Strengthening Predominantly Black Institutions

(Competitive Grants) Program

FY 2008 Project Abstracts

(CLICK ON PAGE NUMBER TO VIEW ABSTRACT)

ATLANTA TECHNICAL COLLEGE 1

BLOOMFIELD COLLEGE 2

CHICAGO STATE UNIVERSITY 3

ESSEX COUNTY COLLEGE 4

HALIFAX COMMUNITY COLLEGE 5

HOWARD UNIVERSITY 6

LONG ISLAND UNIVERISTY (BROOKLYN CAMPUS) 7

KENNEDY-KING COLLEGE 8

MALCOLM X COLLEGE 9

MARTIN UNIVERSITY 10

MEDGAR EVERS COLLEGE 11

MERRITT COLLEGE 12

MID-SOUTH COMMUNITY COLLEGE 13

NORTHEASTERN TECHNICAL COLLEGE 14

OLIVE-HARVEY COLLEGE 15

PULASKI TECHNICAL COLLEGE 16

SOJOURNER-DOUGLASS COLLEGE 17

ST. LOUIS COMMUNITY COLLEGE 18

TECHNICAL COLLEGE OF THE LOWCOUNTRY 19

UNIVERSITY OF WEST ALABAMA 20

YORK COLLEGE 21
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ATLANTA TECHNICAL COLLEGE

PR Award Number: P382A080027

Project Director: Rodney Ellis

State: Georgia

Telephone Number: (404) 225-4608

E-mail Address: rellis@atlantatech.edu 

This African-American males project at Atlanta Technical College will offer educational solutions 

designed to reverse a national trend that shows fewer black males graduating from high school in the 

United States and less than four percent of black males attending American institutions of higher 

education in the state of Georgia. The African-American population in the state of Georgia is 27 percent, 

but 68 percent of Georgia’s prison population is African-American.

The grant is focused on establishing an Atlanta Technical College (ATC) Institute for Males (AIM). The 

mission of AIM is to increase the enrollment and retention of African-American males and other students 

wishing to engage in developing themselves by pursuing a college degree at an accredited institution. 

The programs address recidivism, improving educational outcomes of postsecondary and secondary 

education, increasing exposure to and enhancing experiences with diverse cultures, and fostering an 

environment of civic engagement. The AIM focus will be on the development, formulation, and 

achievement of the following outcomes:

1) Increase African-American males’ enrollment and completion of programs;

2) Maintain a retention rate of 86 percent for African-American males enrolled;

3) Implement mentoring and career counseling for African-American males in the 11th and 12th

grades at Atlanta and Fulton county high schools;

4) Expand the postsecondary option program with a 25 percent increase in African-American males;

5) Initiate an African-American male probation program with the local criminal justice system in 

order to reduce the rate of prison recidivism within the metro-Atlanta area; and

6) Develop a consortium of regional colleges and community leaders that will seek solutions to 

increase the retention and achievement of African-American males in metro-Atlanta.

In 2007, Atlanta Technical College was named America’s best community college by the Washington 

Monthly Magazine. This was a testament to local and national success in ensuring positive educational 

outcomes as evidenced by ATC’s 98 percent career placement rate.
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BLOOMFIELD COLLEGE

PR Award Number: P0382A080010

Project Director: Carolyn Spies

State: New Jersey

Telephone Number: (973) 748-9000

E-mail Address: carolyn-spies@bloomfield.edu

Bloomfield College is a fully accredited independent, four-year liberal arts college located in Bloomfield, 

New Jersey. Its mission is “to prepare students to attain academic, personal and professional excellence 

in a multicultural and global society.”

The college had an enrollment of 2,084 in fall 2006, with seventy-eight percent full-time; 67 percent 

female; 51 percent Black/Non-Hispanic; 18 percent Hispanic; 16 percent White Non-Hispanic; and 5 

percent Asian/Pacific Islanders. The college offers the Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees 

and a number of professional Certificate programs.

Under the Predominantly Black Institutions program, Bloomfield College will:

1) increase the total undergraduate headcount enrollment by 15 percent with at least 200 in the 

targeted majors; and

2) increase the retention rate of first-year students in the STEM curriculum, health education, 

education-STEM and nursing concentrations (SHEN) disciplines. 

The College will use the following intervention strategies:

1) enhanced academic support to students in gateway courses, especially algebra and biology;

2) enhanced student preparation for the nursing program;

3) modernization of Biology lab facilities and the introduction of modern teaching technology;

4) extended global experiences for minorities through study abroad;

5) advanced faculty-student mentoring partnerships; and

6) underpinning all these strategies is faculty development for understanding contemporary students 

of color.
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CHICAGO STATE UNIVERSITY

PR Award Number: P382A080007

Project Director: Anitra Ward

State: Illinois

Telephone Number: (773) 821-2160

E-mail Address: award21@csu.edu

The Chicago State University, Predominantly Black Institutions program is designed to conduct activities 

that will improve and/or develop those structures, services, and experiences at the university that will 

increase the number and persistence of African-American males at Chicago State University and provide 

an environment that emphasizes leadership, academic and positive male development through shared 

experience.

