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Flint, Michigan – Mott Community College just got a $340,000 grant from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. This money is for working with the Diploma Equity Project (DEP) to help more students finish their degrees or certificates.
Diploma Equity Project is about helping everyone getting their degree
DEP is all about making sure everyone, no matter their race, how much money they have, their family’s education, or their age, can get a college degree. They’re going to focus on helping grown-ups this time.
This money will be used to try out a new system aimed at helping adults graduate twice as much as before. They’re also setting up a system to quickly let staff know important stuff about students’ grades, money, and other things that can affect their school life.
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The idea for this Adult Students Support System came from working together with DEP, a group called Civilla that focuses on making things easier for people, and the top folks at Mott Community College.
“The goal is to test the effectiveness of the new support system before undertaking the disruption and expense of taking the prototype to scale,” said Dr. Sounya Walker, Director of Strategic Projects at MCC. Walker will lead the prototype-testing projects.
This Adult Student Support System prototype consists of the following integrated elements:
- Establishment of a Mott Adult Learner Institute within the College, dedicated to serving adults and accountable for their persistence and credential completion.
- Appointment and training of two Adult Student Advocates.
“Having a strong relationship with someone at the College who has the ability to help a student put together a plan to stay in school is the most powerful way to sustain adult students,” said Walker.
A dedicated area for adult students will be created at the college
Mott Community College is setting up a special area for adult students. Here, they can hang out when they’re not in class, use computers, study together, or meet other students like them. Along with this, there’s going to be an Early Alert System. This system will help the college staff spot students who are having a tough time or thinking about quitting. They can then step in early to help these students succeed.
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The main aim is to give MCC a system that can quickly tell when students need help. It will use detailed data to make sure students get support right when they need it. Also, they want to make this system something other colleges can use as a guide to build their own support systems.
The Diploma Equity Project is in charge of figuring out how to do this. They’re starting off with research and planning as the first step in making this idea work.