EducationPartnerships

Transcription

1 EdcationPartnerships May 2012 Project Seeks to Strengthen Commnity College-HBCU Ties to Bolster Stdent Sccess Foster Dean has served as a Marine, and has been a bsiness owner and a real estate agent. He then worked two jobs while a flltime stdent at Fayetteville Technical Commnity College. Foster Dean, a stdent at Fayetteville Technical Commnity College, will transfer to Fayetteville State University in the fall. Dean may not be a traditional stdent, bt he is following the path of many stdents today, jggling school and work to finance their edcation. His plan was to complete his two-year degree in marketing and then enter the work force fll time. Bt a new collaboration between commnity colleges and for-year Historically Black Colleges and Universities is encoraging commnity college stdents like Dean to transfer their credits toward bachelor s degree work at HBCUs. DeSandra Washington, Fayetteville Technical Commnity College, right, meets with stdents Michael Concil, left, and Tam Frazier to assist them as they transfer to Fayetteville State University. Dean will begin work at Fayetteville State University in the fall. Never in a million years did I think I wold be gradating with honors from FTCC and on my way to a for-year college, says Dean. FTCC and the mentoring program have done so mch for me. They work to connect with their stdents and show s we can move on, and I got the message. This has been an nbelievable experience, and I m excited for the next chapter of my edcation at Fayetteville State University. For organizations, inclding one of the nation s largest volnteer service organizations of professional women, are working with the commnity colleges and HBCUs in hopes of bilding strong ties between the schools and enhancing college completion rates. Using a $395,000 grant from USA Fnds and additional fnding from Lmina Fondation for Edcation, The Links, Incorporated, is leading an effort to achieve the following goals: To increase the gradation rate of commnity college stdents. To increase the nmber of commnity college stdents who transfer to HBCUs. To encorage greater collaboration among commnity colleges and HBCUs. To increase the enrollment at selected HBCUs and to increase the gradation rate of stdents at HBCUs. Contined on page 4

2 Selected Grants Awarded by USA Fnds Jan. 1 March 31, 2012 USA Fnds awards grants to advance its nonprofit mission to enhance postsecondary edcation preparedness, access and sccess. Thrgood Marshall College Fnd New York Project TMCF/USA Fnds Scholarship Program Amont $200,000 Provides need-based scholarships to stdents attending pblic Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Boys II Men Project 2012 Boys II Men Program and College Tors Spports a commnity program for African-American male stdents that develops skills for sccess in middle school, high school and throghot postsecondary edcation. United Negro College Fnd Fairfax, Va. Project UNCF/USA Fnds Scholarship Program Amont $200,000 Indiana Latino Institte Project ILI Careers for the Ftre Edcation Program Amont $100,000 Arizona Commnity Fondation Phoenix Project College Depot Helping More Stdents Take Steps to College Sccess Geographic Scope Arizona Amont $70,000 Indiana Dollars for Scholars Project Hoosier Heroes Amont $70,000 Offers scholarship and other academic spport to African- American stdents. Helps stdents make career choices and provides the framework for stdents to scceed in postsecondary edcation. Spports a program that provides information abot college admissions and financial aid at a library center in downtown Phoenix. Sponsors Indiana Dollars for Scholars annal Hoosier Heroes event and provides stdent scholarships for stdent-winners and their selected heroes. Excelencia in Edcation Washington, D.C. Project 2012 Examples of Excelencia and Celebracion de Excelencia Glow Fondation San Francisco Project Glow s California Sccess Initiative Geographic Scope California Interagency Commnity Coalition Fort Washakie, Wyo. Project College Goal Snday Geographic Scope Wyoming American Red Cross of Greater Project Indiana Tornado Relief Amont $25,000 Recognizes programs that have demonstrated effectiveness in accelerating Latino stdent sccess in higher edcation. Increases access to postsecondary edcation for low-income stdents throgh mentoring and financial literacy edcation. Assists stdents and families with completing the FASFA, at sites in Wyoming. Spports Indiana tornado disaster relief efforts. Admission Possible Milwakee Project Admission Possible Milwakee Geographic Scope Wisconsin Amont $60,000 Mary Rigg Neighborhood Center Inc. Project Learning Commnities Initiative, George Washington Commnity High School Amont $50,000 Provides college enrollment resorces and tools to low-income high school stdents in Milwakee. Assists stdents at George Washington Commnity High School in preparing for and scceeding in postsecondary edcation. Stdent African American Brotherhood Toledo, Ohio Project Stdent African American Brotherhood National Conference 2012 Amont $25,000 Excelencia in Edcation Washington, D.C. Project 2012 Accelerating Latino Stdent Sccess Amont $20,000 Sponsors an annal leadership conference with a focs on the academic and social sccess of African-American males. Spports a workshop aimed at fostering commnication and collaboration to promote Latino stdent sccess. GEAR UP Mississippi Jackson, Miss. Project College Goal Snday Geographic Scope Mississippi Amont $35,000 Florida Association of Stdent Financial Aid Administrators Tampa Project College Goal Snday Geographic Scope Florida Amont $32,000 Offers stdents and families free assistance in completing the Free Application for Federal Stdent Aid at sites throghot Mississippi. Helps stdents and families with completing the FASFA, at sites throghot Florida. 2 State Higher Edcation Exective Officers Bolder, Colo. Project SHEEO State Agency Workshop: A Peer-Based Collaboration Opportnity at the 2012 SHEEO Higher Edcation Policy Conference Amont $20,000 Stillman College Tscaloosa, Ala. Project Stillman College Access and Attainment Events Geographic Scope Alabama Amont $20,000 Sponsors an event focsed on stdent learning and accontability, state data systems and prodctivity. Provides assistance to families in the completion of financial aid and college enrollment applications.