The plan will attain three operational project goals that are designed to strengthen the university’s ability 

to serve the target population by:

(1) Establishing and conducting activities that will increase the number of African-American males 

in the pipeline for higher education at Chicago State University;

(2) Creating a university setting where African-American males can: flourish with encouragement; 

develop and cultivate positive expectations; and be guided and retrained toward timely degree 

completion; and

(3) Conducting research and assessment activities to identify risk factors and barriers that can 

negatively affect black males in higher education, develop intervention measures and disseminate 

“best practices.”
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ESSEX COUNTY COLLEGE

PR Award Number: P382A080001

Project Director: Donald Yee

State: New Jersey

Telephone Number: (973) 877-3364

E-mail Address: yee@essex.edu

Essex County College (ECC), the largest minority-serving community college in the state of New Jersey, 

has its main campus in Newark, New Jersey. ECC has a comprehensive, bold, and economical initiative 

to:

1) improve the college’s capacity to serve students in science, technology, engineering and 

mathematics (STEM), increasing the number of African-American students enrolled in STEM 

majors by 25 percent; and

2) improve outcomes of students in the STEM majors, increasing math and science grades and pass 

rates by 20 percent and decreasing class withdrawal rates by 20 percent.

Projects included in the ECC program will lead to increased academic success and more productive jobs 

for African-Americans. Program highlights include:

1) Learning Communities are a proven technique to improve student performance and will be used 

to impact 625 students over the life of the program;

2) Recitation Sessions are an economical and effective way to improve student comprehension and 

grades. ECC will run 20 recitation sessions per week for three semesters yielding 840 individuals 

recitation sessions that will impact virtually the entire STEM student population;

3) Direct Student Aid - ECC will utilize student aid as a tool to encourage students to take the right 

courses;

4) Computer Learning Labs for math and science - ECC’s outdated labs will be upgraded and 

expanded for use of all STEM students;

5) Mentoring and tutoring - Faculty mentoring is designed to advise on educational career options 

beyond any individual course; and

6) Informational and Motivational Seminars - Help students to see a broader STEM world outside 

their classes. 
Page | 5

HALIFAX COMMUNITY COLLEGE

PR Award Number: P382A080008

Project Director: Thomas W. Schwartz

State: North Carolina

Telephone Number: (252) 536-7239

E-mail Address: schwartzt@halifaxcc.edu

Halifax Community College (HCC) is an institution located in a poor section of northeastern North 

Carolina. With a student body that is more than fifty percent African-American, the college proposes to 

improve the retention, graduation, transfer, and satisfaction rates of African-American males and other 

students. The program designed to bring about these gains is called the Freedom to Learn Initiative (FLI). 

Designed to address the needs of students, particularly within the first six to eight weeks and then 

continuing throughout the first two years of college, the FLI provides Learning Coaches (LC’s) to highrisk African-American males and other students. The LC’s are the single point of contact for information 

on each student’s educational progress. The LC position is augmented with a mentoring resource through 

which the student learns to practice basic skills of the workplace in a supportive, educational 

environment. Professional tutoring services are also linked to traditionally difficult introductory courses 

with high failure rates. The tutors, each of whom must possess at least a Bachelor’s Degree in the field, 

provide assistance outside of class time at the student’s convenience.

The project seeks to achieve three goals:

1) establish the FLI program complete with well-trained staff prepared to meet the needs of at-risk 

African-American male and other students;

2) increase the satisfaction, retention, and graduation/transfer rates of HCC’s African American 

students; and

3) institutionalize the program and ensure sustainability.

A Community Advisory Council (CAC) provides input and assists in identifying mentors and internship 

opportunities. A Freedom to Learn Initiative Steering Committee (FLISC), made up of representatives 

from across the HCC faculty and administration, will oversee the program, ensuring that the various 

support service initiatives and the college function synchronously and are presented to students in 

appropriate circumstances as needed. 

Over 150 at-risk African-American students will be paired with an LC, up to 55 will be placed in 

internship/workshops, up to 95 will be supported through the mentoring program, and up to 100 will be 

assisted through professional tutoring. This will improve the retention, satisfaction, and graduation/

transfer rates among African-American students. It will also decrease the dropout rate of AfricanAmerican students.
Page | 6

HOWARD UNIVERSITY

PR Award Number: P382A080042

Project Director: Wade Boykin

State: District of Columbia

Telephone Number: (202) 806-8488

E-mail Address: aboykin@howard.edu 

In recent years, it has become increasingly apparent that there is a need to establish quality supplementary 

education programs for African-American male undergraduates under-performing in science, technology, 

engineering and math (STEM) domains. While most students who enroll as engineering or science 

majors are motivated for study in their fields during their first year of enrollment, African-American 

students with the same motivation for STEM majors are more likely to drop out (Morning and Fleming, 

1994). African-American students comprise a large portion of non-persisting students within 

mathematics and science fields.

