## U. S. Department of Education

U.S. Department of Education sealn Seal

**FY 2011 Project Abstracts for**

**New Grantees**

## 

## 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 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 December 7, 2009 (74 FR 3579).  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 awards Developing Hispanic–Serving Institutions 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 2011 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 2011, the Hispanic-Serving Institutions Division did not hold a grant competition for the Title V, Part A, Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions Program (HSI).  However, the HSI Division funded down the FY 2010 Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions slate.  Only applicants in FY 2010 who applied for and received FY 2011 Designation of Eligibility and scored between 89.67 and 87.67 points were recommended for funding.

**Table of Contents**

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

**Cooperative Development Grants**

**Individual Development Grants**

**P031S110042**

**California State University-Dominguez Hills, CA**

**West Los Angeles College, CA**

**Cooperative Development Grant**

**ABSTRACT**

California State University-Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) in Dominguez Hills, California, is a

public university granting bachelor’s and master’s degrees.  West Los Angeles College (West),

located in nearby Culver City, California, is a public comprehensive community college.  Both are accredited by the Western Association of Colleges and Schools.  While California State University-Dominguez Hills enrolls students from across the whole state and beyond, its primary catchment area overlaps substantially with West Los Angeles College’s and comprises a densely populated area in southern and western Los Angeles County, characterized by a highly diverse population, low educational attainment and poverty.  California State University-Dominguez Hills’s fall 2009 undergraduate enrollment of 10,247 was 40.3 percent Hispanic, and 28 percent of West’s 10,932 students were Hispanic, qualifying both as Hispanic-Serving Institutions.  

While they offer different levels of education, California State University-Dominguez Hills and West Los Angeles College share a focus on meeting the educational needs of their students, the region, and the state.  They also share similar challenges: low retention to degree completion, outdated instructional practices, and inadequate funds for faculty development. Both have been heavily impacted by California’s economic crisis and do not have funds to develop new instructional practices that could increase student success, retention, transfer (from West to a senior institution), and graduation.  The project, ***Building a High-Impact Transfer Academy***, will create the California State University-Dominguez Hills Transfer Academy at West Los Angeles College, a two-year transfer program with tracks for students planning to major in Business Administration (60 students per cohort), Criminal Justice (60), Digital Media Arts (60), or a technical Associate of Science program (40).  Tracks will focus on requirements for each major, along with required general education courses.  Students in each track will be organized as Learning Communities, taking at least three courses a semester together.  By meeting together, studying together in small groups, attending special events on the California State University-Dominguez Hills campus, and participating in group tutoring as needed, they will build personal linkages and campus engagement.  Faculty will work together to align curricula and to infuse high-impact practices and use of technology into instruction.  Transfer Bridge activities, an upgraded Transfer Center at California State University-Dominguez Hills, and an Online Transfer Center developed by West will address current barriers to transfer and provide seamless transfer opportunities.  California State University-Dominguez Hills and West Los Angeles College will also collaborate on extensive outreach to area high schools, developing materials to inform prospective students, parents, and high school counselors about the Transfer Academy’s guaranteed linkage between West Los Angeles College and California State University-Dominguez Hills in the relevant programs and how to prepare for entry into those programs.  The partners will jointly review and accept students for admission into the program. 

**P031S110022**

**Citrus College, CA**

**University of La Verne, CA**

**Cooperative Development Grant**

**ABSTRACT**

Citrus College (CC), Glendora, California, is the coordinating institution, developed jointly with the University of La Verne (ULV), La Verne, California.  Citrus College, located in the east side of the greater Los Angeles area, is a two-year public community college.  University of La Verne is a private four-year university located in the east side of Los Angeles County.  

