More news in this issue left-click on headline: AMD Funds New Mobile Go Center for Central Texas to be Operated by Austin Community College TG Provides $300,000 for College G-Force to
Trang 1Gap Closing Gazette: the Newsletter of
the College for All Texans Foundation
Awards Over
$3.8 Million to Help
Close Gaps
TG has become one of the largest funders of the
Closing the Gaps effort in Texas For the second
consecutive year, TG has awarded grants to
advance college access, student retention, and
educational research TG's Public Benefit Grant
Program is providing this fall more than $3.8
million in competitive grants to 28 institutions
and non-profit organizations
(Continued on page 2)
TG President and CEO Sue McMillin (second
from left) and Asst VP Jacob Fraire (far left)
at launch of Austin Community College’s
Mobile Go Center A TG grant is enabling
expansion of Austin Community College’s
College Connection which the new MGC,
funded by AMD and AT&T, will support The
Coordinating Board’s Assistant Commissioner
for Outreach and Success Catherine Dikes
(third from left) and Don Brown (far right)
join the celebration and help hold the MGC
key presented to ACC by TSTC-Waco.
More news in this issue (left-click on headline):
AMD Funds New Mobile Go Center for Central Texas to be Operated
by Austin Community College
TG Provides $300,000 for College G-Force to Help Students in Go Centers
Tarrant County College Begins Operation of Mobile Go Center
Summer Bridge Program at Texas A&M International University
Americorps*VISTA and Recent Retirees to Help Go Centers
UTPA’s Mobile Go Center Sets the Pace: Reaches Over 6000 in First Seven Months
Five Gap Closing Programs Win Texas Higher Education Star Award
Fall 2006 Higher Education Enrollment Grows But at Lower Rate Than in Several Previous Years
Mobile Go Center Photo Gallery
Foundation Information
November 2006
The mission of the College for All Texans Foundation: Closing the Gaps
is to generate the private resources necessary to ensure the success of the College for Texans Campaign For more information or to make a donation, please call 512 427- 6108 or visit
www.collegeforalltexansfoundation.com
Trang 2TG Awards Over $3.8
Million in Grants (cont’d from
page 1)
Recipients will use the grant funds to enhance
opportunities and access to higher education and
improve student success in preparing for and
earning a college degree
“Since TG's founding 25 years ago, we have
believed that everyone who aspires to complete
a college degree should have the opportunity to
do so," said Sue McMillin, president and CEO
for TG, a nonprofit company that provides
federal student loan guarantees and helps
millions of students finance higher education
each year "Through TG's Public Benefit Grant
Program, we're pleased that we can help
educational partners and like-minded
organizations reach out to students and
families."
In determining the recipients, TG required each
nonprofit organization to declare its intent to use
grant funding to improve access to, or
participation in, postsecondary education,
college retention, and student success
TG intends that the primary beneficiaries of
these efforts, either directly or indirectly, be
students who are from low- to moderate-income
families, with priority awarded to proposals that
addressed the needs of first-generation college
students, students from high schools with low
college-going rates, and/or students who are
underrepresented in higher education
The grant funds will help organizations carry
out efforts that include financial aid, in the form
of need-based grants to students; student
mentoring and internships; pre-college outreach
to students and parents; academic support and
instruction; student retention; student transfer
guidance and support; and education research
TG funds have been instrumental to the
development of Mobile Go Centers They have
enabled UT-Pan American to operate its Mobile
Go Center, the College for All Texans
Foundation to construct its initial three MGCs,
and South Texas Tech Prep-Laredo Community
College to acquire a MGC
During the first year of funding in 2005-2006,
TG awarded $1.8 million through its competitive grant program As then, the current grant funds are offered in addition the Charley Wootan Grant Program, established by TG in
2000, that provides $1 million each year in need-based aid to students enrolled in postsecondary education
Earlier this year, TG's Public Benefit Grant Program also set aside $500,000 to help students whose education was interrupted by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita The TG Textbook Awards program provided 1,000 students with grants to purchase textbooks and education-related supplies for the 2006 summer session or fall semester
For more information: Contact Jacob Fraire at (800) 252-9743, ext 4964, or via e-mail at
jacob.fraire@tgslc.org.