The aim of the Howard University program is to establish a robust, evidence-based, and distinctive 

academic support program at Howard University that raises the probability of successful foundational 

STEM course completion, leads to increased achievement and persistence in STEM majors for AfricanAmerican male students, provides these students with a strong base for continuation in advanced math or 

science coursework, and ultimately leads to greater representation of African-American male students in 

STEM careers. The foundational courses chosen are Calculus VII, Physics VII, and General Chemistry 

VII sequences. These are courses at Howard for which there is a high degree of failure, and which in turn 

leads to unacceptable attrition levels for students in the major.

In Year 1, we propose to establish ongoing study groups for each course sequence that will enroll 

African-American male underclassman who volunteer for participation. The study groups are designed 

for collaborative study and inquiry in order for students to gain clarity of pertinent concepts, mastery 

relevant vocabulary, and answer questions and problems posed by the study group leader and by team 

members themselves. Male upperclassman undergraduate students will serve as study group leaders. 

These students will be chosen based on both leadership qualities and demonstrated high achievement 

levels in the domain of the foundational courses. The operation of these study groups will also be 

substantially informed by principles of the Talent Development Model for educational reform. Learning 

activities incorporating these principles have been shown to enhance educational outcomes for AfricanAmerican students from low-income backgrounds.
Page | 7

LONG ISLAND UNIVERISTY (BROOKLYN CAMPUS)

PR Award Number: P382A080013

Project Director: Gladys P. de Schrynemakers

State: New York

Telephone Number: (718) 488-3404

E-mail Address: gladys.schrynemakers@liu.edu

Project Quest (Quality Undergraduate Expanded Science Training) at Long Island University’s Brooklyn 

Campus directly addresses the shortage of disadvantaged minorities in the STEM (science, technology, 

engineering and mathematics) fields by providing a comprehensive range of services and activities that 

will support and strengthen the skills and academic experiences of twenty minority students. In addition 

to creating a resource center and information Web site for other STEM students at this institution and the 

general public. The first objective of Project Quest is to create a heuristic educational science program 

for undergraduates that will optimize their skills in the life sciences and assist them in finding careers in 

the STEM fields. The second objective will be to create a Quest Center which will serve as a resource for 

all students who are interested in the STEM fields and health professions. The Quest coordinator will, 

with oversight from the project director, record and analyze the results of the project and disseminate this 

information to the greater academic community.

There is a growing consensus that a shortage of STEM field professionals threatens the predominance of 

the United States. Life scientists must increasingly be cultivated from the country’s growing minority 

communities. The Brooklyn Campus educates a predominately economically disadvantaged student 

population that is 76 percent minority and 44 percent African-American. The university is committed to 

serving groups who have not traditionally had access to higher education, and devotes a disproportionate 

percentage of its operating budget for supportive academic services and financial assistance. Both these 

efforts significantly strain the institution’s resources. The overall goal of the Predominately Black 

Institutions Program is to improve the capacity of minority-serving institutions, which traditionally have 

limited resources and serve large numbers of low-income and minority students, to improve student 

success and to provide high-quality educational opportunities for their students. Project Quest will fulfill 

this goal by recruiting a cohort of twenty dedicated students from disadvantaged backgrounds who will be 

immersed in a continuum of academic services and personal resources which have been designed to 

enhance their abilities to thrive in a rigorous and supportive science-based environment.
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KENNEDY-KING COLLEGE

PR Award Number: P382A080037

Project Director: Tyra L. Ousley

State: Illinois

Telephone Number: (773) 602-5217

E-mail Address: tlousley@ccc.edu

The Kennedy King City Colleges (KKC) of Chicago is using PBI funding to strengthen training in health 

occupation careers in the area of nursing for those individuals who are considered to have disadvantaged 

backgrounds and categorized as needy (Target: 30 students per year). The program’s specific focus is to 

teach students activities to facilitate the development of skills necessary to obtain an entry-level position 

as a nurse.

KKC has developed a number of partnerships with major hospital facilities in the City of Chicago for 

clinical purposes. As the nursing field advances with new methods and technology KKC seeks state-ofthe-art training equipment and curriculum to allow students to be competitive in the workforce and 

acquire top-salaried jobs. Under the PBI project the college will implement a simulated hospital clinic to 

demonstrate real-life case scenarios with patient assessment equipment and student screening rooms. 

New faculty with experience and credentials will be hired to bring expertise to students, open up 

opportunities to expand recruitment, increase course offerings, and increase student retention and 

graduation. 

The college will acquire an evaluation consultant to track and monitor the project during the grant term. 

Success factors during the grant term will include (but are not limited too): (1) improving the quality of 

the programs and services; (2) expanding services to meet the needs of all students and workforce 

partners; (3) increasing enrollment and retention; and (4) effectively utilizing resources and maximizing 

revenue opportunities.
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MALCOLM X COLLEGE

PR Award Number: P382A080012

Project Director: Helen Doss

State: Illinois

Telephone Number: (312) 850-7301

E-mail Address: hdoss@ccc.edu

Malcolm X College is one of the seven colleges located within the city limits of Chicago in Community 

College District 508, known as the City College of Chicago (CCC). CCC is a comprehensive public 

community college system dedicated to serving the educational needs of Chicago’s diverse population. 

