursework aligned to the hours of field experience documented through portfolio development, assessment, and evaluation.  40 hours of field experience must be applied to the specific area of study within the School of Entomology.  20 hours are considered within school electives; the student must demonstrate the indicated hours with the diversification of field experiences.  Successful completion of this blended course and fieldwork (participatory research) documented according to the scale of hours indicated will result in an Executive and Trade Bachelor’s Degree.

The OUISN Private College focuses on Capacity-building within and post-COVID-19 and alignment to individual student assessment using portfolio evaluation as a tool for assessing participant learning outcomes.  The OUISN Private College adopts a 12-Point Competency Framework derived from research on International Student Identity Development at an American University.  This 12-Point Competency Framework represents the “core competencies” The OUISN Private College uses coupled with the OUISN Equity Measurements in Education as a student assessment tool for course performance outcomes and degree-granting.  

The portfolio system of student assessment at The OUISN Private College does not employ a letter grade as an outcome reference.  Students receive an EP (Exemplar Pass), P (Pass), CE (Continued Effort), or I (Incomplete).  The traditional 4.000 system grade equivalencies are as follows: Exemplar Pass (A – 4.0), Pass (B – 3.99 – 3.0), Continued Effort (2.99 – 2.0), and Incomplete (1.99 >).       

 

Targeted Student Population

The OUISN Private College is a predominantly minority-serving organization.  The students targeted scholar cohorts classify as Black / African American, Hispanic, Pacific Islander, Native American, and Eastern Indian.  The identification of student participants is divided into adult learners, junior college, and senior college scholars.  These participants represent individuals and families historically underserved by education, healthcare, social-justice reform, and family capacity-building.  

 

Candidate Qualification

Adult Learners with a minimum standard of 5 years working at a specific trade or career without a degree or certification can qualify for a portfolio-based Bachelor’s.  High school graduates that cannot gain admittance into traditional postsecondary programming may qualify for “open admission.”