Return to top
AMD Funds Mobile Go Center for Central Texas: Launched by Austin
Community College on November 16
AMD, to help close the educational gaps in Austin and Central Texas, has funded the state’s fifth Mobile Go Center Like other MGCs, the new unit is a long, enclosed trailer equipped with laptop computers connected to the Internet
by a dish antenna and satellite system The MGC can be pulled
to a wide range of locations to connect students, parents and others with information about preparing for, applying to, paying for and succeeding
in college
2
Trang 3AAMD’s Allyson Peerman and Ward Tisdale next to one of AMD’s logos on the MGC
The AMD grant enabled construction of the
MGC and provided it with all equipment—
including laptops with AMD processors
except its satellite Internet system That system
is made possible by funds from the AT&T
Foundation’s eight-year grant for technology
used on MGCs and in some fixed-site Go
Centers
The AT&T Foundation grant, announced early
in 2005, kick-started the entire Mobile Go
Center Project
Austin Community College’s Mobile Go Center,
pictured above, has its own website,
www.austincc.edu/go/
with an operating calendar and an invitation to
request visits.
Donors and school leaders from across the
region gathered at ACC's Eastview Campus on
November 16 to launch the new Mobile Go
Center and to announce a major expansion of
the College Connection program
Austin Community College will use the MGC
in its acclaimed
College Connection
program It will bring support and information about college preparation, enrollment,
financial aid and related subjects to students, parents, and others, especially those from families with historically low college-going rates who live in
the communities within ACC’s eight-county service area
College Connection is a unique outreach
program which the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board recently recognized with its
Star Award for contributions to Closing the
Gaps (see p 7) The program’s primary goal is
to place college enrollment services squarely in front of all ACC area high school seniors to create the expectation of postsecondary
education Every College Connection
participating senior who graduates receives an ACC acceptance letter along with his/her high school diploma
Like all the partner institutions operating Mobile
Go Centers, ACC will use the MGC to carry and convey the broad “Education Go Get It/ La Educación Saber es Poder” message
For more information: Richard Armenta, PhD, at Austin Community College (512)223-7955 or via e-mail at rarmenta@austincc.edu; or Dewy Brooks at the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (512) 427-6289,
or via email at dewy.brooks@thecb.state.tx.us
Return to top
_
TG Grant for College for Texans: $300,000 for Collegiate G-Force to Help Students in Go Centers
An award made under TG’s Public Benefit Grant Program (see p 1) will strengthen the impact of Go Centers in Texas’ three regions with the largest populations
3
Trang 4The TG funds will provide grants of up to
$1,000 to at least 300 Collegiate G-Force
members in 2006-2007 in the Dallas-Fort Worth
Metroplex, the Houston and Gulf Coast region,
and South Texas The grants make it possible
for far more college students to encourage more
high school students to prepare for, pursue, and
succeed in college
The Coordinating Board will allocate the TG
funds to 10 institutions in the three regions
Those colleges and universities will select the
student recipients and connect them to the Go
Centers where they will serve
The Collegiate G-Force is composed of college
students who work in Go Centers Under the
guidance of an adult G-Force sponsor, they help
draw high school students to Go Centers to
obtain college-going information and support
Because of their experience in college,
Collegiate G-Force members can tutor high
school students who need academic assistance,
mentor them as they proceed along a path to
college entrance and success, and take other
steps to build a college-going culture
The Collegiate G-Force members can serve as
role models to younger students in their
communities, and often are able to engage
students who otherwise would be overlooked by
the education system
For more information: Chris Alvarado (512) 427-6207,
or via e-mail at chris.alvarado@thecb.state.tx.us
Return to top
_
Tarrant County College
begins operation of
Mobile Go Center
Tarrant County College announced the launch
of its Mobile Go Center at a ceremony on
October 10 at historic Trimble Tech High near
downtown Fort Worth The new MGC is the
fourth to begin service in Texas, and the third of
those owned by the College for All Texans Foundation and deployed by partner institutions College for All Texans Foundation
representative Don Brown, presented the MGC’s keys to TCCD Trustee Robyn Medina Winnett along with the now-traditional large key from Texas State Technical College The large key symbolizes the contribution to the College for Texans Campaign of TSTC Waco’s transformation of the bare trailer into a
ready-to-go Mobile Go Center
Trustee Winnett accepted the MGC for Tarrant County College District and pledged that it would be used fully to reach and help students necessary to close gaps
Gary Terry, regional vice president of external
affairs, AT&T Texas conveyed his and his
company’s support for the Mobile Go Center project The AT&T Foundation’s grant provided funds for the MGC’s computers and telecom-munications equipment Several other Texas foundations contributed grants that paid for construction of the new MGC
AT&T’s Linda Caram and Gary Terry with Trustee Robyn Winnett (holding key), and Don Brown
“The Mobile
Go Center will enable Tarrant County College and other Texas colleges and universities to reach potential students where they live, work and attend school,” said Dr Leonardo de la Garza, Tarrant County College chancellor “The mobility of the Go Center is especially valuable
in expanding our outreach efforts throughout Tarrant County.”