Located on the west side of Chicago, Malcolm X College provides affordable education transfer and 

career-oriented programs, designed to enhance the quality of life of an economically, educationally, 

culturally, and socially diverse community. Founded in 1911 as Crane Junior College, Malcolm X 

College (renamed in 1969) is the oldest of the City Colleges and is accredited by the Higher Learning 

Commission.

The Predominantly Black Institutions (PBI) project is designed to increase the retention, success, and 

persistence rates of African-American students enrolling in the college’s Biology and Chemistry courses 

through two activities: 

1) the construction of two state-of-the art laboratories for Biology and Chemistry instruction; and

2) the provision of professional development seminars to train Biology and Chemistry faculty to 

incorporate laboratory experiences into their instruction using the Studio Classroom model. Both 

activities are expected to be completed by fall 2010.

The objectives of the PBI program at Malcolm X College are as follows: (1) construction of one 

Chemistry laboratory by July 2009; (2) construction of a Biology laboratory by July 2010; (3) increasing 

the rate of successful completion of students enrolled in Chemistry courses by 6 percent (from 63 percent

in fall 2003-2007 to 69 percent in fall 2009); (4) increasing the rate of successful completion of students 

enrolled in Biology courses by five percent (from 65 percent in fall 2003-2007 to 70 percent in fall 2010); 

(5) training 50 percent of Chemistry faculty to integrate Studio Classroom laboratory experiences into 

their syllabi, and review class observations of the management and design of Studio Classrooms by spring 

2010; and (6) increasing the number of students who use laboratory facilities in Chemistry and Biology 

courses by 30 percent from the fall 2008 baseline to full implementation in fall 2010.
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MARTIN UNIVERSITY

PR Award Number: P382A080031

Project Director: Gloria Ameny-Dixon

State: Indiana

Telephone Number: (317) 917-3349

E-mail Address: gameny-dixon@martin.edu

Martin University (MU) is the only Predominantly Black Institution (PBI) of Higher Education in 

Indiana. It was founded in 1977 as a response to the lack of any higher education for people in poverty 

and/or color living in economically disadvantaged inner city areas of Indianapolis. MU is a baccalaureate 

degree-granting institution firmly planted in the heart of inner city Indianapolis as a haven of hope and 

healing. It is located in a high crime area of Indianapolis where, according to the 2000 Census report, 

over 25 percent of the area residents live below the federal poverty level (twice that of the rest of 

Indiana). 

MU has specifically billed itself as a “Second Chance” university, serving many older adults as well as 

recent high school graduates. MU is 92 percent African-American with women comprising over twothirds of the student body of 1,015; 95 percent of the student body receive some form of financial aid, as 

confirmed on the self study report for accreditation. Over 99 percent are enrolled in one of the 16 

baccalaureate programs offered, but there is a discrepancy of a 66 percent student loss between the 

freshman year and graduation. With that data, the proposal development team for this grant determined 

that the grant should focus on the university’s infrastructure, student academic success, and persistence 

rates, particularly for African-American males. This includes broadening their experiential learning base 

through a globalization program. With the challenge even more urgent now to support and produce more 

underrepresented students in the STEM disciplines, the Martin University focus is on increasing 

graduates in the STEM fields.

Martin University has traditionally had limited resources, with financial need a major barrier to students 

persistence. MU plans, through this grant, to improve its infrastructure in technology with a Virtual 

Learning Community, including an interactive Web page and electronic newsletter on the project, the 

addition of Black Board and Smart Boards in the classroom, the creation of an Interdisciplinary Stem 

Learning Environment, including dedicated STEM computer lab, a STEM student study lounge with 

journal subscriptions and Clicker, needed equipment for the creation of an interdisciplinary lab.
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MEDGAR EVERS COLLEGE

PR Award Number: P832A080040

Project Director: Claudia Schrader

State: New York

Telephone Number: (718) 270-5010

E-mail Address: mschrader@mec.cuny.edu

Medgar Evers College (MEC) of the City University of New York (CUNY) was founded in 1970 by 

direct actions of New York State elected officials and community leaders in Central Brooklyn. MEC is 

an urban commuter college, one of the ten senior colleges of the City University of New York (four-year 

public, 3, 941 FTE in spring 2007, current operating budget of $35.7 million in 2007-2008). MEC is in 

the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, one of the largest, most densely populated and ethnically varied 

sections of the borough and an area generally characterized by poor housing, high crime, high 

unemployment, and a large number of low-income families. MEC students are diverse, representing all 

areas of New York City, especially the surrounding Brooklyn community. About 75 percent of the 

student body is female and over 96 percent are of African descent, a group historically underrepresented 

in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) and globalization.