3 USA Fnds Employees Help Rebild Together In Febrary, while the eyes of the world were focsed on for the Sper Bowl, many organizations were focsed on giving back to the game s host commnity. A USA Fnds-spported grop was among those working to revitalize an area selected for refrbishing as the Sper Bowl Legacy Neighborhood. That organization, Rebilding Together, hosted the National Football Leage-sanctioned Kickoff to Rebild. Rebilding Together is an affiliate of Rebilding Together USA. The nonprofit organization s mission is to preserve and revitalize hoses and commnities, assring that low-income homeowners, particlarly the elderly and disabled and families with children, may contine to live in warmth, safety and independence. On Feb. 3 hndreds of Rebilding Together volnteers, past and present NFL players and HGTV star Carter Oosterhose came together to revitalize a dozen homes in the Sper Bowl Legacy Neighborhood. John Morrical, USA Fnds senior aditor, was among those who took part in the Febrary event. John Morrical of USA Fnds, right, takes part in the annal spring Rebilding Together event in Among those joining him at the event were Jamie Silva, then a player with the Colts, left, and Cheryl Darland of PNC Bank. The look on the faces of the homeowners we help is priceless, says Morrical. It s an opportnity to see firsthand the improvements made not jst to someone s home, bt to their lives. I think what I get back as a volnteer is actally mch more than what I am giving the people we help. Rebilding Together also condcted a pre-game bild on Nov. 5 to help 12 homeowners with landscaping, painting and home repairs, and to install a new playgrond at a local park. The activities of Rebilding Together are possible only with the spport that Rebilding Together receives from its corporate sponsors, spporters and volnteers, says Charles Smith, president of Rebilding Together. Locally, we have been very fortnate to be able to grow each year. This contined growth happens only when yo have corporate sponsors like USA Fnds who spport or mission by spporting their employees who are active within the organization. John and Dawn both have played a large part in Rebilding Together s growth and contined sccess. USA Fnds has been a spporter of Rebilding Together since the organization s first event in April In addition to USA Fnds financial spport, Rebilding Together has received hands-on assistance from USA Fnds employees especially Morrical and Dawn Cortney, USA Fnds manager of marketing strategies. Morrical has spearheaded USA Fnds involvement with Rebilding Together, serving as a volnteer starting in 2003 and joining the organization s board in He has been the board s president and now serves as the board s immediate past president. Cortney has volnteered with the organization for for years and has served on the board as the pblicity chair for the past two years. In addition to the Sper Bowl-related activities, Rebilding Together hosts its reglar, annal event in April. This year Morrical, Cortney and other volnteers representing USA Fnds joined volnteers from other organizations to refrbish a designated neighborhood in. Dring the day, workers tackled tasks, inclding carpentry, plmbing, electrical projects, landscaping and weatherizing. I love the chance to do hands-on work, Cortney says, and it s amazing to see sch incredible progress in one day. It s a great feeling to see everyone come together. 3

