- University News Archive - ��Vlog��ý Little Rock

Cultivating Student Success: How ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Resources Empower First-Generation Students

John Hill — Tue, 29 Nov 2022 21:44:55 +0000

November is First-Generation College Student Celebration Month. With more than 40 percent of its student population being first-generation students, ��Vlog��ý Little Rock is especially committed to providing resources that help this special group of students reach their potential. “One of the biggest challenges first-generation students face in college is navigating a complex system such as a university,” said Heather Reed, director of Student Retention Initiatives. “There are so many processes that involve many offices. Luckily, Student Retention Initiatives can assist first-generation students in learning the university. It can be difficult to ask for help, and we make it easy through the Care Team, a support network for all students.” Members of the Care Team work closely with students to establish steps to reduce barriers to success. They take proactive action to support students in their pursuit of academic success, connect individuals to campus and community resources, create a supportive and caring culture for students, and establish best practices and standard protocols of response for academic referrals. Students who need assistance can contact the Care Team by filling out while faculty and staff who are concerned about a student can fill out . “We also offer peer mentors who are upper-class students who have successfully navigated various processes and have knowledge of the university,” Reed said. “First-generation students can request to be matched with a peer mentor to help them with a variety of issues, such as building locations, learning traditions, tips for academic success, and how to get involved on campus. Many of the staff in our office are first-generation college students so we understand first-hand the challenges students face and how to overcome those challenges.” The Office of Student Retention Initiatives also holds welcome events for new students and celebrates first-generation students every November during First-Generation College Student Celebration Month. “For me, being a first-generation student is a catch-22. I’m very excited that I decided late in age to go back to school,” said Veronica Tess Myers, a first-generation student studying applied communication who attended the Nov. 8 celebration. “I finally finished getting my bachelor’s and am looking forward to acquiring my master’s degree. However, it’s also a little bit of sadness. I’m considered to be a know-it-all because I went further. A lot of the reason why I went further is because of my autistic son and having to learn what I needed for him to succeed.” Since 1978, ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s TRIO Student Support Services has provided resources to help increase the rates of academic achievement, retention, and graduation among historically disadvantaged students. “TRIO Student Support Services (SSS) provides services to a limited number of eligible ��Vlog��ý Little Rock students,” said Dr. Desarae Nelson, director of TRIO SSS. “Eligibility requirements include: first generations, and/or limited income, and/or disabled. SSS offers: a scholarship, weekly workshops, financial literacy, cultural events, textbook loans, tutoring, career readiness, and graduate school trips. SSS seeks to motivate students toward the successful completion of their post-secondary education. The goal of the program is to increase participants’ college persistence, support them through graduation, and facilitate the transition from one level of higher education to the next. The program is funded by the US Department of Education.” Dr. Mike Kirk, director of health services and counseling services, said that both units offer great resources to help first-generation students adapt to college life. “Health Services for certain can immediately impact first-generation students,” Kirk said. “To have a convenient family care clinic right here on campus is excellent for them. They can get in and take care of virtually any medical issue that you go to the doctor’s office. Also, the cost is going to be less here than when you go outside to your doctor’s office.

Dr. Mike Kirk

Counseling Services can help normalize the college experience. It’s not as easy to get students to come see us in Counseling Services. We know students can get anxious and concerned about succeeding in college. We can help normalize those feelings and give students strategies to help make them successful.” ��Vlog��ý Little Rock also supports students in several other ways. The office of Student Retention Initiatives coordinates peer mentoring, academic coaching, and tutoring to help all students thrive. Additionally, student researchers in the Signature Experience Program receive grant funding and are mentored by ��Vlog��ý Little Rock faculty, helping prepare students for advanced study and improving persistence. The Multicultural Center provides several mentoring programs that help empower, support, and assist African American students, Hispanic/Latinix students, and students of color in achieving their goal of earning a college degree. Students in these programs meet with career and professional mentors for regular support. The university’s Learning Commons, which opened during the spring semester, provides a space where students have access to study space and tutoring assistance. The Learning Commons is the home of the Communication Skills Center, Math Assistance Center, University Writing Center, World Languages Center, and Trojan Tutoring. “The Learning Commons is a great free resource available to students,” said Brandon Sollars, Learning Commons coordinator. “In this space, we can help students be successful by providing them with direct access to resources that can help them in their courses. Collectively our centers cover a large variety of subjects, everything from intro-level courses, math, writing and communication. We also provide a comfortable space for students to study individually or to study in groups. Here in the Learning Commons we aim to equip our students with the necessary skills and strategies that they need to be successful.” Genesis Dominguez, a junior double major in Spanish and anthropology and first-generation student, helps many students in her work at the Communication Skill Center. “The Communication Skill Center is a great opportunity for the students,” Dominguez said. “This center helps students do presentations, organize slide presentations, prepare them for a speech or interview, rehearse, organize ideas, and manage anxiety while speaking. It has a great team that is willing to help you every step of the way and will celebrate with you every win that you make.” ��Vlog��ý Little Rock has a number of student ambassador programs that create leadership opportunities for successful students who serve as tutors, mentors, and guides for their fellow students.