The mission of the college is to develop and maintain quality professional career-oriented undergraduate 

degree programs and provide a strong liberal arts background. MEC is committed to upgrading and 

strengthening programs to provide students with an academic environment and experience necessary to 

enable them to be competitive applicants for graduate education, attain rewarding careers, and contribute 

productively to society. In 2003, the college responded to the clarion call of its President, Dr. Edison O. 

Jackson, by creating a Male Development and Empowerment Center (MDEC) intended to improve 

educational outcomes of African-American males.

The Predominantly Black Institutions (PBI) project at Medgar Evers College has two main goals:

(1) Strengthening programs through enhancement of curricular experiences; and

(2) Improving educational outcomes for males through increased engagement in their field of studies 

and future practice.

The areas of concentration are: (1) STEM; (2) internationalization or globalization; and (3) improving 

educational outcomes of African-American males.

PBI funding is supporting the development of the Center for Experiential Education and Development 

(SUCC.E.E.D at MEC), the focus of which is to provide experiential learning and mentorship experiences 

for 1,500 students. The goals of the Center are: to increase retention; improve outcomes for students by 

increasing academic engagement, professional competencies and understanding of professional fields; 

and improve outcomes for graduates by providing students with a competitive edge in the workforce.
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MERRITT COLLEGE

PR Award Number: P382A080039

Project Director: Carlos McLean

State: California

Telephone Number: (510) 434-3893

E-mail Address: cmclean@peralta.edu

Merritt College is a public, two-year, comprehensive community college that serves primarily the 

residents of Oakland, California. Merritt College is one of four colleges in the Peralta Community 

College District that was established in 1964. The college operates under the laws of California and is 

accredited by the Western Association of Colleges and Schools. 

Oakland is an urban city with a growing and an increasingly diverse population, high unemployment, 

high crime and low educational attainment rates. Merritt College enrolls 7,716 students with 69 percent 

female and 31 percent male. Sixty-two percent of the students are citizens or permanent residents. A 

large number are first-generation college, single parents, and returning adult students. Nearly half of 

Merritt’s students are African-American (40 percent) and Hispanic (14 percent), two groups who have not 

performed well at the college’s K-12 “feeder” schools and are traditionally underrepresented in higher 

education. Most of the students are low-income with nearly half (47 percent) receiving financial aid and 

juggling competing commitments of work and sometimes family. Fifty percent of those receiving 

financial aid are African-American. 

Merritt College is implementing the Maximum Achievement Project (MAP) with the support of the 

Predominantly Black Institutions grant. MAP is based on a comprehensive two-year pilot project 

comprised of four major components:

(1) Intake and Assessment;

(2) Learning Communities (including Winter Internet sessions and College Summer Bridge);

(3) Student Support Services; and

(4) Faculty Development.

Services and activities are specifically designed to address the academic, personal, career and social needs 

of the targeted students.

The project provides an integrated curriculum that is supported by strong learning communities. A cohort 

of 200 students, with emphasis on the participation of African-American males and other low-income 

students will address deficiencies and gaps in their education and personal experiences that put them at 

risk of attaining their education and career goals. Students are being challenged to cultivate new ideas 

and genuine intellectual curiosity about themselves, others, and the world.

The project director has the opportunity, responsibility, and institutional support to effectively implement 

the project to strengthen the college’s ability to increase retention and graduation/transfer rates of 

African-American males and other low-income students.
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MID-SOUTH COMMUNITY COLLEGE

PR Award Number: P382A080017

Project Director: Joyce E. Shaw

State: Arkansas

Telephone Number: (830) 773-6730

E-mail Address: jeshaw@midsouthcc.edu

Mid-South Community College (MSCC), a rapidly growing two year college in West Memphis, 

Arkansas, serves an impoverished, undereducated county in the Mississippi River Delta. While the 

county population is 49.8 percent African-American, MSCC’s African-American headcount enrollment is 

slightly higher at 51 percent (FTE-69 percent). Sixty percent of the college’s 2,100 students are degreeseeking. Nearly all (91 percent) are first generation college students, and 69 percent receive Pell grants. 

Students arrive largely under-prepared for college courses; over three-fourths (76 percent) of awardseeking students require remediation in one or more subjects, and over half of developmental math 

students make less than a “C” letter grade in their first math class. Of those who advance to College 

Algebra, more than a third (36.3 percent) earn less than a “C.” Over half (55.8 percent) of students in 

General Biology earn less than a “C.”

The college offers a pre-nursing program to prepare students interested in health care careers for an RN 

program offered on the college campus by Arkansas State University. Only a small number, however, are 

admitted to the RN program, leaving the others with few choices because MSCC has insufficient lab and 

classroom space to expand its Allied Heath programs beyond three one-semester Certificate of 

Proficiency programs. MSCC cannot increase the number of Allied Health programs it offers, despite 

regional and national demands, because it has inadequate funds to build and equip an Allied Health 

facility to provide its majority-minority, low-income students with access to meaningful employment 

opportunities.

