## U. S. Department of Education

U.S. Department of Education sealn Seal

**FY 2013 Project Abstracts for**

**New Grantees**

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## Funded under Title V, Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions Program (CFDA Number:  84.031S)

Office of Postsecondary Education

Washington, DC 20006-8517

**Introduction**

The Hispanic-Serving Institutions Division administers the Developing Hispanic–Serving Institutions (HSI) Program which is authorized under Title V of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended.  The purposes of the program are to expand educational opportunities for, and improve the academic attainment of, Hispanic students, and to expand and enhance the academic offerings, program quality, and institutional stability of the colleges and universities that educate the majority of Hispanic students and help large numbers of Hispanic and other low-income students complete postsecondary degrees.

In order to receive a grant under the Title V program, an institution of higher education must have applied for and been designated as an eligible institution.  The Notice Inviting Applications for the Designation as an Eligible Institution was published in the Federal Register on November 14, 2012 (74 FR 77982).  In addition to basic eligibility requirements, an institution must have at least 25 percent enrollment of undergraduate full-time equivalent (FTE) Hispanic students at the end of the award year immediately preceding the date of application.

The Hispanic-Serving Institutions Division makes five-year awards for Individual Development Grants (one eligible Hispanic-Serving Institution) and Cooperative Development Grants (one eligible Hispanic–Serving Institution in cooperation with one or more institutions of higher education).  Although the allowable activities and the five-year performance period for the Individual Development Grant and the Cooperative Development Grant are the same, the maximum award amounts differ.  The maximum award amount for Individual Development Grants in FY 2013 was $650,000 per year and the maximum award amount for Cooperative Development Grants was $775,000 per year.

The Developing Hispanic–Serving Institutions Program supports many institutional activities that include:  purchase of equipment for education and research; improvement of instruction facilities (construction, maintenance, renovation); faculty and staff development; curriculum revision and development; purchase of educational materials; improvement of telecommunication capacity; enhancement of student services; enhancement of administrative and funds management systems; establishment or improvement of a development office; creation or enhancement of community outreach programs for elementary and secondary students; and establishment or increase of an institutional endowment fund.

Note:  The Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 (HEOA) as amended, section 503(b) was expanded to include:  activities to improve student services, including innovative and customized instruction courses designed to help retain students and move the students into core courses; articulation agreements and student support programs designed to facilitate the transfer of students from two-year to four-year institutions; and providing education, counseling services, and financial information designed to improve the financial and economic literacy of students or their families.  The list of authorized activities in section 503(b) was also amended to use the term “distance education technologies” in place of “distance learning academic instruction capabilities.” 

For FY 2013 the Department made the decision to fund down the FY 2012 slate, in lieu of holding a grant competition, due to the limited funding available in FY 2013.  The next eleven grants with the highest scores were selected for new awards in FY 2013.

**Table of Contents**

Grants are listed in “state” and “applicant name” order for each grant type.

**Cooperative Development Grants**

**Individual Development Grants**

**P031S130085**

**Nova Southeastern University, FL**

**Broward College, FL**

**Cooperative Development Grant**

**ABSTRACT**

This Title V Cooperative Arrangement Development application will develop specific programs and services to better meet the needs of Hispanic/Latino and other diverse students who:  (1) enter upper division studies as community college transfer students; and (2) are pursuing high-demand science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) related programs and careers, particularly those related to Computer Science.  Funding will support utilizing graduate faculty and model graduate programs to enhance undergraduate transition/support services (including options designed to support student pursuit of graduate- level terminal degrees, if desired), and undergraduate-level STEM degree attainment, specifically targeting Computer Science (CS) and Computer Information Systems (CIS) programming.

