Finding Success with

First in the World Grants Resource Center Funding Competitiveness Conference

Washington, DC

February 21, 2015

Delta State University

• 4000 students

• 60% Caucasian; 33% African

American; 7% other

• 65% come from the 18

county Mississippi Delta

region and obtained their

secondary education from

one the Mississippi Delta’s

11 “Failing Schools”

• 70% are Pell-eligible

…whose mission is to serve as the educational and cultural center of the Mississippi Delta….

Planning Group

Student Success Center Staff

Office of Admissions

Office of Financial Aid

Office of Information Technology

Office of Research and Planning (IRP)

Faculty representatives from across campus

Consultant from Ellucians’ Grants Services Division

Decision Points for the Planning Group

1) Can we be competitive?

2) If so, what will make us stand out?

3) Which of the five Absolute Priorities will we address?

4) What data do we have available to support the absolute priority?

5) Based on data, who would be the target population?

6) What does the current body of knowledge tell us?

Current studies – published and non-published

Best practices

7) What strategies and activities should we implement?

Priority 1: Increasing Access and Completion for

Underrepresented, Underprepared, or Low-Income

Students

Focus on completion

DSU’s open access Underprepared students Need for improved

student support services

Defined “underprepared” as students with an ACT between 17-21

ACT below 17 were required to take remedial coursework

ACT above 21 were eligible for academic scholarships

Table 6. Fall 2012-to-Fall 2013 DSU Freshmen Retention Rate

# Enrolled Fall 2012 # Retained Fall 2013 % Retained

All First Time Undergraduate Freshmen 385 253 66%

22 and Above ACT Scores 135 (35%) 104 77%

17-21 ACT Scores 212 (55%) 123 58%

16 and Below ACT Scores 38 (10%) 26 68%

Target Population: First time freshmen with

an ACT between 17-21, with priority given to

those from 18 county Mississippi Delta region

and low-income.

Selection Criteria - Significance

Introduced the proposed project, Okra Scholars, and its potential contribution

to increased knowledge of education problems, issues, or effective strategies

Described how the project would incorporate promising new strategies that

build on existing strategies

Replicability of the project or its strategies

Table 3. Okra Scholars Strong Theory

Strategy Brief Description Link to Strong Theory

Collaborative

Learning

Spaces

A highly connected student ecosystem

rooted in configurability, collaboration,

early intervention, learning analytics

(micro badging) active learning, and

participation. A collaborative learning

space provides a physical and/or technical

location for students and their integrated

support system, including employers, the

opportunity to identify and address

students’ areas of improvement and

strengths in real time.

Collaborative learning incorporates multiple,

well documented student development theories,

including, but not limited to:

Falcone, T. (2011) defines a new blended

model for higher education to understand and

intervene with low-income, low-

socioeconomic status, first-generation and

working class. Based on the strongly

researched theories of Tinto and Rendon, and

includes the well-researched Bourdieuian

framework. The result of Falcone’s work is a

multi-tiered theoretical framework well

equipped to actively engage and address the

complexities of low-income, low

socioeconomic status, first-generation, often

underprepared working class students that is

empirically untested in its entirety.

Vincent Tinto’s Model of Institutional

Departure

Vincent Tinto’s Retention Theory: Rethinking

the causes and cures of student attrition which

states that early identification and consistent

intervention with students defined as “at-risk”

leads to higher integration into campus.

Jerome Bruner’s Discovery Learning Theory,

based with constructivist learning,

differentiates itself by stating that students

learn best not just by doing, but finding the

individual path to reach appropriate response.

Micro-badging, combining scaffolding and

problem based learning, promotes opportunity

for students to achieve competencies and

develop their own path of learning

Integration of

Employer-

Based

Professional

Development

Creating an integrated support network for

students is not a new strategy; however

actively involving off campus employers

and professional development

opportunities is relatively undocumented.

Integration of employer-based professional

development over a four year time period

allows the Okra Scholars project to

intentionally bridge the gap between

formal academic opportunities and often

informal professional or career

development opportunities. Integrated

Learning

Pathways

Building upon both the collaborative

learning space, integrated support network,

the Personalized Pathways allows

institutions the opportunity to identify and

actively address student strengths and

areas to improve. Programmatic

development, course content, and learning

methodologies are configurable to best

meet student needs within a personalized

pathway.