The Mid-South program aligns with the purpose of the PBI Program by strengthening a predominantly 

Black institution’s ability to carry out programs in health education. The college proposes to use CCRAA 

funds to: (1) renovate a building adjacent to its science building, creating and equipping an Allied Health 

instructional center; (2) provide faculty development in intrusive advising and proven ways of working 

effectively with diverse students; and (3) institute a Structured Learning Assistance (SLA) program to 

provide supplemental support in developmental math, College Algebra, Physical Science, General 

Biology, Anatomy, Physiology, and Allied Health courses where student success is unacceptably low.
Page | 14

NORTHEASTERN TECHNICAL COLLEGE

PR Award Number: P832A080002

Project Director: Leron Peterkin

State: South Carolina

Telephone Number: (843) 921-6936

E-mail Address: lpeterkin@netc.edu

Northeastern Technical College (NETC) is developing a comprehensive package of programs and 

services designed to increase persistence and improve educational success of African-American male 

students in a rural area, which is one of the most economically, and educationally disadvantaged regions 

of South Carolina.

NETC is addressing the critical needs of this target population and helping them to overcome barriers 

through the development of a three-pronged approach involving innovative course delivery options and 

focused interpersonal support services. The following outcomes will result from the project:

1. Online courses will be developed to address barriers of time and place;

2. Dual enrollment educational options will be developed in collaboration with secondary 

schools to engage students in the college experience prior to graduation from high school; 

and

3. A support system consisting of interpersonal counseling, campus support groups, active 

referrals to on-campus and community resources, and assistance with transportation will 

help students address the multitude of personal factors which frequently prevent them 

from attaining their educational goals.

The overall quantifiable outcomes of the project will be a net increase of seven percent in the year-to-year 

persistence rate among the target population, and a net increase of four percent in student enrollment.

The educational and support services models and processes developed during this two-year project will be 

available for replication in other predominantly Black colleges and universities and the broader higher 

education community.
Page | 15

OLIVE-HARVEY COLLEGE

PR Award Number: P382A080028

Project Director: Valerie R. Roberson

State: Illinois

Telephone Number: (773) 291-6313

E-mail Address: vroberson@ccc.edu

Olive-Harvey College is a two-year community college located on the far southeast side of the City of 

Chicago. It is one of seven colleges in the City Colleges of Chicago, Community College District 508. 

Olive-Harvey’s service area encompasses sixteen communities, seven of which have populations that are 

over 90 percent African-American. The college had a full-time equivalent student enrollment of 3,209 in 

FY 2006. African-American students comprised 82 percent of the FY 2006 headcount.

Students come to Olive-Harvey College: to improve their life conditions by preparing to transfer to fouryear institutions; acquire skills for career entry or advancement; complete preparation courses to pass 

their GED exam; learn English as a Second Language; or to take courses for personal enjoyment or to 

improve their quality of life.

A large percentage of our students come from the Chicago Public Schools, and many are not prepared to 

move into college-level courses. Other students come to Olive-Harvey College after a long absence from 

any academic experience. Placement tests indicate that as many as 95 percent of new students need at 

least one course at the developmental level in math, English and/or reading. Olive-Harvey College is 

committed to assisting students to overcome these barriers to accomplish their dreams. 

Olive-Harvey College is implementing the Science Success Program (SSP), with the support of the 

Predominantly Black Institutions grant. The SSP is designed to assist students who seek careers in math, 

science, or health by providing: (1) an enhanced development education program; (2) improved 

instructional methods; and (3) increased use of technology in math, science, and health instruction.

The SSP will provide the support needed for students to build a solid foundation in math and science 

needed for success. The enhanced developmental education program will use learning communities to 

build a network of support and to help students bond with classmates and interact with faculty, increasing 

their chances of success. Faculty will be trained to use a variety of instructional methods and formats, 

such as interdisciplinary courses, that have been associated with increased student success. Last, 

instructional spaces for math, and physical and life science will be redesigned to utilize technology 

currently used in industry and medical facilities. The state-of-the-art environments will provide 

motivation, assistance in learning, and exposure to the tools needed to be successful in the math, science 

and the health professions.
Page | 16

PULASKI TECHNICAL COLLEGE

PR Award Number: P382A080014

Project Director: Kareen Moody

State: Arkansas

Telephone Number: (501) 812-2395

E-mail Address: kmoody@pulaskitech.edu

Pulaski Technical College is the largest two-year college and fifth-largest college in Arkansas with an 

enrollment of almost 9,000 students. In the spring of 2008,only 11 percent, or 986 Pulaski Technical 

College students, were African-American males. Statistically, African-American males at Pulaski 

Technical College are not as academically successful as the total student body or the African-American 

student body.

Gathered data demonstrates that many students at Pulaski Technical College, especially AfricanAmerican males, are dropping out of college before they even get close to earning their degree. Pulaski 

Technical College is investing the Predominantly Black Institutions funds to improve student success and 

provide high-quality educational opportunities for students despite limited resources and the challenge of 

serving large numbers of low-income and minority students. Our objectives focus on increasing 

enrollment by 20 percent and increasing retention from 45 percent to 55 percent by the end of the twoyear grant period.

