ESU Awarded Grant to Boost Student Success, Retention

Providing students with the resources and support they need to succeed is a major goal of East Stroudsburg University’s faculty, staff, and administration. To reach that goal, ESU has been awarded the Title III Strengthening Institutions Program (SIP) grant from the U.S. Department of Education. This $2,157,370, five-year award will be used for implementing and strengthening initiatives focused on students’ academic success and institutional retention.

“The purpose of the grant is to help institutions improve in areas of inefficiency, which can ultimately affect student success,” explained Dr. Sylvester Williams, dean of the College of Business and Management and program director for the grant. He adds this is the first time ESU was eligible for this grant, as requirements state the applying institution must have a certain percentage of students who are considered under-represented minorities.

“The fact that ESU was eligible is a reflection of the changing demographics of our student body,” said Christina McDonald, director of the Office of Sponsored Projects and Research. 41 percent of ESU’s undergraduate population identify as a student of color, the largest identifying as black or African American. Only 30 SIP grants are awarded per year nationwide, and ESU is only the second member of Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) to receive this grant.

The ESU Title III Project will consist of four strategic activities: implementing a WARRIORfish Early Alert System to address students’ challenges and concerns, which will include faculty development; a Chatbot to provide students with faster, more efficient access to valuable resources and information from various university departments right on their phones rather than waiting in line at that department’s office; strengthening programming for the Men of Color Alliance (MOCA) and Women of Color Initiative (WOCI); and implementing a program of micro-credentialing with digital badges and a First-Year Business Experience.

The Early Alert System would include the services of an additional Academic Success Coach who will work directly with students on things like time management, study skills, and a range of other barriers to academic success. “We need to be able to service even more students, especially some of the most at-risk,” said Dr. Jessica Santiago, assistant professor of academic success and director of the Warrior Success Program. “An additional Academic Success Coach will monitor students and act on the red flags coming in with the Early Alert System. We will intentionally reach out to those students. We’ll look at what the professor submitted, but really take a holistic approach to helping our students. With this grant, we’ll be able to do even more of that.”

Both the MOCA and WOCI organizations are open to all students, though their membership is predominantly underrepresented minorities. “We’ll be doing more programming with them, and following through with students,” Williams said. “We’ll be building up that program to make it more substantial in terms of outcomes for the members.” Programming will include leadership and workforce development activities at Stony Acres, ESU’s off-campus retreat and conference center. “With WOCI, our hopes for this grant is to make our early arrival programming even larger,” Santiago said. Additionally, the College of Business and Management will pilot a First-Year Business Experience program that will embed soft skills, such as communication, problem solving, and critical thinking, into the first-year curriculum and prepare students for future internship and job opportunities.

The programs’ success will be measured by retention rates over the five years of the grant as well as six-year and four-year graduation rates. Williams said the project will move “full speed ahead” once the groundwork is in place. “It’s very competitive, so it’s an honor to win this grant,” McDonald said. “It’s a prestigious institutional grant which will improve the university. This is an opportunity as a campus community to look at our challenges and strengths and make changes that will improve ESU.”

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