In 2022, Santa Fe Community College was awarded another U.S. Department of Education Title V Hispanic Serving Institutions grant totaling almost $3,000,000 over five years. The Title V grant, EXITO en SFCC (Succeed at SFCC), is a project that builds on the previous Title V grant, MAPS (Minority Academic Pathways to Success). The EXITO grant will provide outreach support for a college-going culture among area high school students; improve onboarding practices for incoming students; develop innovative new professional development activities; and improve the college’s infrastructure through the creation of “hyflex” classrooms. Moreover, it provides a $150,000 match for endowment funds for student financial aid raised by the SFCC Foundation.
SFCC’s Title V project will be implemented with strong student-centered theory and practices that have best supported Hispanic and low-income students in higher education. The proposed activities will result in improved persistence, higher graduation rates, and an increased number of students being transfer-ready. Overall, this project is based on evidence strategies and strong theory to create conditions for student success in all disciplines.
EXITO project will implement 5 new strategies to:
- Ensure all students feel welcome at SFCC through
- Implementation of activities for students and their parents to introduce them to SFCC and its services/educational program.
- Offering students ongoing support along their pathway
- Eliminate equity gaps between Hispanic and other students through,
- Development of new support programs for students that address both academic and essential/soft skills.
- Continual collection and analysis of data to monitor student success.
- Providing students with safe spaces and culturally appropriate programming
- Improve faculty and staff equity through,
- Partnership with faculty members to ensure student progress is being tracked and that students who need additional assistance are identified.
- Development of programming that includes culturally relevant and equity-focused elements.
- Provision of opportunities for employees to attend training both on and off campus.
- Increase access to a college education for Hispanic and low-income students through,
- Partnership with area school districts to develop pathways to help students prepare for college.
- Increasing enrollment of minority and low-income students by offering pre-college programming that utilizes culturally relevant techniques.
- Development of new marketing strategies aimed at Hispanic and low-income individuals, provision of resources in English and Spanish
- Improve completion rates among Hispanic and low-income students and provide them with resources to be personally and professionally ready for a career or transfer through,
- Offering ongoing guidance to students throughout their time at SFCC; marketing these resources to students, and proactively reaching out to offer assistance.
- Provision of opportunities for students to learn new information or skills through workshops and other activities.
- Demonstration of skills and behaviors that contribute to the inclusive and respectful sharing of ideas.
- Utilizing multiple communication methods that address diversity.
- Critical evaluation of information and work with diverse student populations to gather information and make changes as needed to improve the student experience.
Project Team:
Julie Gallegos, Project Director, julie.gallegos1@sfcc.edu
Monika Bechtel, Project Assistant, monika.bechtel@sfcc.edu
LaNysha Adams, Director of Student Wellness Center, lanysha.foss@sfcc.edu
Daniela Gurule, Outreach Activity Coordinator, Daniela.gurule@sfcc.edu
Annika Vorhes, Professional Development Manager, annika.vorhes@sfcc.edu
Karla Catanach, Student Onboarding Navigator, karla.catanach@sfcc.edu