The college will develop full-staffed Student Success Centers at the main campus in North Little Rock, 

the Little Rock-West site and the Little Rock-South site. Pulaski Technical College’s spring 2008 student 

body includes 86 percent who are first-generation college students. They will benefit from the support 

and assistance provided through the Student Success Centers, including the availability of Student 

Success Specialists who can address academic (advising, help with career planning, help with transfer to 

four-year colleges and universities) and non-academic needs (referrals to community resources, 

information about public transportation and child care and counseling). The Student Success Centers will 

house a statewide program of two- and four-year college representatives who are gathering and sharing 

information regarding student success strategies. It will also house a case management model program 

similar to Student Support Services that exclusively serves African-American male students. These 

students will receive extra advising, which will be intrusive in nature and will be tracked as part of 

Pulaski Tech’s early alert pilot next year. Early alert lets students know their academic standing at 

specific points during the semester so they are aware of their grades and whether they need to improve 

before it is too late.
Page | 17

SOJOURNER-DOUGLASS COLLEGE

PR Award Number: P382A080016

Project Director: Maija Anderson, DNP, RN

State: Maryland

Telephone Number: (410) 276-0306

E-mail Address: manderson@host.sdc.edu

The Sojourner-Douglass College (S-DC), Predominately Black Institutions (PBI) project expands and 

strengthens its licensed practical nursing (LPN) education program. The college’s main campus is in East 

Baltimore, Maryland, with three other campuses targeted by the project located in Annapolis, Cambridge, 

and Salisbury, Maryland.

The project has three main goals: (1) increase the capacity and quality of S-DC nursing education 

through Interactive Television (ITV) distance learning and state-of-the art clinical skills labs; (2) increase 

nursing faculty effectiveness in ITV instruction; and (3) increase the number of students successfully 

completing the LPN program.

The project is designed to increase the number of full-time degree-seeking undergraduates enrolling at SDC by expanding opportunities for nursing education from two to four campuses throughout Maryland. 

It will also increase the persistence and graduation rate for LPN students and provide opportunities to 

learn and practice clinical skills on state-of-the-art high fidelity patient simulators. The project aligns 

with the State of Maryland policy recommendations to increase the use of pre-clinical simulation 

technologies and increase accessibility through distance learning. The project’s broader impact is that it 

addresses the critical nursing shortage faced by the state and the nation by preparing additional nurses 

with training in the most up-to-date patient care methods. 
Page | 18

ST. LOUIS COMMUNITY COLLEGE

PR Award Number: P382A080009

Project Director: Keith Sayles

State: Missouri

Telephone Number: (314) 479-3513

E-mail Address: ksayles@stlcc.edu

St Louis Community College (STLCC) proposes a program that will strengthen the institution’s capacity 

to serve African-American males, and improve their educational outcomes. The African-American Male 

Initiative (AAMI): Empowering Student Leaders for the Future is a comprehensive program of student 

support services, academic interventions, and staff development. The need for this program is high; when 

compared to other ethnic/gender demographic groups, African-American males are the most 

underrepresented population on the two STLCC campuses that meet the eligibility criteria as 

Predominantly Black Institutions. In addition, the target population on average has lower persistence 

rates and lower grade point averages than all other STLCC students combined.

The objectives of AAMI are to:

1) increase the persistence rate of the target population, thereby increasing overall enrollment at 

STLCC;

2) increase the academic achievement levels of the target population; and

3) enhance the in-depth understanding and focus among faculty members and staff regarding the 

array of challenges faced by the target population as they enter college.

Highlights of the program components are:

(1) Specialized orientation activities;

(2) Peer and community mentoring;

(3) Tutoring services; 

(4) Special workshops and seminars;

(5) Stipends for participants and peer mentors; and

(6) Staff development activities.

A qualified, experienced and committed project staff has being hired to provide intensive support services 

for participants, including early alert academic monitoring, as well as referrals to community services and 

resources as needed. A thorough formative and summative evaluation, using both qualitative and 

quantitative measures, will be used for continuous program improvement and available for dissemination 

to other colleges interested in the AAMI: Empowering Student Leaders for the Future.
Page | 19

TECHNICAL COLLEGE OF THE LOWCOUNTRY

PR Award Number: P382A080003

Project Director: Rodney Adams

State: South Carolina

Telephone Number: (843) 525-8219

E-mail Address: radams@tcl.edu

The Predominantly Black Institutions program at the Technical College of the Lowcountry (TCL) is 

designed to improve the education outcomes of African-American males by creating a learning 

community that supports academic success, retention, persistence, and completion outcomes. The 

participants are engaged in their community and college experience while they develop a Gullah 

Museum. TCL is located in the heart of South Carolina’s Lowcountry, which is steeped in the local 

Gullah culture, language, and history-rich tradition of the “sea islands” people.