“Encouraging our youth to attend and graduate from
4
Trang 5college is of utmost importance to our
community,” said State Rep Lon Burnam “The
Texas Legislature has helped facilitate this
through the College for Texans Campaign, and
the Mobile Go Centers are key to fulfilling the
objectives of that campaign.”
Following this Mobile Go Center launch, TCC
will coordinate its schedule throughout the
county in a variety of settings (festivals,
sporting events, supermarket or mall parking
lots, and schools that do not have Go Centers) in
an effort to reach parents and middle school and
high school students who might not otherwise
plan to attend college
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram published the
following editorial on Tarrant County College’s
new Mobile Go Center on October 26:
On your mark
It's difficult to find a statistical variable more powerful
than the correlation between higher education and
income potential: Go to college, make more money and
have a better quality of life.
The problem is that many students particularly
low-income students who often come from families whose
parents did not attend college sometimes have very
little idea about where to find information about how to
apply for college, what it costs, what qualifying tests are
required or what kind of financial assistance is available.
This is not a healthy situation The Texas Higher
Education Coordinating Board calculates that it will have
to boost higher education enrollment by at least 630,000
students a 60 percent increase over enrollment in
2000 over the next 20 years (plus substantially raise
the annual number of graduates to more than 210,000)
just for the state to keep pace economically with the
nation and the world The problem comes in tandem with
rising tuition costs.
The fix? Help one student at a time.
That's what was going on one recent morning outside
Fort Worth's Trimble Tech High School as students waited
to explore the 34-foot-long Mobile Go Center that Tarrant
County College parked at the campus' 89-year-old
doorstep.
Inside, students found 10 laptop computers, satellite
connections to the Internet, informational materials and
pre-college counseling assistance.
The Go Center will be visiting public school campuses,
sporting events, festivals and mall parking lots all over
North Texas.
The go-get-them strategy could pay enormous dividends
in expanded college enrollment Though TCC probably will pick up its fair share of students, the Go Center will provide information about institutions nationwide Think of it as "driving" access to higher education and a more prosperous future for both students and the region.
For more information: Dewy Brooks at the THECB (512) 427-6289, or via e-mail at
dewy.brooks@thecb.state.tx.us, or Fidel Castillo at Tarrant County College (817) 515- 5180, or via e-mail at fidel.castillo@tccd.edu
Return to top
Texas A&M International hosts College Readiness Summer Bridge Program
Funded partly by a federal First Generation College Student grant through the Coordinating Board, Texas A&M International University hosted the College Readiness Summer Bridge Program for 263 incoming high school juniors
in June 2006 Students were housed at Texas A&M International’s Residential Learning Community under the supervision of residential assistants who offered mentoring and tutoring to all participants
Participants were students from Laredo Independent School District and United Independent School District entering grade 12, whose 10th grade TAKS scores were between
2100 and 2199 in English/Language Arts and Math The goal of the program was to increase student TAKS scores to reach the College Readiness Index (CRI) score of 2200
Students were offered courses in the areas of reading, writing, and mathematics in an effort to increase TAKS scores and to prepare students for the Texas Higher Education Assessment (THEA) At the end of the program, the THEA was administered to all participants The 40 participants with the highest THEA scores were awarded concurrent enrollment scholarships by Texas A&M International University
5
Trang 6Participants are being invited to meetings during
their junior and senior years to raise their level
of awareness about college, career, and work
readiness, as well as financial aid and
admissions requirements
The College Readiness Summer Bridge
Program was free to all participants Students
were provided with free housing, meals,
instruction in academics, school supplies, and
on-campus amenities
In addition to the First Generation College
Grant, the program was made possible by
in-kind financial contributions from Texas A&M
International University and the United
Independent School District
A further report on the extent of success of the
pilot program will be provided in January, 2007
For more information, contact Belinda Perez-Hernandez
at (512) 427-6209 or by e-mail at
belinda.hernandez@thecb.state.tx.us
Return to top
_
Americorps*VISTA and
Recent Retirees to Help
Go Centers
The Texas Higher Education Coordinating
Board is partnering with Americorps*VISTA
(Volunteers in Service to America) and
Communities in Schools - San Antonio, as well
as with Texas Campus Compact and the Retired
Senior Volunteer Program, to explore a new
way to initiate and staff Go Centers