Learning Commons Coordinator Brandon Solllars and Michelle Malone and De’Ja Johnson, applied communication graduate students, give a presentation in the Communications Skills Center in Ottenheimer Library. Photo by Ben Krain.

“I intend to help create pathways for opportunities for other ��Vlog��ý Little Rock students and specifically veterans, students of color, and nontraditional students to gain access to resources that hopefully will help generate more student success,” said Bryan Hernandez, a first-generation student and ambassador for the School of Business. “I hope to show that programs like the student ambassador program work! That they help to create a sense of community at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock and build confidence in students that may deeply need it.” Additional campus resources that ��Vlog��ý Little Rock students will find useful include:

Trojan Works is an institutional work study program that provides on-campus employment opportunities as well as a unique experience that prepares students for success beyond graduation.
Career Services provides opportunities for students to prepare for careers through internships, job postings, career fairs, and career coaching.
Trojan Career Closet offers a career closet to help ensure students are dressed for interviews and internships. Each semester, students can select outfits to wear for professional settings.
Trojan Food Pantry is open to assist students, faculty, and staff with food needs they may have throughout the year.
The Military Student Support Center offers support for the university’s more than 700 Active Duty, Reservists, National Guard Members, Veterans, and their families utilize the center each year.

Reed Named to SREB Student Success Advisory Council

John Hill — Mon, 29 Nov 2021 14:04:31 +0000

Heather Reed, director of Student Retention Initiatives, has been selected to join the The SREB Student Success Advisory Council was established to identify challenges, shared interests, and recommend changes in policy and practice to support the successful retention, graduation, and workforce entry of underserved and low-income students. As Arkansas’s state representative, Reed will work toward achieving greater rates of postsecondary success for low-income, rural, and underrepresented backgrounds and support the council’s goal to fulfill critical industry workforce demands and build a stronger economy in SREB states. “I am honored to represent the state of Arkansas and excited to work with the best of the best in the region who support and study student success,” Reed said. “I am thrilled to highlight the work we are doing as an institution and within the state. I hope to glean new initiatives to implement for our students.” Reed is joining the ranks of presidents, provosts, state senators, directors of student success centers, and more across Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, Maryland, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Virginia, Mississippi, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. Reed’s new volunteer role fits in well with her ��Vlog��ý Little Rock position, where she works with staff and faculty to develop, implement, and assess data-driven retention initiatives that are informed by best practices and part of a comprehensive retention plan. She also heads the Care Team, who work closely with students to establish steps to reduce barriers to success. Reed is pursuing a Master of Public Administration from ��Vlog��ý Little Rock and will graduate in December. She also earned a B.A. in English/linguistics from Truman State University, an M.S. in college student personnel from Western Illinois University, and an Ed.S. in higher education and student affairs from the University of Iowa.

U.S. Department of Education Awards ��Vlog��ý Little Rock $581K Grant to Provide Child Care Funding for Low-Income Students

