Council for Opportunity in Education

Professional Development

Learn more about COE’s customized technical assistance, in-person and virtual seminars, online courses, webinars, communities of practice, proposal writing workshops, COE’s annual conference, and other idea exchanges.

Seminar

Onboarding Orientation for TRIO Professionals

February 24 — 26, 2026,

Get more info & Register
Seminar

Sustaining Excellence: Achieving Program Objectives Through Intentional Design

April 06 — 07, 2026,

This two-day virtual professional development will guide TRIO directors and staff through the core elements of program success: aligning services with objectives, using evaluation data to drive decision-making, managing change with confidence, leading staff effectively, stewarding budgets strategically, and leveraging community partnerships to expand impact.
Get more info & Register

Let COE Assist Your College Access and Success Program

Get real-time technical assistance to ensure compliance with federal grant guidelines and more.

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to conduct an equitable program evaluation.

Evaluation Toolkit

Get customized, real-time help on your campus or at your institution.

technical Assistance

New director? New program? These webinars help you start off right and learn the pillars of good project management.

Don’t Miss This

Connect your program staff to myriad free or low-cost virtual trainings.

Webinars

Master key competencies in TRIO operations and earn a certificate to verify your proficiency.

Online Courses

Stay up to date with TRIO laws and regulations to keep your program running strong.

compliance assessment

Upcoming Events

Enhance the services you provide low-income, first-generation students and students with disabilities to increase their chances of success.

manuals and guidelines

Let COE help you build a better program

Contact Business and Finance at [email protected] to purchase the manuals below.

CONTACT US

A well-organized Policy and Procedures Manual is essential for every program. It defines the standards that guide decisions, actions, and daily operations—ensuring consistency, compliance, and quality service delivery. This manual not only reflects your program’s methods of operation but also provides a solid foundation for compliance, staff onboarding and site visit readiness. COE’s step-by-step guide makes it simple to create and maintain a manual that works for you. Discover how today.

Site Visit and Audit Guide helps your program stay fully prepared for reviews and audits. Learn what to assess, how to document effectively, and how to strengthen your internal controls.

Conduct small-scale, high-quality evaluations, determine program effectiveness and identify improvement opportunities. This Toolkit emphasizes using data for program refinement, policy development, and advocacy, which is crucial in an accountability-driven funding environment. It includes worksheets, examples, and resources for creating equitable evaluation processes, particularly for programs serving traditionally underserved populations.

communities of practice

connect with college access & success professionals throughout our network

COE maintains several Communities of Practice that allow college access and success practitioners to share best practices and cultivate new ideas. Membership to any of the communities discussed in more detail below is free.

JOIN A COMMUNITY

The COE International Access Community of Practice will provide a space for college opportunity professionals and their campus colleagues and partners to gain and share knowledge about helping the students they serve achieve global competence. Join us to forge connections, access resources related to studying abroad for students and professionals, and exchange information on best practices!

This community of practice aims to generate knowledge and evidence about practices that best serve our students. Community members see research, evaluation, and evidence-supported practices as crucial to improving the success of college access and success programs. Members also believe that knowledge, strategies, and techniques developed in the many successful programs around the country should be documented and shared with the larger community of college access and success professionals. Finally, this community hopes to share practical, innovative methods for evaluating the success of each program. Overall, this community of practice functions as a place to facilitate the sharing of ideas, network, and connect institutions in search of ways to support our students’ academic access and success.

The STEM Community of Practice seeks to generate a place for members to develop a body of common knowledge, practices, and approaches to promoting students toward STEM proficiency and careers. Areas of interest include program delivery and design, STEM resources, collaborations, and professional development. This community seeks to understand the challenges and opportunities related to the provision of STEM support in college access and success programs in different locals, and to build quality relationships among STEM educators, providers, and related entities. The ultimate goal is to support students’ opportunities and aspirations to pursue STEM courses of study that will lead to satisfying careers.

The COE State Leadership Community of Practice creates a space for current and incoming state and chapter officers to collaborate and share promising practices that develop state initiatives programs and strengthen the work of their associations. The purpose of this community is to provide resources to assist states and chapters in capacity building. The State Leadership Committee strongly encourages you to engage in discussions in the forum, participate in events and webinars hosted by the community, utilize and upload documents in the resource library, and reach out and connect.

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