Syracuse University's Office of Supportive Services, located in
SU's School of
Education, was recently awarded a federal College Access Challenge Grant from
New York State Higher Education Services Corp. for $49,479 over two years for its
Central New York College Access Project. The project will target prospective college
applicants from low-income families in rural and urban districts and provide
information, activities and services to parents and guidance counselors in hopes of
increasing the number of at-risk students who will learn about, apply for and be
accepted to colleges. The award was part of $8.2 million in two-year grants given to
30 programs throughout the state.
"We hope to use our experience and expertise gathered over 30 years of supporting
'at risk' students to provide depth and intensity to some of the current New York
state initiatives such as the Liberty Partnership Program, the Science, Technology
and Engineering (STEP) Program and Say Yes to Education, and to bring our
breadth of knowledge about parent education and college support programs to both
rural and urban school districts," says Robert C. Wilson, director of student support
services at SU.
The project will work in collaboration with BOCES of Jefferson and Lewis counties
and the Syracuse City School District toward a goal of increasing by 10-15 percent
the number of juniors in the participating districts who engage in the college
application process. Two one-day conferences will be offered for parents, guidance
counselors and administrators, followed by meetings and workshops in the school
districts. At the conferences, faculty and staff from the University, managers of
current college access programs and school administrators will provide information
relevant to the college access process and facilitate the development of district-specific
action plans.
"We are committed to increasing the number of first-generation students from low-
income families who attend and succeed in college so that in the future more than the
current 10.2 percent of such students obtain a four year degree," says Wilson. "We
hope to use the College Access Network to disseminate these best practices for the
benefit of all New York state schools. We believe the information provided, the
knowledge gained and the links formed through this project can support a systemic
and sustained bridge to college access."