Emotional IQ One of the unique aspects of the Okra

Scholars and the one for which the Strong

Theory meets the Competitive Preference

priority, Emotional IQ will serve as basis

for each student’s personalized learning

pathway. The Emotional Intelligence

outcomes associated with academic and

professional success, (self-management

and self-awareness), will aid the Project

Director and Coordinator in identifying the

most beneficial learning path. The

Learning Community Courses and the

personalized pathway experiences will

address areas of strength and improvement

as identified by emotional intelligence

outcomes. Using the Integrated support

networks to explore and connect the

teachings with the experiences is crucial to

academic and professional achievement.

In recent decades, emotional intelligence (EI)

has emerged as a leading but controversial

components of academic/professional success.

Emotional Intelligence outcomes are considered

valuable resources when addressing adjustment,

personal well-being, interpersonal relationships,

and overall success in life; however a definitive

correlation between success and these skills are

rarely directly addressed.

Coffee and Pestridge suggest that there is a

strong potential for enhanced emotional

intelligence is weaker areas through intentional

academic development, career development, and

strong support networks (2001) can be improved

in the academic classroom, by intentionally

employing experiential teaching methods.

http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED535684.pdf

http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ983881.pdf

http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED462556.pdf

Table 4. Okra Scholars Elements that Promote Replication

Element Okra Scholars Design

Align with institutional

mission and strategic plan

Okra Scholars reflects the institutional mission, the population served by DSU, and aligns with

specific goals/objectives that are a part of the institutional strategic plan.

Support from executive

leadership

The President and President’s Cabinet supported the work to design Okra Scholars and

document their support in a letter of commitment. Administrative support is critical in buy-in

and allocating resources to support replication and implementation.

Build on existing campus

resources to reduce cost

Okra Scholars leverages institutional resources (services, facilities, staff) and builds on

successes achieved in the past five years

Select and implement

appropriate support

mechanisms

Okra Scholars tailors support mechanisms to the population to be served and to the individual

student (Personal Pathways), and the evidence that will be generated from the

implementation of Okra Scholars will serve as a foundation for other institutions to make

decisions about selection of support mechanisms and method of delivery.

Increase understanding of

the importance of retention

and completion strategies

across campus

Okra Scholars was designed by a cross-campus, multi-disciplinary team. Okra Scholars

incorporates a train-the-trainer model to help faculty and staff understand strategies/

services. Financial implications of improved retention can be motivators for adoption and

replication of effective strategies.

Create opportunities for

communication

Okra Scholars incorporates a campus-wide communication model that touches almost every

department on campus. The multi-disciplinary team is essential in not only implementing the

support mechanisms, but also in sustaining them.

Selection Criteria: Quality of the

Project Design

Extent to which the design is appropriate to, and will address the needs of

the target population or other identified needs

Extent to which the project represents an exceptional approach to the

priority established for the competition.

Extent to which there is a conceptual framework underlying the proposed

research or activities and the quality of that framework

Project Design

The Okra Scholars project addresses the challenge of increasing student retention,

engagement, on-time graduation rates, and employability by incorporating innovative

learning strategies into a four-year personalized learning pathway for underprepared, low

income Delta State University students. The following logic model represents the

conceptual framework for the Okra Scholars project and includes inputs, activities,

outcomes, and timelines.

Selection Criteria: Adequacy of

Resources

Adequacy of support, including facilities, equipment, supplies, and other

resources

Extent to which the costs are reasonable in relation to the objectives, design,

and potential significance of the proposed project

Described planning committee and planning process

Demonstrated connection to the university president’s priorities

Described Student Success Center and other support services

Connection to our QEP – Cultural Competency

Selection Criteria: Quality of Project

Personnel

Project Director is the Executive Director of the Student Success Center

Strategic Retention Consultant: “increase the alignment of institutional

strategic goals, student success efforts, and campus implementation of

retention strategies. Her role as the Strategic Retention Consultant is to

provide technical assistance in implementing strategically aligned initiatives

that consistently facilitate campus integration and evaluation methodology

for the Okra Scholars project.”

Evaluator: Educational Research

Selection Criteria – Quality of Project

Evaluation

Goals, objectives, and outcomes are specified and measurable

How will it produce evidence of effectiveness that meet the What Works Clearinghouse

Clear alignment of goals, objectives, and outcomes to the Logic Model in the Project

Design section

Included a discussion of the five evidence standards in the WWC and how the study

met those standards.

One Last Tip…

Apply to serve as a Peer Reviewer for a Department

of Education grant.

Engage a consultant with success with Department

of Education grants to provide technical assistance

in proposal development.

…..okay two tips!

Contact Info:

Robin Boyles

Director, Office of Institutional Grants

Delta State University

1003 W. Sunflower Road

Cleveland, MS 38733

Ph: 662-846-4804

E: rboyles@deltastate.edu