Participants are developing leadership skills, successfully completing all courses, enhancing self-esteem 

and pride, and gaining a better cultural understanding of Gullah area communities. The program offers 

intensive academic interventions to ensure students succeed in securing an associate degree through fulltime enrollment at TCL. TCL’s objective is to increase both overall enrollment and the enrollment of 

full-time associate degree-seeking African-American males and other students by 10 percent at the end of 

the project’s second year. In this effort TCL is enrolling a minimum of 80 African-American males at the 

beginning of the first year and an additional 40 African-American males in the beginning of the second 

year of the project.

TCL is one of 16 technical colleges in South Carolina and serves Beaufort, Colleton, Hampton, and 

Jasper counties. The college traces its roots to the Reconstruction era (1868) when Mather School was 

established to educate the daughters of freed slaves. In 1955, the school was accredited by the Southern 

Association of Colleges and Schools and permitted male students to enroll for the first time. The name 

was changed to Technical College of the Lowcountry in 1998.
Page | 20

UNIVERSITY OF WEST ALABAMA

PR Award Number: P382A080011

Project Director: Martha Hocutt

State: Alabama

Telephone Number: (205) 652-3629

E-mail Address: mhocutta@uwa.edu

The University of West Alabama (UWA) is implementing a ground-breaking program to strengthen the 

capacity of the institution to serve minority students in the six surrounding counties. The primary purpose 

of the program is to identify and recruit qualified Black students in local high schools to enroll in the 

teacher education program. The mission of the Predominantly Black Institutions (PBI) Program is to 

increase the number of African-Americans entering teacher education and becoming master teachers 

capable of breaking the cycle of poor education provided in the rural schools. The program is intended to 

strengthen UWA’s capacity to address the following needs:

1) to overcome the poor quality of education provided Black students at the elementary and 

secondary level;

2) to encourage Black students to enter teacher education; and

3) to provide a program to better prepare students to become master teachers.

Building the Education Strategy of Tomorrow Program (BEST) is an exciting program that will motivate 

Black high school students to become teachers by establishing a highly competitive program in which 

students are motivated through leadership, teamwork, achievement, and rewards to become a BEST 

Fellow. The BEST Program will provide experiences in which students learn from master teachers to 

take pride in becoming an outstanding teacher. UWA Faculty and successful Black teachers will become 

role models by interacting with the BEST Fellows in on-campus special activities. The students will have 

the opportunity to learn up-to-date technology through campus learning sessions and informal gettogethers. UWA will establish the BEST “Gathering Room” as a technology-based resource center in 

which students explore and discover learning as the road to success. Activities that encourage the best 

performance from students are being implemented including competitive individual and team events with 

rewards. Six high-achieving schools within the state will be selected as BEST School Partners with 

master teachers from each selected school to become mentors and presenters. Students will have the 

opportunity to visit the school partners, observe teachers, and participate in learning activities. Using a 

selective cohort strategy in which students learn through active participation, integrated with rewards for 

achievement, will establish the program as prestigious.
Page | 21

YORK COLLEGE

PR Award Number: P382A080019

Project Director: Panayotis Meleties

State: New York

Telephone Number: (718) 262-2806

E-mail Address: meleties@york.cuny.edu

York College is a public, four-year commuter college enrolling approximately 6,727 students. York is a 

senior college in the City University of New York (CUNY) system, the nation’s largest urban public 

university, with 11 senior colleges, six community colleges, and several graduate colleges and specialized 

institutions. Located in Queens, New York, one of the most ethnically diverse counties in the nation, 

York has 66 percent minority students, including 40.5 percent African-American, 15.2 percent Hispanic 

and 10 percent Asian (York College Fact Book, Academic Year: 2007-2008). About 67 percent of York 

students are female and more than half of York’s students come from low-income families (under 

$30,000 a year).

York College, has designed a comprehensive, integrated institutional approach to the PBI program, with 

the three following major goals:

(1) Improve retention rates of African-American students, especially males, by reform of general 

education, especially gatekeeper courses, including training of faculty to use new educational 

technologies and improved learning assessment tools;

(2) Improve the six-year graduation rates of African-American students, especially males, by 

providing an enhanced and coordinated academic support system, from initial entry through 

graduation, including proactive advising on appropriate course selection leading to career 

choices, supplemental instruction, summer bridge programs, tutoring and mentoring, and peer-led 

learning communities; and

(3) College-wide special initiatives to increase the number of African-American students prepared 

for and entering majors and careers in the STEM disciplines, including undergraduate research 

experience, academic and career mentoring, and learning communities.

The goals of the PBI program reflect York’s annual performance goals, with specific targets and 

measures: one-year retention rate of full-time freshmen; six-year graduation rate of full-time, first-time 

freshmen; SAT scores of regularly-admitted first-time freshmen; and student satisfaction with academic 

support from student services and computer technology.

The successful attainment of the three goals will enable York to increase the number of African-American 

students who are retained, graduate and enter the professional and technology workforce or who seek 

advanced degrees in STEM and other academic areas.

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