/news-archive/tag/pell-grant/ 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Tue, 19 Oct 2021 14:20:00 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 /news-archive/2021/10/19/child-care-connections/ Tue, 19 Oct 2021 14:20:00 +0000 /news/?p=80196 ... U.S. Department of Education Awards 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock $581K Grant to Provide Child Care Funding for Low-Income Students]]> 鈥淭he child care support provided by this grant will help our students who are parents and is another example of our institution鈥檚 commitment to student success,鈥� Provost Ann Bain said. 鈥淭his 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.鈥� 糖心Vlog传媒 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 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock, 39 percent of undergraduate students from the fall 2021 semester are Pell Grant recipients. 鈥淭he grant will allow us to pay support for child care to Pell-eligible students with children using established and licensed child care providers,鈥� said Dr. Daryl Rice, associate vice chancellor for academic affairs for student success. 鈥淭he 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鈥檚 voucher program and child care provided by Early Start, Head Start, and the Little Rock School District.鈥� 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鈥檚 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鈥檚 degree within six years, compared with about half of women who are not mothers. The Institute for Women鈥檚 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鈥檚 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. 鈥淏eing a parent while a student myself, I thought of how difficult it must be for those who don鈥檛 have resources or support to advance themselves through higher education,鈥� said Gehring, associate director of advancement services at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock. 鈥淎s a student at 糖心Vlog传媒 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.鈥� 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock previously had a child care center that closed down in 1993. A 2020 survey of 糖心Vlog传媒 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. 鈥淚t isn’t often that a person’s educational career and professional career intersect,鈥� said Heather Reed, director of Student Retention Initiatives and a MPA student who helped write the grant. 鈥淭his 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.鈥� The child care funding will be available to 糖心Vlog传媒 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鈥檇 like to donate to help support 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock students with child care needs, please donate via this link. In the upper right photo, 糖心Vlog传媒 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 糖心Vlog传媒 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.]]> /news-archive/2020/11/19/social-mobility-arkansas/ Thu, 19 Nov 2020 15:57:56 +0000 /news/?p=77855 ... 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock ranked top university for social mobility in Arkansas]]> The ranking measures a university鈥檚 success in graduating economically disadvantaged students who are less likely to finish college. “Facilitating social mobility is a fundamental value at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock. It is inherent in our role and scope as a metropolitan university,鈥� said Chancellor Christina Drale. 鈥淲e also know that helping our students advance means more than providing excellent programs. We must also provide a success infrastructure that will keep them engaged, help them solve problems, and enable them to build relationships with professionals in their field that will assist in their transition to a career path after graduation.” 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock alumnae Reteisha Byrd, was able to afford college with the help of Pell grants, scholarships, a graduate assistantship, and student loans. She graduated from 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock with a bachelor鈥檚 degree in business administration in 2014 and a Master of Public Administration聽in 2016. An internship at Little Rock Port Authority led to her current job as a research manager for Boyette Strategic Advisors. 鈥淚 knew I wanted to attend 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock upon graduating from high school,鈥� Byrd said. 鈥淭he university had a great business program and was in the capital city with plenty of job opportunities. The College of Business provided plenty of opportunities for students to network with local businesses. My education at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock has allowed me to apply what I learned in the classroom, make connections within the community, and advance in my personal life. I鈥檝e also made lifelong friends who were either classmates or roommates while attending 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock.鈥� The social mobility indicator measures how well schools graduated students who received federal 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. The social mobility ranking was computed by assessing Pell Grant graduation rates and Pell Grant graduate rate performance. At 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock, 47 percent of undergraduate students from the fall 2020 semester are Pell Grant recipients, and 48 percent of undergraduates are first-generation students. 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock鈥檚 student body is the most diverse of any college or university in Arkansas. More than half of 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock students are over the age of traditional college students, with an overall average age of 27. Mercades Parker, a single mother who will graduate in May 2021 with a Master of Social Work degree, would not have been able to afford college without taking on substantive loans if she had not been selected for the Chancellor鈥檚 Leadership Corps at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock and the Academic Challenge Scholarship from the Arkansas Department of Education. Parker said that the advancement of social mobility is shown at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock by the way people take care of the students. 鈥淚 think 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock really cares about its students,鈥� Parker said. 鈥淔rom 2013 and on, I always felt like there was someone to help me when I needed help the most. College is challenging and tough. Having those different outlets to go to is what helped me. Having a professor who would go back and look over your work with you is very helpful. They really want you to succeed. I think social mobility is shown in how people care about their students.鈥� 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock has proven to be the higher education institution in Arkansas that can transform your life and empower graduates through education. When Dr. Brian Berry came to 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock as a first-generation college student, he never imagined that he would get his Ph.D. and go one to become 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock鈥檚 vice provost for research and dean of the Graduate School. 鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 even dream of a Ph.D. when I first got here. I was just happy to be going to college,鈥� Berry said. 鈥淭his place gave me more to dream about. I鈥檝e always been thankful for the opportunities that 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock has given me. Not only has this institution given me an education, but it鈥檚 given me a career.鈥� Dr. Erin Finzer, associate vice chancellor for academic affairs, emphasized the many programs 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock has available to help underrepresented students as one of the reasons for the university鈥檚 high social mobility ranking. Those programs include the Charles W. Donaldson Scholars Academy, a year-round program open to students in the Pulaski County Special School District (PCSSD) that provides academic support and mentoring for underrepresented students at the university. Additionally, the Summer Bridge Academy is a three-week residential program that prepares incoming freshmen socially and academically for college-level work and accelerates their progress toward degree completion. 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock is also home to the African American Male Initiative, African American Female Initiative, Hispanic Latino Initiative, TRIO Talent Search, and McNair Scholars, which also support underrepresented students towards degree completion and graduate school enrollment. 鈥淥ur academic programs, service to students, and commitment to community engagement are determined by our mission to improve students鈥� lives through engaged teaching and learning,鈥� Finzer said.]]>