2008 JNEE Access & Equity Grant Awardees
In our commitment to identifying and supporting successful practices in recruiting, supporting and graduating students with historically lower rates of persistence and success in university life, the Jesuit Network for Equitable Excellence in Higher Education (JNEE) announced the recipients of their 2008 Access & Equity Grants. These grants, totaling $80,000, and funded by the Lumina Foundation for Education, are being awarded to Jesuit institutions for new programs that focus on three core areas: community engagement and outreach, curricular and co-curricular engagement, and first-year and transfer student retention.
This year, JNEE Access & Equity Grants program received more than 25 grant applications submitted by Jesuit institutions from across the United States. This year's grantees were chosen for their dedication to addressing the needs of low-income and ethnically underrepresented student groups by providing educational and mentoring initiatives, leadership training, retreat curriculum, and retention programs. Each program strives to lead and encourage university students towards the ultimate goal of graduation.
- Loyola Marymount University
College Awareness Conference: $4,350
The College Awareness Conference represents a partnership between Loyola Marymount University and a local low-performing high school in the Los Angeles Unified School District. The proposed project will target low-income and potential first generation college students to provide resources and tool aimed at empowering students in the college search and application process.
The Intercultural Summit: $6,000
A collaborative effort between Loyola Marymount University and community middle and high schools aimed at reducing racial violence and promoting the college experience. Student participants learn how to formulate plans to constructively deal with inter-ethnic conflict on their campus and discuss the opportunities and pathways to entering college.
Special Studies in Information Literacy and Study Skills: $7,000
The Office of Undergraduate Education will launch a new course designed to support the transition and success of first year students who come from first generation families and low-income backgrounds. The course will address information technology skills, library/research skills, and study skills. This course will be a collaborative effort between the William H. Hannon University Library, Information Technology, the Learning Resource Center, and the Office of Undergraduate Education.
ACE Scholars: $5,000
The Academic Community of Excellence (ACE) strategically prepares undergraduate scholars of color for admission into graduate and professional studies programs at the master’s and doctoral degree levels. ACE aims to increase the number of students of color that are accepted and matriculate into advanced degree programs. In support of the belief that undergraduate research can serve as a vital contributor to first generation and historically underrepresented students’ passion for a specific discipline, ACE supports undergraduate research with talented faculty.
The Learning Community at LMU: $7,000
The Learning Community (TLC) at LMU is an integrated and comprehensive approach to making an African American student?s four years at the University a positive, empowering, healthy and productive experience. TLC is comprised of two parts: the Summer Intensive Three-Week Bridge Program, and the yearlong academic component. TLC prepares students to master the learning environment at LMU. The Program equips students with the tools to combat feelings of alienation, and aids them in their development as a whole person. TLC is adding a more refined approach to the community service component that already exists by moving to a model of service immersion. It is believed that a large part of the development within students of this social consciousness and obligation is the realization that their actions can impact on the world around them.
Academic Support Workshops: $5,925
In partnership with Academic & Student Affairs, Ethnic & Intercultural Services will host Academic Success Workshops Sessions addressing critical areas for student success. The workshop sessions will include but are not limited to: Time Management, Goal Setting, Assessment of Abilities and Interest (such as MBTI), Studying Skills for College Students, Financial Aid 101, Meeting with your Advisor, What Every College Student Should Know.
- Seattle University
The Jesuit Outreach College Access Program: $4,050
This institutional initiative will provide information about the college application and recruitment process. Seattle University will host specialized session and coordinated outreach in an effort to support post-secondary educational opportunities for high school and middle school students attending Cristo Rey and Nativity schools in the Northwest region, specifically St. Andrew Nativity School and De La Salle North Catholic High School in Portland, Oregon.
Seattle University Student of Color Retreat: $5,179
This retreat experience is a new, weekend-long program aimed at improving student-of-color retention, academic success, personal growth, and quality of life. Participants will experience an increased sense of connection to faculty and staff; gain concrete skills for maintaining balance, health, and wellness.
Connections Leadership Program: $5,179
The Connections Leadership Program is a year-long program with the vision of developing committed, connected leaders of color who possess and awareness of self, group, and community, and who are empowered to effect sustainable change at Seattle University and beyond.
