Penn State Intercom......July 12 , 2001

Access programs join
educational equity office

By Annemarie Mountz
Public Information

The University's 10 Academic Assistance Programs (AAP) at University Park are getting a new home. Effective July 1, the University's TRIO programs, along with the College Assistance Migrant Program and the Comprehensive Studies Program, left the Office of the Vice Provost of Undergraduate Education to become part of the Office of the Vice Provost for Educational Equity.

Cathleen Love, associate dean and executive director of AAP, continues to oversee the programs. She, too, has moved from Undergraduate Education and is now associate vice provost for educational equity in the Office of the Vice Provost for Educational Equity. Roughly 50 employees also changed reporting lines and now fall under the Office of the Vice Provost for Educational Equity.

"These are enormously successful programs that are having a profound impact on the lives of many Penn State students," said Rod Erickson, executive vice president and provost at Penn State.

"John Cahir , the vice provost and dean for undergraduate education, and his staff deserve credit for launching many of these programs at Penn State, nurturing them and making them so successful."

Cahir noted that everyone in Undergraduate Education had greatly enjoyed being on the same team with AAP, but that many very successful academic academic enterprises had begun or grown to a new level there, and were now integrated into colleges and the wider University.

"This fits in many ways with what we are trying to do, which is to mainstream the University's diversity efforts," said Terrell Jones, vice provost for educational equity. "These programs provide access to higher education to populations that traditionally have difficulty in accessing higher education."

Love also is happy about the move.

"One of my goals is to make sure the entire academic community understands the unique challenges our students have, that faculty see them as very capable and that they work with the students so that they can be successful. This move gives these programs more visibility, which will help us to educate the University community about them."

Love said that the move also provides opportunities for more collaboration with offices under the Vice Provost for Educational Equity such as the Office of Disability Services and the Multicultural Resource Center.

"Now that we are going to be under the same umbrella, it will be easier for us to coordinate our efforts," she said.

According to Jones, moving the programs into Educational Equity further strengthens them by making them more visible.

"It also strengthens this office by giving us some powerful tools to help students succeed," he said.

The programs are mostly federally funded programs, with some state funding provided for one program. In all, the programs receive about $2.7 million a year in funding. Some of the programs have been at the University for two or three decades.

"Although they are grant programs, they're about as permanent as grant programs can get," said Jones.

TRIO programs were established by Congress to help low-income Americans enter college, graduate and move on to participate more fully in America's economic and social life. These programs are funded under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965. More than 1,200 colleges, universities, community colleges and agencies now offer TRIO Programs in America. For the last few years, Penn State has had a major grant to train people from other universities how to run successful TRIO programs.

TRIO funds are distributed to institutions through competitive grants. While student financial aid programs help students overcome financial barriers to higher education, TRIO programs help students overcome class, social and cultural barriers to higher education. All of the programs have very high success rates, and are central to the University's diversity efforts.

The University's Academic Assistance Programs, including its TRIO programs, are access programs that provide an opportunity to include in the University population students who in many cases are first-generation college students.

"That's an important point," said Love. "These programs are designed to help anyone who is low-income and/or first-generation. They are mandated to assist all students who are economically challenged, first-generation college students regardless of race or ethnicity."

According to the Council for Opportunity in Education, 39 percent of TRIO students nationwide are white, 36 percent are African-American, 16 percent are Hispanic, 5 percent are Native American and 4 percent are Asian-American. In addition, 16,000 TRIO students have disabilities. The council is a nonprofit organization dedicated to furthering the expansion of educational opportunities throughout the United States. The council works in conjunction with colleges, universities and agencies that are hosts to TRIO Programs to help low-income Americans enter college and graduate.

Love said that the University's TRIO and other assistance programs work with students who never had anyone talk to them about going to college.

"We plant a seed that grows and helps to give students opportunities they never thought they would have," Love said. "These are some of Penn State's biggest stars. Not because they go on to win a Nobel Prize - even though they could - but because of how much they achieve on their own with very limited resources. They have lots of family love, but limited resources and these programs help them make the most of what they do have."

As an example, Love said that the College Assistance Migrant Program, which is not a TRIO program, serves children of migrant workers.

"It's hard for them to understand why they should pay $10,000 to send a child off to college when that child could earn $11,000 by working. The program works to change their understanding of why they should invest in education."

That puts a lot of pressure on the student to succeed, Love said.

"If they fail, they leave with debt and no education and it's a great failure for the entire family. On the other hand, when they succeed, it's monumental and the whole family shares in that success."

More than 4,500 people a year gain a direct benefit from the University's involvement in these programs.

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