Ithaca College will begin to utilize the Passport for Good software platform to encourage and capture student and community engagement. It is the first college to join the service. The School of Business will spearhead the effort as the first academic unit of the college to use the Passport for Good system.
“The Ithaca College School of Business prides itself on its forward-thinking use of technology tools to assist students in succeeding both in their academic pursuits and in meeting their goals to advance in their chosen career path,” said Sean Reid, the dean of the School of Business. “Passport for Good will help our students to be more engaged and successful, and we look forward to making use of this new tool.”
Ithaca’s AACSB-accredited School of Business, named a Bloomberg Top 100 business school, is known for providing mentor and incubator services to its students, as well as access to a state-of-the-art trading room and connections to coveted internships and business-related clubs and associations. The college’s extremely active alumni network includes Steve Gonick ’85, a co-founder of Passport for Good. “Ithaca’s business students are bright and motivated, and I have been honored to mentor quite a few student entrepreneurs for the past five years,” Gonick said. “I have no doubt that these energetic students will make good use of Passport for Good and provide a template for the platform that will be adopted in other schools across America.” Gonick said that Ithaca College business students would also help develop Passport for Good for eventual campus-wide use; helping to develop an e-commerce site and implementing a communications and marketing plan.
Gayle Farman, founder and president of Passport for Good, said: “Ithaca College was chosen by Passport for Good as a lead partner on this important initiative because it has a world-class business and communications program and an emphasis on social entrepreneurship. Passport for Good is an example of the type of social entrepreneurship that is bubbling up on the Ithaca College campus every day, so Ithaca was a natural partner. We are finding that educational institutions are seeking technology solutions to capture quantitative and qualitative data on the impact that their students have on communities, and also to assist students in building resumes that give them a leg up in achieving their goals for careers and higher-level schooling. We look forward to serving the business students at Ithaca College.”
About Passport For Good
Passport for Good offers a first-in-class, subscription-based Software as a Service (SaaS) to address the growing challenge faced by schools, corporations and the criminal justice system to track time spent by individuals and groups performing community service activities. The robust tracking system and mobile application assists non-profit organizations by allowing them to communicate their needs. It also centralizes data, automates the community service experience, and aggregates data across individuals and events to allow organizations to demonstrate community impact and to enhance linkages between service learning, skill development, and academic and career exploration. Prototyped by students at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, it is now powered by a full team of senior software engineers. The company was formed in 2016 by Gayle Farman of Slingerlands, NY. For more information, visit www.passportforgood.com.
About Ithaca College and its School of Business
Founded in 1892, Ithaca College is a residential college dedicated to building knowledge and confidence through a continuous cycle of theory, practice, and performance. Home to some 6,500 students, the college offers more than 100 degree programs in its Schools of Business, Communications, Health Sciences and Human Performance, Humanities and Sciences, and Music.
Students, faculty, and staff at Ithaca College create an active, inclusive community anchored in a keen desire to make a difference in the local community and the broader world. The college is consistently ranked as one of the nation’s top producers of Fulbright scholars, one of the most LGBTQ+-friendly schools in the country, and one of the top 10 colleges in the Northeast. For more information, visit www.ithaca.edu.
The AACSB-accredited School of Business at Ithaca College combines a rigorous professional education with a foundation in the liberal arts, giving students a competitive, diverse skill set in the functional areas of business, communication, and critical thinking. A comprehensive professional development curriculum provides the tools to apply these skills in real-world learning opportunities and internships. Its students graduate ready to become professional leaders, managers, and analysts.