- Xavier University
Predictors of Positive 1st Year Retention: $2,475
The Department of Decision Support and the Office of Diversity will jointly design a mathematical model that will identify the student characteristics most highly predictive of first-year retention and academic success of first-time, full-time, traditional-age undergraduates at Xavier University. The results will permit the University to consolidate and enhance support services and provide insights into how first-year programming, learning communities, admissions and financial aid policies can most effectively align with institutional priorities. It is hoped that the model will serve as an example for Jesuit peer institutions to follow and adapt.
Project Advance: $2,288
Project Advance will support first generation college women with the following objectives: 1) allow students to discern in a safe and open environment about the possibility and appropriateness of pursuing an advanced degree, 2) learn practical techniques, strategies, and requirements for applying to graduate school, and
3) establish a network of peer and mentor support to succeed in undergraduate endeavors and possible graduate school aspirations.
- Santa Clara University
Perspectives: $4,763
Perspectives is a three-part diversity experience designed for Santa Clara University student leaders. The purpose of Perspectives is to development student leaders into change agents. Through informed leadership we will be able to create a climate of awareness and expectation of the various perspectives students bring and develop while they are a part of the campus community. This program will focus on three developmental areas: Exploring Perspectives-exploring one’s own social identity and multiple identities; Understanding Perspectives-Developing an understanding of inter-group communication; Challenging Perspectives-Obtain skills to engage in and challenge inter-group dialogue.
- University of San Francisco
Transfer Student Advisory Group: $7,000
The Transfer Student Advisory Group would provide support and guidance to students in an effort to help them succeed academically, professionally and personally. This group will connect current upper-class students with new incoming students. The peer advisor’s role focus on but not be limited to introducing new students to the USF community, connecting transfer students with campus resources, and providing social opportunities for transfer students.
The Magis Leadership Symposium: $7,000
This inaugural symposium titled, “Leadership in a Changing World: African American Perspectives” will combine academics and athletics as a means of expanding the access and exposure of the Black communities to USFs educational opportunities. Over a four day period, the Department of Athletics will partner with the Department of African American Studies, Multicultural Student Services, the Gleeson library/Geschke Center, the Office of Undergraduate Admissions and the Office of the Dean of Students to collaborate in bringing together three distinct groups: 1) African-American Community in the San Francisco Bay Area, 2.) African American Alumni,
3.) African American undergraduate students at USF to discuss the pathways to higher education and the tools necessary for academic success and excellence.
Martin-Baro Scholars: $5,200
Martin-Baro Scholars (MBS) students explore social justice in contemporary urban life by participating in an integrated curriculum that meets the academic needs of most incoming first-year students. The overarching theme of the MBS community is poverty. Students are engaged in yearlong discussions, excursions, and service and community events link to this theme. This year students will engage in a unique multi-day immersion focused on poverty and hunger at Heifer international’s Los Altos Learning Center.
- Saint Joseph’s University
Academic Protégé: $2,000
Academic Protégé is an academic enrichment freshman program designed for underrepresented ethnic minorities at Saint Joseph's University developed to help student excel academically and adjust to the college environment. Support services are provided throughout the academic year, but focus is given to the first semester during which students must attend weekly sessions. These sessions are comprised of academic enrichment workshops, academic advising, career counseling, faculty involvement and campus trips and leadership building activities are provided.
- Canisius College
Urban Leadership Learning Community (ULLC): $6,450
This program at Canisius College enables the best and brightest students from Buffalo’s inner city to enroll in a unique education opportunity: a four-year residential program to help create the next generation of community leaders from a population that has historically been denied positions of influence or power. This academic year ULLC will add a domestic immersion service experience to this program, which will allow its students to expand their academic experience through service in disparate regions of the United States.
- Creighton University
Leadership and Mentoring Development: $2,690
The Clifton StrengthsFinder® inventory will be used to build the leadership and mentoring skills of students while deepening the spirituality of an underserved population of college students. Using the StregthsQuest’s book and the online Clifton StrengthsFinder® assessment mentors can begin to benefit from building on their strengths. Peer mentors will understand their talent, and therein the areas of leadership that come naturally to them and how to increase their effectiveness as mentors.