The lead institution is Nova Southeastern University****(NSU), a highly rated provider of degree opportunities for Hispanic/Latino and other underrepresented students, particularly for those pursuing postbaccalaureate degrees.  NSU is nationally ranked in the top 25 institutions for awarding master’s degrees (#4), first professional degrees (#2), doctoral degrees (#3), and bachelor’s degrees in Biology (#17) to Hispanic/Latinos.  The partnership between NSU and feeder Broward College****(BC) is natural not only because of close geographic proximity and shared service area, but also because of the existing strong collaborative spirit between the two partners.  NSU and BC propose a Cooperative Comprehensive Development Plan to develop:  (1) enhanced outreach and academic support services for Hispanic/Latino and other diverse populations that incorporate specific strategies to better serve both native and inter-institutional transfer students; and (2) an inter-segmental, fully-scaffolded degree pathway for Hispanic/Latino and other diverse CS or CIS majors.

A high percentage of Hispanic/Latinos and other underrepresented minorities are enrolled in the NSU CS/CIS programs targeted by this project, making NSU already an institution of access and opportunity; the challenge is to retain and graduate these students in higher numbers.  NSU undergraduate faculty and the Office of Undergraduate Student Success will work in close partnership with NSU CS/CIS graduate faculty leaders and with BC to develop and pilot test research-informed best practices that can be sustained and that have been proven to bring about improved student results.  Hispanic/Latinos, as well as other underrepresented and low income students, will experience:  (1) more rapid progression through the CS/CIS programs via a realigned curriculum; (2) fewer impediments to learning, as students’ needs are more proactively anticipated and addressed; (3) sustainable CS/CIS curriculum changes; and (4) an expanded support model that targets native and transfer student needs upon admission and through key degree progression points.

Through collaborative outreach with BC and local industry partners, NSU will create a more accessible and efficient degree pathway that produces well-educated graduates with technical and critical thinking skills necessary for workplace success.  NSU will strengthen the rigor of its CS/CIS programs through improved technology, more effective pedagogy including active and project-based learning, and integrated student success strategies such as mentoring.  Specific project objectives will focus on increasing enrollment, retention, and graduation rates.

**P031S130019**

**Hudson County Community College, NJ**

**New Jersey City University, NJ**

**Cooperative Development Grant**

**ABSTRACT**

Hudson County Community College (HCCC) and New Jersey City University (NJCU), located in Jersey City, New Jersey, propose a cooperative arrangement to address a significant problem—*fewer than five percent of Hispanic students who enroll at the community college will complete the associate degree, transfer to the university, and obtain a bachelor’s degree.*This project represents a carefully planned attempt to address the pace by which students complete their degree programs and also to increase the fall-to-fall retention rate at both institutions. The project will have one overarching goal: to increase the number of Hispanic students who graduate with bachelor’s degrees.

The College and the University have crafted one comprehensive Activity that includes three unique strategies to assist in achieving this goal.

1.   ***Increasing the Pace of Progress through Developmental Courses with a Foundational Learning Institute***by:  (a) hiring a Director of Foundational Learning Institute (that will be institutionalized by HCCC beginning in Year Four); (b) offering Summer Bridge Programs and Fast-Paced courses; (c) improving technology infrastructure for developmental and ESL students; (d) developing a faculty mentor-coaching professional development model; and (e) creating mobile applications for students in developmental and ESL courses.

2.   ***Increasing the Pace and Effectiveness of Transfer with an Articulation Master Plan***by:  (a) developing an Articulation Master Plan; (b) assembling Faculty Transfer and Articulation Teams to align programs; (c) creating a transfer information Website for students; (d) and developing a comprehensive, linear path to a bachelor’s degree for community college students.

3.   ***Increasing the Pace of Degree Completion through a Productivity Improvement Process***by:  (a) hiring an Assessment Specialist at HCCC to assess student outcomes data and work with the Assessment Coordinator at NJCU; (b) purchasing Blackboard Learn Assessment software; (c) using software to encourage faculty at both institutions to make informed decisions based on student outcomes data.

The strategies will work toward the achievement of eight distinct, yet interconnected, objectives. The strategies proposed will assist both the College and the University in decreasing the amount of time students spend in remedial programs, increasing the technological capabilities of the institutions, increasing the number of transfer students from HCCC to NJCU, and increasing the availability of data to faculty members as a means to analyze student outcomes. The proposed project is closely aligned with and addresses the three competitive preference priorities.