John Hill — Tue, 19 Oct 2021 14:20:00 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock has been awarded a federal grant worth more than $581,000 from the U.S. Department of Education that will help pay child care expenses for low-income students to help them complete their college education. “The child care support provided by this grant will help our students who are parents and is another example of our institution’s commitment to student success,” Provost Ann Bain said. “This grant is particularly exciting because the baseline data to support the need for grant funds involved our faculty and our students, and the final grant submission was a collaboration between Dr. Daryl Rice and graduate student Cassie Jo Gehring.” ��Vlog��ý Little Rock received a (CCAMPIS) four-year grant of $581,128. The program supports the participation of low-income parents in postsecondary education through the provision of campus-based child care services. Funding will be available to students who are eligible to receive Pell Grants. Students receiving these grants typically come from households whose family incomes are less than $50,000 annually, though most Pell Grant money goes to students with a total family income below $20,000. At ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, 39 percent of undergraduate students from the fall 2021 semester are Pell Grant recipients. “The grant will allow us to pay support for child care to Pell-eligible students with children using established and licensed child care providers,” said Dr. Daryl Rice, associate vice chancellor for academic affairs for student success. “The amount is based on a sliding scale. The program will also provide assistance in accessing child care support from other sources, such as the Arkansas Department of Health’s voucher program and child care provided by Early Start, Head Start, and the Little Rock School District.” A priority will be given to single parents. Parents who are going to college face a tougher road than traditional college students and have lower student retention and graduation rates. Single mothers are particularly hard hit. According to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, there are nearly 2.1 million single mothers in college today, many of whom are women of color. Only 8 percent of single mothers who start college earn an associate or bachelor’s degree within six years, compared with about half of women who are not mothers. The Institute for Women’s Policy Research also shows that providing support for parents in college, such as free child care, financial assistance, and social skills training, would allow more student parents to graduate in less time. During the spring 2021 semester, four Master of Public Administration (MPA) students in Dr. Kirk Leach’s social entrepreneurship course did background research for the grant, including a phone survey of local child care providers about capacity, prices, availability, and partnership opportunities with the university. The students include Andrea Neloms, Cassie Jo Gehring, Heather Reed, and Jenifer Tindle. Dr. Rice and Gehring wrote the final proposal and are co-principal investigators for the grant. “Being a parent while a student myself, I thought of how difficult it must be for those who don’t have resources or support to advance themselves through higher education,” said Gehring, associate director of advancement services at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. “As a student at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, I have participated in many service-learning projects. I was inspired to think that the research I am doing as a student and my connections in my personal and professional life can come together to make a real-world change that will make a real impact for students who are looking to make a better life for themselves and their children.” ��Vlog��ý Little Rock previously had a child care center that closed down in 1993. A 2020 survey of ��Vlog��ý Little Rock students, faculty, and staff found that 46 percent reported having primary responsibility for a child under 18. There is a current and anticipated demand for child care, specifically for children five and under. A third of respondents (33 percent) currently have a need for after school care for a child between the ages of 5-12. Student respondents indicated that child care issues have had a direct impact on coursework and class attendance. More than a third of respondents reported that they have had to drop or withdraw from a class due to child care issues. In addition to funding for child care, students accepted for the program will also have access to student success resources in the Office of Student Retention Initiatives, including success coaching, peer mentoring, and a licensed social worker. “It isn’t often that a person’s educational career and professional career intersect,” said Heather Reed, director of Student Retention Initiatives and a MPA student who helped write the grant. “This is one opportunity where the research team for the Social Entrepreneurship MPA course with Dr. Leach led to the university being awarded a grant that will be put into direct action to support students. This is a humbling experience as a graduate student and professional to see theory to practice in action with the end result helping promote student success.” The child care funding will be available to ��Vlog��ý Little Rock students beginning in the spring 2022 semester. A full-time director will be hired to run the program in the Office of Student Retention Initiatives. All students who are eligible for the program will receive an email with more information later this semester. Students can also or visit this website for more information. If you’d like to donate to help support ��Vlog��ý Little Rock students with child care needs, please donate via this link. In the upper right photo, ��Vlog��ý Little Rock has been awarded a federal grant worth more than $581,000 from the U.S. Department of Education that will help pay child care expenses for low-income students. Pictured, from left to right, are three of the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock employees responsible for researching and writing the Child Care Access Means Parents in School grant: Heather Reed, Dr. Daryl Rice, and Cassie Jo Gehring. Photo by Angie Faller.

- University News Archive - ����Vlog��ý Little Rock

Cultivating Student Success: How ����Vlog��ý Little Rock Resources Empower First-Generation Students

Reed Named to SREB Student Success Advisory Council

U.S. Department of Education Awards ����Vlog��ý Little Rock $581K Grant to Provide Child Care Funding for Low-Income Students

- University News Archive - ��Vlog��ý Little Rock

Cultivating Student Success: How ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Resources Empower First-Generation Students

U.S. Department of Education Awards ��Vlog��ý Little Rock $581K Grant to Provide Child Care Funding for Low-Income Students