New Go Centers are planned for early 2007 in
10 elementary, middle, and high schools in
which Communities in Schools is active in or
near San Antonio An AmeriCorps* VISTA
member will be assigned to the CIS-SA Go
Center in each of the targeted San Antonio
schools to assist students who might not
otherwise aim for college by promoting college
awareness and development in their schools and the surrounding community
The AmeriCorps*VISTA members will be trained to conduct academic engagement programs using high school and college students and community volunteers to help close gaps in higher education participation and success Their objective is to ensure that CIS-SA students and parents know that college is affordable, possible, and desirable
Several of the VISTA members and many of the community volunteers are expected to come from the ranks of recent retirees and college students in service learning programs at St Mary’s University, Our Lady of the Lake University, the University of Texas at San Antonio, and St Philip’s College
For more information contact Jennifer Tywater, VISTA Leader, at (512) 427-6198 or by e-mail at
jennifer.tywater@thecb.state.tx.us
Return to top
UTPA’s Mobile Go Center Sets the Pace: Reaches Over 6000 in First Seven Months
As reported in previous issues of the Gap Closing Gazette, UT-Pan American was the state’s first institution to begin operating a Mobile Go Center, taking advantage of a equipped trailer it already owned and a well-directed grant from TG
From the MGC’s initial visit on March 31 to the South Texas Career Fair in Kingsville (where 86 students and parents came aboard) through its appearance seven months later on October 30 in the McAllen Independent School District, more than 6000 people were assisted In a single week-long stay at Freer High School, the MGC served 455 students
6
Trang 7Over the same period, UT-Pan American
deployed its MGC to 110 sites: 27 community
events, 26 single-day visits to schools, 51
week-long visits, and 6 for training staff members
UTPA’s report to TG summarized its MGC
experience as follows: “Through all of these
efforts, the interest in the community continues
to grow and new possibilities for partnerships
keep developing While our initial plan of
taking the unit out to schools for ‘Education: Go
Get It!’ weeks proved challenging, the greater
need for such services in the community became
apparent Thus, we were forced to rethink our
delivery model and successfully incorporated
one-day school and community events into the
MGC usage.”
More good news: TG has awarded an additional
grant to UT-Pan American to continue operating
its Mobile Go Center
For more information, contact Lisa Prieto at (956)
292-7562 or by e-mail at lisaprieto@utpa.edu or Felipe
Salinas at (956) 381-2526 or by e-mail at
fsalinas1@panam.edu
Return to top
_
Five Gap Closing
Programs Win Texas
Higher Education Star
Award
Five exemplary higher education gap-closing
programs received the Texas Higher Education
Star Award from the Texas Higher Education
Coordinating Board at an award ceremony in
Austin on November 6
“The winners represent the state’s most
effective efforts for closing the education gaps
that challenge our state,” said Commissioner of
Higher Education Raymund A Paredes “The
Coordinating Board is proud to recognize the
people and the institutions that develop and
implement these programs, as well as the
organizations and others who support them.”
The awards ceremony was part of the Coordinating Board’s 2006 Governing Boards Conference for higher education regents and trustees The annual meeting allows the governing board members to focus on how to continue and improve the state’s efforts to achieve the goals of the higher education plan,
Closing the Gaps by 2015 (See the plan at www.thecb.state.tx.us/ClosingtheGaps )
For this year’s competition, the Board received
52 applications, from which eight finalists were chosen Selection of the five Star Award
recipients was based on the recommendations of
a nine-member panel that included three Coordinating Board members; three Texas business, education, and community leaders; and three out-of-state educational
experts
The 2006 Star Award winners are:
Austin Community College – College
Connection Program Through this partnership
between Austin Community College (ACC) and 15 school districts, with support from private industry and foundations, high school seniors receive admission and enrollment services on their high school campuses As a result, virtually all of Central Texas’ 6,400 high school seniors received an admissions
acceptance letter to ACC with their high school diplomas ACC’s enrollment from College Connection school districts increased nearly 38
From left, ACC President Steve Kinslow, CB Chairman Bob Shepard, ACC VP Mary Hensley, College Connection Director Luanne Preston, Commissioner of Higher Education Raymund Paredes.
percent on average from fall 2003 to fall 2005 The increase was nearly 100 percent for two
7
Trang 8school districts In addition, the program is an
effective tool for encouraging students to go to
other colleges and universities Overall
college-going rates for participating high schools
increased more than 9 percent during
the same two-year period
For more information: Mary Hensley, (512) 223-7618.