**P031S120068**

**University of Puerto Rico at Carolina, PR**

**Universidad Central del Caribe, PR**

**Cooperative Development Grant**

**ABSTRACT**

PROJECT PROPOSED:  *Strengthening the External Funding Capacity and Expanding*

*Undergraduate Research Opportunities through Faculty Development and Improved Technology*

*Infrastructure*

OVERVIEW:  The University of Puerto Rico at Carolina (UPRC) is part of the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) System, the public, state-supported university system, serving students throughout the Island through 11 campuses.  Universidad Central del Caribe (UCC) is a private non-profit institution.  Our Hispanic-Serving Institutions are located on the north side of the Island, in two municipalities (Carolina and Bayamón, respectively) but part of the densely populated metro area.  UPRC offers baccalaureate and associate degree programs, while UCC offers undergraduate and graduate degrees.  Both institutions are accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education and the Puerto Rico Council of Higher Education.  More than 5,300 students enroll each year at UPRC and over 490 at UCC.  Overall, 91 percent of our students are Hispanic and 51 percent are disadvantaged.

PROPOSED ACTIVITY:  To address their problems and weaknesses and to *expand opportunities for, and improve the academic attainment of Hispanic and low-income students (Title V Program Purpose)*UPRC and UCC request Title V funds through this cooperative agreement to develop the following four interrelated components and their expected outcomes:

(1)  Strengthening The Institutions’ Grant Writing Capacity – Develop the External Resources Offices; increase by at least 20 the number of grant proposals submitted; provide assistance to 20 faculty in grant writing, submission, and development of required documentation for competitive proposals.

(2)  Expanding Faculty and Undergraduate Student Research – Develop the Research Centers; increase by 12 the number of faculty participating in research internships; increase by 25 the number of faculty who receive pilot project funding; increase by 15 the number of faculty with externally funded research grants; increase by 25 the number of faculty presenting their research at conferences and forums; increase by 50 the number of undergraduate students participating in research; and increase by 20 the number of students presenting their research at conferences and forums.

(3)  Enhancement of Faculty’s Skills through a Faculty Development Program – Develop the

Faculty Training Centers; increase by 60 the number of faculty integrating technology in the teaching/learning process; increase by 20 the number of faculty writing grant proposals; increase by 40 the number of faculty certified in distance education.

(4)  Improvement of the Technological Infrastructure – Improve by 100 percent the security and the

wireless network; install technology infrastructure to support technology integration, distance learning, and research collaborations.

UPRC and UCC have addressed the three competitive preference priorities.

**P031S130053**

**Heritage University, WA**

**Yakima Valley Community College, WA**

**Cooperative Development Grant**

**ABSTRACT**

Heritage University (HU) is the lead institution in this Cooperative Arrangement Title V application with Yakima Valley Community College (YVCC).  Both institutions are located in rural eastern Washington State.  Our adjoining service area and complementary goals and objectives—to improve access for Hispanic, low-income, rural students—make HU and YVCC ideal partners for a collaborative Title V project.

Through a cooperative effort to increase access and student success at both institutions, HU and YVCC propose an activity consisting of two components:  (1) development of a “cultural embedded” curriculum and campus experiences that focus on the theme of identity as it pertains to teaching and learning in HSI institutions, thereby making our campuses less alien to Hispanic and low income students and their families; and (2) development of experiential learning opportunities through joint programming with local businesses and non-profit organizations for offering internships, community service, cultural immersion, applied research, etc.

Activity objectives center on increasing the retention and graduation rates of Hispanic****students at each institution by at least five percentage points for retention and 10 percent for graduation over 2010-2011 rates and more than tripling the number of students enrolled in HU/YVCC’s dual enrollment education baccalaureate****admission program from the 2009-2010 number. 

Project management and evaluation will provide effective, efficient administration of the Title V Activity and coordinate the internal and external evaluations of the Activity.  Approximately 98 percent of the Project Management and Evaluation budget will support a Title V Coop Director (75 percent time position) and a Title V Coop Data/Administrative Assistant (full-time position) and one percent will support formative and summative evaluation by an outside consultant over the five-year period.

