Northwest Vista College received a $2.4 million Individual Title V Grant for Hispanic-Serving Institutions from the U.S. Department of Education.
This five-year grant is for “Project Math Paths,” designed to improve NVC's three-year graduation rate and math completion. Specifically, the grant will allow NVC faculty and staff to welcome, advise, place, and accelerate students through the math core and eliminate developmental math hours.
“We are thrilled with this award and excited that Project Math Paths is designed by our math faculty in partnership with other college areas to ensure student success,” said NVC President Dr. Ric Baser. “This project is fully aligned with the college’s strategic plan and our six main goals of completion, learning and sustainability, strategic enrollment management, institutional planning and effectiveness, and forming strategic partnerships. Due to the insight and genius of NVC Professor Anna Harwin, we have a novel, college-wide and systemic pathways model which will positively impact persistence and completion for all of our students.”
“Math can be a major obstacle to student success, persistence and completion,” said Mary Zocchi, Ph.D, NVC's math optimization facilitator and organizer. “We’re going to overcome this barrier by welcoming, advising, placing, and accelerating students through the math core and eliminating developmental math hours.”
The goals for Project Math Paths:
- Implement intrusive advising for all first time in college students through “Vista Central – One Stop Shop”;
- Accelerate the developmental math sequence and advise into optimal college level math courses;
- Maximize student success by dramatically increasing optimal math placement, including math 1414, college algebra for STEM majors;
- Reduce time needed and facilitate student enrollment through the creation of “Vista Central – One Stop Shop” with imbedded support services to facilitate the enrollment process, monitor and advise student progress, and;
- Increase student enrollment, retention and core math completion.
NVC faculty Anna Harwin, Mary Zocchi and Thomas Pressly, Ph.D, had the vision for this project and prepared the grant proposal.
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