**Activity:  *Preparing Tomorrow’s Teachers Today Through Technology (PT5)***

To improve program completion and graduation rates of future teachers completing their lower-division coursework at Citrus College and University of La Verne, and upper-division work at University of La Verne by:  (1) Improving the Education Career Pathway for Students; (2) Establishing a Scholastic Technology Literacy Summer Camp for Students; (3a) Creating an Academy for Faculty Instructional Technology in Course Cohorts; and (3b) Transforming the Culture of Teaching and Learning through Collaborative Faculty Technology Learning Teams.  

Sample of key measures:  (a) Increasing by 60 percent the number of teacher education students that will overcome technology literacy and integration deficiencies as measured by successful completion of summer bridge programs; (b) The percentage of students who complete the Citrus College Teacher Education Program will increase to 45 percent, and to 55 percent the University of La Verne teacher education degree program; (c) Increase by 30 the number of faculty participating in Learning Teams cohorts that lead to significant course enhancements in instructional technology; and (d) increase teacher education-related degree major articulation agreements.

**P031S110012**

**The University of New Mexico-Valencia, NM**

**New Mexico State University – Grants, NM**

**Cooperative Development Grant**

**ABSTRACT**

The University of New Mexico-Valencia (UNM-V) is a two-year public college of the University of New Mexico System.  Established in 1980, University of New Mexico-Valencia functions as a regional community college.  Over 55 percent of the 2,256 headcount students for fall 2009 were Hispanic.  

The University of New Mexico-Valencia will cooperate with New Mexico State University – Grants (NMSU-Grants).  New Mexico State University – Grants is a two-year public college of the New Mexico State University System.  Established in 1968, New Mexico State University – Grants functions as a regional community college. Over 39 percent of the 1,479 headcount students, for fall 2009 were Hispanic. 

***Activity:  Cooperating in Innovative Interactive Programs for Rural Hispanic Student Success***

Goals:  To work cooperatively at both institutions to expand access and improve the retention of dual credit students, and the persistence, graduation and transfer rates, for rural Hispanic and low-income college students by: 

(1)  Establishing a comprehensive distance education program that will formulate policies; provide professional development; expand the number and scope of online classes; and implement orientation, online advising and online tutoring for students for online courses; 

(2)  Providing faculty development in the areas of active learning methods and use of interactive technologies; 

(3)  Creating an innovative degree program in game design and simulation at both colleges. 

Key Measures:  Increase retention of dual credit and persistence of college students, starting with a two percent increase over the baseline (2008-2009) in year 2 and increasing one percent per year to a five percent increase by year 5.  Increase transfer rate of the college students, starting with a five percent increase over baseline in year 2 and increasing five percent per year to a 20 percent increase by year 5.  Additionally, increase three-year graduation rates of college students over baseline by one percent per year starting in year 2. 

Endowment—UNM-V will raise $120,000 during the five years of the grant.  The federal matches are requested for years 3 through 5. 

.

**P031S110122**

**Del Mar College, TX**

**Coastal Bend College, TX**

**Cooperative Development Grant**

**ABSTRACT**

Del Mar College, lead institution, and partner Coastal Bend College will partner to improve retention and completion rates and increase enrollment in technical and/or professional occupational fields of study. 

Del Mar College:  Del Mar College is a public two-year institution founded in 1935 and located in Corpus Christi, Texas.  The college has an enrollment of over 12,000 with a 59 percent Hispanic enrollment.  Del Mar College will service four and a half counties along the Gulf Coast to include Nueces, Aransas, San Patricio, Kenedy, and part of Kleberg. 

Coastal Bend College:  Coastal Bend College is a public two-year institution founded in 1965 and located in Beeville, Texas, with branch campuses in Alice, Kingsville, and Pleasanton. Coastal Bend College will service nine rural counties in the heart of the Gulf Coast to include part of Kleberg, Atascosa, Bee, Brooks, Duval, Jim Wells, Karnes, Live Oak and McMullen.  The proposed project is titled, ***CELEBRANDO EDUCACIÓN (Celebrate Education).***

Activity 1:  Improve colleges’ retention and completion rates.  This activity has been designed with the goal of increasing class completion and college graduation rates through intensive tutoring services and enhanced counseling and advising to first-time, full-time degree-seeking undergraduate students.  In addition, the grant proposes to increase the number of tutors and Supplemental Instruction (SI) leaders for higher level courses.  The use of technology by the colleges in tutoring facilities and in classrooms is essential to the success of the grant.