**P031S130058**

**Pima County Community College – West, AZ**

**Individual Development Grant**

**ABSTRACT**

Pima Community College -West Campus (Pima West), located in Tucson, Arizona, is the oldest of six campuses that make up the Pima Community College District.  As an open door, two-year community college campus located in one of Tucson’s poorest regions, we served 12,590 students in fall 2011 with an enrollment that demonstrates high percentages of students with at-risk characteristics such as part-time (83.4 percent), low income (37 percent), Hispanic (37 percent), and working (59 percent).  

Pima West offers a full range of academic programs including comprehensive Dental Studies Programs for either an AAS degree or certificate.  Once considered state of the art, Dental Studies Programs now struggle to maintain didactic and clinical/laboratory instructional integrity using outdated and older equipment in very limited and aging facilities.  The programs are turning away twice as many students as the programs can accommodate each year and labor trends indicate demand will continue to grow.  But, given current Arizona economic constraints, the college finds itself financially unable to expand the current Dental Studies Programs teaching clinic and laboratory, equip the clinic and lab with necessary modern technologies, and provide for faculty development to support infusing modalities using new technologies and legally allowed procedures into the curriculum.

The proposed activity, *Abriendo Puertas/Opening Doors; Innovation in Dental Studies Education,*proposes to develop/redesign courses and expand, remodel and equip the teaching clinic and laboratory in support of an enhanced curriculum to support our project goal of expanding program degree and certificate completions by at least 30 percent with Hispanic enrollments increasing by at least 10 percent (*Competitive Preference Priority #1*).  

The activity design thoughtfully incorporates data based decision-making (*Competitive Preference Priority**#2),*as well as strengthens the institution through improving productivity (*Competitive**Preference Priority #3*).  

**P031S130057**

**Mt. San Antonio College, CA**

**Individual Development Grant**

**ABSTRACT**

Mt. San Antonio College (Mt. SAC) is among the largest of California’s 112 community colleges, with a total student enrollment of 35,242.  Currently, 50.4 percent of its students are Hispanic, 82.6 percent are minority, and approximately 47 percent are first-generation college students.

The majority of students come to Mt. SAC without the skills necessary for academic success. Assessment data show that nearly the entire student population needs developmental instruction in English, reading, or mathematics.  Insufficient educational planning activities leads to a significant number of students without informed educational goals, and nearly half of students do not have a declared major program of study.  Low placement levels and lack of educational goals leads to low persistence (fall term to fall term) rates and a small number of students completing certificates/degrees and or transferring to baccalaureate programs.

The proposed project, “Building Pathways of Persistence and Completion” has a single activity: Developing Curriculum Design Models and Support Structures that Accelerate Students’ Certificate Completion, Graduation, and/or Transfer Rates. 

This activity focuses on five integrated components critical to improving the success of Hispanic and other at-risk populations as they move through Mt. SAC’s educational pipeline:  (1) enable students to make more informed educational goals; (2) provide support services that accelerate students into and promote retention in college-level coursework; (3) create sustainable and scalable cohort models that move students quickly into college-level coursework and promote faster completion of certificate/degree/transfer programs in specific disciplines; (4) increase and enhance communication with students; and (5) provide faculty with professional development

opportunities and resources that promote student success and completion.

**P031S130011**

**West Hills College – Coalinga, CA**

**Individual Development Grant**

**ABSTRACT**

West Hills College Coalinga (Coalinga) is a fully accredited, Hispanic-Serving, public, comprehensive two-year school that primarily serves Fresno County in California’s San Joaquin Valley.  Almost half (48 percent) of county residents are Hispanic, and of these, 28 percent are impoverished, 43 percent are low-income, 47 percent have less than a high school diploma, and only seven percent have earned a bachelor’s or higher degrees.  Coalinga’s Hispanic and low-income students share this disadvantage but also recognize the value of education.

College enrollment has grown more than 40 percent in the past six years.  However, access remains a concern:  while we offer many courses at a distance, key gaps remain, many existing distance courses have success rates lower than for many classroom courses, and fall – fall distance re-enrollment is only 41 percent.  Improved distance education would increase the efficiency of Coalinga’s operations as well, for fewer facilities requirements reduce ongoing delivery costs.