Stephen F Austin State University –
Academic Assistance and Resource Center The
Academic Assistance and Resource Center
(AARC) offers one-on-one peer tutoring,
student-led study groups, supplemental
instruction, and related services leading to
increased intellectual development and
academic success among participating students
Average grades for student participants were
nearly half a grade point higher than for other
students, and college persistence rates for
participants improved as well Students benefit
from these services throughout their years in
college, and earn degrees at higher rates For the
university’s Class of 1999, the six-year
graduation rates for students who received
services from the Center was 48 percent,
compared to 35 percent for other students – who
had higher SAT scores on average
For more information, contact:Robin Redmon Wright,
(936) 468-1463
Tarrant County College District – SureStart
Program SureStart, a learning community for
under-prepared, first-time in-college students,
offers early intervention to students who are at
risk of dropping out of college Through the
program, students who need better reading skills
take a developmental education reading course
From left, CB Chair Bob Shepard, TCC
representatives Lily Tercero, Penny Matthes,
Jacquelyn Warmsley, Sharon Wettengel, Charles DeSassure, and Commissioner Raymund Paredes
They take their first college classes together, allowing them to bond and support each other
As a result, SureStart students are more success-ful in college On average, they complete 29 semester credit hours of courses annually, compared to only 21 for a control group In addition, on average, SureStart students have earned a 2.19 grade point average, compared to 1.78 for the control group
For more information,contact:
Penny Matthes, (817) 515-3575
The University of Texas at El Paso –
Chemistry Peer Leader Program “Two Plus
Two Workshops” are a key element of this effort, which has increased student success in science, engineering, and math at UT-El Paso Two hours of workshops – small-group, peer-led, team-based activities – are substituted for one hour of a large-section lecture per week in a first-semester general chemistry course Since the program was implemented in fall 2000, the
“C-or-better” passing rate has improved from the historic average of nearly 53 percent to nearly 74 percent As a result, an additional 150 students are passing this “gatekeeper” course annually, allowing many more students to continue their education into science, engineering, and math majors
For more information, contact: James E Becvar, (915) 747-7563.
YES College Preparatory Schools – YES
College Preparatory Schools Admission to a
four-year higher education institution is a high school graduation requirement at YES College Preparatory Schools, based in Houston A comprehensive college counseling program is a key element, beginning in middle school with college campus visits, which total more than
20 by the time students are seniors During their junior year, students take a SAT/ACT
preparatory course As seniors, students are enrolled in a “college seminar” course, which allows them time to work on college
applications, financial aid applications, and discuss related issues with college counselors Parents also participate in college-preparatory seminars and workshops
First-generation-in-8
Trang 9college students account for approximately 86
percent of YES graduates, who have been
accepted to 190 colleges and universities
nationwide Approximately 76 percent of YES
graduates persist in college, compared to
approximately 50 percent of all students
nationwide
For more information, contact: Ryan Dolibois, (713)
574-7595
In addition to these awards, the Coordinating
Board presented special Higher Education
Leadership Star Awards to State
Senator Florence Shapiro and State
Representative Geanie Morrison for their work
toward closing the gaps in Texas higher
education Senator Shapiro chairs the Senate
Education Committee and Representative
Morrison chairs the House Higher
Education Committee
For more information on the Texas Higher Education
Star Award program, contact: Glenda Barron, Texas
Higher Education Coordinating Board, (512) 427-6255
or glenda.barron@thecb.state.tx.us
Return to top
Fall 2006 Higher
Education Enrollment
Grows But at Lower Rate
Than in Several Previous
Years
Enrollment in Texas higher education increased
by 27,209 students, or 2.3 percent, to 1,211,582
students this fall, according to preliminary data
reported by colleges and universities to the
Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
Although this increase is more than twice the
enrollment growth reported in fall 2005, it trails
the record increases reported each year from
2001 through 2004
Eighty percent of the total growth took place at the state’s two-year colleges, which had 19,785 more students this fall than last fall, according
to the preliminary data
“Clearly, we need even greater increases to achieve state participation goals,” said Texas Commissioner of Higher Education Raymund
A Paredes He noted that Closing the Gaps by
2015, the state’s higher education plan, calls for
enrolling 1.6 million students by 2015
The fall 2006 enrollment figures are based on a preliminary count on the 12th class day by higher education institutions Historically, these preliminary figures are approximately 6 percent higher than the certified figures that are
obtained later in the academic year
Preliminary fall 2005 enrollment for each Texas higher education institution is available on the Coordinating Board’s Web site at
http://www.thecb.state.tx.us/Board/PressRelease cfm
For additional information, contact: Ray Grasshoff, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, (512)
427-6111, or ray.grasshoff@thecb.state.tx.us
Return to top
_
Mobile Go Center Photo Gallery
Houston Community College
9
Trang 10AMD-sponsored MGC for Austin
Community College while at
TSTC Waco
Houston Community College
Tarrant County College
Austin Community College