Activity 2:  Increase enrollment in technical and/or professional occupational fields of study by improving student knowledge through college and career awareness events.  This activity has been designed to provide intervention with dual-enrollment students for academic success and retention.  The colleges will outreach to public school districts in the service area offering bridging programs to South Region public school districts.  The colleges will host a Leadership Symposium each fall and coordinate College and Career Fairs for dual enrolled students. 

Outcomes:  Del Mar College and Coastal Bend College faculty and staff will be committed to the purpose of the grant.  An increased number of students will be successful in class achievement and graduation completion rates.  More students will be transitioned from high school into dual enrollment courses, retained, re-enrolled, and graduated with a Technical Certificate and/or Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degrees from Del Mar College and Coastal Bend College.  Student attitudes toward their learning experience will definitely be positively impacted.

**P031S110111**

**Arizona Western College, AZ**

**Individual Development Grant**

**ABSTRACT**

Arizona Western College (AWC) in Yuma, Arizona, is a two-year, publicly-supported college that has an annual enrollment of 13,000 students with a 56 percent Hispanic enrollment (7,280 Hispanic students).  The service area covers a large, remote 10,000 square mile area along the U.S./Mexican border, characterized by extremely high poverty (62 percent above the national average), and low educational attainment (Census, 2008).

To help AWC students, particularly Hispanic and low-income students, acquire the skills they need to succeed in higher education and the workplace, the college proposes the following activity - ***Steps to Success at Arizona Western College***.  The activity is designed for the purpose of improving student performance and achievement in writing at three levels:  (1) Developmental Basic Writing courses; (2) Transitional courses (high-risk English and Gateway courses); and (3) writing-intensive courses beyond the Gateway level. 

These improvements will ultimately contribute to achievement of one of the project’s key objectives:  improved degree completion rates for Hispanic students (increasing from 13 percent to at least 21 percent), as well as for the general student population, with the majority comprised of low-income students.  Acquiring the writing skills needed to succeed in college and in today’s workplace goes far beyond the ability to text your best friend in short phrases.  Employers in the college’s service area, for example, are searching for employees who are excellent communicators, with the ability to think critically and express themselves clearly and logically in writing (Yuma Workforce Development Study, 2010).  Sound writing skills are needed to plead a case, produce compelling reports for clients, write computer documentation, develop convincing business letters, and to support a host of other communication needs in the workplace.  In addition, researchers have extensively documented the value of writing as a tool that can help students build a “scaffold of learning.”  As students work to express their thoughts and understanding in writing, their understanding and knowledge are significantly enhanced (Pobywajlo, 2001).  Extensive research at Arizona Western College revealed that student progression is hampered by difficulties in writing at the three levels described above.  These difficulties, in turn, are related to weaknesses in the college’s teaching/technological strategies, tutoring support, and a weak infrastructure for writing students.  To counter, the college proposes to improve student learning at each level through professional development that immerses faculty in culturally-responsive teaching strategies and complementing technologies.  In addition, the project will pilot new tutoring strategies, develop a Writing Center on the main campus and construct a Writing Laboratory at the San Luis Learning Center.  At the San Luis site (the college’s second largest), 69 percent of the enrollment is Hispanic, 77 percent is low income, and many students are from families who have no transportation to the main campus.  The Writing Center on the main campus and Writing Laboratory at the San Luis site will be linked together in an electronic, small area network to enhance student learning and optimize resources.  

