A State-wide Approach to Serving Low-Income Students Annie Gray, PhD Heidi Leming, PhD

Overview Beyond Financial Aid Assessment Tool The Tennessee BFA Beta Initiative TN BFA Convening in March 2016 Self Study Data Development of Campus Plans Development of System Plan Campus Examples of Innovative Practice: Pellissippi State Community College System-level Resource Development Lessons Learned & Next Steps Q & A

Learning Outcomes Gain an understanding of data to identify low-income students and better understand their needs. Gain an understanding of how to develop financial support that extend beyond tuition to include benefits such as food assistance and health care. Identify institutional and state-level policies that inhibit low-income student enrollment and persistence. Identify how to leverage partnerships with local and regional service agencies to recruit low income adult learners and veterans to enroll in postsecondary education.

Theoretical Grounding ONGOING RESEARCH on college student poverty from the team of Dr. Sara Goldrick-Rab at The HOPE Center for College, Community & Justice (formerly, the University of Wisconsin’s HOPE Lab). Goldrick-Rab, S., Broton, K., & Eisenberg, D. Hungry to Learn: Addressing Food & Housing Insecurity Among Undergraduates. (2015)

Theoretical Grounding Community College Survey of Student Engagement Data and Report (2017) 91% of CSEE respondents state they need information about financial assistance and 27% feel their school doesn’t do an adequate job of providing this information 63% live paycheck to paycheck 74% of students with children state they live paycheck to paycheck The Center for Community College Student Engagement.“Making Ends Meet: The Role of Community Colleges in Student Financial Health.” (2017).

TN BFA Initiative March 2016 BFA State-wide Convening Focus on using campus data to identify stress points Focus on intersections and opportunities of policy and practice Campus Self-Assessment Campus Plans for Low-Income Student Support Application for CNCS Funding for AmeriCorps VISTA Members to Scale Low-Income Student Support Services Financial Literacy Training – EdSouth Partnership Connect with TN Promise and TN Reconnect Communities

BFA Assessment Tool

Innovative Practice Innovative Practice Office of Student Affairs Develops sustainable protocols and processes for a pantry, garden, financial literacy programming, and a college/community support coalition Develops and enacts a new intra-college communications model for student support staff

College & Community Partners Innovative Practice Innovative Practice College & Community Partners Office of Student Affairs

Innovative Practice New Resources IN PROGRESS: Financial Literacy Programming & Community Coalition ESTABLISHED: Combined pantry/garden program

Innovative Practice New Resources IN PROGRESS: New Student Support Services Communications Model adapted from healthcare industry

Scaling It Up 4 AmeriCorps VISTA Members Focus Areas 1. Review data to identify low-income students and better understand their needs within TBR institutions. 2. Partner with TBR institutions in the development of financial aid packages that extend beyond tuition support to include benefits such as food assistance and health care.  3. Identify TBR and state-level policies that inhibit low-income student enrollment and persistence.              4. Identify ways to increase student academic progression and use data to develop campus-level interventions. 5. Leverage relationship with TN Promise partnering organizations, local, and regional services agencies to facilitate outreach to low income and veteran students to enrollin postsecondary education. 6. Develop a system-level plan to assist TBR institutions in the implementation of financial literacy training for all incoming students. 7. Develop career service outreach plans for TBR institutions to expand job placement services for students from low-income backgrounds.

System-Level Resources Campus User Guides Service Data Warehouse

Lessons Learned Institutional Commitment President sets tone, invites full college participation as process rolls out Secure funding for a central person to coordinate partnerships and project design Engage a cross-section of campus advocates (support staff, admin, student groups faculty) Integrate academic and co-curricular volunteer opportunities for students Promote and reward civic engagement among employees Explore and employ communications models that allow for cross-functional work teams that flatten out hierarchical structures and encourage improved communication among silos

Next Steps Work to be Done: Future work on connecting job placement services to low-income students Statewide Service Learning Consortium Streamlining and normalizing holistic communication among all student support sectors

Q & A For more information on the Tennessee Board of Regents Low Income Student Support Initiative, go to https://www.tbr.edu/academics/studentaffairs/low-income-student-support