Photo provided A view of the IUPUC campus in Columbus, soon to become IU Columbus.
Indiana University Columbus has received a grant that will fund an academic coach for certain student populations.
The Indiana Commission for Higher Education is awarding more than $2.4 million in College Success Program grants to 22 college campuses, including IU Columbus and nine other IU locations.
The commission said this inaugural round of grant funding will be used to create 32 full-time positions at Indiana higher education institutions to support 21st Century Scholars, Frank O’Bannon Grant recipients, minority students and other low-income and first-generation students.
The grant program has awarded up to $80,000 per college success coach position for each academic year of the grant period. Coaches’ duties include working to increase student enrollment, persistence, degree completion and connection to high-demand career opportunities.
“All IU campuses in total were awarded $960,000, with IU Columbus receiving $80,000,” said Emily Price, communications director for the Indiana Commission for Higher Education. She added that the grants run for one year and can be renewed.
According to a project description for IU’s grant, “Support from this proposal will fill the gap left by the discontinuation of ScholarCorps and provide full-time, dedicated success coaches to each Indiana University (IU) location. The success coaches will use data to create a proactive approach to help drive admission, enrollment, persistence, completion and post-graduate attainment for all 21st Century Scholars. Success coaches will serve as a consistent means of support for Scholars throughout their time with IU, leveraging data and technology to make early interventions and celebrate success.”
The initial College Success Program will run from Nov. 1, 2023 through Oct. 31, 2024, with opportunities to extend the grants pending review by the State Budget Committee.
“Last year, the Commission launched its strategic priorities to address college enrollment, completion and graduate retention,” said Indiana Commissioner for Higher Education Chris Lowery in an official statement. “The College Success Program is one of our intentional strategic approaches to partnering with institutions to address the challenges in the education to workforce pipeline and amplify the impact of proven programs such as the 21st Century Scholarship and Frank O’Bannon Grant. This will remove barriers that especially affect first-generation and low-income students.”
The 2023-24 College Success Program grant recipients are Anderson University, Ball State University, Franklin College, Indiana State University, IU Bloomington, IU Columbus, IU East, IU Fort Wayne, IU Indianapolis, IU Kokomo, IU Northwest, IU South Bend, IU Southeast, IU Online, Marian University – Indianapolis, Purdue University Fort Wayne, Purdue University Northwest, Purdue University West Lafayette, University of Indianapolis, University of Southern Indiana, Valparaiso University and Vincennes University.