**P031S110058**

**Central Arizona College, AZ**

**Individual Development Grant**

**ABSTRACT**

Central Arizona College (CAC) is a growing community college and Hispanic-Serving Institution in Pinal County, Arizona.  CAC draws its enrollment from an impoverished, undereducated area slightly larger than the state of Connecticut (5,300 square miles).  Less than 150 miles from the U.S. border with Mexico, Pinal County (population 368,000) is one of the most rapidly growing Hispanic regions in the United States.  The county is also the second fastest growing region in the country, as population spills over from the Phoenix and Tucson metropolitan areas (U.S. Census Bureau estimate, 2009).  This project confronts the unacceptably low rates at which Hispanic and other low-income students persist and succeed in our college.  Approximately half of all our first-year students do not return for the second year.  Less than 26 percent of our graduating students transfer to four-year institutions, and Hispanic students comprise only 14 percent of our transferring graduates, although they form more than 26 percent of our student population.

As Central Arizona College works to address this problem, several significant obstacles are present.  Pinal County’s large geographical size and entrenched poverty complicate access to and retention in degree programs.  The developmental education program is uncoordinated and decentralized.  Professional development for faculty who teach under-prepared and English Language Learners students is not readily available. While student enrollment is burgeoning as students return to college because of the poor job market and the region’s rapid population growth, the institution’s revenues are declining due to state budget cuts and falling property tax income as real estate values collapse.  Programming for English Language Learners (ELL) is insufficient – students with English Language Learners needs are mostly unidentified and are often placed in courses for which they are unprepared or that do not meet their basic learning needs.  On-line users struggle to use the college’s technology. 

To address these significant problems in academic programs, institutional management, and fiscal stability, the institution proposes to: 

1.  Implement a comprehensive, coordinated developmental education program*.*This program will involve supplemental instruction, tutoring, an “orientation to college” program, breaking down barriers between departments, Master Academic Plans for students, and intensive academic advising. 

2.  Provide English Language Learners with additional academic support, which includes providing supplemental instruction for students in English Language Learners classes, the systematic application of the English as a Second Language Compass test to identify students with English Language Learners needs, and additional tutoring for these students. 

3.  Provide faculty with professional development in instructional pedagogies that are effective with under-prepared and English Language Learners students. 

4.  Expand the availability of technical support for Central Arizona College’s on-line learners and other users of Central Arizona College technology. 

**P031S110157**

**Notre Dame de Namur University, CA**

**Individual Development Grant**

**ABSTRACT**

Notre Dame de Namur University is a private not-for-profit four-year university located in Belmont, California, about halfway between San Francisco and San Jose.  Notre Dame de Namur University serves a growing number of freshman and transfer students, with the largest growth rate for Hispanic students.  Currently the student population is 26 percent Hispanic.  Based on California and San Francisco Bay Area demographics, this percentage is projected to steadily increase for the foreseeable future.  Barriers to attainment of bachelor’s degrees for Hispanic and low-income students include financial issues, difficulty in transferring, poor academic preparation, language challenges, access to information, and understanding of how to navigate the college environment.

To address the educational needs of its increasing Hispanic student population, Notre Dame de Namur University proposes the following activities:

· *Improving Student Retention and Academic Success*

· *Enhancing the NDNU Endowment*

Activities encompass the following five components: 

1. Success coaching to help students navigate and engage with the college environment.

2. Identification of academically at-risk students and provision of academic support services to help students overcome poor academic preparation.

3. Translation and interpretation services to address issues of language barriers and access to information.

4. Community college outreach and development of articulation agreements to facilitate transfer.

5. Endowment funds for scholarships to support students financially.

Each component is designed to increase the capacity of Notre Dame de Namur University to support the success, retention, and graduation of its Hispanic and low-income students:

Key measures of success include:  

a)  increased retention rates for freshmen and transfer students overall; 

b)  increased retention rates for Hispanic and low-income freshmen and transfer students; 

c)  improved pass rates in key mathematics and science courses;

d) fewer students on Academic Probation;

e)  high degree of satisfaction with academic support services; and 

f)  increased scholarship funds for Hispanic and low-income students. 