Therefore, we propose to expand options for instruction and support****by training faculty in effective distance course development and delivery, revising or developing 25 key distance courses with links to Web-based tutoring and research resources, and creating Web-based distance orientation/readiness, career/educational assessment and planning, advising, probation support, and progress tracking services to support distance and on-campus students’ success.  The project addresses the purpose of Title V, HSI program performance measures, and 2012 Title V Competitive Preference Priorities. 

**P031S130026**

**Donnelly College, KS**

**Individual Development Grant**

**ABSTRACT**

Donnelly College, a private two-year HSI (Hispanic-serving Institution) in inner city Kansas City, Kansas (KCK, population 145,786), serves a high-need student population:  37 percent are Hispanic; 90 percent represent minorities, and 84.5 percent are first-generation college students – reflecting an area where 26.1 percent of families live in poverty and just 8.4 percent of adults (two percent of Hispanic adults) hold college degrees.

Still, our students have reason to hope for better futures.  Cerner, the nation’s largest developer of health information systems, is committed to building a new facility in KCK – employing 4,000 technology professionals.  Projections are also strong for registered nursing, the third-fastest growing profession in Kansas, with a third of new openings in urban areas.  Google’s recent announcement of KC as the first U.S. community to be wired with ultra-high speed fiber network has fed optimism regarding high-tech career options.

To tap into these opportunities and build essential enrollment-based revenues, we propose to develop curricula leading to a new concentration in Information Systems (IS) under the existing Bachelor of Applied Science in Organizational Leadership and a new Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) – both supported by program-specific tutoring.  To reverse a trend of low student persistence, we also propose renovation of 7,640 square feet to establish an Academic Resource Center (ARC) **-**centralizing academic, student support, and library resources vital to at-risk student success.  ARC space will include a tutoring center and flexible instructional space that accommodates collaborative learning to promote success of at-risk, multicultural students.  New Academic and Professional Enrichment Seminars/Resources will help students develop skills associated with academic and career success.  Annual professional development will provide faculty across curricula with strategies to support success. 

**P031S130121**

**University of Puerto Rico – Arecibo, PR**

**Individual Development Grant**

**ABSTRACT**

University of Puerto Rico–Arecibo Campus (UPRA) is part of the University of Puerto Rico, the public, co-educational system of higher education of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.  It serves a 100 percent Hispanic and predominantly low-income student population, which come from an economically deprived region of the Island.  UPRA addresses critical institutional goals   and objectives which will improve student learning outcomes in developmental education, Spanish and English basic skills and General Education courses through the implementation of a Learning Communities model, faculty development in effective technologies, and strategies in the teaching-learning process that supports learning communities, enhanced student/academic support services, and upgrading its campus-wide technology and physical facilities infrastructures.   

The proposed project is central to UPRA’s Comprehensive Plan of becoming a more learning-centered institution.  Some samples of key measures are:  at least 80 percent of participating general education faculty will have created inclusive learning communities using Web-based materials that will bring about the projected student outcomes improvements; the freshmen to sophomore retention rates of students participating in the Learning Communities Program and tutor/mentoring offered through the establishment of a Learning Commons and Center for the Development of Linguistic Skills will increase at least five percent on an annual basis after the second year, students passing rates and grades in target courses will be five percent or more higher than non-participants and similar cohorts in previous years not impacted when measured against baseline data; and the persistence to graduation rate of the 2012 freshmen cohort impacted will demonstrate an increase of at least five percent when measured against previous years’ cohorts baseline data. 

**P031S130088**

**Schreiner University, TX**

**Individual Development Grant**

**ABSTRACT**

**PROJECT ABSTRACT**

Schreiner University (SU) is a small private liberal arts university located in "Texas Hill Country," 60 miles northwest of San Antonio.  In fall 2011 SU had a total student population of 1,090; total enrollment has increased from 822 in 2005 or by 32 percent in six years.  Ninety-seven percent of the students are from Texas and 75 percent of the students live outside of major metropolitan statistical areas.  Predominantly and historically serving low income, rural students, Schreiner is attracting more urban students and their families (including Hispanic families), seeking quality college options with smaller classes (14:1 student/faculty), where students are known by names not numbers.  *Learning by Heart*is the Schreiner University motto.