4 Strengthening Commnity College-HBCU Ties Contined from page 1 Fonded in 1946, The Links, Incorporated, is an organization of 12,000 professional women of color who work to promote edcational, civic and intercltral activities to enrich the lives of African-Americans and members of the larger commnity. Throgh 274 chapters in 42 states, the organization s members contribte more than 500,000 hors of service to the commnity annally. The Links, Incorporated, has partnered with the United Negro College Fnd, the UNCF Special Programs Corp. and the National Association for Eqal Opportnity in Higher Edcation to implement the commnity college transfer program. The ltimate goal is to create a model for stdent sccess that other, similar partnerships may replicate to encorage higher edcation completion. Yo don t have to look far to see we have a national edcation crisis on or hands, says Margot James Copeland, national president, The Links, Incorporated. Only 27 percent of Americans have college degrees. The United States cannot be a world leader with three-forths of or poplation not college-trained. The Links, Incorporated, has a history of being on the forefront of isses that impact the commnity and serving as advocates for the nderserved. This transformational program is bringing together the necessary components to help or stdents scceed and prosper in their edcational prsits and the 21st centry work force. Not only will the stdents benefit from this collaborative effort, bt commnities at large also will reap the rewards for generations to come. Linking commnity colleges and for-year HBCUs Dring the five-year program, members of The Links, Incorporated, will work with faclty and staff from selected instittions to ensre that at least 50 percent of the participating commnity college stdents complete transfers to HBCUs and receive bachelor s degrees. The initial year has focsed on planning and recriting schools and stdents. Each selected commnity college is paired with a nearby HBCU and chapter of The Links, Incorporated. The following are the commnity college-hbcu partnerships in each of the five targeted states: Blegrass Commnity and Technical College and Kentcky State University (Kentcky). Hinds Commnity College-Utica camps and Togaloo College and Jackson State University (Mississippi). Fayetteville Technical Commnity College and Fayetteville State University (North Carolina). Astin Commnity College and Hoston-Tillotson University (Texas). Tidewater Commnity College and Norfolk State University (Virginia). J. Sargeant Reynolds Commnity College and Virginia Union University (Virginia). Members of The Links, Incorporated, know that edcation is one way to improve an individal s qality of life, says Jacqelyn Madry-Taylor, senior adviser for research and program development for the UNCF Special Programs Corp., and a member of The Links, Incorporated, National HBCU Committee. And this program is a way to increase academic options for stdents, particlarly African-American stdents. Assisting stdents A minimm of 25 stdents at each identified commnity college will receive financial spport, mentoring, academic coaching and other services needed for sccessfl transfer to an HBCU. Each stdent mst have a minimm grade point average of 3.0 and a desire to transfer to an HBCU. Upon completion of at least 30 hors or a two-year program, each commnity college stdent will transfer to an HBCU. The transfer program will place stdents in specific learning commnities aligned with their edcational and career interests. The stdents will have an opportnity to apply for a program designed to assist them in their higher edcation decisionmaking process. They also will receive one-on-one mentoring and advising from college and niversity staff and local members of The Links, Incorporated. Meanwhile, the commnity colleges and HBCUs will have the opportnity to collaborate to help facilitate the stdents transfer to HBCUs from commnity colleges with the goal of encoraging more commnity college stdents to transfer to HBCUs in the ftre. The organizations coordinating the project will track the progress of the stdents for p to five years. We are committed to looking at every isse that cold be a barrier to a stdent s transferring and completing a degree. We want to make sre we have a plan in place to address each barrier and make the transfer process as seamless as possible for stdents, says Madry-Taylor. We already we have a solid plan in place and are excited for the potential of this program and what it can mean for commnity colleges, HBCUs and the stdents they serve. 4