**P031S110055**

**Riverside City College, CA**

**Individual Development Grant**

**ABSTRACT**

Riverside City College (RCC), Riverside, California, is a dynamic, diverse, public, two-year community college that has served California’s “Inland Empire” for almost 100 years.  The service area, part of the 14th largest metropolitan area in the United States, has experienced rapid population growth (26.5 percent) since 2000, including a growing Latino population; the City of Riverside is home to almost 150,000 Mexican-American citizens (43.2 percent), the largest concentration in the Inland Empire.  Serving 23,865 students, including 8,854 Latino students, in fall 2009, Riverside City College provides over 100 Associate's degrees, transfer degrees, and career certificates.  Riverside City College is governed by a Board of Trustees and is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.

Reflecting service area characteristics, Riverside City College students (38.7 percent Latino, 65.4 percent traditional aged, 58.4 percent female) are typically first-generation college students (70.7 percent), receiving need-based financial aid (37 percent), underprepared upon entry (85.3 percent), and part-time (68.3 percent).  More than 90 percent of Riverside City College’s 234 faculty members hold master’s or doctoral degrees; 13 percent are Latino; 53 percent are female; and 63 percent have been at Riverside City College less than 10 years.  Fewer than half (47.7 percent) of RCC students are achieving successful educational outcomes within six years, that number is declining, and rates for Latino students are worse (less than 40 percent).  Low course success (62 percent), low course completion (less than 65 percent), low student engagement, and low fall-to-fall persistence (less than 45 percent) indicate that students need more comprehensive support than the College is providing.  However, limited resources, caught in California’s “cash crisis,” inhibit institutional ability to develop a comprehensive model for student engagement to increase persistence and completion.  

To address these problems, Riverside City College requests funding for ***Senderos a Excelencia: Pathways to Excellence***.  This Activity has three interdependent components designed to (1) *Engage RCC Students*with intensive exploration of students’ skills, interests, and abilities as they relate to career pathways in Business/Career-Technical, Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics, (STEM), Liberal Arts/Humanities and intensive academic planning (first-semester Pathway Plans, Student Education Plans, Pathway Advising); (2) *Engage RCC Faculty*and Staff with professional development in strategies to support students who are Hispanic, low-income/at-risk, and/or transferring to four-year degrees and in interacting with and teaching students in virtual environments; and (3) bring these groups together in *Physical and Virtual Engagement Centers*(including virtual dorms) that promote connections and collaboration among students and faculty, using collaborative technologies and virtual worlds to open new lines of communication and increase persistence and graduation rates.

**P031S110010**

**Northern Essex Community College, MA**

**Individual Development Grant**

**ABSTRACT**

Northern Essex Community College will build upon a solid foundation of accomplishments and evidence to implement those necessary components for the success of Hispanic students on our campus.  The proposed project is titled, “***Building Bridges for Hispanic Student Success:  To Improve Academic Performance, Retention and Graduation/Transfer Rates***.”  Enhancement of a fully-integrated one-stop Career Planning and Advising Center (CPAC) in Lawrence will bring exemplary, seamless services to scale for an increasing number of Hispanic students in need of intensive academic advising, financial aid advising and career planning.  

To address the complicated needs of students, especially those unable to make progress towards a degree due to poor preparation for college-level work, external work and family pressures, need for academic tutoring, study skills, time management and realistic educational and career planning, Northern Essex Community College proposes the establishment of a multiservice Student Success Retention Center (SSC).  The Student Success Retention Center will allow staff and faculty to case manage those students most at risk.  Student Success Retention Center specialized services and interventions will help Hispanic students successfully prepare for and complete gateway courses in English and Math, and offer services of a Job Coach and Counselor. Student Assistants/Peer Mentors will serve as attractors to the Center, providing peer-to-peer encouragement, adjustment to college life, and engagement activities.  Academic tutoring will be based at the Student Success Retention Center, bringing parity to services on Northern Essex Community College’s Haverhill campus.  

