VC gets $2.8 million in federal grant money to help students succeed

The Victoria College was recently awarded $2,720,931 from the U.S. Department of Education’s Title V Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions competitive grant program. Title V programs are aimed at helping Hispanic-Serving Institutions like VC enhance and expand their capacity to serve students by providing funds to develop programs that will keep the educational pipeline open and easily navigable for students in their service areas.

“Hispanic-Serving Institutions like The Victoria College play a vital role in ensuring access to higher education and economic opportunity for all Texans,” said Senator John Cornyn, a member of the bipartisan Senate Hispanic-Serving Institutions Coalition that was successful last Congress in securing substantial, new federal funding for colleges and universities serving the largest concentrations of Hispanic higher education students in the nation.

“I am pleased to recognize Victoria College as one of only a few schools nationwide to be awarded this important funding, which will support the college’s efforts to enroll Hispanic students and provide them with the resources they need to achieve their goals,” added Cornyn.

Beginning October 1 and continuing for the next five years, VC will implement two complementary initiatives aimed at expanding educational opportunities for local students. More than 80 percent of the cost of these initiatives will be financed with the Title V grant funds, while just over 16 percent will be covered by the College.

Title V funding will allow VC to enhance existing partnerships with Gonzales ISD, Calhoun ISD and Victoria ISD, providing for the implementation of College Access Resource and Success (CARS) Centers on high school campuses. Each high school within the partnering districts will open a CARS Center beginning with Gonzales ISD in September 2010, Calhoun ISD in 2011 and one each on the two VISD high school campuses in 2012.

“This is a great thing for both GISD and VC,” said Vic Salazar, superintendent of Gonzales ISD. “We’re looking forward to working with VC to get students to go to college. It is definitely a win-win situation for our community and our students.”

Each CARS Center will have a dedicated college academic advisor who will help students prepare for college. Services will include academic advising, college readiness testing and enrollment assistance for dual-credit courses which fulfill both high school and college credit requirements. Students will also have access to a Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI) that will assess their non-academic success strategies such as time management, motivation and coping skills.

Additionally, a task force comprised of both college and high school faculty and other personnel will work toward closing the gaps between high school and college curriculum so that more students are academically prepared for college upon graduation from high school.

“Public schools are charged with getting students ready for college, so curriculum alignment is critical to that process and this is a good step toward that goal,” said Larry Nichols, superintendent of Calhoun ISD.

“The collaborative effort and actions identified in the grant are exactly what is needed to improve student awareness of the college experience and its availability to all students,” said Bob Moore, superintendent of VISD. “Providing timely information for students and parents will greatly accelerate the transition from high school to college and VISD is proud to partner with VC in this important undertaking.”

On the VC campus, Title V funding will allow for expansion of two important pilot programs aimed at helping students succeed once in college. Supplemental Instruction and the First Year Experience pilot programs will both be expanded.

“Supplemental Instruction and the First Year Experience programs are both proven initiatives that we know help students succeed in critical gateway courses that all students must pass to continue their college education,” said Florinda Correa, vice president of student services at VC. “These programs provide academic and personal support for students during their first year of college. This funding will enable the college to expand these programs, allowing many more students to participate in both.”

The Title V grant will also allow the College to increase its tutoring capacity and services. An intervention program that includes goal-setting and developing specific action plans will be created to help students on academic probation increase their GPAs. Targeted transition services will be expanded as well to provide more assistance to students who wish to transfer to a university to obtain a bachelor’s degree after finishing at VC.

“This is really a tremendous opportunity for us to continue to increase educational opportunities and accessibility for students in the VC service area,” said Dr. Tom Butler, VC president. “I’m looking forward to working even more closely with area high schools to provide opportunities for all students to go to college and achieve their educational goals.”

Between 2003 and 2008, VC successfully completed a Title V grant utilizing just over $2 million to increase student support services such as tutoring and technology capacity and to provide targeted academic support for students in developmental courses. Evaluation of the prior Title V program indicated definite increases in the use of tutoring services and subsequent increases in the successful completion rates for students in development English, reading and math.

“I’m excited for the students,” said incumbent Title V Director Kim Smith. “I think this program has great potential to increase college enrollment and success rates for students in Victoria and the entire Golden Crescent region, and I’m so pleased to be involved in providing this type of service to students and the entire VC community.”