5 Commnity-Based Organizations Role in Promoting Commnity College Stdents Sccess at HBCUs Jacqelyn Madry-Taylor Senior Adviser for Research and Program Development, United Negro College Fnd Special Programs Corp., and Member, National HBCU Committee of The Links, Incorporated Madry-Taylor Yancy Dorothy Cowser Yancy President, Shaw University, and Chair, National HBCU Committee of The Links, Incorporated Historically Black Colleges and Universities serve as a viable option for stdents to obtain a bachelor s degree and cold serve hndreds of commnity college stdents who may not even have considered contining their edcation beyond commnity college. While HBCUs traditionally have been very sccessfl at meeting the holistic needs of stdents and are able to attract stdents to their respective campses, a nmber of these instittions, nonetheless, have challenges retaining stdents who come nderprepared academically and with high financial needs. Often serving the same stdent profile, HBCUs and commnity colleges have a tremendos opportnity to work together to create a seamless transfer process. That process wold allow stdents desiring to obtain a baccalareate degree to do so withot having to repeat corses, and to receive increased mentoring and advising prior to and while attending HBCUs. We believe that a key to increasing gradation rates at both commnity colleges and HBCUs is the development of pipeline activities that address the barriers to college completion faced by stdents at commnity colleges and HBCUs. With the crrent cts to instittional bdgets, commnity organizations sch as The Links, Incorporated whose members are well positioned in cities arond the nation can play a vital role in ensring that more commnity college stdents enter and gradate from HBCUs. These commnity organizations can take part in volnteer activities to address the nation s need for a more college-edcated poplation, particlarly among nderrepresented poplations. Those activities can inclde: Ttoring. Margot James Copeland, exective vice president at KeyCorp and national president of The Links, Incorporated, chose members of a National HBCU Committee for The Links, Incorporated. That committee selected commnity colleges and HBCUs in five states Virginia, North Carolina, Mississippi, Kentcky and Texas to join in partnership with The Links, Incorporated, and other organizations. The organizations and HBCUs are testing a strategy for moving a larger nmber of stdents throgh the higher edcation pipeline to completion. Joining The Links, Incorporated, and the selected commnity colleges and HBCUs in this effort are the National Association for Eqal Opportnity in Higher Edcation, the United Negro College Fnd and the UNCF Special Programs Corp. These organizations have track records for accomplishing goals that significantly affect America s edcational system. It is or hope that, by involving these grops, we will encorage other commnity-based organizations, agencies and the philanthropic organizations that are interested in and desiros of increasing the college completion rate to also get involved to achieve sch otcomes. Jacqelyn Madry-Taylor has been senior adviser for research and program development for the United Negro College Fnd Special Programs Corp. since She gides research and bsiness initiatives for the NASA Science and Technology Institte for Minority Instittions. Dorothy Cowser Yancy first became president of Shaw University the Soth s first historically black college in Located in Raleigh, N.C., Shaw University is a private, liberal arts niversity of 2,700 stdents, awarding both ndergradate and gradate degrees. Mentoring. Hosting meetings and forms to discss isses of transferability. Directing stdents to scholarship activities. Providing scholarships to deserving recipients. With the assistance of USA Fnds and Lmina Fondation, The Links, Incorporated, has set ot to demonstrate jst how partnerships with commnity-based organizations can work. 5

6 In This Isse of USA Fnds Edcation Partnerships Project Seeks to Strengthen Commnity College-HBCU Ties to Bolster Stdent Sccess See how a USA Fnds-spported project is encoraging school and commnity collaboration as well as stdent sccess at commnity colleges and Historically Black Colleges and Universities. USA Fnds Employees Help Rebild Together Learn abot USA Fnds corporate and employee spport for an organization that works to revitalize commnities. Strengthening commnity college-hbcu ties. Commnity-Based Organizations Role in Promoting Commnity College Stdents Sccess at HBCUs Read thoghts from representatives of The Links, Incorporated, abot how commnity-based organizations can bolster stdent sccess at commnity colleges and HBCUs. P.O. Box 6028, IN USA Fnds is a nonprofit corporation that works to enhance postsecondary edcation preparedness, access and sccess by providing and spporting financial and other valed services.