Together, the increased capacity of the Career Planning and Advising Center and the far-reaching interventions of the Student Success Retention Center will increase Hispanic student engagement, retention, academic performance, and ultimate degree completion or transfer. A detailed, best practice experimental research design for evaluation will offer both formative and summative frameworks upon which to measure completion of our activity objectives and upon which to base future planning and implementation.

**P031S110011**

**University of New Mexico-Taos, NM**

**Individual Development Grant**

**ABSTRACT**

University of New Mexico-Taos proposes a project titled, “Access to Success:  Developing Academic Support Services and Institutional Capacity for Student Success.”  The project entails two central activities:  (1) to develop and expand essential programs that positively impact student retention, persistence and completion of certificate and degree programs; and (2) to make these student success initiatives more readily available to our Hispanic-majority student body. 

The strategies are as follows: 

1)  Academic Readiness: Expanding Developmental Programs and Facilities 

This activity will improve student persistence by increasing the effectiveness of Developmental Studies programs and coursework for Hispanic, lower income and other underserved populations.  It will include expanding the H.E.L.P. (Honoring and Enhancing the Learning Process) Center, improving student referral and tracking systems, and increasing and promoting student services that support academic readiness.

2)  Achieving Student Success through 21st Century Technology 

This activity will increase access to current technologies, increase exposure to computer literacy, and expand tutoring and academic advising to support the persistence and success of Hispanic and other students wishing to improve their college-level academic skills.

**P031S110090**

**Inter American University of Puerto Rico, PR**

**Individual Development Grant**

**ABSTRACT**

Inter American University of Puerto Rico (IAUPR) is a private university system with nine campuses and two professional schools:  the School of Law and the Optometry School.  Inter American University of Puerto Rico is a non-profit Hispanic-serving higher education institution with an enrollment of approximately 44,000 students annually over the last five years.  The Metropolitan Campus (MC) is located in San Juan, Puerto Rico and is the main campus of the IAUPR system.  In 2009-10, Metropolitan Campus had an enrollment of 10,693 of which 54 percent were female.  Thirty-three percent were graduate students.  Eighty-three percent received financial aid based on economic need.  Sixty-five percent of undergraduates were full-time students and 74 percent of them work and study.  Forty-one percent worked more than 21 hours per week.  MC offers 12 technical certificates, nine associate degrees, 44 baccalaureates, six professional certificates, 37 master’s degrees, and 12 doctoral degrees.  The annual graduating class has been steady at 2,000 students for the last five years.

Metropolitan Campus will implement the ***Prevail, Achieve, Reflect, Engage, Share*****project *(P.A.R.E.S*., peers in Spanish).  The goal of this project is to increase first-year retention from 68.5 percent to 75 percent in a five-year period by implementing a comprehensive plan of student retention that includes a technological platform, curricular, co-curricular, and extracurricular activities.  ***Prevail, Achieve, Reflect, Engage, Share*****project understands success (enrollment-retention-graduation) as an equation of *competence*and *character*.  That is, students can prevail in an institution that addresses the learning experience as a whole, as a process of academic progress and the social and personal development of individuals.  Student success is then an institutional coordinated effort in which students have the opportunity to:  (1) systematically and continuously reflect on their achievement to make the appropriate adjustments; (2) engage in co-curricular and extracurricular activities that enrich their lives; and (3) share their experiences and serve others with their knowledge. 

To achieve ***Prevail, Achieve, Reflect, Engage, Share*****goal, the objectives are:

1. Increase first-year retention rate from 68.5 percent to 75 percent, in a five-year period by assessing student academic progress and engagement in curricular, co-curricular, and extracurricular activities using a technology based platform.

2. Increase student academic success from 50 percent to 70 percent in first-year gateway courses by incorporating mentoring, counseling, remedial work in basic skills, and updating coursework and laboratory infrastructure.