Project Title:  Improving Retention and Graduation Rates - *Effective strategies for Emerging Hispanic Institutions*

Problems Addressed:  In addition to the core issue that retention and graduation rates trail peer colleges, institutional problems addressed by the proposal include (but are not limited to): University structure and policy for student success did not model exemplary HSI’s (Hispanic-serving Institutions); Underdeveloped, decentralized, and siloed academic support and advising services are compounding retention and graduation issues; SU has been slow to integrate effective high impact practices to engage students in their academic studies and has not developed support for the faculty needed to make changes.

Activity Strategies:****SU did not choose to create new 'boutique' special program to serve pockets of Hispanic students each year with this $3.25 million; instead, *these funds will transform of the small university into a culturally responsive HSI uniquely suited to the needs of students needing and seeking personalized support during their college career.*Strategies implemented will include:  creation of a new division of the University under a Dean of Student Success; Centralization and strengthening of vital support services such as advising and learning support. Retention Interventions, ranging from college readiness and outreach to new methods to improve success rates in barrier gateway courses which are blocking progress for hundreds of students; learning and living communities, faculty development, and integration of emerging technologies and tools across the curriculum.

Focus on Continuous Improvement, Scale and Sustainability:****Integral to the proposed activities is a carefully designed evaluation plan (working with the National Latino Research Center) and a new Data Analyst that will provide the implementation team and an advisory team with formative and summative data to evaluate activity outcomes and guide adjustments and improvements.

**P031S130022**

**University of Texas – Pan American, TX**

**Individual Development Grant**

**ABSTRACT**

The University of Texas-Pan American (UTPA) is a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) in deep-south Texas, ten miles from the U.S.-Mexico border, with 16,631 undergraduate and 2,403 graduate students enrolled in Fall 2011.  The UTPA student body reflects the surrounding region, with a high proportion of students of Hispanic origin (88.7 percent of the student body), students who are first-generation college students (68.8 percent of undergraduate students), students who have financial need (79 percent of undergraduate students), and students whose primary language in the home is not English (at least 50.3 percent of undergraduate students).  Unfortunately each of these characteristics is associated with increased risk of educational failure.  Given the very high proportion of students at UTPA who are members of at least one of these risk groups, we are proposing an intervention designed to affect the entire undergraduate student body, including the curriculum of 100 percent of the academic majors offered at UTPA.

The focus of the proposed project is on integrating experiential learning throughout the undergraduate curriculum, including experiences such as service learning, undergraduate research, internships, and well-designed capstone experiences.  These experiences increase students’ engagement with the university, their faculty, and other students and thus lead to improved retention and time to graduation.  Such experiences may be particularly valuable for minority students, who may have more difficulty developing highly interactive relationships with other students and faculty on academic activities.  This can affect their likelihood of successfully integrating into the university community, persisting to graduation, and connecting their academic studies with a rewarding career.  However the success of experiential learning practices depends on the connection between the design of the experience and the student and institution’s academic goals.  Experiential learning activities must be well designed, academically connected, and academically rigorous to have the optimal impact.

We propose to develop and implement experiential learning activities from the first year through the senior year designed to engage and retain students while guiding their ability to see connections between programs of study and career aspirations.  The program will engage and develop faculty teaching at the first year level to incorporate service-learning components into first year courses.  The program will support and expand undergraduate research opportunities and study abroad for sophomore and junior year experiences, and emphasize internships and capstone experiences in the senior year.  The proposed comprehensive activities will require faculty development, faculty mentoring, and institutional support for student activities in these areas.  The program will also expand the use of innovative technologies for tracking student activity in research and experiential learning that will enable students to record their work and faculty to monitor and assess that work.  The Title V HSI grant would make this ambitious vision possible for increasing teaching effectiveness, enhancing student experience, spurring curricular innovation, and most importantly improving Hispanic student academic success.

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