3. Increase student satisfaction in co-curricular and extra-curricular activities from 70 percent to 80 percent in a five-year period.

**P031S110096**

**Inter American University of Puerto Rico – Ponce Campus, PR**

**Individual Development Grant**

**ABSTRACT**

Inter American University Ponce Campus, is one of the eleven units of Inter American University of Puerto Rico.  It is a four year, commuter campus with a student population of approximately 6,048 (Fall Semester 2009-10), mostly from nearby regional towns, but also students residing off Island studying via the distance learning.  All of the students are Spanish speaking; 62 percent are first-generation college students, and approximately 93 percent are living below the federal poverty level (based on an average family size of four).  Although the Ponce Campus has had much success, it has detected areas that need strengthening for continued growth.  The campus doesn’t attend retention in an articulated and integrated manner, faculty need to update both online and on-campus courses using Web 2.0 technologies to better reach out and retain GenerationY students, who often arrive to the campus lacking academic and university-life skills.  Of particular concern are students from the Teacher Education Program who have been underperforming on the general knowledge sections of the Teacher Certification exams. 

To address these weaknesses, the campus has designed the following activities:

1. The Center for Retention Research & Training will be created to integrate and articulate all Campus activities related to retention. 

2. The use of specialized Retention Management Software, as well as a retention strategies training and materials development will be developed as part of this activity. 

3. In addition, training of faculty and support personnel in new technologies will result in production of podcasts and synchronous Web-based sessions for integration into existing courses, delivery of tutorials, remedial instruction, review materials, and materials to assist students in adapting to university life.

**P031S110006**

**University of the Incarnate Word, TX**

**Individual Development Grant**

**ABSTRACT**

The University of the Incarnate Word (UIW) is a Hispanic-Serving Institution with a total enrollment of 7,166 students, making us the fourth-largest private university in Texas.  At University of the Incarnate Word, 53 percent of all students are Hispanic, 73 percent of students are undergraduates, and the university is accredited to award bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees. 

The purpose of this Title V Project is to increase the retention and persistence to graduation of Hispanic and other low-income students at the University of the Incarnate Word (UIW).  The Comprehensive Development Plan and design of the project activities are based on surveys, institutional assessments, research of the academic literature, and input from students, faculty, and administrators.  This process was started in fall 2006 and draws directly from the university’s 2007-2012 Strategic Plan and the Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) that focuses on student engagement. 

Based on the institutional weaknesses identified in the Comprehensive Development Plan, this project will focus on the problem of low retention and low persistence to graduation of Hispanic and low-income students.  This problem is related to:  (1) Weak Connections to Academic Support Infrastructure; and (2) Underdevelopment of Two Key Support Services - Academic Advising and Writing Assistance.  Related to the Comprehensive Development Plan, University of the Incarnate Word established four project goals each supported by a measureable objective to be accomplished by 2015.  

The University of the Incarnate Word will implement two project activities.  Under the first activity, the University of the Incarnate Word will establish and institutionalize  Directions and Connections (DCC), a central hub that will educate faculty, administrators, and students on the appropriate role of advising and the campus resources available to assist students succeed to graduation.  The Directions and Connections will conduct workshops and provide online resources for students that develop the skills and knowledge students need to become more confident in navigating the University of the Incarnate Word support system.  For faculty and staff, the Directions and Connections will provide on-going training in developmental advising. This will include providing an understanding of University of the Incarnate Word’s support structure and how to assess each student’s needs to connect them to the right place. Under activity two, University of the Incarnate Word will establish and institutionalize the Writing and Learning Center.  The Writing and Learning Center will be led by a full-time director who will develop an innovative writing support program for undergraduates and training sessions for faculty.  The director will be assisted by part-time, trained writing tutors who must meet strict selection criteria. The Writing and Learning Center will also include computers with writing support software for students that will be available whenever the center is open. 

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